Met up with Bernie and Noel last Monday for some discussions on International Wine and Food Society business. Quickly got that out of the way and proceeded to a Peking Duck takeout dinner with a couple of reds. None of the wines really worked for me with the duck as the sweet sauce clashed. I would have preferred maybe a Spatlese. Bernie insisted he had one on hand but a search in the various Eurocavs couldn't turn one up.
Chateau Palmer 1990 - Lovely floral, Margaux nose. A bit woodsy on the palate with sweet spices. Started out rather well, soft tannins, fine structure. Started falling apart after 20 minutes in the decanter. Preserved Chinese plums, acidic finish. Too bad it didn't last.
Chateau Angelus 1999 - Good nose. Tobacco, coffee. Very meaty, rather foursquare wine. Soft tannins and good to drink now although judging by the fact that it hardly changed over the 4 hours or so it was open, I don't think there's any hurry to drink it up.
Domaine de la Romanee-Conti La Tache 1994 - Not content with the Bordeauxs, this was produced. Much anticipation here but unfortunately it was a dud. Nice enough on the nose but nothing special. Strange, muddy aspect to the rather dull color. Perhaps a bad bottle? Very green on the palate with strong, unpleasant acidity on the finish. Such a shame.
There was lots of other stuff opened. A dead Ostertag, an Ehrenfelser from Canada, a fine Clos de la Marechale from Mugnier and a white Grand Cru burg I can no longer recall.