At last, I hit ol' 53, benefits being that our little family opens the cellar to let each of us pick anything special to accompany dinner.
1985 Verset Cornas
My brother Greg's choice and I'm not complaining. At all. Served with Dawn's roast hen with stuffing of cranberry, mushroom and quinoa. The nose roars open with camphor, hot copper, hickory smoke, nutmeg, raspberry, old leather coat, thyme, old VW beetle horsehar seat stuffing, then apples. I could nurse this along forever just for the aroma, but we do eventually polish it off before midnight. What a bulldog this is. Bottle #4 of 4, for $13.95 from the cold room at Larry's, Seattle circa 1991.
1983 Guigal Cote Rotie La Mouline
My choice, served with my potage, a carrot-barley-beef shank. Let the wine speak. We probably could have served this first. A nice greyhound-like counterpoint to the Verset, here it's the mouthfeel featured, which is all I ever want from the La Mouline bottling. The nose is always a nice bonus, tonight it's picking up the bay leaf from the soup nicely. There's a balance, a harmony , and a long finish. A superb wine of decaying delicacy, probably evolved a bit past what most tasters prefer in C-R. My style entirely. Bottle #1 of 1 for $67.99, from The Wine House, Los Angeles circa 1990.
1996 Pol Roger Brut Chardonnay
Dawn's choice, served with Greg's dish of Carmello's French loaf, figs and piece of St Nectaire. This is still very young stuff, a tangy devil that could use more time open and be a bit warmer. A freshening cool breeze moves us back to the house; this bottle warms up a bit and relaxes - as do we.
Life is good. My birthday present is a surprise, receiving renewed license to ummm, refresh the cellar with an occasional treasure. I guess I'll see you all on David Bueker's Wine Probation thread if restraint is not balanced with the enthusiasm.