Never has the phrase, “Doing well by doing good” been more applicable than to the generosity of the owners and managers of Chateau Latour and Chateau D’ Yquem who served as the Grand Cru sponsors of the fifth annual Heart’s Delight charity event for the American Heart Association held in Washington, D.C. on May 7-9, 2004.  The event was held in memory of Bruce Bassin, a leading wine merchant from Tasters Guild retail affiliate, MacArthur Beverages in D.C.  Bruce passed away at the age of forty while waiting for a flight at Dulles Airport to Bordeaux to taste Bordeaux futures.  The Heart’s Delight auction featured a tasting of the recently released Bordeaux vintage chaired by Robert Parker and was attended by approximately six hundred wine enthusiasts, Tasters Guild members and thirty-five Bordeaux chateaux owners, regiseurs and winemakers. The event raised more than $800,000 for the American Heart Association. 

On Thursday, May 7, one of the eight special dinners with guests from Bordeaux, their wines and contributors was held in the French Ambassador’s residence, the most stately residence on Washington’s famous Kalarama Road.  Ambassador Jean-David Levitte was both a gracious and articulate host and he commented on the close alliance between France and the United States as well as the link between fine French wine and American wine consumers.  To paraphrase him, he noted that allies, like husbands and wives, are not always in agreement, but can always stay together through the rough patches.  The French Ambassador’s residence is almost a museum of French-American relations since the Revolutionary War, with paintings of Washington and Jefferson as well as Rochambeau and Lafayette.  On almost the eve of the 60th Anniversary of D-day, he also reminded us that the people of France will never forget that the United States led the Allies in liberating France.

Madame Francois Pinault and Frederick Engerer of Chateau Latour and Aymeric Du Montault of Chateau D’Y’quem discussed the wines brought from their cellars for the dinner.  In addition to the Chateau Y 2000  and Chateau D’Yquem 1996 and 1986, and Latour in 1996, 1990, 1982, 1975, Latour 1966 was served from magnum, courtesy of one of the guests from their cellar.  (Tasting notes on all the wines are below.)  The wines were matched with food prepared by the Ambassador’s personal chef.

The next night, we had a spectacular banquet in the Mellon Auditorium of the Smithsonian Museum with 350 in attendance.  Once again, a plethora of great vintages of D’Yquem and Latour were served.  We were joined by 20 winemakers and proprietors of Bordeaux Chateaux, who had very much enjoyed the wines and food.  They also watched as numerous big bottles of their donated wines, as well as a trip to Bordeaux, were auctioned.  As if they had not done enough, double magnums of 1986 Latour and 1996 D’Yquem direct from the cellars were auctioned by James Ritchie of Sotheby’s.  While some of us, who had been at the French Embassy dinner got to have Latour 1982 two nights in a row, (the term died and gone to heaven might be appropriate) the other vintages were different including 1998, 1995, and 1970.

The week after the Heart’s Delight auction, my wife and I attended a dinner at Daniel’s in New York. The retired owner of D’Yquem, Count De Lur Saluces, presided at the event.  The dinner was held to demonstrate that D’Yquem can be married with foods other than foie gras and dessert, as well as to showcase the treasure trove of D’Yquem to be auctioned at Zachy’s, direct from D’Yquem’s cellars.  The auction featured a super lot of jeroboams and imperials of 25 vintages from D’Yquem.  Daniel Boulud did an incredible job with the food to marry with the wines.  Four different vintages of D’Yquem including 1996, 1986,  the other worldly 1967 and 1950 were served.  One of the dinner participants brought a 1959 Latour in perfect condition.  That was a week to remember. 

The 2005 Heart’s Delight Auction is scheduled for April 28 thru April 30, 2005.  The event will feature a Thursday night dinner prepared by two star Michelin chef extraordinaire Michel Rostang in the Crystal Room of the Willard Intercontinental, a Friday night black tie banquet at the Mellon Auditorium, and a Saturday tasting of 2002 vintage Bordeaux with Chateau owners lead by Serena Sutcliffe, MW.  For more information on the event or to make donations, please contact Heidi Arnold at 703-914-3795.

