After the Pichon, and after Josh motioned to his empty glass indicating he was in need of more wine, I went down into the cellar and popped the cork on the 1975 Montrose. I have to admit to being a little nervous that this wine might not live up to the first. The corroded capsule, the scuffed and moisture damaged label, and the completely saturated cork did not portend auspicious drinking. However the fill level remained at base neck and the slight pop of the cork as I pulled it from its womb sustained my hope that this could be a quality bottle of vino. While decanting: not as generous or sweet as the Pichon, but from the color I would of guessed a wine from the mid nineties, not the mid seventies. Simply amazing medium ruby with only the tiniest hint of orange at the rim. Not a spec of brown. Not a spec! We are talking about a 32 year old wine that hadn't been well stored (if the cork was any indication) and the color seemed nearly perfect. I began to get excited as I sniffed at my glass. A lot more austere than the Pichon, more masculine, more brooding, deeper, with a gamey nose of beef blood and leather. A short while later, sweetening a little. On the palate the alcohol was present but not hot, with still some grip but pretty seamless..showing its class, its muscle, its time left in bottle. And wow, what a persitent finish with hints of cherry, vanilla, and dried red currants that appear out of nowhere and linger on the palate. A great follow up to the Pichon, a high quality bottle, and an excellent experience overall.
By the time we finished the second of the birth year bottles we were nearly through dinner (lots of grilled items, despite the rain), but not completely finished, so I uncorked a half bottle of 1997 Opus One and threw it into a decanter. What is it about California Cabernet and its ability to smell like unripe bananas? The nose was full of it, like a bad banan split with whipped cream on top. Cherries, vanilla, cream, and...bananas. I thought, this wine SUCKS. A very new world nose, with menthol coming through and a touch of violet, but again, mainly bananas (I don't particularly care for them) and a hint of mocha. Nicely textured though, supple, but muscular with some dried sour cherry and a little green pepper. My guess is that it needs time as it is so ungenerous with its fruit.
Moving on to dessert (a cherry clafoutis we picked up from Brix Terrace Café): A bottle of 1980 Mas Amiel Vintage Maury, made from 100% Grenache Noir. I have a particular affinity for this winery in the Languedoc-Roussillon, but I have to admit that this wine lacked a little in the mid-palate. However, this vintage comes from before the era of the seemingly quality conscious new proprietor who took over in 1999. It opened up nicley, showing the typical tawny flavors of walnut, getting better with some swirling (oddly, I thought, since it had matured in oak casks for 25 years before being bottled). Raisins, prunes, a hint of fig on the palate. This wine is all finish. A hallow mid palate leads to an explosion of flavors at the end: fig, caramel, walnut, hazelnut. Hmmm...a nice wine, a great way to end the evening, not mind blowingly good though, but the company more than made up for that.
Up next: The leftover glass of 1997 Opus One from Josh's B-day, plastic wrapped and secreted away in the fridge until the next evening's meal.
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