My bro, Birdungy came to town for the weekend. The hook was an 85 La Mission Haut Brion that I promised him when he next came to town. Otis and Mrs Otis sweetened the pot by adding a 78 Haut Brion. It threw in a 78 Duhart Milon for kicks, an 01 La Tour Blanche, and a few whites. Here are my impressions, in the order they were drunk:

2004 Kim Crawford SB- Pale almost clear wine with fantastic nose and medium body. It's the kind of wine you keep wanting to drink more of although it never overwhelms you with its power. 91pts.

2002 V Girardin Santenay 1er Cru Le Beaurepaire- This is a much more serious wine with concentration, depth, great fruit and balance. A little oakier than the Vinnie G. "La Pucelle"La Pucelle rully I reported on a few months ago. A truly great 02 white burg, worth a score in the low to mid 90s.

Bernard Morey Chassagne Montrachet "Les Cheneverieres (???)" 2000- A more subdued wine, showing minerality, some good fruit, but a little less sexy than the Vinnie G. Very austere. 89pts.

78 Ch Duhart Milon- Here's my previous note, I pretty much agree with it still, although I might give it a point or two more. It did very well tonight, giving itself away as an old wine but still flexing some muscle. 91-92 pts.

78 Ch Haut Brion- This was singing. It didn't show signs of death at all. Deep purple color, very litle browning as compared to the Duhart and much greater complexity. There was a tremendous cedar element and a great barnyard thing. The tannins were soft and lovely. As I said earlier, nothing over-the-hill about this, it was just fantastic. 95pts. A special thanks goes out to Otis and Mrs Otis for providing this.

1985 La Mission Haut Brion This was probably my worst of the 3 bottles I've had of this, although it was still fantastic. I couldn't help but feel that it lacked a lttle complexity and was a little tannic compared to the 78 HB! 92pts tonight. Here is my previous TN.

2001 La Tour Blanche Typical for the vintage it was long, sweet, complex and not cloying at all. In fact it was very light on its feet. My impression is that it's a small step down from the 2001 Rieussec and the 2001 Guiraud, but in and of itself is a terrific wine. 93pts.

The night ended with an 82 pt guitar and harmonica symphony from Birdungy and Otis. I should add though that 82 is a very good score for these types of performances.....

What an enticement! How could I not come to Chicago? After reading grossie's TN's on the '85 La Mission,I suggested that the last one he opened was to be with me. His retort was that he would only do it if I came to Chigaco. So, here I am, here goes his last bottle!

Onto the wines. I did not take the same detailed notes but give you my recount of the wines. It was definitely a spoiling tonight with several very excellent wines served.

I am not a huge fan of kiwi SB but thought the Kim Crawford to be very decent. A little too papaya for me but good none the less.

Vince Gerardin's Santenay was truly excellent - very smokey, mineral, fruity. A very appealing wine and very high QPR value based on what grossie got it for.

The Morey Chassagne was more subdued and subtle. A very compelling wine but I don't think it fully showed tonight. It was lower in alcohol that the VG but very classy. A better food wine but I think this wine needed another 2 yrs in bottle fully show.

The Duhart was good - it really improved over the course of the night. My first impressions were a little weedy, and cedary but as it sat in glasses, it developed more and more body. A very pretty wine.

The 78 Haut Brion. What can I say but thanks for Otis for picking this up. A beautiful wine - taste of smoked food and red berries (currants). Really sublime. My WOTN.

The '85 La Mission never really came out of itself. It promised a lot towards the end of the evening but I think this bottle just needed more time in decanter. It had a lot of promise. A fantastic wine that just didn't quite get there.

The Tour Blanche was very lovely too. I have a case of this at home and was grateful to try it. A really fab Sauternes for such a youngster but very obviously young at this stage. Great length and depth. Will be excellent for years to come.

Now, with regards to the entertainmen, I must compliment Otis - he is an excellent mouth organist. He pulls a great blues harp line together and we had a good little jam. I am looking forward to meeting up for the next offline!

BTW, grossie and I also collaborated on a couple of tunes. The genetic resemblence means that while we may not always be in tune objectively, we sure do sound similar. A wailing version of a couple of Beatles and Radiohead tunes tonight came out sounding pretty good to the well preserved ears of the two of us!

BirD

grossie: Thanks so much for inviting us over. My family and I had a terrific time. And the wines you pulled out made for a very memorable evening. We had some pretty profound Bordeaux experiences this week, eh?

