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Date With Decadence, Charleston Restaurant, Baltimore, MD

This is an annual holiday luncheon I host for good friends and wine lovers where three flights are served blind and we then proceed to embarrass each other. However, I had one great advantage ... I knew the wines included.

The Group's Favorites

Flight 1: The top three choices were the 1997 Coche Dury Meursault Perrières, followed by the 1997 Neyers Chardonnay Thieriot Vineyard, and 1985 Louis Jadot Chevalier Montrachet Les Demoiselles.

Flight 2: This was a tough choice, with virtually everyone thinking the 2000 Brewer-Clifton Pinot Noir Melville (100% whole berry fermentation with stems) was a great grand cru Burgundy. Believe it or not, it won the tasting, followed by the DRC's 1990 La Tâche and Ponsot's 1990 Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes. I had placed Brewer-Clifton third, following the perfect 1990 La Tâche and 1990 Clos de la Roche. The entire flight was extraordinary, with the only underwhelming wine being the 1997 Louis Jadot Musigny (still closed and backward).

Flight 3: The winner was a tie between the 1982 Latour and 1975 Lafleur. Third place was probably the 1975 La Mission Haut Brion, although there was considerable sentiment for the 1986 Mouton Rothschild.

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