A dinner with good friends included one of the most remarkable white wines I have ever tasted, a pristine, still youthful and fresh bottle of 1973 DRC Montrachet. Still possessing wonderful acidity, magnificent flavor concentration, and a light gold color, this wine (which came from a top-notch vintage for white rather than red Burgundy) has aged marvelously well. Seemingly younger than many more recent vintages, this bottle came from a cold, private cellar. It was packaged in the old, deep green-colored bottle that the DRC changed a few years later. Prior to that wine, we enjoyed a beautiful bottle of 1990 J. L. Chave white Hermitage, which was showing plenty of marzipan, hazelnut, and honey. As outstanding as it was, it was blown away by the exquisite Montrachet. We then moved to a disappointing maderized bottle of 1947 L’Enclos, a Pomerol from sandy soils, and a very good, but slightly tired bottle of 1929 La Mission Haut Brion. We finished with an exquisite bottle of 1947 La Fleur Petrus, one of the finest examples I have seen of that wine. It is rich and full-bodied with wonderful sweet black cherry and licorice notes, that tremendous unctuosity and opulence that is so much a characteristic of the 1947 right bank wines, and amazing length and richness.

The food included a delicious casserole of scallops and a rustic stew with flavorful meats and vegetables.