One thing is for sure, the food was a lot more consistent than the wines at this Burgundy-themed dinner. The wines were all from the guests’ cellars, and like most Burgundy tastings, the disappointments are as numerous as the successes. Among the whites, the oxidized 1996 Niellon Chevalier Montrachet (from my cellar) had, inexplicably, died in the bottle. However, that was made up for by the 1989 DRC Montrachet. The 1989 Louis Latour Bâtard Montrachet was also oxidized, but it was a spectacular wine during the first ten years of its life. It just wasn’t built to last. The exquisite 1992 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard Montrachet was as stunning as the DRC. It was younger in color and seemingly has more aging potential as the DRC appeared to be at its peak. While it is capable of lasting another decade, it will probably not get any better. The Domaine Leflaive should easily last for 10-15 more years.

The red wines included so-so performances by the 1988s, a vintage that still has plenty of tannin, but the colors are revealing garnet and amber hues that suggest full maturity. The flavors are moving from fruity notes into those of decayed vegetation, and the dryness of the tannins in addition to the acidity are poking their way through the wines’ fragile depth. While most of them possessed interesting aromatics (especially the DRC and Dujac), none of the 1988s performed to the point where you actually wanted to drink a glassful. The 1989s were far more delicious. The guests who had purchased the Jadot Beaune Clos des Ursules (by far the cheapest wine of the night) were thrilled with how it performed. It exhibited loads of sweet cherry, loamy soil, spring flowers, and spice notes. Although fully mature and unlikely to improve further, it showed no signs of drying out or falling apart. The 1993s were both high in acidity, which gave them a clipped, disjointed feel in the mouth. The colors were still a youthful dark ruby, but the fruit is muted, and the balance appears to be favoring the acid and tannin at the expense of the fruit. Again, the aromatics were rewarding, but the flavors were disappointing. Moreover, the absence of texture and lushness in the mouth was unattractive.

We ended on a happy note thanks to an exquisite, nearly perfect bottle of 1970 Taylor Vintage Port. At 35 years of age, this phenomenal, incredibly complex port is a late adolescent in terms of its development, and has at least two more decades of life remaining. This was the only wine that was decanted after being opened.