Wines galore last Saturday

On Saturday night, my wife and I were invited by friends to drink wine and eat food. 20 people or so were in attendance at this very informal gathering. I didn't take notes, so I will only give general impressions. The wines were outstanding as one may have guessed.

A bunch of white starter wines were pleasant, but nothing to write home about.

Once we got to the reds, things got more interesting. A 2004 Lafon Volnay 1er Cru smelled corked and dill pickled at first, but turned positive with air. Ended up being very good. The 2003 Walter Hansel Cahill Lane I brought was really solid, as well, although it couldn't touch the Volnay once it got going.

The next set of wines were 7 Bordeaux. Brian brought 6 x 1994 Bordeaux. Among them were my first 1994 Ausone, as well as 1994 Troplong Mondot, 1994 L'Evangile, 1994 Cos D'Estournel, 1994 Pontet Canet, and 1994 Leoville-Barton. My favorite in the group were the L'Evangile and Cos. The Ausone was very very funky, and maybe a bit too much so. The L'Evangile was just amazing. Velvet fruit and smoother than a piece of flannel. Smelled great and had great precision. The Cos was similarly good, although much less approachable in style. Big wine with long future ahead of it. To finish up the flight, I had brought a 2001 Forts de Latour, which was great, although still in its infancy. Showed much bigger and brawnier than the '94s.

While all this Bordeaux was being sampled, a bottle of 1998 Krug appeared and disappeared rather quickly. Amazing Champagne and clearly a great wine, although not quite at the same level as the 1996. My wife loved it and it was basically all she drank. Thanks Greg for the treat.

On to the next wines. 2003 Mordoree Reine De Bois CdP. Shows signs of the vintage. Definitely kinky, warm, and slightly raisiny. Not my favorite, but not bad at all. A 1985 Santa Cruz Mountain Merlot tasted blind was pegged by me to be a left bank Bordeaux. Great wine.

The last wine I tasted was the 1998 Harlan Maiden. Huge wine still. A baby really. Big, brawny, and feisty, this overwhelmed my palate with mouth-coating and teeth-staining tannins and a wall of fruit. I suspect this should be allowed at least another 5 years in the cellar before trying again. I actually liked this, but then again, I've always liked the less extracted 1998 vintage in California Cab.

There were a few more wines like a Barbera and an Amarone, but I was getting ready to head out the door. Thanks to Bob and Lauren for their hospitality.

Hope you enjoyed reading the quick report. Feel free to comment with your impressions if you've had any of these wines yourself.

Cheers.

Steffen