18 Masters of Wine had dinner at Lat Toque last night, as they had dinner last year on super bowl sunday. 27 bottles of wine later, as the party wound down, there were tastes of many of the wines left for Ken, Yoon, Arnel and I to sample. I am enjoying my favorite wine as I write this, it is the 2001 Chateau d’Yquem. Do you see the glass of Sauternes in the photograph? It is empty now. What a silk sheet of a wine this is. Yum. Siobhan Turner brought the legendary 1967 and the 1996 as well from London. This bottle of 1996 Chateau d’Yquem was the finest example of that vintage that I have tasted. We do pour it on occasion in the wine pairing and it is a fine year but not an exceptional one. How good was this bottle? It wasn’t lost between these two amazing vintages. I mentioned to her how wonderful the particular bottle was and she replied that it came directly from the Chateau to her office in London and then here to La Toque. So I had poured the 1967 and then the 1996 I had just poured to first taste of the 2001 Chateaux d’Yquem to Mark De Vere to let him accept the the wine when I remembered to offer to decant it. Of course, Mark said, Yes please do. What a difference in a young Sauterne, Decanting added volume and aromatics. What a treat to enjoy this 100 point wine, it needed the air. All the apricot honey and butterscotch that you would expect  with notes of orange marmalade, fig, date, brown sugar and carmel apple spice with just a touch of acidity.

I am sorry that you have to read about the wine. It hardly seems fair.