WTN: Palmer, Lynch, Neillon,Pernot, Phelps, Heitz, DRC, Mugnier

SOBER gathered at Jacques' house last night. The first wine was opened before I got there, and declared dead- another victim of White Burg PreOx. Worst part was it was a magnum, the '99 Bonneau du Martray. Sad.

With a nice cheese assortment, we waited for late arrivers with the 2001 Guigal la Dorianne Condrieu. Big floral/musky aromas over ripe approaching overripe apricot/peach fruit. Label says 12-14% abv, but someone astutely notes it finishes a bit hot.. I'm not a fan, but then Viognier is not my thing, so fans should disregard my opinion. B-

We moved to table, where Jacques started a great succession of courses. First up was a butternut squash soup with duck confit, with the first two blind wines:

Flight One

#1 Sandalwood, red fruit, medium bodied. Some felt too oaky, I found it borderline. But nice structure.

#2 Ripe, broad-shouldered but with some elegance, earth.

Jacques confirmed we were in Burgundy. No one nailed actual wines.

#1 1998 Domaine de Romanee Conti Romanee St. Vivant. B/B+

#2 1997 Mugnier Musigny. A-/B+ 1997 isn't my favorite vintage, but I also liked the Roumier Musigny.

Flight Two
With a lovely vols au vent (chicken/mushroom/pea )
One person wondered if we might be in Loire based on #2's nose, but most of us in white Burgundy from start

#1 Oak, pear, and vanilla. A touch of herb. A little short, almost tired, but still hanging on.

#2 Mature, nutty , sweet. Others liked this less than I, with nose descriptors like pool vinyl. Once it was revealed I was surprised it was this mature, but I liked (more than most). But drink up.

#1 1997 Neillon "Champgains" Chassagne-Montrachet 1er B

#2 1998 Pernot Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet B+/A-

Flight Three
Jacques said both from same vintage, I early on guessed 1989 Bordeaux. Wrong!

#1 Ripe cassis fruit, a little cigarbox, a bit herbal. I don't mind a bit of green if there's enough ripe fruit behind. Someone says it's more chipotle than bell pepper, I agree. Good length.

#2 Ripe, long, blackberry and currant fruit, some earth, a little herb here also. Young.

#1 1985 Lynch-Bages. Good bottles of this can be good, like tonight. We speculated re the reasons for variation, my vote is for lots of travel/trade due to WS WOTY. This bottle showed well, though it kind of faded in glass at end. My initial score however was B+

#2 1985 Phelps Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon. B+/A-

Main course was beautiful duck breasts, with green beans and a cauliflower gratin. Yum!!!!!!

Flight Four

#1 A plethora of secondary aromas- mushroom, earth, smoke-but fruit (black currant and plum) is still vibrant, and there's a lovely hint of eucalyptus.

#2 Ripe, long, cedar and cigarbox, not big, but elegant and long.

#1 1977 Heitz Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (John got it as Martha's on second guess). A-

#2 1978 Palmer (Margaux) A-

Nice way to end. After dessert, group broke up quite satisfied. Thanks to Jacques for a great night hosting (I'm up next, the bar is set high!).

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency

[Jenise]

What a line up. Is this typical of your group, that the host provides all the wines?

Dale-

Sounds like a great evening, thanks for posting.

I have had bottles of the Lynch 1985 that I believe were cellared together since release that have been fairly different. That said, I have not previously heard of this wine being particularly susceptible to bottle variation.

Matt

Jenise,
when we started this group, we debated how to (a) make things fair, as cellars ranged from 25 years collecting and thousands of bottles, to new and 30 bottles, (b) have double blind tastings that were coherent, and (c) have a good time.

We hashed out ideas at a BYO dinner. Figured out re guests, bottle limits (suburbs mean we drive), food etc.

So the way it works is host decides budget. He/she can source from his/her cellar, or buy things specifically for tasting. We divide evenly (there's a $150 pp max).

Specifically made it clear that things are based on current value, as otherwise its unfair to older collectors. But reality is that pretty much everyone goes well over their budget, using acquistion cost rather than current. Certainly couldn't replace everything last night for what we chipped in.

