Betsy is in Boston for a couple days working on a piece. Saturday I
had thawed a couple of prime ribeyes. Then Dave said he wouldn't be
home for dinner, called a couple of local friends to see if anyone was
solo and wanted to come around. After leaving message, brought up one
mature Bordeaux (because I was itching to open) and one young one (to
go better with the steak). Didn't get ahold of anyone, but grilled
steak, corn, squash, and made a salad, and opened both -what the
hell.

I knew the 1970 Bel Air Marquis d'Aligre (Margaux) would be a bit
light for steak, so decided to put half into a 375 bottle and hold for
another day. This was my first try from a mixed lot of '70 Calon
Segur, St Pierre, and BelAir MdA I had split with friends. This was
the unknown quantity of the lot, we had based our bid on the value of
the other wines. So this was either free, or the average price of $26
all in for the lot. Shall we say low expectation, in this case
surpassed. Cork starting sliding down as soon as I tried AhSo, so used
corkscrew, it broke (pretty saturated). Decanted and poured off the
375. OK, what do we have here? Clear edges, brick red. Thin with that
caramelly note than (too) old Bdx gets, but drinkable. Actually put on
weight and fruit fills out with a bit of air (as sometimes happens).
Checked out over about 3 hours, pretty tasty for middle couple hours.
Sweet red fruit, moderate acidity, tobacco- actually a little ashtray
but not extreme, finish drops off pretty quick. Certainly not
profound, but certainly worth the $ we paid, and a good sign for the
CS and St Pierre I'd think. B/B-

Steak wine was the 2004 Ch. la*Grolet*"Tete de Cuvee" (Cotes de
Bourg). Straightforward and tasty Right Banker, black plums and
currants, a little oak, light coffee aromas. Some tannins but fairly
smooth, solid Bordeaux for $15. B

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.*