A Lamb Dinner for Sandy.

Wednesday night, the 27th January 2010, was dinner at home for Sandy and her folks, Uncle Frank and Tita Maribel. They often used to host our whole group in Candelaria back in college - a whole horde of us - up to 15 at a time - for days on end. Those were fun, carefree and memorable days. I haven't seen Sandy's folks in a long time. Far too long, so it was great that they accepted our invitation to join us for dinner. Also there were the two other Agustinettes, Sandy's closest friends, as well as their respective hubbies - all of us friends and groupmates for decades. Topsy, my youngest brother-in-law, also joined us - as he used to join us in Candelaria back in the day - he must have been only 11 or 12 years old then.

Uncle Frank, Tita Maribel, Catha, Maricel, Sandy and Maxy.

While waiting for Tonji and Sylvia to arrive, we started off with some pica-picas of Parma Ham, Salami Milano, St-Nectaire, Chèvre and Tapenade. With these, we had glasses of 2008 Marqués de Cáceres Viura Blanco - a fresh 100% viura Rioja blanco that I really enjoy as a casual sip. I've written about this fresh, bright and dry blanco several times (the last being at Boozze's & Margarita's steak dinner a few days ago), so there is no need to repeat myself. Suffice it to state that I keep a stock of this at home. I also opened a bottle of 2006 Saintsbury Brown Ranch Carneros Chardonnay, but I didn't have any of it - anyway, I've also written about this wine often and recently.

Tonji and Sylvia arrived soon after, and, of course, the girls huddled together...

...as did the guys.

Me? I hied off to the kitchen to cook the main courses. Since Boozze already hosted a steak dinner for Sandy last Friday - I wouldn't even to attempt to compete with his steak-prowess - Roast Racks of Lamb were in order.

Well, I also got a few Dry-Aged US Prime Angus Bone-In Rib-Eyes through Boozze because I figured Sandy's folks may want to try some. Anyway, the evening before, Boozze coached me on how to cook these luxurious cuts of dry-aged beef. I was pretty happy with the results.

These were just a little over medium-rare as I know not everyone likes their steaks as bloody as I do.

This, as well as a smaller, non-dry-aged "emergency back-up rib-eye" were done medium-rare for those who preferred (i.e., me).

Aside from these, we also had our usual Salad of Butter Lettuce, Fresh Tarragon Leaves, Toasted Pine Nuts, Grated Parmesan Cheese & Parma Ham with a Honey-Mustard Dressing (the recipe concocted by my brother and his wife).

There was also a fish course of Sole Meuniere and a Pilaf which were made by our cook. Unfortunately, I totally forgot to take a photo of them.

Naturally, we had some red wines for the meat courses.

For the lamb:

1999 Bodegas Olarra Cerro Añon Rioja Gran Reserva - I know I've written about this wine so many times. So deep, complex and graceful it is in its medium-bodied cherry, strawberry, underlying slightly leathery dark fruit, nuances of violets, cedar, licorice and whispers of vanilla , I simply cannot keep my hands off them. Excellent balance.

2001 Bodegas Olarra Cerro Añon Rioja Gran Reserva - I finally get to try the currently available vintage of this favored Riojan producer. The flavors and scents are, of course, quite similar to the aforementioned '99 vintage, but this one is slightly less open (well, it is 2 years younger), the fruit seems a bit riper and, at this point, the dark fruit, licorice, hint of tobacco and slightly creamy oak hold sway over the red. Firm in structure, it comes off more masculine. Good wine. I'm sure it will age gracefully as well. Both were fine matches for the herb-encrusted roasted lamb racks.

For the steaks, I opened a young Napa cabernet sauvignon...

2006 Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon - A gift from Rocky & Apple, Rocky always makes it a point to give me good Napa reds (nb: a 1996 BV Georges de Latour PR CS from them got me my 2nd consecutive win at our last Blind Non-Bordeaux Challenge). I decanted the subject wine and let it aerate in my wine ref for almost 3 hours before service.

This is BV's 70th vintage release of the Georges de Latour Private Reserve CS. Big, dense, viscous, very concentrated, highly-extracted blackcurrant, black cherry, hint of kirsch, some crème de cassis, violets, licorice and hefty doses of creamy oak/vanilla and, underneath, dark chocolate. Very full-bodied, with a mouth-filling, chewy roundness. Tannins are big but smooth enough, giving a bit of a dusty feel to its long finish. I thought it went well with the steaks. Young as it is, it does need some good, red meat to go with it - and that we had.

