Last night a group of 23 gathered at Bayard to say goodbye to David
Wainwright. David just left his job as a VP in Christie's wine auction
department and is heading to London to study for his MW. Great group,
great food from Bayard, great service (as far as I could tell every
person got a pour of each wine- with 23 people making that happen with
750s was a miracle).

An assortment of hor d'oeuvres (quiches, canapes, etc) made the rounds
as we gathered. There were a couple of bottles of :
1996 Bollinger Champagne
Young, but very tasty. Biscuits and hazelnuts over a full but crisp
body. B+

As we sat down, we were served :
1996 Trimbach "Reserve Personelle" Pinot Gris (magnum)
This didn't do a lot for me, but then I tend to prefer Alsace PG as a
dessert wine. Apple fruit, some flowers and smoke. B-/C+

1990 Pol Roger "Cuvee 2000" Champagne (magnum)
Kind of a funny smoky note - burnt toast with butter. But this grew on
me (my neighbor Matt had the opposite reaction, liking it less). B

As the white Burgs started , the first course arrived (Poached lobster
with a Caribbean fruit salsa and mache)

1992 Ramonet "Les Ruchottes" Chassagne-Montrachet 1er
Earth and spice on the nose, still lively with good acidity. B+

2000 Verget Corton-Charlemagne
Hard to see anything beyond oak. B-

1992 Dom. Leflaive "Les Pucelles " Puligny-Montrachet 1er
This and the Ramonet were fine with the lobster. Classy, refined, deep
without being heavy. Matt points out that it has a sense of wood but
without a buttery vanilla oak thing. I like a lot (others near me
disagreed). B+/A-

1997 Michel Niellon Batard-Montrachet
I know some people think the '97-present era isn't the strongest for
Niellon ,but for my tastes you can't tell from this one. Smoke and
mineral over citrus and tropical fruit. A-

1999 Rene & Vincent Dauvissat "Les Clos" Chablis GC (magnum)
I found this disappointing. Not as crisp as I would have liked, and
with a flatness that didn't thrill me. Maybe this is closed but it
seemed surprisingly mature and open to me, just flat. C+/B-

1999 Ponsot Clos de la Roche
This seemed a bit thin. I think this is (like several '99s I've tried)
just shut down. I'd give it a B- last night, but think it's probably
better than that.

About this time the foie gras arrived (seared and a cold terrine)

1993 Comte Armand "Clos des Epeneaux" Pommard 1er(magnum)
Young, with spice and dark fruit in a muscular package. Pretty acidic,
but not distractingly so. Other liked much less. B+/A-

1993 Pousse d'Or "60 Ouvrees -Caillerets" Volnay 1er
More fruit driven, mostly bitter cherry. B

1991 Leroy Richebourg
There's some toast and a little vanilla, but great concentration.
Extracted without being cartoonish, there's a real sense of earth under
the fruit. A

1985 Cos d'Estournel (magnum)
Sweet fruit, some tannins. Quite good. B+

Next was a blind bottle. Resolved tannins, sweet mature red fruit and
forest floor. Pleasant but uncompelling. Others guessed mature Barolo
and indeed it had a Nebbiolo sense to it. But turns out it's a Burg, a
1987 Engel that I never noted the vineyard. B-

1983 La Mission Haut-Brion
My contribution - I was a little worried how it would show with all
these big boys. Actually, pretty well. Mature but not fading, dark
fruit with some cedar and tobacco. Earthy and pure. A-

1983 Mouton-Rothschild
More tobacco and light cassis fruit, but this didn't wow me. B-

By this point we were on the braised Lamb Shank with ratatouille

1983 Margaux
Pretty good if not the show-stopper of it's rep. B/B+

1982 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet
Fading a bit, with a bit of eucalyptus over the quiet blackcurrant and
blackcherry fruit. Nice, though. B

1978 Ducru-Beaucaillou
Resolved tannins, earth, cassis fruit. B

1975 Palmer
I was never a Palmer fan (not even the '83) until trying the '75 twice
over last year (and the '99). But was wowwed on both previous
occasions. This had the same high-toned nose, but on the palate lacked
the depth of fruit of the previous ones I'd tried. B/B-

1975 Margaux
Still rather tannic, with an (attractive to me) funky earthy nose. But
that kind of carries over to the palate in a way that's less
attractive. B-

