Yesterday’s Birthday Wine Lineup

For my 64th birthday.

2021 Le Petit Chambord Cheverny. 100% Melon de Bourgogne. Light straw. White orchard fruit and a little citrus. Medium acidity, some bitterness. I liked it, my girlfriend hated it. Better and better the longer it breathed in the bottle.

2019 Stringer Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. Super deep, dark purple. I suspect ultra purple was used in this wine considering how dark it was and that the bottom of the cork left a nearly black stain on my finger after opening. Very typical Napa Cab. Jammy, dark, full-bodied, almost sweet. Opened up after an hour in the decanter and was actually quite nice with lots of dark red fruit. Not my favorite, but everyone else who tried it loved it.

1997 Casanova de Neri Cerretalto. Unfortunately, my GF’s brother brought this and wanted to open it right away, so I felt I had to oblige. I let it sit as long as I could, then decanted for about 30 minutes. Lots of sediment, so a rather cloudy brick red. Even so, this was a truly delicious wine with leather and dark fruit on the nose, great balance, and so much life left. I wish we had time to let it settle because it might have been a nearly perfect wine.

1961 Francesco Rinaldi & Figli Barolo. The remaining photos are from opening this bottle. This was the piéce de résistance, a wine from my birth year. Stood up for a full week before opening. Under the capsule, the cork was rather moldy, which I cleaned off with alcohol and a paper towel. Even using an Ah-so assisted by a Pulltaps, the cork disintegrated upon opening. It was perhaps the shortest cork I’ve ever seen in a bottle of wine and it was almost completely saturated. Decanted carefully and got all but about three tablespoons of beautifully clear wine out of the bottle, poured through a tea strainer to catch two small bits of cork that had fallen into the wine. Tasted it immediately and got nothing but musty sherry and a pretty flat taste. As the afternoon wore on, I took little tastes and noticed the transformation as the musty notes receded and it began to show fig, prune, and raisins on the nose. Served it with Piedmontese ribeye steaks about six hours after opening and it was spectacular. Lots of acidity and a surprising amount of tannin still present with flavors of stewed red fruit. Everyone who tried it agreed that it was great and an awesome experience.

Pierre Paillard Les Parcelles Bouzy Grand Cru NV Champagne Extra Brut. Served with dessert. Disgorged 2022. Very light gold. The nose was bread still baking in the oven. Fine mousse. Very dry with a mouth-watering acidity. Just excellent.