Here we go...

Sorry about the delays... been a busy few weeks. Last night, the 2001 Joseph Phelps Insignia was big and bold - a very extracted, full-throttle, Cabernet Sauvignon dominated blockbuster. Very intense... showing much better than the 2002 right now. Thursday night... the 1997 Jarvis Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon shows what a little restraint can do for a great wine. While I still completely feel that the 1997 Vintage in California could be the single most over-rated vintage ever, there are some wines that are still showing their stuff. This is one of them. Good extraction, but not over-the-top with alcohol. Lots of black fruits with hints of cedar and dried leaves. Soft, ripe tannins. Good, but drink them soon. From Tuesday, one wine that still has years and years left in it is the mind-boggling 1990 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne. Still the greatest Chardonnay I've ever had, this wine continues to evolve - slowly. Loads of butterscotch, honey, minerals, hazelnuts and lemon and a very long, intense finish. Beautiful!!! The 2002 Quintessa is as it's been the last few months - the best Quintessa made to date. I won't re-hash the same review. If you have these wines, drink them young! The 1986 Chateau Cos d'Estournel is showing beautifully. I've tasted this wine upwards of 10 times, but this was clearly the class of the bottles I've had. It took a good 45 minutes to open up, then showed notes of forest floor, cassis, dried leaves, black plum, and cedar. A classic St.-Estephe wine with the typical rustic character. A good wine, especially at 20 years of age! The 1982 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild is generally my least-favorite of all of the 1982 First Growths. While the wine is definitively Lafite with loads of cedar and cigar box, after an hour, this wine just sort of went "plonk" - and was gone! This bottle was not as good as many others I've had, but still... it just wasn't incredible. It was at first, with tremendous elegance and a long, long finish. But then the finish shortened up, the mid-palate went away and I was sort of dumbfounded. Nice to try it again though... In case you were wondering, of the "Great 7" red Bordeaux wines, here is how I rate them in the 1982 vintage... 1. Chateau Latour 2.Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 3.Chateau Cheval-Blanc 4.Chateau Petrus 5.Chateau Margaux 6.Chateau Haut-Brion 7.Chateau Lafite-Rothschild