Last Night- First

I promise I'll get to my trip today at some point... between watching golf and cooking a good dinner tonight, I should be ok... Last night has two beauties...

The 2001 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Grands Echezeaux was so pretty - earthy, but refined with wild raspberry, strawberries and loads of Rhubard and clove with baked cinnamon. An exceptionally long finish for this slightly closed wine (better on the nose than in the mouth, honestly...) The 2001s are still some of the most underrated Burgundies I've ever come across... The wine of the night, and one of the greatest wines I've ever tasted was the 1955 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. I've had this wine now 4 or 5 times, but this bottle was different than the others. It was monumental. I will note that I do have a question as to whether the bottle was recorked at some point, as the capsule was in very good shape, and the wine was youthful (far different than some of my other experiences with this wine) and displayed tremendous amounts of fruit... I'll have to try it again to be sure (smile). Loaded with the classic Lafite nose of cedary-tobacco-pencil lead and cassis, always (to me) the most expressive and elegant on the nose of the first growths. Dried earth with clove and a slight hint of black olive. In the mouth, it was one of the most extraordinary bottles I've ever tasted. Exceptionally long with such class and elegance, this wine could be nothing other than Lafite from an exceptional vintage. The tobacco and cigar box gave way to sweet black currants and cassis with hints of pencil lead on the finish... the wine just completely coated my palate and made me weak in the knees. Just hints of power - but mostly pure, refined elegance - just as she should be. All of this from someone who ranks Lafite as his 4th favorite of the 5 first Growths, and 7th out of the Great 8 (including Ausone, Petrus, and Cheval-Blanc), with only Mouton behind it. I'll recap my order though... 1. Latour 2. Cheval-Blanc 3. Haut-Brion 4. Margaux 5. Petrus 6. Ausone 7. Lafite 8. Mouton. A top 10 wine? Definitely, and one of the 5 best this year so far...