Desserts were...

Coffee Crunch Cake, Ube Puto (a local rice cake flavored with a violet yam), Polvoron and Fresh Fruits. With the whipped-cream-and-fluffy coffee crunch cake, I served a bottle of...

2007 Jackson-Triggs Proprietors' Reserve Vidal Icewine - An icewine from Canada's Niagara Peninsula, this was a gift from my Indiana-based brother-in-law, Harry. Flamboyant, opulent, tongue-coating honeycomb, super-ripe apricot and mango (the Philippine "Carabao" type) flavors dominate its thick, viscous full-body. Orange marmalade and lemon drop nuances emerge slightly towards the rear. Rather straightforward, but very easy to enjoy.

It was wonderful, as usual, to see Sandy and her folks again after so long. It brought back a lot of happy memories of more carefree days.

French Oysters & Crab with Chablis @ Ciçou.

Last night, the 24th January 2010, was a quiet Sunday dinner with my wife at Cyrille Soenen's Ciçou for a special menu of fresh French oysters (Fin de Claire, Brittany Belon Nº2, Creuse TG 1) and Crabe Torteau (I opted for the 2-way preparation, but served together).

I had forgotten to bring a bottle of wine, but, as luck would have it, Jerome Philippon's Sommelier Selection had a pairing promo wherein a bottle of 2006 Domaine Laurent Tribut Chablis was going for a reduced price. Good, traditional Chablis, oysters and crab? This was a no-brainer choice for me - a bottle of this it was.

Amuse Bouche

Fine de Claire (left), Creuse (right), facing away is the Belon, the latter of which was my favorite (rounder, smaller, fatter, jucier), but they were all excellent.

The 1st preparation of the Crab Torteau (Cancer pagurus, a type of Dungeness crab; I've seen some available live in Bordeaux) was a choice between risotto and pasta. I went for the pasta as risottos tend to make me feel way too full. The serving looked huge. I gave a little over a fifth of it to my wife, and somehow finished the rest. It actually didn't feel heavy at all. The crab meat was delicate, sweetish and juicy, subtly but definitively flavoring the pasta. Lovely.

The 2nd way of the crab was reminiscent of the Thahn Long style (not surprising noted my wife due to the strong French influence in Vietnamese cuisine) roasted with butter, olive oil and moderately spiced. Delicious.

My wife had an order of Steak Tartare with Frites as her main course. Another large serving. I had several forkfuls just to help her out (no, chivalry is not dead), but she still couldn't manage to finish it. Cyrille's steak tartare is admirably seasoned and textured. I prefer this to I Am Angus' tartare - as the latter is comparatively a little too creamy in texture (nothing to bite on at all) and, honestly, a bit under-seasoned for my tatste (I have to ask for extra helpings of caper berries in I Am Angus just to add a bit of cut and acid to stave off palate fatigue).

With all these, as mentioned earlier, we shared a bottle of...

2006 Domaine Laurent Tribut Chablis - I've loved the style of Laurent Tribut ever since Jerome Philippon made me try it several years back. This is the village level Chablis, fermented in enamelled steel tanks, no new oak, no battonage (i.e., no leese stirring) minerally, tense, laser-focused, medium-bodied green apple with nuances of cool steel, cold limestone and oyster shells. The last bottle of this I opened was also at one of Boozze's and Margarita's dinners on the 12th June 2009. My notes then, just for comparison, are as follows:

My bottle. The domaine is located in the commune of Poinchy, approximately 1.5 kms west of the old town proper of Chablis, and owns 5.2 hectares of Chablis vineyards, including holdings in premier cru vineyards Beauroy, Côte de Léchet and Montmains. It produces wines in the classically lean, tense, steely, sea-shell, minerally, minimalist oak style (fermentation in enamelled stainless-steel tanks, no use of new oak in ageing, no battonage), which I much prefer.

Those familiar with the wines of Chablis star, R&V Dauvissat, will note a marked similarity between the labels of the two domaines. This is most likely because Laurent Tribut used to work with Dauvissat and, married to Marie-Clotilde Dauvissat, Laurent is Réne Dauvissat's son-in-law and, perforce, Vincent Dauvissat's brother-in-law. I recall reading that Laurent Tribut still helps out occasionally at Domaine Dauvissat.

