My friend from college in the wine business called me today. There's a tasting in the city organized by the former Chateau & Estates importers, now i=under an Italian name, beginning with "B" I think. They'll be pouring First Growths and other wines. I don't know all the deatils except that it's at 2:30 PM in the 60's. My friend received an invitation and he's being allowed one guest.

Anybody from this site going to attend?

Just thought I'd bring this up again in case anyone is going.

Cant make the tasting. But I can make the after party, your house 8pm right?

You are incorrect, Sir.

I went to the Diageo (Chateau & Estate) 2004 Swirlwind Tour in NYC today at the Pierre Hotel. Most of the wines that were poured were 1999 Bordeaux. The highlight for me was spending a lot of time with the winemakers of Chteau Margaux, Haut Brion, and Gruaud-Larose. The 1999s are pretty much not great wines with enough tannin to preclude drinking them for a while. There were also a number of 1996 Bordeaux. The 2000 BV GdL was ready to drink. The wine I enjoyed most was the 1994 d'Yquem. We spoke with the winemaker and had several tastes. This is not a typical d'Yquem. It is lighter and fresher than "he best" years, but it's a style I love. I didn't take notes of the many wines we tasted.

Good to hear that about the '94 d'Yquem. Six months ago, my local Kroger mis-marked two 1/2 bottles at $29.99/each -- my best steal yet.

kimber, relative to the years that followed, 1994 is considered an off-year, not a truly bad year, for Sauternes. In bad years, no d'Yquem is produced. This is not the prototypical d'Yquem. It's got plenty of acidity and is far from cloying, the way many of the "best" d'Yquems can be. It's fresh and delightful now. It's not a long ager.

I discussed it this afternoon with the winemaker. I told him that I sometimes prefer Sauternes from mediocre to average years over great years. I remember a dinner at which we had the 1975, 1976, and 1977 d'Yquem, with the 1977 not scoring nearly as well as the other two. I liked the 1977 best of the three. I also preferred the 1958 to the much more highly regarded 1958 when I had them side-by-side.