A sumptuous meal held to launch the holiday season included Mark's Duck House exquisite dim sum as well as a few other assorted goodies. The wines began with a bottle of the 1996 Salon Blancs de Blanc that revealed more acidity and less flavor intensity than others I have tasted. While it is an outstanding 100% Chardonnay champagne that sees no malolactic, this bottle was backward and tart. The two California Chardonnays were sumptuous. The Chardonnay of the vintage (a challenging year) is the 1998 Marcassin Estate, an exquisitely rich wine that comes across like a Corton-Charlemagne on steroids. It has everything - liquid minerals, honeysuckle, tropical fruits, and superb structure and definition. At age 8, it remains an infant. More opulent, but with fewer nuances, the 2005 Brewer-Clifton Chardonnay Mt. Carmelpossesses good minerality, acidity, and ripeness, but not the nuances found in the Marcassin. Of course, it's seven years younger than the Marcassin.

We then moved into a flight of ancient Burgundies that had all been perfectly stored. The 1953 La Tâche was the color of a light rosé, but, wow, it revealed an exquisite nose of autumn leaves, underbrush, peat moss, sweet currants, plums, figs, and, surprisingly, even a hint of new oak. In the mouth, the wine exhibited that ethereal Burgundy sweetness, an expansive, fleshy character, high alcohol, no obvious acidity, and totally melted tannins. The incredibly light, diluted, decrepit color gave no indication of this wine's freshness, richness, or expansive intensity on the palate, again proving that when it comes to Pinot Noir, color is usually irrelevant. While the 1953 was a hard act to follow, the 1942 La Tâche came across as a more muscular, virile, less charming, and more tannic wine. One could see there was plenty of stuffing, and the forest floor, meaty sweetness was somewhat apparent, but dominated by tannin and hardness. I suspect this wine was never terribly impressive, but it is still hanging on to life in a more rough-hewed, rustic style. I'm a person who can't drink enough 1990 red Burgundy. It is one of those vintages of great ripeness, and at age 16, the terroirs are coming through. Those who claim great Burgundy vintages reveal their terroirs early in life must be out of their minds because that rarely ever happens, especially in the greatest vintages where the sunshine and ripeness dominate for the first five years or so, and then nuances begin to appear. The 1990 DRC Richebourg exhibited extraordinary notes of blue fruits, spring flowers, sweet cherries, and black currants in its intoxicatingly decadent bouquet. In the mouth, its silky, full-bodied, opulent, and rich with many years of life remaining. It is a candidate for perfection after a few more years of bottle age.

Next came some of the monster Burgundies from 2003. Both the 2003 Nicholas Potel Bonnes Mares and 2003 Jean Grivot Clos de Vougeot will be superb wines ... in 10-15 years. For the top wines of the vintage, it will be a monumental year. Yes, there are poorly made wines (from growers who acidified or picked too early), but these two cuvées are unbelievably concentrated, and should have 20-30 years of longevity. Both were accessible, but extremely rich and backward. Moving into a flight of Bordeaux was a complete change of gear. A bottle of the 1979 Lafleur from my cellar was disappointing. This wine can achieve perfection, and is unquestionably a candidate for the wine of the vintage. However, this bottle had 95-98-point aromatics, but in the mouth, it was austere, tannic, gritty, and rustic. Perhaps it was due to the sweetness of the Burgundies that preceded it. The 1964 Rouget, brought to celebrate Pierre Rovani's birth year, was also slightly rugged and disjointed, revealing plenty of concentration, but hard tannins and abundant astringency. Absolutely off the charts, this was the finest bottle I have ever tasted of the 2003 Pavie. I found this wine powerful, disjointed, and nearly over the top when it was first bottled, but it has calmed down considerably, and this bottle was pure nectar. Rich and full-bodied with superb definition and purity, but none of the so-called late harvest characteristics that have been falsely attributed to it. It's a beauty that appears to be on a much faster evolutionary track than the 2000.

There is no question that Shafer's 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is one of the greatest modern day Cabernets made in California. It's a monster wine with extraordinary balance, richness, and personality. It will last for three decades or more. More Pomerol-like, lush, exotic, forward, and sexy is the 2001 Hundred Acre Cabernet Sauvignon Kayli Morgan Vineyard. This beauty should continue to drink well for another 12-15 years.

Not to be forgotten, we had one Italian wine ... the 1990 Conterno Barolo Monfortino, which I brought from my cellar. Still a baby, it requires another 10-15 years in the cellar to reach its full potential. The best performance yet for this wine, which was nearly impenetrable in its youth, it is revealing more nuances and complexity, yet remains a pre-adolescent in terms of evolution. I had been looking forward to tasting the 1978 Ponsot Clos de la Roche, but sadly, it was corked.

All in all this was a day of great wine, food, company, and fun ... isn't that what life should be about?