My wife and I spent a couple of extremely hot days in Chablis in July 2006, billeted at Michel Vignaud's Hostellerie des Clos (at La Residence du Domaine where they have bigger, air-conditioned rooms) until the weak air-condition system drove us out to look for cooler climes. We didn't leave, though, before having dinner at the hotel's *Michelin dining room (they have a smallish but excellently stocked cellar, the bottles of which are reasonably marked-up from retail).

I first tried Tribut's Chablis (a vintage 2004) sometime in mid-September 2006. Jerome Philippon recommended it to me when I expressed my preference for old-style Chablis. I've bought every vintage since then, including Tribut's 1er cru Côte de Léchet.

With around 45 minutes opened, kept chilled in a bucket of iced water, the 2006 holds true to Chablis terroir with clean, pure, nervy/tense, cold-stone, oyster shell notes shining through the softish, ripe white stone fruit/apple, merest hint of white peach (it was a very hot July in Chablis, I can attest). Well balanced with acidity, nicely focused. I'm very happy with this and am glad I still have some as it is excellent with seafood, particularly fresh, simply prepared shellfish....

For dessert, I requested for some macarons. I love Cyrille's macarons. They are not cloyingly sweet like most all other locally available versions. The other ones I like are by Sunshine Puey-Pengson. Unfortunately, however, Sunshine doesn't make much of them anymore.

My wife ordered what I would call a Chocolate Lava Cake with a Vanilla Ice Cream Macaron "Sandwich". The cake was really lava-filled, the latter cascading out in indulgent, rich chocolatiness. Cyrille really uses very high quality ingredients, that much is obvious.

As usual, I had my double espresso at the end and my wife had her brewed coffee. Cyrille sent us some complimentary glasses Calvados which were very much appreciated. He'd stop by at our and others' tables every so often to make sure everything was going smoothly, and, again, before we left. I will definitely be organizing something for his next shipment of oysters and crab. As a matter of fact, it is already in the works.

Excellent dinner all around.

A Steak Dinner for Sandy.

Last Friday, 22nd January 2010, was at Boozze's and Margarita's place. Sandy, a longtime, SF-based friend, is in town so B & M graciously hosted a dinner for her. It goes without saying that they, as always, served copious quantities of top-of-the-line Dry-Aged US Prime Grade Black Angus Rib-Eye Steaks, among other dishes.

A lot of time was spent catching up over bottles of white wine and various pica-picas (jamón, cheeses, etc.).

The inseparable trio I used to call "The Agustinettes" in college: Sylvia, Sandy & Maricel.

The Guys: Tonji, Willy, Kenny & Toñico.

Toñico with Minnie, Margarita and Yvonne.

My wife with her cousin, Lisa (Kenny's wife).

During this time, Boozze was already busy in the kitchen firing up his specialty steaks.

This fellow really has it down to a science. He made it look effortless.

Seared in heavy, cast-iron pans and popped into ovens cranked up to full.

Thick, juicy, tenderly yielding but with just enough resistance to keep it from being mushy. Perfection. Be still my heart.

I'm salivating as I write.

Ever the considerate host, Boozze also cooks some a little more for the ladies (and Willy), while he and I ravage the bloodier ones.

We then all moved to the dining room where the evening's hosts put the finishing touches on their dishes...

...a freshening toss of the Baby Arugula with Cherry Tomato Salad (simple, delicious, simply delicious)...

...a final drizzle of truffle oil on the Spinach & Mushroom Ravioli with Tomato Sauce (a recipe from Giada, per Margarita).

Marge's Baked Prawns, were already fine on their own. Confident in their fresh goodness.

I love the way these are just barely cooked - this is the way I, my dad and brother prefer our shellfish. With glasses of Marg's 2007 Marqués de Cáceres Viura Blanco (sorry, no photo of the bottle), it was sheer heaven. I've written about this a few times before and have recently described it as "fresh, light, dry with a touch of white florality and bright, moderate acidity and an appetizing bitterish almond finish (which is why it is usually taken as an apéritif with toasted almonds in northern Spain)." Superb pairing for shellfish dishes.

With the steaks, we had 1999 Bodegas Olarra Cerro Añon Rioja Gran Reserva (from me, of course, decanted for around 1½ hours before service) and 2004 Château Lascombes (from Kenny).

