Now This Is Starting To Get Rediculous...

Mind you I'm not complaining... but seriously. I think I have the greatest occupation in the world... I can't say "job" because it often doesn't feel like real work. First, the 2003 Lewis Cellars Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is a mass of jammy black plums, black currants, and sweet glycerol. Beautiful, powerful, balanced wine. Great stuff... be on the lookout for this extremely hard-to-get item! The 2003 Schloss Johannisberg Riesling Auslese, Rheingau was out of this world... sweet, but not overdone. Tropical fruit and richness, but intense acid structure as well. Everything this great estate should bring... 2003 Patz & Hall Hyde Vineyard Pinot Noir, Carneros, California. Lots of people source grapes from this legendary vineyard in Carneros - but no one, at least as far as I've tasted, makes Pinot this rich and full from this cool-climate area. Geez... tastes like Russian River Valley! Great stuff, even if it needs a few years and the alcohol seemed a touch out of wack. The 2002 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon took hours to start to evolve... the first time I've tasted this vintage, though I've read lots and lots of rave reviews. At first, it was disjointed and unbalanced. After 5 hours, the wine had finally started to show it's signature softness... velvety with all of the classic St. Helena Cabernet flavors... how they get extraction and depth with such balance from a flat piece of vineyard - 2 blocks outside of St. Helena, I'll never know... Now, onto the reason I titled this what I did. "I'll have the 86 Cheval Blanc" - "well, I just had it yesterday and even though its quite a bit more, the 82 is superior" "great, lets do the 82"... The 1982 Chateau Cheval-Blanc was simply otherworldly. Other wines are more powerful. Other wines are deeper. Other wines are richer. But no wine... ah, no Bordeaux-varietal based wine - is as soft and seductive as Cheval Blanc. The 1982 is pure finesse with hints of power on the elegant, sweet finish. AND IT'S STILL A BABY!!! 3 hours after decanting, this wine finally began to reveal it's classic intense cedar nose, with black plums, truffles, and black earth. So sweet, soft, and sexy. It's like wrapping your tongue in silk. I do think that this wine is still a touch closed and will blossom once again, if it's not just in the early stages already. Clearly better than the 1986 yesterday, this is the essence of wine.... and it's only getting better. Is this better than the 82 Mouton or the 82 Latour? I don't know, it's just a completely different species... Stunning...