WTN: '70 Latour and '90 Chave for the win (+other nice wine)

Our SOBER group had a reunion at Ibiza in Chappaqua. Not everyone could make it but a good core group of 6.

2002 Vilmart Cellier d’Or
Pear, brioche, and hazelnut, mature but not tired, long complex finish.B+/A-

Ham croquetas (luckily I still had some Vilmart) were soon followed by garlic shrimp, patatas bravas, octopus with smoked paprika

1986 Bernard Morey “ Les Embrazees” Chassagne Montrachet 1er
Rich ripe and tropical as befits vintage, could use some more acid,but holding on and having some character. One person said there was nothing there, no flavor, but I disagree. B

2002 Ampeau “Perrieres” Meursault 1er
Great showing, lovely and bright, apple and passion fruit, lemon zest, a touch of iodine. Good acids, long finish. A-

Pan tomate with ham and manchego

1975 Silver Oak Alexander Cabernet Sauvignon
When I picked up Mark he had me smell, his wife thought corked, I got no TCA just a bit of maderization but felt worth bringing. The maderization was there when poured, but a good core underneath, and it improved in glass. Redder fruit, pipe tobacco, resolved tannins. At end B/B+

1995 Drouhin Echezeaux
Apparently cork wasn’t in good shape on this one, madeira and prune on nose, flawed.

2000 Clos de la Tart
This showed quite well. Ripe raspberry, cherry, a touch of sandalwood, tangy finish. B+

Meat paella, and duck breast with polenta

1970 Ch. Latour
Great showing, and still room to grow! Cassis, black plum, walnut, cigarbox, long complex finish. Powerful and lovely. A-/A

1988 Ch. Lafite-Rothschild
Still showing young and with some tannic structure, but a nice package behind the tannins with dark fruit, cocoa, and soil tones. B+

1990 JL Chave Hermitage
Young , but compelling and classic. Grilled meat, dark berry fruit, campfire, keeps evolving with black olive,bacon and gamebird notes. Crunchy mineral finish, wonderful stuff. A-/A

Great night all around, but 2 legends lived up to their reps.


Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. 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.

Great notes as usual. The Ampeau was a surprise. Certainly right up there amongst the top wines of the night.
The Silver Oak ended up fine, but there was a touch of something off in the finish.

The Clos de Tart was good, and showed how friendly the 2000 vintage is. Not profound but a really nice bottle, slightly overshadowed by the wines that followed.

Although the Chave was poured on its own, and was the final wine, I will compare it to the Latour, as they were both brilliant and in their differences showed the near perfection of their styles

There is an apocryphal story of Richard the Lionhart meeting with the Saracan Commander, on one of our crusades.

The story goes that Richard pulled out his long sword, so heavy that’s only a knight of great strength could wield it. He brought it crashing down on a rock, breaking it in two. Saladin took his razor sharp scimitar, and cut a piece of cloth in two. Such was the contrast of the two wines. The Latour, a wine of immense power, and the delicate, extraordinary, beautiful Chave, a wine of subtlety and perfume.

I gave the nod to the Latour, purely because of how much it evolved, while the Chave changed little. But both wines would grace any dinner table.

The Lafite was complex and interesting, and had an austerity which I have found in many 1988s. A very, very good wine. Unlike Dale I have not had the chance to taste the vintage recently, but it certainly seemed to hold true of what I remember of them.

[David M. Bueker]

‘88 Lafite was the first “first” I ever tasted.

Memories!

Thanks for the notes on the 1990 Chave. I've so far managed to resist temptation and keep my grubby little hands off my stash. It showed a lot of promise when first released. It's good to hear it's followed through.

-Paul W.

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks for the notes on the 1990 Chave. I've so far managed to resist temptation and keep my grubby little hands off my stash. It showed a lot of promise when first released. It's good to hear it's followed through.

-Paul W.

What further magic are you expecting that 35 years of aging has yet to provide?

Heck of a lineup. That '90 Chave really is a special wine.

What further magic are you expecting that 35 years of aging has yet to provide?

Nothing. It's a matter of finding an appropriate special occasion meal to do the wine justice. I need to invent more special occasions.

-Paul W.

[David M. Bueker]

What further magic are you expecting that 35 years of aging has yet to provide?

Nothing. It's a matter of finding an appropriate special occasion meal to do the wine justice. I need to invent more special occasions.

-Paul W.

Tomorrow is the last 15th of the month of the year!

That's good enough for me. I'm not above practicing gratuitous Chave-enism.

-Paul W.