Now that's better...

One of my all-time favorite bottles tonight... but first, one that certainly didn't make the list... the 2004 Pavillion Blanc du Chateau Margaux was (hopefully, at best) closed... at worst... not a very good Pavillion Blanc. Some light grapefruit notes, but really a hint of cheese (which could be expected, instead of the full-blown fromage one gets as these wines age), with some clove, lime zest, lemon rind and white flowers. There was just no depth to the nose or the palate... The 1999 Opus One was tired... all tannin, little fruit. Granted the bottle had been open 2 hours when I tried it... but still... this is Opus??? It's NOT cheap... The wine of the night and currently in a race for best wine of the year so far was the 1955 Chateau Haut-Brion. Tried many times (I'll have to get an exact count, but at least 6 or so) in the last few years, this wine was simply stunning. Like the others, pure bacon-fat, gravel-fed smoke. The palate is intense, yet elegant... this wine could be nothing other than Haut-Brion... and a great one at that.