TN: 1990 Cos D'Estournel

[tjaehnigen]

This was tasted at the JohnnyB (Vinocellar) offline dinner during the Cassoulet course (June 2003). Tasted out of Riedel Sommelier stems.

This was one heckuva wine. The nose was outrageous. Blueberries and plums. Plenty of that and more sweet fruits wrapped in well-integrated, but very there tannins. Some nice charcoal was there too. Great finish. I could have drunk this all night. Paired quite well with the cassoulet, too. The color was not as vibrant as a younger wine, but also showed no signs of fading really in the slightest. This wine will probably be very, very drinkable for years to come.

Also, my TN descriptors are an amalgam of all of us who drank the juice.

I forget what JohnnyB said this one rated, but I'd give it easily 94 points, and these are my newer & tougher TJ ratings points, supposedly.

[Stone]

I had this at French Laundry back in May. I loved it -- but unfortunately was a bit under the weather to really appreciate it. My companion, a wine person, described it as "outhouse flavor", which she meant as a great compliment.

It has a terrific mouthfeel -- like a smell of warm fresh dirt, almost grainy. Thin going down, with great aroma on the backend.