50s, 60 and 80s

Dinner at Amber.

1983 Dom Perignon - one of my favorite champagne vintages and the Dom is particularly good.

1985 JL Chave Hermitage Blanc - Dr. Poon brought this bottle, which normally can last 20+ years in good vintages, but it was clear that this bottle was over the hill. The color was copper gold, almost a bit reddish. The nose was still pretty nice, with a bit of pear and tropical fruit. However the wine was completely flat on the palate. We pass it up for the red wines.

1955 Cheval Blanc - we had high expectations of the wine. It was very, very smooth but the age is starting to show in the nose as well as the palate. We had another bottle at an MNSC dinner earlier this year, but this bottle is in much better condition.  Many thanks to Dr. Poon.

1961 Ducru Beaucaillou - I brought this bottle but was a bit apprehensive, as the last two bottles I had opened never measured up to my first experience with this wine. This bottle was drinking very nicely and showing classic traits of a Saint Julien - a bit green, grassy and "farmy". However, it was a bit muted and the sweet fruit never showed. This is the frustration that you get with Ducru. For the record, we drank this wine blind and Dr. Poon actually guessed correctly - even hitting the vintage.

1959 Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux -  I had hoped that this would be a sweeter wine than its cousin I opened a few years ago, but then again I have very little experience with Vouvray, especially old ones. The wine had a very nice nose of apricot, but there was a lot of acidity on the palate and not the sweet sticky I was expecting. It's a bit of a shame since 1959 was a superb vintage in the Loire Valley. I'm still looking for a bottle of aged Loire that is nice and sweet.

Full post on dinner is here.