MNSC Dinner - 1961 horizontal

Dinner at the Pawn.

2010 Crios de Susana Balbo Torrontes - made from Torrontes Riojano, displays really floral and tropical notes like lychee and peach.  Very lovely and easy to drink.

1961 Rayas - the color was very, very light and it was easy to pick this wine out from the rest of the group.  Definitely oxidized, nose was very sweet with lots of caramel, sugar and ripeness.  A little bit of potpourri and cedar.  The second pour showed a little more concentration and more fruit.  A little disappointing.  91 points.

1961 L'Evangile - smoky, a little bit grassy and sweet.  92 points.

1961 L'Eglise-Clinet - big nose of cigar smoke, pencil lead, a hint of green peppers with plenty of grilled meats.  A beautiful wine and just about everyone's wine of the evening, much to our surprise, especially since this was the only wine that wasn't a château bottling.  97 points.

1961 Léoville-Las Cases - smoke, savory like soy sauce, pencil lead, lovely nose.  One would expect this to under-perform the others, but that wasn't the case for me.  94 points.

1961 Latour - nose was very muted.  A little grassy, a bit of fruit, and the nose showed a little sweetness after 2 hours.  The palate and the concentration was still there, but the nose was nowhere to be found...  I can pretty much say that this was everyone's biggest disappointment this evening, given the reputation of this wine and its current market price.  90 points.  Pineapple thinks he's tasted this wine 7-8 times this year, and none of the bottles actually showed well - they were all closed and tight.

1961 Mouton-Rothschild - ripe fruit, a bit of smoke, meaty, a little coconut butter, and in the end some soy sauce.  Very smooth on the palate.  Performed much better than the Latour.  94 points.

Full post on dinner is here.