Tonight, after an exhausting week of dealing with a sick kindergartner,
I decided that we needed a good dinner. Andrew, coming off a day at
school after missing 3 days with a high fever, went to bed early tonight
at 7:30, so I smoked a pheasant on the grill and made a risotto Milanese
to accompany some sauteed late-season Bok Choy. This was a dish that
called for a Burgundy to me, so I fetched from the cellar one of our
older bottles:

1996 Joseph Drouhin Beaune Clos des Mouches
color: brick red, going orange at the rim
nose: initially, soy sauce, orange rind, spices, raspberry fruit; later
becoming more overtly spicy, with notes of tea leaves
palate: high acidity, medium-light body

After reading a few less-than-salutary reviews on Cellartracker, I
approached this wine with some concern, but found that it was totally
unfounded. First of all, the cork was as sound and pristine as I've
seen in a wine of this age. Secondly, although there were plenty of
tertiary elements, this was a wine still in its maturity. Very nice
with the smoked pheasant and risotto, which brought the fruit out of the
wine. Altogether fine, and very satisfying.

Mark Lipton
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