Monday night, February 27th, I had the priveledge of attending a wonderful tasting with MikeB and PURPLE. Our dinner was at York Street in Dallas, TX. Normally they are closed on Monday but our group contracted with them to open for the evening just for us. We had an excellent seven course dinner created just for use including:

Dinner

• House-smoked organic French trout. Pink beets, crisp apple, endives.
• Summerfield farms lamb tongue. EVOO, mashed chick peas.
• Carmalized onion risotto. Egg drop & red dandelion.
• Slow roast natural chicken. Kabocha mash, fois gras monte, natural jus.
• Pepper roast buffalo & spice roast venison duet. Truffle-y parsnip sauce, braised red cabbage.
• Warm manchego cheese puffs, butler passed.
• Piedmontese hazelnut semi freddo. Bittersweet chocolate.

Wine theme for this dinner was “1990 or older Bordeaux”. All of the wines were good to excellent across the boards, not a bad bottle in the entire lot. Here are the wines:

Wines

Openers:
N.V. Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Champagne
2000 Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte Pessac-Léognan White

1990 and older Bordeaux Tasting:
1972 Château Duhart Milon Rothschild Pauillac
1982 Château du Cayrou Cahors
1982 Château Prieuré-Lichine Margaux
1982 Château Beychevelle St.-Julien
1988 Château Beychevelle St.-Julien
1982 Château Léoville Las Cases St.-Julien
1989 Château Léoville Las Cases St.-Julien
1982 Château Lynch-Bages Pauillac
1988 Château Lynch-Bages Pauillac
1990 Château Lynch-Bages Pauillac
1988 Château Pape Clément Pessac-Léognan
1983 Château Rieussec Sauternes

Blind bottle and Bonus Sweet Wine:
1990 Ridge Monte Bello Santa Cruz Mountains
1999 Philippe Delesvaux Coteaux du Layon Sélection de Grains Nobles

Tasting Notes
N.V. Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Champagne
WIML86,NOWA,~WS86-89

Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in restaurant provided Champagne flutes. Light yellow color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of yellow apple and citrus fruits. Flavors of citrus fruits and almonds. OK on a QPR basis. Drink now.

2000 Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte Pessac-Léognan White
WIML88,WA87,WS92

Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Yellow color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Oily nose of citrus, marshmallow and melted candle wax. Flavors of apple, whetstone and light lemon notes. Decent wine but not my cup of tea. Drink over the next few years.

1972 Château Duhart Milon Rothschild Pauillac
WIML86,NOWA,NOWS

Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Dusty rose color in the glass, slightly amber miniscuous. Nose of bell peppers, rose petals and a tiny bit of button mushrooms. Flavors of tart red cherries, cranberries and a little earth on the finish. This wine is certainly past its’ prime but not dead yet. Drink up now.

1982 Château du Cayrou Cahors
WIML87,NOWA,NOWS

Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Ruby color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of leather, blackberry, black cherry and fennel. Straightforward flavors of Bing cherry with some earthiness on the finish. Still fairly firm tannins with decent acidity. Recently received direct from the Chateau with impeccable provenance. Interesting for a Cru Bourgeois.

1982 Château Prieuré-Lichine Margaux
WIML87,~WA74-79,~WS83-89

Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Dark ruby color, clear hue throughout. Nose of crushed black cherries, granite, tar and kirsch. Flavors of black cherry, bitters and kirsch. Drink now.

1982 Château Beychevelle St.-Julien
WIML92,WA92,~WS88-89

Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of thistle, meat, mint and bell pepper. Flavors of black cherry, graphite and a touch of anise. Good overall balance. Drinking really well right now, almost impressive. Should hold for another 5-7 years fairly easily in my opinion.

1988 Château Beychevelle St.-Julien
WIML89,WA84,~WS90-93

Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of green bell peppers, leather, potpourri and some kirsch. Flavors of black cherry, bitters and a little green pepper or such. Drink now.

1982 Château Léoville Las Cases St.-Julien
WIML98,WA100,~WS92-98

Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of bell peppers, saddle soap, fennel and cassis. Flavors of red cherry, currant and minerals. Soft and supple the palate, solid tannins and palate pleasing acidity. Solid, solid finish. A very impressive effort and I believe my favorite red wine of the evening. Drink now or hold if you’d like for a long, long time.

1989 Château Léoville Las Cases St.-Julien
WIML93,~WA91-95,~WS90-96

Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Muted nose that gave way to a little leather and some black fruit notes. Flavors black cherries, black berries and a bit of earth on the finish. Firm tannins and good acidity combined with the slightly muted nose tell me to hold this one for a while longer before trying again.

1982 Château Lynch-Bages Pauillac
WIML96,~WA92-94,~WS90-96

Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of kirsch, eucalyptus and leather with some secondary aromas of mocha and expresso. Flavors of black cherries and earth up front with some secondary flavors of mocha and expresso. Very good wine. Drink over the short term.

1988 Château Lynch-Bages Pauillac
WIML92,~WA90-92,WS97

Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Barnyard nose dominates with some roast meat and dried herbs. Flavors of black cherries, plum and black currants. Good wine. Drink over the short term.

1990 Château Lynch-Bages Pauillac
WIML94,~WA90-94,~WS88-95

Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Dark garnet to purple color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Closed nose, tight as a drum. Swirled a little leather notes out of it after a while. Some flavors of black and Bing cherries. This wine is still not open for business in my opinion. I’ll be rescheduling my first bottle for tasting in 2010.

1988 Château Pape Clément Pessac-Léognan
WIML94,WAX92~WS90-93

Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Garnet to dark garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughgout. Nose of briar patch, leather and some spice box including some cardomon. Flavors of black cherry, red cherry, mocha and black currants. This is a very good to excellent wine from this vintage that is ready to drink now.

1983 Château Rieussec Sauternes
WIML93,WA92,WS93-94

Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Amber color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of apricot, honeysuckle and orange. Flavors of apricot, honey and dates. Drink now.

1990 Ridge Monte Bello Santa Cruz Mountains
WIML92,WA93,~WS89-97

Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Tasted double blind. Garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Slightly vegetal nose accompanied by some dark fruits and asphalt. Big red cherry flavors, red licorice and dried herbs. Much more extracted flavors on the palate, sure seems New World to me. Can be drank now.

1999 Philippe Delesvaux Coteaux du Layon Sélection de Grains Nobles
WIML97,NOWA,WS99

Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a restaurant provided sweet wine glass. Yellow color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of brown sugar, honey and a touch of apricot. Flavors of honey, apricot, citrus and cinnamon toast notes. Uncuous, viscous feel throughout the palate. Did not show quite as good as the first tasting of this wine last year but still a stunning wine.

Here is a quick update on the offline situation for Bud:

February Offlines:
02/27/2006 – DWDG Bordeaux Tasting including MikeB & PURPLE at York Street, Dallas, TX
02/24/2006 – wine+art and PURPLE at Tucker’s in Dallas, TX
02/19/2006 – Bella Donna and PURPLE at King’s Chinese BBQ, Arlington, TX
02/18/2006 – WineDrinkerofTexas, GregM and PURPLE at WineDrinkerofTexas’ home in Colleyville, TX
02/11/2006 – DAWGS Double Blind Pre-2000 Cali CS and Bordeaux tasting at bigred_seeker
‘s home in Dallas, TX
02/10/2006 – Jambo726 et. al. and PURPLE at Lola’s in Dallas, TX

2006 (9 Total)
2005 (60 Total)
2004 (47 Total)
2003 (21 Total)