Last night I had the pleasure of being welcomed back to New York from France with something incredibly rare- from France. A few friends came to Rothmann’s for dinner with a bottle or three to wash down a porterhouse. The first two wines were classic left bank Bordeaux,  ’82 Talbot and ’88 Leoville Las Cases.

Both wines from St.-Julien showed well, the Talbot at or very close to it’s peak with cedar and tobacco and still a bit of cherry on the finish. Drink it now. Followed by the Leoville Las Cases, seeming like a wine half it’s age rich and opulent, black fruit, cedar, mint, minerality and well integrated oak. I would wait on this for awhile. One of the best examples of ’88  on the left bank from the best producer in St.-Julien.

After they had finished the steak, they moved outside to investigate the half bottle that had been chilling on ice behind the bar. We sat out on 54th street as the cement heat and humidity had become bearable after ten o’clock.  I poured four glasses of the Jean-Louis Grippat Hermitage Vin de Paille Blanc 1995, Apricot, cinnamon toast, candied orange peel, cardamon and almond butter on the nose, acidity highlighting the fruit and balance on the palate.  Long finish and gorgeous power and balance from a well kept bottle of a stellar vintage in the Northern Rhone Valley.  I would assume this is 100% Marsanne since this is what was contained in their vineyards…  I was told that 200 half bottles were produced of this wine in the 1995 vintage, although I have seen a quote that “900 half bottles are produced for us, en famille” in reference to the wine in question, not the 1995 vintage-  it is conceivable that the production would differ from vintage to vintage.

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