Coincidentally, we had these exact same two reds at our group's past Christmas Dinner at The Goose Station barely over a month ago. My notes from then, still very applicable, are quoted below in red:

1999 Bodegas Olarra Cerro Añon Rioja Gran Reserva - my bottle, of which I, unfortunately forgot to photograph. I've written about this a few times, the last being at a WSCP event on the 28th October 2009. Last night's bottle I decanted for around 1-½ hours before serving.

Willy admired its "complex nose" and noted scents of licorice, violets, cedar and vanilla in its dark fruit. On the palate, he described this shades-over-medium body Rioja as "complex and graceful". I couldn't have put it better myself. I purchased the last case of this from Terry's Selection. JC de Terry now has a new vintage of this wine available, but I've yet to try it out.

2004 Château Lascombes - Kenny's bottle. This is only the 3rd vintage of the new owner/management of Lascombes that I've tried (though I've had many of its older vintages). Since the new owner/management took over in 2001, the wines of this 2nd growth from Margaux have shown generous toasty new vanilla/oak in its low-acid, concentrated/extracted ripe dark fruit, cassis, dark plum, bit of cherry, bit of chocolate, cedar, gravel and "tar". Maculine, a bit top-heavy for me, but still quite enjoyable.

Willy opined that it was somewhat Napa-reminiscent, and I agreed it was quite modern. Many liked this and Willy noted that it's modern slant helped it pair well and stand up to with our steak main courses topped with thinly-sliced, crunchy onion rings.

Desserts were Margarita's Tiramisu and Sylvia's Apple Pie. Unfortunately, the hordes got to them with their forks before I could with my camera. We adults were not the only ones enjoying ourselves, mind you. That day being our hosts' youngest's birthday, the children joined us for the traditional candle-blowing and singing the birthday song. Sylvia led the singing of the extended, disco version of "Happy Birthday".

The sleepy little celebrant seemed slightly bemused at all the noisy adults, but she took it all in stride. That husky little fellow with the glasses looking on is my godson.

We lingered over more stories and jokes, the wines having taken their toll.

That is, until our hosts pulled us some coffees and double espressos. Such great fun being with old friends; always a great pleasure and a great comfort. The superb food and wines certainly don't hurt.

Until the next!

Bordeaux Toute la Journée.

I've been drinking a lot of wine from Spain and Burgundy the past year, probably more than Bordeaux. However, though the palate may stray for months on end, Bordeaux is really where the heart lies. Thursday, the 22nd January 2010, I wound up having 7 Bordeaux rouges in the company of co-founding members of La Commanderie de Bordeaux Manila.

It began with a lunch at Masseto conceived by the Stockbroker - a blind taste-off between 2 highly Parker-rated wines, one having garnered a score of 96, the other 100. The only hints he gave were that they were from Bordeaux, their Parker scores and that we've all had them before, but never in a blind side-by-side comparison. We were only 4: he, Bernie, Keiichi and I (the Doc got stuck in the hospital again). Though both "competing" wines were from the Stockbroker's vast collection, we divided his historical cost amongst us.

Of course, we started off with a couple of whites. I had an excellent Goat Cheese Ravioli with them.

2004 Herri Mina Irouléguy - The Stockbroker's bottle, produced in Irouléguy (AOC since 1970), Southwest France, by the former, long-time winemaker of Château Pétrus, Jean-Claude Berrouet. Dry, very fresh, racy, edgy and crisp with brisk minerality in a manner somewhat reminiscent of a good Blanc from Graves. Grapefruit dominates quince, freshly cut, dewy grass with a touch of leesy toastiness and admirably bright acidity. Lively wine. Liked it a lot with my chèvre-stuffed ravioli.

2006 Clos Lapeyre Mantoulan Jurançon Sec - Bernie's bottle, an indent order from Jerome Philippon; another white from Southwest France. Very different from the preceding wine: heftier, much more rounded, fleshier, riper, with touches of honey and honeysuckle to its softer and lusher fruit. The acidity is notably lower as well, but the wine is still in balance possessing a languid, almost sultry, come-hither air. Very approachable and easy to appreciate in character. A bit too ripe, sweet and low in acidity for my ravioli, Bernie gave me a bit of his smokey eggplant to which this wine was an excellent foil.

With my Crispy Duck-Leg Confit & Roasted Potatoes, I had the two reds blind...

