WTN: St Julien at Smith & Wollenskys

Our city Bordeaux group gathered at Smith & Wollensky for a St. Julien dinner. There were 8 of us, so perfect for a cool table in an alcove with one glass wall facing the kitchen. I could hear everyone at the table!

2008 Dom Perignon
Showing well, red and green apple, citrus zest, herby notes. Elegant mousse, long finish. Not usually a huge DP fan but liked this a lot. A-/B+

2012 Nowack La Tuilerie LV
And at first I wasn’t enthusiastic about this (some others were). Herby, leesy (LV is a synonym for RD), funky, but with air it brightened and cleaned up, becoming more citrusy and spicy. A revisit with onion rings were very good. A-/B+

2012 Fichet Le Tesson Meursault
A bit tight at first, opens up with citrus and hazelnut and a floral finish. Pretty young and holding well, though at end there is a mature butterscotch edge. B+

I had a wedge salad to start, others enjoyed crab cocktail, crab cakes, tuna tartare.

2000 Ch. Leoville Poyferre
Rich, primary/fruit driven, some vanilla accenting the blackcurrant and blackberry, needs time, somewhat midmodern style. B/B+

2000 Ch, Gruaud-Larose
Young, tannic, a bit tight, cassis and a hint of kirsch, a little tobacco. Needs time. B

1996 Ch. Leoville Las Cases
I thought the conversation was funny because the big LLC fans were a little disappointed (“lean”) while a couple of us who aren’t big LLC guys enjoyed it. Not the monolith that LLC can be, but reasonable black plum and currant fruit with some incipient cigarbox and a nice graphite note. B+

Here come the steaks (I had a bone in filet) with onion rings, hash browns, sauteed spinach, creamed spinach, mushrooms. All tasty. And they comped us some very nice veal parmigiana

1986 Ch. Talbot
Really lovely, complex and long, with black cherry, tobacco, spearmint, saddle leather. Plenty of power here but also refined. A-

1986 Ch, Gruaud-Larose
This can be a great wine, but not when corked!

1982 Ch. Leoville Poyferre
Resolved tannins, red and black cherry, mocha, cigar ash. Clean and long. A couple people thought a little tired, but I thought fine, just challenged by the great showings of the other ‘82s. B+

1982 Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou
Black cherry and cassis, a walnut note, cigar humidor, still some structure but easy to drink. Long, delicious, and no hurry. A-

1982 Ch, Gruaud-Larose
Great showing of an old fave. Cassis, black plum, truffle, some leather but no overt brett, powerful and long. A particularly good bottle of a great wine. A-/A

Group voting
82 Gruaud 22
86 Talbot 11
82 Ducru 10
00 Gruaud 1
Dom 3 (even though we’re only supposed to vote on the St Juliens)

Fun night, great food and wine, better crowd. I headed out early to catch a train so missed out on tour of kitchen, wine cellar, and meat lockers.

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 the only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

[David M. Bueker]

That looks like fun, though it has me rethinking my 2000 Horizontal that I was going to do in the fall. Too soon?

What a great-sounding evening, Dale! I've had the '82 and '86 Gruaud and agree about the greatness of both. What shame that the '86 was corked, but good to hear that the "Cordier funk" was in check with the '82.

Jay was commenting how both the 86 Talbot and 82 Gruaud were less bretty than he remembered from 10-15 years ago. Of course brett can vary bottle to bottle. Never really objected to the Cordier funk myself, though other strains of brett can bother me,

Jay was commenting how both the 86 Talbot and 82 Gruaud were less bretty than he remembered from 10-15 years ago. Of course brett can vary bottle to bottle. Never really objected to the Cordier funk myself, though other strains of brett can bother me,

Yeah, as we've discussed before, there are multiple strains of Brett, some much less pleasant than others. The poopy diaper strain of Brett I feel is universally disliked, and fortunately extremely rare in the wines that I drink, whereas the Band-Aid and meaty strains of Brett I can tolerate quite easily. And of course storage conditions play a huge role, as well.

Count me as an actual fan of the Cordier funk!

I recently scored some pristine-looking 82 Gruauds (a wine I’ve had only twice), sounds like the good bottles are still in form.

Very useful notes - I have been waiting on the 86s for years now, uncertain as to when they would hit prime time - have a half case each of the Talbot and Gruaud I haven't touched - they were hard as nails when I tasted them as barrel samples back just before release. Sounds like they are coming around!

Very useful notes - I have been waiting on the 86s for years now, uncertain as to when they would hit prime time - have a half case each of the Talbot and Gruaud I haven't touched - they were hard as nails when I tasted them as barrel samples back just before release. Sounds like they are coming around!

Yeah, to me, '86 is a more or less a repeat of '75: structure out the wazoo that requires decades to resolve. The tannins aren't as green as in '75, though.

But eventually they came around, 1975 RB have been drinking well for 20-25 years, and recently most Medoc too. We did a big 1975 tasting last year and almost everything showed well (except I wasn't a fan of the LLC, which unfortunately I think I own).