Had a superb bunch of wines Sunday. Started off at our friends the Murphys' new house, where they uncorked a . . .
1990 Dom Perignon -- a perfectly preserved, gorgeous, deeply flavored champagne. Nose of freshly baked Parisian baguettes. Tremendous depth a flavor and great balance, with a long finish. Haven't had a champagne this good since the mid 1980s!
Thence on to our house for fresh mozzarella/backyard basil/heirloom tomato salad, citrus-marinated skirt steaks, and Liz's not-so-Waspy potato salad, accompanied by . . .
2003 Domaine La Hitaire "Hors Saison" Côtes de Gascogne blanc -- A Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend from southwest France near Bordeaux. Deep gold color. Fresh, grassy, grapy, nose, and good balance. Very pleasant.
1998 Domaine Le Galantin Bandol -- Deep ruby, showing some brick at the rim. Unbelievable fragrance of incense, earth, spicy raspberries and plums, roasted meat and dried herbs. Great depth, length and balance. Bought 6 of these in 2000; this was my last one and was showing better than ever. Sad to see it go.
2002 Turkey Flat Vineyards "The Turk" (Barossa Valley, Australia) -- A very good wine (blend of Shiraz, Grenache, Cabernet & Mourvèdre), but I thought it paled by comparison with the preceding Bandol. Nice earthy, jammy nose, but with some lemony acidity showing up. Good fruit in the mouth, but clearly acidified a bit, which somewhat shortened the finish.
2000 Alvear Pedro Ximénez -- A superb and unbelievably rich dessert wine from the Andalusia region of Spain. Intense and warmly alcoholic nose of maple syrup, raisins, and honey. Rich and viscous in the mouth, but with excellent balance and great length. Sweet but not cloying at all. (Still a few half bottles of this left at Copperfield's on Westpark!)
I'm not going to grade these, since, as you can tell from the fact that this roster was consumed by only 4 people, my critical faculties were taking the day off.
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