Short notes from last night's dinner with wine friends. Small pours as there were 13 pax and only 8 bottles (2 champagnes), but with such outstanding wines, even the small pours were enough to get a good sense of the wines.
Dom Perignon 1996 - still youthful, white chocolate and sourdough. Fresh lemon/apple and remarkably gentle acidity. What a joy to drink!
Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1989-Textbook Bordeaux. Pencil shavings, cigar box, sweet black fruit, very soft. Dangerously gulpable. In a very good place now. Outstanding.
Chateau Haut-Brion 1989-Is this even Bordeaux? Powerful, dense, very smoky, leather, mushroom, blackberry/blueberry confit, still a bit of tannin. What a contrast to the Lafite. Big wine but not overblown at all. No hurry to drink this up. Lives up to its awesome reputation.
Bertani Recioto della Valpolicella Amarone 1964-I was expecting something sweet but all the sweetness has gone from this bottle. Sour cherry, medium body, quite soft. Practically a perfect bottle. No way I would have guessed this was 60 years old.
Faustino I Rioja Gran Reserva 1964 - Very well preserved. Smoke and leather showing the age, but still a respectable amount of strawberry /cherry coming through.
Broadbent Madeira Bual 1964 - Already described in a previous note. Nuts, raisins, fruit cake, high acidity and a gentle sweetness. Amazing length.
Chateau Pajzos Tokaji Esszencia 1993 - Crammed with flavor, all the candied and dried fruit you can think of: pineapple, apricot, raisin, orange, peach, fig, etc., etc. Toffee, caramel, and honey. A little goes a long, long way. 13 people at dinner and we couldn't finish 500 ml. What a surreal experience to drink this. Immortal, superb,and perfect.