Impressions of Linda's Birthday Wines

On Saturday, we celebrated my wife's birthday a few days early, with some of our friends. She'll only admit that her age ends in a zero, but you can probably guess from the older vintages we drank.

The wines, with very sketchy notes - I seem to have lost most of my ability to describe aromas and flavours, due partly to age, but mostly to lack of practice. Hence "impressions" of the wine, rather than notes. Plus, I was too busy opening bottles, tasting wines and discussing life in general with our friends.

NV Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé Champagne - Pretty pink, nice mousse. Other than Krug, my favourite Champagne. Very tasty, and a big hit.

1999 André Blanck Gewurztraminer Furstentum Alsace Grand Cru - I never got to taste this, but the nose was wonderful - spice and lychees.

2002 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc - unfortunately, I never got around to tasting this one.

1996 Huët Le Haut Lieu Vouvray Sec - only a brief sip of this, but typical Huët Vouvray

1991 D.R.C. Échézaux - Quite nice, but not a great wine, probably due to the year

1990 Faively Mazis-Chambertin - Lovely nose, beautiful aged Pinot taste. Linda's favourite (she's a Burgundophile) and my second.

1949 Ch. Beychevelle - (Provided by Alan Gardner) - In remarkable shape - fully mature Bordeaux, but by no means over the hill. Lovely aroma and taste. I was really worried when I sniffed the open bottle, because the was a real stink, which never did go away, but the wine itself was lovely.

1983 Ch. Latour - Oops! this was opened either too soon (in terms of years), or too late (in terms of hours) depending on how you looked at it. Fairly tight and tannic, although still a pleasant wine. After decanting and pouring it back in the bottle, it was decanted again into a ship's decanter and left for a few hours, which improved it quite a bit.

1983 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle - Nice, but a little disappointing. I've had better bottles of this wine.

1983 Chave Hermitage - Beautiful nose and taste. My wine of the night.

1996 Chave Hermitage - (Provided by Joel Goldberg) - Very nice, still quite tannic. Should develop into as good a wine as the '83 in another 13 years.

1985 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia - Mature Barolo. Very nice.

1982 Vietti Barolo riserva Villero - Nice, but did not stand up to the Conterno.

1949 Moulin Touchais Anjou - (Also from Alan Gardner) - Nice, mature Chenin Blanc. Not terribly sweet, but a nice touch of sweetness. Perfectly preserved (just like my wife .

1987 Ch. d'Yquem - A nice Sauternes from a not so nice vintage. Not much botrytis, but still tasty.

Here's a picture of the lineup:

Happy Birthday to Linda. I think she was born in an excellent year! What an astounding line-up.

[Jenise]

Wow, I want you to plan my next birthday party! Be sure to invite Alan and Joel.

Wow, I want you to plan my next birthday party! Be sure to invite Alan and Joel.

Sure! If you're willing to come to Toronto for your party, I'm sure Alan and Joel would be glad to come.

So where are all the notes on the 1929’s? I think we all agreed it was Linda’s 29th birthday!

I was fortunate enough to attend and enjoy these wines.

Second the Billecart-Salmon comments. Great sparkler.

The 99 Gewurz indeed had a great nose – but lacked acidity. Still enjoyable but not memorable.

Didn’t taste the Cloudy Bay.

97 Huët Le Haut Lieu – still seemed closed to me. All the components – just needed more time (another 10 years?).

91 D.R.C. Échézaux – tried alongside the 90 Faiveley Mazis-Chambertin. Answered the question of whether to buy a great shipper from a moderate vintage vs a moderate shipper from a great vintage. Buy any 1990’s you can find! Faiveley isn’t (usually) a favourite of mine, but this was dynamite. The D.R.C. wine was angular – the fruit had faded but the other components didn’t seem to have melded (unfortunately). Now if someone could bring a 1990 D.R.C. to my next birthday…….

49 Beychevelle (bottled for J. Lyons & Co – for those whose memories go back that far). It’s great when a tasting note doesn’t have to be qualified by ‘for its age’. A strange sediment – almost flaky and adhered to the bottle, level high-shoulder. If there’s anything to comment on, it would be the relatively high acidity – unexpected in a hot year such as 49.

83 Latour: As I can’t taste tannins (I thought I could ‘feel’ them – but now know, because of the recent tannin thread, that I feel the accompanying anthocyanins) I didn’t find this closed at all! One of the advantages of defective taste buds – I can taste what’s behind the tannins. I liked this. Lacked some complexity but otherwise well-balanced. Still closed on the nose though.

83 Jaboulet, 83 Chave, 96 Chave (which I tasted as a group). Certainly the 83 Chave was the standout – still years ahead of it as well. The Jaboulet seemed fully mature and smoother all around – probably starting a decline, but still an excellent wine. The 96 Chave was just too young. At that awkward teen stage.

85 Giacomo Conterno. I thought this still had youthful signs. Didn’t seem fully evolved yet.

82 Vietti – one of the better Vietti’s I’ve had. Not over-complex, but a good easy-drinking Barolo – which probably would be better on its own – the Conterno needed food.

49 Moulin Touchais – I’m mixed on Moulin Touchais in general – find they do last, but too often have a waxy 1-dimensional character. However this one showed some evolution in the mouth with a long mellow finish (although that finish was smooth rather than complex).

87 d’Yquem – not a memorable vintage on paper – but the price was right, so I’ve had this many times. This version was particularly good – my previous criticisms were about it being simple – but it’s now showing some complexity on the palate and seems to have jumped to a higher level. Agreed, the botrytis was subdued – but for me that’s a ‘good thing’.