BOYD

Just back from Burgundy – more to follow on that. In the meantime, it would seem that Gay and I are equally useless at keeping notes – http://onthegrapevineblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/bring-out-your-dead-third-rising.html.

I managed to leave my notes tucked into the car door in the Long Term Car Park at Dublin Airport!

Anyway, my middle name is Boyd – a bit scary, but better than “Santa” which is what I wanted to donate as a middle name to our first born. I’m not sure where the Boyd came from, but it’s also a very handy acronym for a great excuse to get together around a few old bottles – “Bring Out Your Dead”. This was the third outing – and I think I managed to annoy poor old Hugo and John by being very pedantic – "was it an opportunity to bring along a dodgy old bottle that could be great – or a great bottle that could be dodgy….?"

You decide…

Chateau Tahbilk Marsanne 1992 & 1993 – my preference was the 1992 which had lovely honeyed richness and was very elegant after all these years.

Tim Adams Semillon 1998 – much waxier with bitter aftertaste and not as complex

Ridge Santa Cruz Chardonnay 2003 – the first of two Cali Chards that made me re-visit my (unfounded obviously) prejudices about Californian Chardonnay. This was lovely – complex – hint of mushrooms (!) and well balanced acidity.

Kistler McRae Wood Chardonnay 2000 – very impressive – elegant, full rich palate without being dominated by oak. Delicious now.
Quote Clockey Chardonnay 1996 – not sure if the name is right – old and oxidised
Chateau Montelena Chardonnay 1998 – tighter on palate – crisp with bittersweet finish from oak. OK – but prefer Kistler.
Dominique Lafon Volnay Santenots 1988 – Corked. I think John gallantly opened another bottle much later in the evening and it disappeared, so it must have been OK.
Drouhin Chambolle Musigy 1er Cru Amoureuses 1987 – light in colour, cherries and raspberries. Nice length – medium bodied and fully mature.
Shingle Park Pinot Noir 1998, Martinborough – more volatile nose, creamy oak – almost like acidic strawberries on the palate – slightly disjointed.

Bouchard Finlayson Galpin Peak Pinot Noir 1997 – nice nose, still quite primary – hint of mustiness on palate. Going over the hill…

Paradigma Preisinger 2007 – very primary and excruciatingly young – oaky, with chewy tannins, but there’s a deep, dark core of fruit in there.
Joiser Kirschgarten Umathum 2006 – very like Cabernet Franc, not sure how to place this.
Sonoma Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 1978 – tawny colour, classic Cabernet nose – dying in front of me and dead by the time it reaches my palate!
Christian Brothers Cabernet Sauvignon 1978 – yes, that’s what it said on the label. More alive than the Sonoma – half a heartbeat. Not going to recover though.
Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste 1982 – nice blackberry, sweet fruit nose. Drying tannins on palate – nicely rustic in a fusty sort of way. Could be better.
Ridge Geyserville 1991 – wonderful. Rich, almost sweet on the nose – you can feel the alcohol a bit, with firm acidity – but showing well.
Mystery Cote Rotie 1988 – Corked and dead as a dodo - destined tor remain a mystery for ever…
Selvapiana Chianti Rufina Riserva 1994 – closed nose but lovely elegant fruit on palate. Very good.
Poliziano Rosso (Magnum) 2001 – hint of nail varnish on nose, some tannins with a little bitter fruit – but classic Sangiovese. Amazingly youthful – Very Good.
Drew Noon Eclipse 1998 – still nose of menthol and cough mixture. A sipping wine – chewy, but hides the 15.7% alcohol well!
Bressan Schioppettino 2001 – more Cabernet Franc style nose. Nice light and fresh palate.
Brundlmayer Langenloser Berg-Vogelsang Spatlase 1983 – ripe and floral on nose, with nice acidity deftly firming up the background. Lovely.
Leon Beyer Gewurztraminer VT 1983 – burnt dried bacon on the nose – and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. Spices and toast on the palate – nice, but a little strange.

And so we all worked out way through the wines – with X-Factor in the background putting up a pretty good resistance to all our wine waffle. My favourites were the Kistler Chardonnay, Selvapiana Chianti and Brundlmayer Spatlase.

We all sat then sat down to a wonderful cassoulet and grabbed our favourite wines. Funny thing was that as the evening wore on, we seemed to become less discerning about which our favourites were. After a while, anything with some liquid in it seemed to be OK…..