Though the Stockbroker obviously knew what the wines were, he didn't know which was which. Not for anything, but I'm sure he could easily tell them apart anyway. He is, always, though, a most honest voter in blind tastings - I know that for a fact as I keep all the records of our Blind Bdx Challenges and have tasted alongside him in countless more similar events.

Wine # 1 is on the left, #2 on the right.

Wine # 1 - More red orange-tinged, clearer rim, redder than Wine # 2, looked and smelled more mature. I recall these observations were shared by the Stockbroker and Keiichi. Bernie thought otherwise stating that Wine # 1 looked older. The bouquet was very open with sweet wet tea leaves and a bit of truffle in its ripe red fruit over black. The mouth confirms the ripeness of the vintage (surely a 1990 Médoc I thought) in the concentrated, indulgent, velvety raspberry/cherry/plum/kirsch over earthy dark fruit, hint of leather, subtle dark minerals, spices, cedar, sweetish wet tea leaves and violets. Warmingly lush middle, long, dark red and violet finish. Very mature, welcoming, nice bottle-age-sweetness. I'd drink this alone to be able to fully appreciate it.

Wine # 2 - The fruit was ripe enough, but not nearly as ripe nor sweet as Wine # 1. Though the flavors were very similar, their characters were very different. Other differences were the this wine's far sturdier structure and decidedly more masculine and less yielding character. In addition, dark fruit held sway over red and the leather notes were more pronounced. This seemed comparatively less evolved and the tannins more apparent. This, to me, was more food friendly.

When we were prepared to, we discussed at length the basis upon which our choice between the two would be made (e.g., ageing capabilities, pleasure of the moment, food-friendliness). Several suggestions were mulled over, and, in the end, we chose Bernie's suggestion of: "If you could only have one of them,which would you pick?" Moreover, we were to identify which one we thought was the 100 Parker point wine.

Results:

Preferred Wine: The Stockbroker, Bernie and Keiichi picked Wine # 1 as their preferred wine. Obviously, I was the only one who picked Wine # 2, and did so because I look more to structure in my reds over bigger fruit and highly value food-friendliness.

100 Point Wine?: The Stockbroker and I identified Wine # 1 as the Parker 100 pointer, while Bernie and Keiichi said it was Wine # 2. I identified Wine # 1 as the 100-pointer because my impression is Parker would prefer its bigger, softer, more forward fruit.

And so the wines were revealed.

Wine # 1 - 1990 Château Montrose (100 pts.)

Wine # 2 - 1989 Château Montrose (96 pts.)

Thus, in sum, 3 of 4 of us preferred the 1990 Montrose (i.e., the Stockbroker, Bernie and Keiichi) while I alone preferred the 1989; and, the Stockbroker and I identified the one Parker rated 100 points. I, for one, was not at all surprised with my choice. I've always preferred Montrose's '89 to its '90.

The "work" done, we finished off the bottles and moved onto the Cheese Platter and...

2001 Château Raymond Lafon - The Stockbroker's bottle, from a highly-regarded Sauternes vintage. I noted coconut cream in the canned cling peach, candied apricot, orange marmalade and vanilla/oak flavors. Luscious, dense, concentrated, acid slightly low but the wine has notable balance. Hedonistic, if a bit straight forward. Very openly enjoyable even now.

Great lunch. Very interesting as well.

Thereafter, the Stockbroker and I headed for the Vigneron's home for a Commanderie Manila meeting for members of the first board to go over a draft of the proposed By-Laws. It turned out only 5 of us made it, but we proceeded with the discussions in the sprawling lanai.

Naturally, there was some wine; naturally, all Bordeaux, all from the Vigneron...

1998 Château Brane-Cantenac - This 2nd growth seems to always have distinctive underlying leather, coffee grounds and asphalt, charcoal notes to its fruit (the ones I've had anyway) - quite a masculine Margaux generally. The oak notes are usually notably toasty as well. Lots of licorice in its dark fruit. I'd call it a little past halfway between medium and full in body. This seems to need time to come together more for me, but it is a more than decent wine. Between this and their '99, I prefer their '99 (the Vigneron as well).

Thanks to Dong Puno's guiding hand, the meeting was conducted very efficiently despite the wines. Not too long after, with work almost all done, more bottles were opened in rapid succession.

1998 Château L'Evangile - I last had this on the 20th March 2009, at Blind Bordeaux Challenge XII, it was my bottle and it placed 1st. My notes then are still applicable, this wine has a long life ahead of it.