And to the multi-talented BirDungy: What a spectacular meal! The duck breasts were cooked expertly and the sauce was a perfect accompaniment to the wines. Really glad I got a chance to share a few glasses of wine with you while you were in town and soak in your smokin' rendition of "Satellite of Love" by Lou Reed. One of my fave songs.

Some brief notes on the wines:

2004 Kim Crawford Sauv Blanc
A high-tension wire of lime zest and papaya, with some piney nuances. 88p (but note that I tend to rate NZ sauvies lower when its tundra-like outside. In the summer on the patio, I could very well rate this 90+P)

2002 V Girardin Santenay 1er Cru Le Beaurepaire
The dry white wine of the night. Wonderful balance and length. Medium-bodied, smooth vanilla and citrus flavors. Deftly oaked. I think grossie paid $24 for this, and it is a strong buy at that price. Drinking great right now. 92P

2000 Bernard Morey Chassagne Montrachet "Les Cheneverieres "
Full-bodied and creamy. I sensed that the wine has more depth than it was showing and agree with BirD that it could use more cellar time. 88P

1978 Ch Duhart Milon
I thought this wine was in great shape, with only slight bricking and a healthy amount of fruit remaining on the palate. Lots of leafy tobacco and earth and a little bit of Grandma's basement on the nose. Expansive in the mouth, with a strong forward surge and a sturdy finish. I think this has enough tannin and structure to last at least another 3 years. Very impressive! 92P.

1978 Ch. Haut-Brion
I bought this yesterday while I was picking up an auction lot. The label was in rough shape so I got a pretty good price ($140). The fill level was pretty high and the cork came out without any problems, soaked about 3/4 up. As BirD mentioned, the wine had a smoked (not smokey) aspect to it that was truly unique. Parker has mentioned that some bottles of '78 H-B have strong resemblance to road tar. I only picked up tar on the very end of the finish, and it eventually blew off. This possessed a rare combination of complexity and intensity. A wine that you literally just pause and contemplate for a minute or two after each sip. Hard to pin flavor descriptors in it, as it seemed to morph into different animals seemingly by the minute. Really happy it showed so well and that I got to share it with such dedicated and experienced Bordeaux-lovers. 96P

1985 La Mission Haut Brion
Thanks to grossie, I have been able to try this twice in the last couple months. I thought it was a killer combo with the duck breast. Dark and ponderous, with nettling minerality cloaking black fruit. This should continue to improve for many years to come. Very interesting to drink it next to the '78s. The '85 LMHB seemed much more powerful and downright youthful. 94P

2001 La Tour Blanche
The perfect capper to a splendid evening. These 2001 Sauternes are drinking so well right now. The La Tour Blanche had a wonderful peach blossom nose and a flirtatious wave of perfumed fruit. I agree with grossie that it is not in the same class as the '01 Suduiraut, Rieussec, or Guiraud, but very fine indeed. 93P

This dinner will eventually wind up costing me, because it emphatically convinced me to start buying and drinking more Bordeaux...

Cheers,

Otis

Sounds like a great dinner. I'm glad to hear the 1978s are still hanging in there.

I wish ANY of you were my brothers..... (hey, maybe you are, since some of us share a nationality, a love of fine wine and have lived away from our hometowns for years!)

bman- no brother of mine would ever be a Bruins fan.

Touche grossie. But otherwise, we're cool, eh?

Don't fret, bman. grossie let this Sabres fan come over and we only dropped the gloves once or twice.

Cheers,

Otis

Otis

Sabres fans don't count as the enemy because the Sabres just don't count.

bman - I'm sure we've had this discussion before but I'll say it again: it really is inexcusable to be a Bruins fan if you've come from Montreal. Did you choose to live in Ottawa or were you sent into exile?

BirD

Otis, all roads lead to Bordeaux

I'm from Windsor, so it my hockey loyalty is inexcusable then I should probably be a Red Wings or Leafs fan (I do like the Wings, actually), but as I think I've mentioned here previously, I'm a Bruins fan because my cousin, Wayne Carleton, not only played for them but won the Stanley Cup with them. We used to go to the games when the Bruins played in Detroit, then see Wayne either before or after the games. I got to meet all the Bruins Greats of the period - Orr, Esposito, Bucyk, et al. It made a strong impression on a teenaged hockey fan, and I've been a loyal Bruins fan ever since.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Three of the board's gentlemen + great wine = great times. I didn't know grossie and Birdungy are brothers. Any other sibs out here on the boards I should know about?

That 1978 Haut Brion looks like a winner. I'll have to keep my eyes open for it.

VM