The stars of this evening for me wine-wise were the over-achieving 2004 Auxey-Duresses from Lalou Bize Leroy, the brilliant, chalky, crisp, minerally 1996 Blanc de Blancs Champagne from Stéphane Coquillette, and of course, a magnificent magnum of 1949 Clos des Lambrays. The latter wine had gamey, earthy, mushroom notes intermixed with sweet forest floor, red currant and dark cherry characteristics. The wines still has at least a decade of life in it, and having had the great vintages of Clos des Lambrays in the post-World War II era (1945, 1947, 1948, and 1949), that estate, with its pre-phylloxera vineyards at the time, really did hit many a magical moment. The 2006 Perrot Minot Chapelle Chambertin smelled wonderful but seemed a bit tart and acidic in the mouth. I was very disappointed in the thin, one-dimensional, and superficial 2002 Verget Corton-Charlemagne.

As for the food, it was catered by one of Baltimore's better restaurants, Linwood's in Owings Mills, Maryland.