Wine # 4: Comparatively (with Wines # 1 & 3) a subdued nose of ripe plum, cherry, bit of cedar, some chocolate and creamy/toasty vanilla/oak with the merest topnote of herbaceousness. Can't really call it a bouquet as there isn't much complexity or maturity in it - easily the youngest wine in the bunch (as I, Mrs. Vigneron and the Stockbroker noted), and just as easy to identify it as my own. A powerful, well-rounded, full-bodied wine with lush, ripe plum, kirsch, chocolate, underlying violets and vanilla infused cassis, smoky cedar trailed at the end. Broad, long and powerful.

Though this group obviously is Médoc-and-Pessac-Léognan-centric, I gambled on this wine's power and plush rounded body for it to stand out in a blind tasting. I rated it 1st place. It was, in fact, my 1998 Château L'Evangile, another top Pomerol owned and run by the Rothschild family (of Lafite Rothschild, not Mouton).

1986 Château Cos d'Estournel - I've written about this wine a few times over the past year, and regular readers know I am very fond of this wine. The last time I wrote about this was under 3 months ago, at a lunch at RED. My notes then, which also quote another bottle from the 6th July 2009, are as follows:

1986 Château Cos d'Estournel - The Stockbroker's bottle. I've had this twice before, the first time blind back on 2nd November 2006 at the Grand Crew's Blind Bordeaux Challenge IV, so those notes, though brief, are the most unbiased:

"Wine # 1: Aged left bank, feminine, best nose, medium-bodied, deeply extracted ripe sweetish dark fruit, cassis, plum, sweet cedar, best balance.

"I'll not ever forget this wine, not only because it was excellent, but also because it was one of the few times in our Challenges that I voted with the majority in choosing the winning wine, and, it was when my '99 Palmer wound up dead last due to my imprudent over-decanting.

"In any event, though yesterday's bottle was notably more advanced (it was almost 3 years older at the time, after all) with very faint sherry notes at the fringes, it was a wonderful testament to aged Cos nonetheless. The exotic bouquet was perfumed with sweetish tobacco, spice box (with the lightest whisper of cumin), slight camphor, cedar, cassis, ripe plum, violets and warm asphalt nuances. In the mouth, there was great depth, intricate layering, incredible complexity and a comforting warmth. Excellent crescendo. Generous, expansive yet dignified performance. Elegant, yet with a commanding presence. The term "patrician" comes to mind. What a treat on a gloomy, rainy day."

The above notes are pretty much applicable to James' bottle save that, in said bottle, I detected no cumin and there was a familiar sweetish, wet tea leaf flavor in the complex fruit that trailed in the finish with violets. There was notably more discreet power and drive in this and came of as marginally more youthful as well. Excellent specimen of '86 Cos.

The subject bottle was probably the most youthful '86 Cos d'Estournel I've had yet.

We then enjoyed reading an amusing article on "Wine Snobs" while enjoying a bottle of...

1982 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - I don't even remember now how many bottles of this we have enjoyed. Many, for sure, ever since it won for the Vigneron in our very first Blind Bordeaux Challenge - I didn't post about all of them, but the last I remember offhand was quite a while back - at a blind Valentines Dinner at the Doc's - I voted it 1st place over a 1985 Mouton Rothschild, 1989 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, 1989 Trotanoy and a a 1988 Léoville las Cases (no post on this dinner).

I've noted before that we've experienced a material amount of bottle variation in the '82 Pichon Lalande, but this bottle was pristine. Excellent. Silken, pure, elegant in its bouquet and flavors of sweetish cedar, raspberry, cherry, kirsh, violets, mint (topnote), plum, cassis, dark fruit, very subtle earthiness and lead pencil shavings. Incredible poise and balance. An elegantly feminine Pauillac - classic Pichon Lalande.

The others then took their leave as I lingered a few minutes longer. We were joined by Mrs. Vigneron and kept her company for just enough time for a last glass of...

1999 Château Lagrange - I seem to recall that I've had this before, but I'm not sure. I can't find any of my notes on it. By this time, my palate was quite weary, but, this wine seemed quite straightforward, dominated by blackcurrant, cassis, and cedar over a bit of dark cherry and plum, with slight violets and underying licorice, black coffee and a bit of woodiness. After the previous wines, it seemed medium-bodied and its tannins seemed a touch green. Judgment reserved, in fairness - I was no longer in good condition for reliable notes.

What a day.