At a blind Bordeaux tasting:
2011 Château La Louvière Blanc Pessac-Léognan Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend
First comment "This is serious shit." Cat pee, gooseberry, citrus basket, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaf. Vivid palate presence, long finish. Great now, but wouldn't hesitate to hold this to its tenth birthday.
2013 Château Pape Clément Blanc Pessac-Léognan Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend
Pleasing yellow color. Cheesy nose, big body, loads of minerality, incredible flavor and mouthfeel--I am not nearly doing this justice. The blend is 44% Sauv Bl, 37% Sem, 33% Saint Gris, and apparently price was about $140. You could taste it.
2015 Château Guiraud Le G Bordeaux Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend
Riper than the Louviere, and not as other-worldly as the Pape-Clement, but at $22ish retail the value is terrific. Substantial body. Demands your attention with oily texture, chestnuts, hay and kaffir lime. I'm going to order some.
2015 Michel Lynch Sauvignon Blanc Bordeaux
From the owner of Lynch Bage. Yellow plum, nutty, fresh cement, waxy, very pleasant, drinks more like a '12 than '15, there's something mature in the flavors.
NV Jaillance Crémant de Bordeaux Cuvée de l'Abbaye Sémillon
Mainly semillon but mixed with cab franc. Very minerally, tangerine jelly belly, yeast, Macintosh apple. Stupid good for $15 retail.
From another event:
2013 Henri de Villamont Auxey-Duresses La Canée Chardonnay
Tart nose, quatre spice, touch of volatility. By itself odd but strangely terrific with smoked salmon canapes.
2014 Kristin et Jan Fredrik Borge Saint-Aubin 1er Cru En Montceau Chardonnay
Nose of apples and clean laundry on a sunny day. Balanced and intruiguing.
2014 Domaine Boyer-Gontard Auxey-Duresses Les Ruchottes Chardonnay
Pretty, restrained fruit that seems more hidden than not there at all. Give it time.
2013 Baileyana Chardonnay La Pristina Edna Valley
Someone slipped this into a white burg tasting. Didn't pass! Aromatic but alcoholic nose, sweet fruit and oak. Gobby.
And then the other night Bob and I, disheartened over our idiot president's provocations to North Korea and in a why-save-it-we're-all-doomed mood, decided to drown our fears in this which had been resting in the kitchen cooler for some time:
2006 Dom Perignon Champagne Champagne Blend
Lemon-curd and choux pastry with cassia bark and dried orange peel. Light and bright compared to the bigger and more advanced 05 we had a few weeks ago. Lots of evolving to do yet.