Celebrate!

For the first time since R passed his Advanced Exam and since I passed mine, the group of us hard-nosed wine geeks got together to do some heavy celebrating... and celebrate we did. Hangover? Absolutely. Worth it? Without a doubt. There were a total of 6, plus J showed up at the end after work for a few minutes to taste through the wines. Here we go... Started off with a pure varietal Xarel-lo from the Penedes region of Spain. A nice, clean, slightly spicy, oaky white wine. Nice stuff - it goes into the odd-ball bin. Couldn't tell you the producer... I'll ask R. Had a bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte Brut (This is NOT Brut Champagne! It's not Brut!) to toast with! After the bubbles the heavy-hitters came out, and we tasted them all blind - a task that gets increasingly funnier and more difficult as the evening wears on (as alas, there is no spitting). First was a 1983 Dr. Thannisch Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spatlese, Mosel Saar-Ruwer. Guesses were Germany and Alsace, and settled on Alsace, due to the percieved lack of sugar. I've had this wine on several occasions, but never like this. The cork was slightly moldy and imparted a slightly off-odor into the wine. I decanted it and it made all the difference. Though slightly off-dry, this wine did not have the super-slate/petrol smell that usually comes in these great old Germans. It had tons of fruit - melons, green apples, etc. A great bottle of wine! To counter, D pulled out a 2000 Monbousquat Blanc. Now, I've had some great white Bordeaux, but 99.9% of it has been from Pessac-Leognan in Graves. This was a first. A white wine from St.-Emilion! This mostly Sauvignon-Blanc was huge. Tons of new oak - clove, cinnamon, vanilla (guesses were mostly confined to the old world, with Chardonnay being completely ruled out). This wine could have lasted for years... but after 15 minutes, we wanted RED! The first red of the evening? 1990 Trotanoy, Pomerol. This wine had the classic marking of right-bank Bordeaux and was quickly identified as a Pomerol from 1990. Cocoa and dark chocolate always brings me to Merlot, and the cedary-nose put it right into Bordeaux. A great wine. Was so young... Next was a great treat from T - 1983 Haut-Brion. I love Haut-Brion. It may not have the power of Latour nor the elegance of Margaux, but more often than not in blind tastings, I always put this at the top. It's just such a decadent wine! Guessed this one right on... but thought it was a 1990! Another guess of a 1990 was the 1989 Lynch-Bages, Pauillac. This was thought to be of the more tannic 1990 vintage, but was correctly guessed as a Pauillac. The power - the color. This wine was ink-black and beautiful! I can't wait to try it again in 10 years... it needs the time. After that came a nice closer to the Bordeaux reds of the evening... 1996 Ch. Palmer, Margaux. 1st, 5th, and now a 3rd(!). Way too young, this wine was tight and closed. Beautiful violet, the guesses started getting outlandish right now (Kekfrankos?), Fabulous structure. Another great wine. It was alas onto cake! And with the delicious cake... 1988 Ch. Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Sauternes (Bommes, as R pointed out, much impressing us all - it's amazing how clear the wine-induced mind becomes, if only about wine). Opened BEFORE the hurricane several weeks ago, this wine was simply incredible! The nose was so botrytis-layden it wasn't even funny. So beautifully balanced. An unbelievable wine! Ok, you can probably do the math at this point... 7 people, 9 bottles. That's a lot. But that's not all... You know how at the end of a really long, great-wine/great-friends evening you just start opening your really great bottles that you shouldn't open? Well... we did. But we should have opened them. I almost appreciated it more. 2001 Dom. Zind-Humbrecht Clos Saint Urbain Rangen Grand Cru Tokay Pinot Gris. For me, very possibly the wine of the night. A touch of sweetness, beautiful flowers, spices, melon, tropical fruits - it was lush, overpowering, but amazing balance and a huge finish. Glad we drank it. As a nightcap, we then opened one last bottle... 1987 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hills Cabernet Sauvingon. What a great way to end the night! Black and tannic, full of fruit and life. This was a tremendous wine! What a night... as we all said - we need to do this again soon! So the grand total - 11 bottles. It was worth it.