Last night SOBER (Several Oenophiles Being Extremely Rambunctious) met at Cathleen's house. Cathleen and her husband Steve did a fantastic job of hosting, while we went through a vertical of Haut-Brion.
Forecast was for snow, so we were eager to get started. Tim and I arrived a little early; while we waited for the others Cathleen offered us a couple of Champagnes:
1993 Roederer Cristal
A bit heavy and pondersome, slight oxidative notes and surprisingly short for a tete de cuvee. This isn't my style of Champagne (I prefer the lighter styles), but even allowing for my tastes I felt this was a less than thrilling bottle (I'm not a Krug fan, but can see what others see). Someone calls this "coarse", and I agree. C+
1993 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne
Ah, this is more like it (stylistically and qualitively). Lovely, with fresh dough aromas over a solid body of citrus and apple fruit. Plenty of body, yet very light on its feet. Elegant and long, great Champagne. A-/A
We munched on delicious onion tarts, a salmon spread, and nuts as the first round of Haut-Brion made its round. My grading had to get tightened up for this evening, as almost everything would have been in A-/A range on my normal scale.
1998 Ch. Haut-Brion (Pessac-Leognan)
Really young, but herby and rich. Good acidity, firm tannins. Others found it very closed, I thought fairly open at first, though it seemed to tighten. A B+ for now, but with loads of potential.
1996 Ch. Haut-Brion (Pessac-Leognan)
Now this one was tight (much more than one at Mark's a few months back, which maybe was decanted more). Not a lot of fruit poking through, I mostly got impressions of oak and tannins, but sure this will emerge beautifully. B for tonight
1995 Ch. Haut-Brion (Pessac-Leognan)
Very open in comparison to its flightmates, rich dark fruit with an herby/minty note. With a little time in glass a real cornucopia of aromas emerge- meat, mineral, and cigarbox dominate. Very good length, apparent but fine tannins, lovely. My surprise #2 of the night. A-
We moved onto a lovely cauliflower soup with proscuitto, and
1994 Ch. Haut-Brion (Pessac-Leognan)
Quite good. Nice fruit, some uncured tobacco and cedar aromas. Excellent for the vintage, I really liked, but it was totally overshadowed by its flightmate. B+/B
1990 Ch. Haut-Brion (Pessac-Leognan)
And what a flightmate. Rich, rich, rich. Big, ripe, open, and complex. Red and black currant fruit, with enough tobacco and cedar aromas to challenge a nice humidor. A later pour was maybe even better, deep fruit mixed with freshly turned earth. WOTN for me and for group. Solid A
A lovely leg of lamb arrived, along with green beans and an excellent mushroom risotto
1985 Ch. Haut-Brion (Graves)
Red and lush, texturally this reminded me of a Pomerol. Very minerally, more uncured tobacco leaf, I like. My #3 of evening A-/B+
1982 Ch. Haut-Brion (Graves)
Blacker fruit than some other, rather muscular and meaty. Still young for my tastes. My #4. A-/B+
An amazing array of cheeses
1978 Ch. Haut-Brion (Graves)
Most controversial wine of the night. Several felt it was slightly corked. I'm not the most TCA-sensitive in the world, but usually get it if others point out- I don't this time. There is a funny green must on the nose,but its not mildewy, and the palate shows plenty of fruit and length- nothing clipped as I expect from a corked wine. Some cigar and mineral. I didn't think the fruit was a lush/deep as my favored vintages, but didn't think this a flawed wine. B
1975 Ch. Haut-Brion (Graves)
This was showing that '75 hardness, a nice blend of dark fruit, earth, and smoke. But there is a little hint of green, and I thought the tannins a half-step ahead of the fruit. B
1971 Ch. Haut-Brion (Graves)
Soft and mature, I felt this was really good but maybe not quite as fresh/young as a bottle Mark had opened a few months ago. Lots of earth, leather, good finish. B+/A-
On a 4/3/2/1 vote, group favorites were:
1990 21 pts
82 13 pts
85 12 pt
71 8 pts
I liked the '95 far more than others, but the general level was so high it's just quibbling to argue. Not a wine I wouldn't have been happy to serveat my table.
Oh yes, there was also a bottle of the 1977 Taylor-Fladgate Vintage Port.
Great combo with the blue cheese, but I think my palate was shot overall by this point. Nice dark fruit, some dried fig and date, a bit of spice, but I found just too hot for me. Others (far more knowledgable about Port) declared it great, but I was driving and most of my pour went into dump bucket. B/B+
Really great night- the people, the food, the wine. Thanks to Cathleen for organizing and hosting, Steve for cooking/hosting, and Mark and John for helping source.
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.
(You were faster than I was...)