The best part about this method is that host can plan a meal based on pairings, and at the same time it can be totally blind for the rest of us.

Matt,
I've seen a fair amount of variation in the '85 Lynch, but not so much as to be remarkable. But two others last night felt they had seen a lot. Assuming more than normal, I'd suspect that bottles were traded more than wines that didn't get WOTY. Of course, one conspiracy theorist wondered if some Haut Bages Averous got relabeled or '86 blended in after the WS award. I THINK he was joking.

Dale, that is a remarkable way to put together tastings/dinners. How long has your group been run this way?

It is a great format to kick around with some folks in our area who are thinking of "institutionalizing" an informal tasting group.

It's a reasonably new group, 1.5 to 2 years. We aim for monthly, but sometimes (especially in summer) it goes longer. We also factor in a holiday party (w/spouses, excellent Chinese restaurant, serious Champagnes) and one BYO anniversary party.

Of course, any plan has potential for abuse. I think Mark (instigator) was very careful re who he initially invited. So far worst any host has done is go overboard!

Thanks, Dale, very helpful. I'll float the idea, but I'm not sure we know each other well enough to emulate your example.

REgards, Bob

Dale - I am always curious as to how people organize tastings. Here on LI, we either meet in a restaurant with a big group, or have small dinners at home with 6-8 people and we always include spouses or SOs, making it a very social gathering, but it limits the number of geeky people (not necessarily a bad thing). There are times I would like to include more people at home, but my diningroom table is uncomfortable with more than 8. I do see a new table in the not too distant future just for this reason.

With your particular tasting group, is it arranged as a sit down dinner, with the host doing the cooking, and how many people are in this group?

Diane,
Yes, it has always been a sitdown dinner, with 2-3 courses. Pretty seriously geeky, so need table for multiple glasses. We started with 8, added one to make nine. Host can also invite one person (or more if there are cancels). If I put 2nd leaf in my dining table, I can seat 10, but kind of hope there's one cancel for my turn hosting, as small dining room gets really crowded with that leaf (someone is basically in doorway). With 8 I'm fine.

This is the most formally organized of my 3 semi-regular tasting groups. I also have:

1) local Dobbs Ferry group. Mostly European, though we just added another US guy to make count 3 US/2 French/1 Belgian/1 German. No one is as geeky as me, though most have cellars. Doesn't usually include dinner, we typically sit around outside if weather permits, host does cheese and charcuterie, we each just bring a blind bottle on theme, no coordination.

2) a semi-regular mostly Bordeaux group. We meet in city, at corkage friendly restaurants. Usually not blind, and usually wines are coordinated around a theme (a vertical or horizontal, or maybe a sampling of an appellation). Not a set group, the organizers tend to send out an email to a group who haven't proven themselves "not #$@holes." So far I have managed to somehow keep on invite list. As a bit of a bottom feeder I often don't have bottles that equal some others, so tend to bring a couple of mid-level bottles (and/or a starter in addition to my red Bordeaux contribution).

Plus of course true offlines, designed as one time thing.

Each has its strengths. Of course, who is invited is the best predictor of outcomes. I'm privileged that all my groups tend to have mostly good folk.

Dale,
Can you tell me more about how the squash soup was prepared and served with the duck confit?

Dale,
Can you tell me more about how the squash soup was prepared and served with the duck confit?

Howard, it was a nice rather typical rendition of a butternut squash soup: cream, onion, I would guess a little ginger and nutmeg. Maybe apple? Creamy, sweet without being too much. And he just put warmed shredded duck leg in each bowl. Never thought of doing this, but it was delicious.

Howard,

I sauteed some garlic and ginger in butter and added chunks of butternut squash and water (not chicken stock). Salt pepper and pureed the whole thing. Nothing else, no nutmeg, cinnamon, cream or apples. I put some duck confit in each soup bowl and added the soup.

Sounds incredibly elegant. This is one of those excellent examples of how simple is often very very creative. I love duck confit and am always looking for new ways to use it. This is definitely going to happen here a chez roth. Thanks

Thanks for the tasting notes. I love 85 Lunch-Bags. Unfortunately I drank all mine up years ago. Glad to hear it's still alive and kicking.

-Paul W.