1975 Lafite-Rothschild
More integrated tannins, with sweet red currants and a touch of
cigarbox. B+

1964 Haut-Brion
Now this was lovely. Elegant without being the least bit light, a
potpourri of earthy aromas with plenty of fruit hanging in there. A

1966 Mouton-Rothschild
Nice nose of cassis and coffee , but a bit blah on the palate with a
short finish. B-

A cheese course arrived along with:
1978 Giacosa Santa Stefano Barbaresco
I had thought the '64 Haut-Brion was surely my wine of the night, but
this trumped it. Young, aromatic, balanced. A+

1973 Bodegas Palacio Glorioso Rioja Gran Reserva
I really couldn't get a handle on this one. Some sweet oak, a little
red fruit. Others liked more. B-/C+

1964 Conterno Barolo
This seemed dead (except for some volatile acid). Others sat it aside
and said it came back, too bad I didn't hold onto this George Romero
wine. But what I tasted, D

1964 Chapoutier Hermitage
Red fruits and herbs, orange blossoms and hint of grilled meat.
Excellent. A/A-

1993 Quinterelli Recioto della Valpolicella Classico
Lush and almost Port-like, deep red fruit with an intriguing bitter
edge. Great with the blue (Roaring 40s, which David says is the only
great Australian cheese). A-/B+


There was a dessert of apricot tart and almond ice cream,but as I don't
eat dessert I was happy to still have some Roaring 40s for the ports:

1983 Fonseca VP
Medium-bodied and surprisingly mature. B

1980 Taylor-Fladgate VP
Also mature, very sweet, but the alcohol sticks out a bit much for me.
B-

1966 Croft VP (magnum)
More chocolate-y than the others.Some say this isn't a great bottle,
but I liked best of the Ports. B+

1979 Nederberg Edelkeur (South Africa )
I'm told this is Chenin, though doesn't really seem like it to me. Dark
with a little botrytis. Eh. B-

1989 La Tour Blanche
Light honied fruit, not bad. B/B-

1967 Gilette Creme de Tete Sauternes
Dammit! This is lightly corked, and I can't get past that. Too bad, as
it seems very rich and ripe underneath.

1953 Doisy Daene
Good, young, some botrytis over surprisingly vivid coconut notes. B+

1862 Lomelino Rare Old Malmsey
I'm not a judge of old Madiera, I just don't encounter them much. But I
usually like, and this is no exception. Caramel and toffee, really
nice. B+/A-

Incredible evening, with very generous people digging deep into their
cellars. Good to see some old friends and meet a few new people. Best
of luck David!

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

What a send off, great notes


> As we sat down, we were served :
> 1996 Trimbach "Reserve Personelle" Pinot Gris (magnum)


strange with the fizz?

You say you are an easy grader and then you destroy the egos of a lot of
very fine winemakers with your grading! That was an impressive lineup
of wines!


Dimitri

Well as I note, I offer no promises of objectivity nor consistency. On
another night, with lesser competition, the Ramonet Ruchottes, Leflaive
Pucelles, Armand Epeneaux, '85 Cos, '75 Lafite, or old Malmsey would
have probably earned at least an A- from me.

David has generous friends!

Actually, John, this was a LONG leisurely dinner. We were shown up to
the private room about 6:45, and I left (to catch a train ) about
12:30. We had the Bolly's as folks were arriving, and then the PG was
poured as we sat. The Pol Roger didn't come around for a while. So they
weren't having to battle head to head.

Other wines came more closely grouped , so we had the white Burgs
fairly close togther, the '83 Bdx were poured one after the other, etc.


Not that it's material to anyone here, but for future reference if
anyone is doing a similar big event I thought David's pouring plan was
excellent. He sent the waiters to the person who brought the wine, who
approved and then sent around clockwise. While the waitstaff did a good
job of seeing that everyone got a pour, in a few cases (especially the
older wines with sediment) the last 2-3 people got somewhat short
pours. But this plan assured (a) that donor could approve wine, (b)
that bringer wasn't shorted on his own wine , & (c) no one was
consistently getting a short pour. If I organize an event I usually
try to hold to 12 to get adequate pours, but obviously on this kind of
event that's not desirable. This (and the skill of the Bayard staff)
ensured everyone was happy.