March 3, 2006 - Tasting Notes - Joanne

Bonhams & Butterfields Pre-Auction Tasting

San Francisco - Held February 9, 2006

A pre-auction tasting for the auction two days later.

(The numbers in the right-most column is the number of bottles Jack would like in his cellar - a rating of 3 or more are bottles worth seeking out. For this tasting, a few have a second set of numbers in brackets - these were re-tasted near the end of the tasting; the bottles had 90 additional minutes of opening time.)

1995	Château Branaire Ducru			Chocolate and salumi in center. A real baby. Hard to judge. Tight.	3+
1985	Château Cheval Blanc			Black fruit with a creamy center. Hard flavors. Medicinal center. And slightly medicinal finish. Needed more opening time. Slight tannic. Does not have the fruit of the ’83 Pichon-Lalande. Hard to judge.	6-9
1996	Château Grand Puy Lacoste			Not the time for this wine. Tannic center. Acids on finish. Too young. Hard to judge.	3-4
2000	Château L’Angelus			New world style? Heavily concentrated and too heavy on oak for me.	2+
1990	Château La Conseillante			Hay, straw and earth on nose. Impressive concentration. Deep. A baby. Almost creamy on edges.	4-6+ (6-9+)
1990	Château La Croix de Gay			Slightly leaner style. Lighter. Browning on edges.	4-6
1990	Château Lafite Rothschild			Really closed. Raspberries. Great acids. There is no flaw with this wine.	3-5+ (6+)
1986	Château Margaux			Berries. Tannic center continues through finish. Medicinal finish. Intense deep garnet color. Young.	6-9
1990	Château Meyney			Stinky almost farmyard nose with urine. Grassy herbal acidic center. Plenty of acids on finish. Orangish red. Chocolate on finish.	3-5+
1983	Château Pichon-Lalande			Expressive explosive nose. Grass and earth on nose. Slight medicinal finish. Really young. Re-tasting it – it was even younger than we first thought.	12
1994	Chave, J.L.	Blanc	Hermitage	Minerals on nose. Tart grapefruit center. Slightly bitter pithy finish. Desperately needs food. It was great with some bread.	3-5 (6-12)
2000	Colgin	Cariad		Very CA red style but balanced oak-acid-fruit.	4
1989	De Champs, J.M	Cuvee Dr. Peste	Hospice de Beaune Corton	Slightly stinky nose. Lean elegant center. I’m happy to drink this wine.	3+
1989	De Champs, J.M	Les Porets	Hospice de Beaune Nuits St. Georges	Oxidation on nose. Wood smoke first notes with smoked sausage. Oxidized.
1994	Graham’s		Vintage Port	Tastes like a Ruby port with caramelized sugar. Good bright flavors. Young.
1990	Heitz	Trailside Vineyard	Cabernet Sauvignon	Great nose. Herbs and grass and yum! Lots of fruit. Good acids. Very balanced. Drink now.	6-12
1991	Heitz	Trailside Vineyard	Cabernet Sauvignon	Blacker deeper more concentrated that the ’90. Slightly bitter. Still young – needs time.	9
1997	Kistler	Kistler Vineyards	Chardonnay	Served too cold. Slightly buttery. Rich center. Clean finish – coriander and slight bitterness on finish. Didn’t have the oak I was expecting when we first tasted it. When we re-tasted it was warmer and it definitely had an oaky element.	4+ (3)
2001	Marcassin	Blue Slide Ridge	Pinot Noir	Sweet nose. Good berries in center. Alcohol and sugar on finish.	?
1998	Mondavi/Frescobaldi	Lucente		Good acids. Balanced. Good fruit. We were pleasantly surprised by this wine.	4
1993	Stag’s Leap	Cask 23	Cabernet Sauvignon	New oak finish. Good concentration. Too much “saw dust” flavor unbalances it for me.	2-3
1997	Staglin		Cabernet Sauvignon	Great acids. Good fruit. Very young.	2-3
2002	Turley	Hayne Vineyard	Petit Sirah	Cassis is prominent. Great acids. Very balanced! (No need to age for 20 years. - Jack)	?
1996	Verget	Valmur	Chablis	Interesting nose…lemony center notes. Caramel and Grapefruit on the clean finish.	3-6 (3-4)