Sunday Night Wine Club

[GordonCooks]

Our Sunday night wine club was rather exceptional this week. We decided to go a little above and beyond this week and everyone rose to the occasion quite nicely.

The Wines

1970 Chateau Beychevelle

1986 Chateau La Mission Haut Brion

1989 Chateau Montrose

1995 Caymus Special Select

1997 Ridge Montebello

1997 Ridge Zinfandel Pagani Ranch

1999 Rosemount McLaren Vale Balmoral

1999 Mercier

The Menu

Assorted Mild cheeses and crostini

Platters of

Grilled Duck Breast

Rack of Lamb

Aged NY Strips

Potato Puree w Demi-Jus

We pretty much drank what you saw in reverse order. The Mercier was provided by a relative of Michael Mercier – I had never had it before. I’ll just try to give some brief notes on each.

1999 Rosemount McLaren Vale Balmoral:

Light nose but packed with spicy fruit and licorice. I love to lay some of this down for 5-6 years

1999 Mercier Merlot:

Balanced but a little thin. Good Fruit but thin tannins

1997 Ridge Montebello: Very Firm Tannins. Tart fruit, cigar box nose, could use a year or two to round out.

1997 Ridge Zin Pagani Ranch: Good Tannins, Lush berries, round and ripe body. Drink it now

1995 Caymus Special Select: A whole lot going on here – Herby, leathery, chocolately, loads of cherry & raisin. Long, lingering finish. Superb. Better than the 1994.

1989 Chateau Montrose: Decanted an hour before – Still was tight, but what flavor. Very earthy nose. Thick and lush layers of fruit and very firm tannins. A powerhouse that needs another 3-5 years to lay down.

1986 Chateau La Mission Haut Brion: Decanted – Round, Ripe, and Luscious. Elegant finish. The most balanced of the wines in terms of fruit and velvety tannins

1970 Chateau Beychevelle: It was upright for a good 3-4 days in my cellar. Decanted 2 hours previous and decanted again before serving. Soft, supple tannins with nice fruit. A little thin when compared to the others. Would have benefited from a good 12-24 hours in a decanter. I would have enjoyed it much more if I had drank it before the others

The OWNER/proprietor of the restaurant we frequent (and original Wine Club member), Don Murphy

PS - we only drank a small portion of each bottle. The remainders were poured into a garbage can for mulled sangria.