Decided to open some good bottles with good friends today. I brought the ‘88 Chateau D’Yquem. Bought off winebid. Excellent fill level. Excellent wine. I had previously purchased an ‘88 Lafaurie Peyraguey and I felt the profiles were actually fairly similar, despite probably a 10x difference in price.

The nose was honey and beeswax with some tropical fruit thrown in. The palate was fairly similar, with a lovely, pretty long finish and luscious body. That’s where this differed most noticeably from the Lafaurie - the body was much lighter on the Lafaurie and the finish was shorter.

Overall, a beautiful wine, glad that I splurged on it, but am looking forward to trying younger vintages to see what the so-called “ripping acidity” is like, because that was certainly absent here. We drank this last though, so it’s possible my palate was a bit overwhelmed by the previous two wines, but I’m not totally sure.

The Venge and the Martha’s Vineyard. Wow - couldn’t have been more different. Venge was concentrated and rich, but still balanced. I detected a hint of pepper, almost like green bell pepper with a faint hint of savoriness, like jalapeño and guessed there was Cab Franc blended in. Sure enough, my friend said it was 9% CF. Big and bold, but not overly oaked. Decent balance for a bigger wine.

Whereas the MV was almost like Sangiovese in how light it was. Started off with a bit of an odd smell - one person said Eucalyptus, which I could see, but it went beyond that for me, almost into like a mechanical grease, like lithium grease, smell. A little weird. Closest thing in the wine world I could equate it to would be a little hint of diesel, like in Riesling, but yet still that menthol quality to it. Very interesting, and it evolved over time into more red fruit.

Light body, fine tannins, surprisingly well resolved at this point.

Not pictured - 2022 Francis Coppola black diamond wine. This was given to us by a friend and we ended up opening it because we cooked with it. Not really for me. Way, way too much oak - tons of vanilla and toasted coconut, unbalanced alcohol heat and acid. Big fruit, but still too much oak. It was honestly a great learning experience comparing it to the Napa cabs we drank though.

Overall, funday Sunday!