Birthday party mix

Birthday dinner at a friend's house.

1999 Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill - yeasty and toasty nose, a little sweet and later a little funky. Pretty nice.

NV Egly-Ouriet Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru (disgorged August 2009) - I looove this wine from Egly-Ouriet, and in fact anything from this house. This is a delicious Champagne... a poor man's Vieilles Vignes Français. Lovely oxidized nose of cotton candy, caramel and lemon... The acidity is a little higher here.

1999 Leroy Meursault 1er Cru Les Charmes - the nose was clearly oxidized, but I like them like that. Pretty sweet nose with a light touch of oak and lots of caramel.

1999 Chave Hermitage Blanc - pretty oxidized nose of cotton candy and a hint of minerals. There was slight ripeness on the palate. A beautiful wine.

1999 Leroy Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot - this just blew the Meursault away... A very powerful and huge nose of toasty oak, popcorn, with lots of sweetness. This is what a 10-year old Chardonnay should be!

1994 Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc De l'Orée en magnum - I brought this big baby to the party, but it had just come out of the office fridge and was too cold to drink. After letting it warm up a little, I took a sip and was surprised at what I found. The nose was dominated by plastic and petrol. Was I drinking a German Riesling? There was also some lemon, and the nose was a little alcoholic. A second pour much later continued to show lots of plastic, with enough ripeness and honey. The palate was pretty well-balanced, but it was still a weird wine. Not what I expected at all.

1996 Les Forts de Latour - classic claret nose of smoke, mint, sweet fruit and cedar... Very fragrant with a little rose and floral notes.

2001 Marcassin Pinot Noir Marcassin Vineyard - I'd be happy drinking any Marcassin wine on any given day, and this one was a winner. Very sweet nose as expected, with a little pine needle, very fragrant - almost floral. Pretty sweet on the palate but there was some acidity to balance it out. A little alcoholic.

1996 René Engel Clos Vougeot en magnum - very open and beautiful nose, with farmy, toasty oak notes along with sweet, black fruits.

2003 Bouchard Corton-Charlemagne - kinda sweet, toasty with minerals and some popcorn. Good balance between the acidity and ripeness.

2006 Catena Zapata Malbec Adrianna Vineyard - really sweet fruit, a little ripe, with some forest, mint, coffee and vanilla. Acidity was a bit high with reasonably soft tannins for a wine this young.

2006 Numanthia - funky nose, really alcoholic...so much that it burned my nostrils. Pretty ripe and sweet, with coffee, smoke and coconut butter. Surprisingly soft on the palate.

2004 Leroy Bourgogne - what a treat... the gang rushed for the bottle as soon as the cork was popped, and I managed to get the very last few drops. Beautiful and explosive nose. Smoky, farmy, a little sweet and floral, and slight acidity on the palate. The wine was so ready it didn't need any time to aerate. Our hostess was kind enough to bring out a second bottle since not everyone had enough of this.

Passopisciaro Bianco Dolce - a little ripe, grapey, honey, orange and botrytis.

1985 Noval - a little forest, ripe fruit, a little medicinal, medjool dates, a little nutty, preserved longan (桂圓), and alcoholic. Naturally the port was sweet on the palate. Very nice.

1996 Lignier Clos de la Roche - sweet, ripe, a little farmy and minty. Very elegant and nice.

Full post on dinner is here.