Bordeaux vs California (plus some more bubbles)

Busy night last night... Several bottles of 2001 Pille Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru "Morgeots" - this was a very interesting wine as the nose was quite oxidative, but the palate was fresh and minerally showing little of the oxidation that was so prevalent at first! Weird... But very good. Reminded me of Jobard's Meursault "En la Barre", with less nuttiness. Also 1997 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Simply an amazing wine - for all the wrong reasons. In California we had a magnum of 1992 BPRCS that was spectacular. The nose on the 1997 was open at first, then completely fell apart after 90 minutes. By the time we tried it at the end of the evening, the wine had no fruit, no delicacy, nothing. The wine was dead. If 1997 was supposed to be such a spectacular year, why is it that the 1996's, 1995's, 1994's, etc are all drinking very well right now, but the 1997s are dying very quickly. Let's just say I'm glad I don't have a single bottle of 1997 California Cab in my cellar. Compared to the 1998 Chateau Sociando-Mallet, Haut-Medoc, Cru Bourgeois it was simply lackluster. And the Sociando-Mallet wasn't a great bottle either... it was just much better than the BPRCS. Some nice earth with coffee-bean and cassis on the nose furthered by a softness on the palate. Not harsh, nor overly tannic, this wine was very pretty. Nothing to blow me away, but a wine I wouldn't mind drinking. The best red of the night was the 1996 Chateau Lynch Moussas, 5th Growth, Pauillac. It was like smelling a tobacco leaf - with some nice hints of black currant, pencil lead, and just starting to show a nice cedary component. The finish was pretty darn long, and this wine is much better now than the 86 points RP gave it. Great wine. Have a bit more to sell, and at the price we're selling it for, it's a steal. To round out the evening, we had a little toast with some 1997 Louis Roederer Cristal Brut. Now, I'm not a big fan of Cristal. It needs time to come around and it's usually drunk way, way, way too young. It was a nice Champagne, just not a great one. For the money, I'd take the 1990 Krug any day of the week.