Tasting Notes:
-Y 2000 -this is the first vintage since 1996 that was produced.  Straw color, lovely peach and vanilla nose, with ripe fruit in the mouth, a medium dry but long finish (18).

-Y’Quem 1996-light golden color, wonderful apricot and citrus in the nose, lovely rich fruit in the mouth with good acid balance.  Obviously, young with a long rich finish.  It is an elegant Y’Quem, but this is not from a vintage with as heavily concentrated botrytis as the great Y’Quem vintages (18). 

-Y’Quem 1986-medium golden color, rich sweet dried apricot nose, very ripe and sweet apricot jam flavors in the mouth, great balance, elegant with great acidity and a very long finish.  A great Y’Quem with 20 to 30 years ahead (19).

-Y’Quem 1967-very deep golden color, rich honey and super ripe apricot in the nose, incredibly concentrated bouquet, super ripe and rich fruit in the mouth, while the acidity has softened, there is still plenty of acid remaining, concentrated ripe fruit finish for this wine goes on for several minutes.  This wine has as much concentrated bofrytis flavors as any Y’Quem I have ever had.  It is still an extremely young wine at 37 years of age.  The Count De Lur Saluces said at the tasting that our grandchildren will enjoy this wine until the end of the 21st century. (20)

-Y’Quem 1950-light golden color, bouquet more like a Grand Marnier type of sweet orange, very complex, very rich in the mouth, a very mature Sauternes which should be drunk and enjoyed now. (17.5)

-Chateau Les Forts de Latour 1996-very deep ruby color, nose still closed, but hint of cassis, rich fruit in mouth, but lots of acid, very long tannic finish, even though this is a second wine, it shows how concentrated and long lived the 1996 vintage will be (17.5).

-Chateau Latour 1998-bright ruby color, ripe fruit with a hint of raspberry in the nose, excellent balance, elegant, supple well-rounded in the mouth, good finish with mild tannin, early maturing, excellent Latour of good character (18).

-Latour 1996-very deep ruby color, nose closed in the glass for the first half hour, then opening to a explosive fruit, with cassiss and oak, rich ripe fruit in the mouth, with a very tannic long finish, destined to be a great long-lived Latour (19.5).

-Latour 1995-medium ruby color, dry nuts and cigar box nose with a hint of leather, great fruit in the mouth, a classic, extremely well-balanced Latour with a long rich tannic finish (19).

-Latour 1990-deep vibrant ruby color, massive concentrated bouquet, exploding from the glass with a combination of cigar box, earthiness, leather, and bright berries, same explosion of concentrated fruit in the mouth with tremendous balance and a long tannic finish.  It deserves its rank  as one of the greatest Latour vintages ever (20).

-Latour 1982-medium ruby color, lovely rich ripe fruit and cigar box in nose, exudes elegance, incredible balance and structure for such a powerful wine, very tannic long finish still plenty of life left.  For me, consistently the best of the great 82 first growths (20).

-Latour 1975-ruby color with a slight brick rim, nose quite oaky mixed with dry cherry, very lovely fruit in the mouth, but lean with as much acid as fruit, a very tannic finish, a very good wine but not a great one (18).

-Latour 1970-deep brilliant ruby, very  vibrant color for such an old wine, a very powerful bouquet with dried fruit and cigar box, great fruit in the mouth with dried cherries as an undertone, a really powerful and sturdy wine with a long fine tannic finish, it shows how underrated the top 1970's are at the present time (19.5).

-Latour 1966 (Magnum)- light brick color, good clarity, very strong cigar box bouquet, medium weight with a lovely elegant balance, tannins very soft, and the wine appears to be at its peak (18.5).

-Latour 1959-deep ruby color, slight brick on the rim, a very vibrant and powerful bouquet of leather, dried fruit, and cigar box, very full rich fruit in the mouth, great balance, incredible wine with a good long tannic finish (20).  The first time I tasted this wine in eight years, and it was much better now than then.  Kudos to the collector who brought it and has one of the finest cellars in New York City as well as to Chateau Latour for producing a wine that could be so absolutely marvelous after 45 years.  We should all age so well.