I failed in my attempt to attach a pic of the empties via Photobucket!
The Léoville-Poyferré was my wine of the year to date with only 3 days of 2018 left. The corked Faiveley Nuits St.Georges ’93 was a big disappointment because the previous untainted bottle a couple of years ago was excellent.
1982 Château Léoville Poyferré - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (12/23/2018)
I originally had a half dozen of this wine. Before opening this bottle there were only 2 left but I can't find any prior TNs. I recall a succession of beautiful bottles but I think this the best. Lovely in bouquet on the nose and on the palate but hard to describe. Medium+ bodied with depth, silky texture, seamless and perfectly integrated mature fruit with a slightly sweet graciousness only found in the 20th century in "great" vintages accompanied by fine minerals, a hint of forestal greenness, still fresh moreish acidity and a long quite firm finish. This wine is restrained but harmonious in the manner of a Bach partita with a touch of Mozartian sensuous elegance. I think plenty of life left in it but, so good now, why wait? Great.
NV Sadi Malot Champagne Villers-Marmery Premier Cru Brut - France, Champagne (12/25/2018)
Though Christmas, it was more a reposeful occasion than previously and I formed a better impression of this Blanc de Blancs. As my last TN says, not bone dry with a creamy texture but the fruit was lively and attractive supported by some underlying roundness, fine minerals and fresh acidity. An excellent starter with zakouskis particularly for company which might not appreciate the sharpness of focus and tension of a brut zero. I'll buy again. Good+.
NV Louis Roederer Champagne Brut Premier - France, Champagne (12/25/2018)
The contrast with the preceding B de B was quite striking. There was definitely more body and backbone here and it seemed drier. Robustly elegant with rich fruit but perhaps a tad too dry to be ideal with foie gras. Very good.
1996 Gérard Seguin Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru (12/26/2018)
I forgot to leave a decent glassful for myself when serving this bottle so my impressions were confined to the first small trial sip and to a later pour from the bottom of the bottle containing a lot of sediment. The cork was difficult to extract and very dry and my first impression was of wine tighter and less expressive than previous bottles. The subsequent pour was more open but hardly lived up to my notes on the two previous bottles. However a lot of satisfaction was expressed round the table so I obviously short-changed myself. Very good as far as I could tell.
1993 Faiveley Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Aux Chaignots - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru (12/25/2018)
Corked
1999 La Pousse d'Or Volnay 1er Cru Clos des 60 Ouvrées - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru (12/25/2018)
This was a substitute for a corked Nuits St.Georges and arrived on the table a cellar temperature. Nevertheless it put on a fine performance when gently warmed to about 16°C in one's hands. More robust and structured than the preceding Lavaux-St.Jacques (not what one would expect from caricatures of the respective appellations!), it showed quite intense berry fruit, earthy minerals, fresh acidity, hints of liquorice and still quite firm tannic backbone. At the beginning of its prime, I think, with a lot more life left. Very good.
NV Mas Amiel Maury 15 Ans d'Âge - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Maury (12/25/2018)
I was expecting that the year's maturing in large glass containers in the open air followed by 12 years in large barrels would produce a quite pale and ethereal wine like a good tawny port or some vieux Rivesaltes. So I was surprised by its colour of a ruby core and a tawny rim and by the robustness of its juicily sweet red fruit and its structure. Towards the finish the fruit did veer in flavour in the candied direction but there was little sensation of rancio and there was lively acidity to offset the sweetness as well as a spice notes and quite a lot of complexity. It was a perfect pairing to Stilton cheese and surprisingly rather less so with chocolate covered buche de Noël but that may have been partly due by that time to excessive warming in the dining room which spoilt the wine's balance. Excellent.
Retasted next day, there was much more rancio showing and the fruit was more candied. Still delicious but in a different way.
2004 Domaine de l'Oratoire St Martin Côtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne Cuvée Prestige - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne (12/26/2018)
The fruit is clearly fading by now but the wine still remains quite appealing with dark complexion, rose aromas and a touch of attractive bitterness on the finish. Still good but drink up any remaining bottles.
Posted from CellarTracker
. The preceding 11 bottles, once adequately mature, were excellent, especially in view of the vintage's mediocre reputation in Bordeaux.