Tasting notes from a glorious weekend

The weekend of 27-30 March offered a wedding, a terrific dinner, and some spectacular wines Given my schedule, it's unusual to have so many nights in a row where wine was a part of my life - it was very pleasant!

Notes in order:

2006 Domaine de Vercheres Macon-Villages
A strange, strange wine. Macon-Villages typically offers clean, crisp, refreshing wine, always Chardonnay lightly oaked if at all, simple but pleasant, good with food. Since this said Macon-Villages on the label, I will assume it was Chardonnay, but to me more like a white Rhone blend or even, at times, a Chenin Blanc - a tad watery, weirdly sweetish, heavy lime taste, not too pale, a little vanilla. Peach at mid-palate, creamy (like a Chenin), limey, short finish. Zero steely crispness typical of Macon. I tasted this before I ordered dinner, and the pork chops in a rich brown sauce - NOT normally what I'd eat with a Macon-Villages - went well. Not at all bad, but wildly untypical of its type. About $9 a bottle. Drink now. ** (at the Pen & Pencil Club, Philadelphia, 3/2008)

2007 Cantina del Castello Soave Classico
Served with wild boar prosciutto (on endive) from the remarkable butcher shop D'Angelo Brothers on 9th St. in Philadelphia's Italian Market - they have every kind of meat you can imagine and some you cannot . I was looking for something light but flavorful to match the cured meat and this was a real winner. Very pale, fruity nose. A hint of fizz, lemony, nutty, clean finish, not long, but lovely while there. Handled the boar and endive well, as its citrus elements cleaned the palate nicely. 12 percent alcohol or so. $17 a bottle, a fair price for hand-made Soave from the best part of the growing area (i.e., the hill, not the plain). Good summer wine. *** (at Chez Bailey, New York, 3/2008)

1996 H. Billiot en Fils Champagne
This and the next three wines came from a spectacular BYOB dinner thanks to the generosity of a wonderful old friend. This was the aperitif. It offered a yeasty apple blast at the beginning - I have never had such an apple-y Champagne - a light mousse, a gentle, mature wine with body and class. The '96's have been the greatest Champagne vintage of the last 15 years and they are starting to be fully mature. This lovely wine is ready now but has the structure and the fruit - all that apple! - to go for a while. My preference is towards more lemony and mineral bubblies, but I'd drink this anytime. Might be really good with a creamy, milder cheese. Now-2012. **** (at La Sirene, New York, 3/2008)

2002 Zind-Humbrecht Clos Windsbuhl Hunawihr Riesling
A half-bottle. Not as massive as some of the Z-H's I have had over the years - see the 2007 wine dinner report for one of those - but thus perhaps more typical of Alsatian Riesling. Deep, wonderful aroma of apricot and petrol; bags of racy Riesling fruit, nice acidity to balance the fruit and a firm, age-worthy body. Light honey on the long, long finish. It felt a touch stronger than some Rieslings (I did not get the alcohol number but it had to be 12.5 minimum). Delightful with duck salad, though trout or game may have been even better. Now-2017. **** (at La Sirene, New York, 3/2008)

1998 La Conseillante Pomerol
I've had La Conseillante before and always been pleased but somewhat underwhelmed (in Bordeaux I am more of a Left Bank guy), but it is a favorite of my dining group and thus I see it more frequently than any other Pomerol (or Right Bank wine in general). Decanted for roughly an hour. Eucalyptus and mint on the powerful nose at first, then, in a bit, classic Bordeaux nose, not as leathery as the Left Bank, more plummy cassis and hints of cigars (good ones too!). Deep purple color, rich, a hint of sweet, well-balanced, body to spare, refreshing, cassis long finish. A powerhouse. Got better in the glass. Had this with the duck and a rich monkfish stew with mushrooms. Absolutely classic, best La Conseillante I ever had. Good now, will last. And last. Now-2020. ****1/2 (at La Sirene, New York, 3/2008)

1999 Laville Haut Brion Pessac-Leognan blanc
The white of La Mission Haut Brion. White Bordeaux is usually hit with me, though more so from Pessac-Leognan and Graves than the Medoc; I've had Mouton's (Aile d'Argent) and Margaux's (Pavillon Blanc) whites and been, again, pleased but underwhelmed, while I cannot praise Domaine de Chevalier's white (Graves) enough. I came to this wine with much anticipation and excitement and I am pleased to say it delivered though in an unexpected way. In an age of obvious wines that show their hand right at the start, this is a subtle, quiet gem that reveals its pleasures slowly and only to those who are paying attention. Don't guzzle this, don't serve it without food and DO serve it with people whose conversation is as good as the wine because that will stretch the wine and you'll know its secrets better. Palish, golden wine. Minty, subtle nose of citrus and lanolin; more lime and meadow on the palate, a bare hint of grapefruit, and then it goes on and on and on the finish and remained in the mouth as an evanescent memory. Served probably a hair too cold, changed as it warmed, apricot, mint, that meadowy, grassy (in a good way) flavor. Some commentators such as Michael Broadbent suggest this wine could be in a "dumb" (i.e., closed) phase now, which could account for the subtleness of the flavors, but it gives much pleasure. It suited the monkfish stew but would have been so perfect with diver scallops or even simply prepared good pork. A wine for connoisseurs and sophisticated palates. Now-2020? ****1/2 (At La Sirene, New York, 3/2008).

1998 Aubry Champagne
Wow! This one grabs you at the start, bready, zesty nose leaps drom the glass, chalky, minerally, aggressive in a good way. Massive mousse. Lemons and citrus on the palate, not as appley as the Billot. A tremendous aperitif but stood up just fine, indeed amazingly well, to somewhat overcooked prime rib. Oysters or game birds would be a spectacular match. Years to here. I have been loyal to the '96 Champagnes but '98 needs more investigation, will have get on that prompt. A divine wine to toast the wedding of two of my dearest friends - they deserve the best, of course! (They had Pol Roger '96 at the head table; my little party had this wine to ourselves). Festive, a real treat, made the occasion sparkle even more than it did already. Now-2015? More? **** (At The Riviera at Massapequa, Massepequa, New York, 3/2008)

2007 Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand)
The wedding (open) bar's white wine. A commercial product and it shows, the flavors are more obvious and cruder. Served too cold, flat and cloying when too cold. But as it warmed up, hints of lemon, mint and vanilla. Would be a decent beach wine or lunch wine with leftover fish and fowl. OK value at $8. Drink now, if at all. For what it was, OK; could have been a lot worse. *1/2 (At The Riviera at Massapequa, Massepequa, New York, 3/2008).