Thursday was a hot one, and busy, I had to dash to catch my train to Grand Central. Matt Richman was in town, in between his move from NZ to Sonoma, and we gathered on the theme €œGood Wine (mostly blind).€� Dinner was at Rothmans steakhouse. We had the usual red- heavy assortment, and that led to the usual steakhouse appetizer angst. I just decided to forget about matching first course and had crab and endive salad, and then went with the lamb mixed grill (rib chops, leg medallions, sausage, and shank risotto)- quite good.

While we were gathering, Bill sent around a bottle of 2006 Leflaive €œLes Folatieres€� Puligny-Montrachet 1er, very tasty, full,rich, good acids for 06, slight (not unpleasant) cheesy note.A-

After that, all dry wines blind

White- served a bit warm, fairly full, theres a waxy/wooly note that makes me guess Chenin (others guessing Riesling), my second guess in Chard (I think Pauls first guess) 2009 Kumeu River €œMates Vineyard€� Chardonnay B-

First blind red
Mine. Sorry I didn/t have time to decant before going to city, really tight.. Funny when you know and others dont- opinions all over the place here- CdP or Shiraz? Hot or too lean? Once they got PN/Burg it takes a while for anyone to get Vosne GC. Gets much better with air, I saved for hour +. Tight and ungiving at first, later some black cherry, sandalwood, earth. 1999 Potel Romanee-St. Vivant B+

First real flight (Bill was easily guessing champ this flight)
#1- I thought this older cracking up Bdx at first, Somewhat lifted nose, red fruit and ashtray, got better with time, but others liked more than I did.. 1982 Ceretto €œAsij€� Barbaresco B-

#2 More Piedmontish, and I thought much younger than #1 . Violets, tar, red fruits. I think Im only person who preferred this for this flight 1982 Cordero di Montezemolo Barolo B+/B

Second red Flight
#1- Structured, full, some remaining tannin, great length. All in agreement re Bordeaux, and I think Paul gets vintage (I thought "96) - I got St Julien, then Poyferre after a couple of misses. Gets better and better with air, and my WOTN. 1990 Leoville-Poyferre. A-/A

#2- Ripe, a little hot, low acid, not my style, I guess "03 Right Bank but Paul is right with NZ Cab. 2008 Stonyridge Waiheke B-

Third Flight
#1 Big, powerful, Ramon zeroes in on Northern Rhone. Good length, but just not exciting for me. 1995 Guigal €œLa Landonne€�Cote Rotie B

#2 Bordeaux, ripe, lots of cassis, cigarbox, forest floor. I vote my #3 of night. 1982 Ducru-Beaucaillou. A-

Fourth Red Flight (Paul is pretty on target here)
#1 Ripe midbodied Nebbiolo, fully mature, Im guessing older than "93 from a good vintage, showing well 1993 Giacosa Barolo. B+

#2 Plush, fat, jammy. Paul gets this one. Not my style. 2003 Mordoree €œLa Plume du la Pientre€� Chateauneuf-du-Pape. B-

Fifth Red Flight
#1Medium bodied, cherry fruit with lots of herb, could be longer. 2009 Schubert Block B Pinot Noir. B-/B

#2 New World, mature, vanilla, dark fruits, 1994 Stags Leap €œFay€� Cabernet Sauvignon. B-

#3 Paul gets appellation, Ben gets vintage, Bill gets wine. Ripe, friendly, fleshy, but with some structure and gravitas. 1990 Pichon Baron A-

Last Blind Red
Paul gets Hermitage. Dark fruit, peppery, spice and cedar, good acids. My #2 of night. 1985 Chave Hermitage. A-/A

We finished with the 1989 Foreau (Clos Naudin) Vouvray Reserve. Rich, bright acids, flavors take a while to really show. Orange pith, honey, chalk, very sweet but with the acids to match. I take the remaining …“ bottle to my local group on Friday and its even better.A-

Pretty strong lineup. We voted for WOTN, Poyferre in a stampede.
Red Wine Votes (everyone has 6 pts to award- 3 for their fave, 2 for #2, 1 for #3)
1982 Poyferre 23 (my 1st)
1990 Pichon Baron 9
1982 Ceretto 6
1985 Chave 4 (my 2nd)
1995 LaLa 3
1982 Ducru 3 (my 3rd)
2003 CdP 2
1993 Giacosa 1
1982 Barolo 1

Great to see Matt, Brian,and the old-time crew.

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.

Error in section on voting, WOTN was the 1990 Poyferre (correct in the notes)

On Jun 2, 9:44*pm, DaleW > wrote:
> Error in section on voting, WOTN was the 1990 Poyferre (correct in the notes)

1990 Poyferre is a perpetual favorite at my house.