Blue Skies On and On, 1978 Domaine Remoissenet, Aloxe-Corton, Diamond Jubilee, Village, Burgundy, France and 2001 Alter Ego de Palmer, Margaux, Bordeaux, France.

The lawn was in desperate need of mowing at the farm and I hadn't had a decent wine in three or so weeks. My dilemma had thus presented itself. If I remained in Lansing, the grass and weeds in the UP would become so unmanageable that an application of machete to leaf would be required to halt its growth. If was to go away, I  wouldn't be able to find aged Burgundy. The dilemma was solved when my friend with the 1978 Village Aloxe-Corton allowed me to bring him and his wine.  Buoyed by this development and overflowing with general goodwill for all mankind I brought my 2001 Alter Ego de Palmer to help match Eric's generosity.

Took out the grill, some maple from the woodshed, the lamb shanks and proceeded to grill supper. The meal we planned was the thing one dreams up after a grueling week in the salt mines reading about the ultra-rich throwing baby showers for one another.

Upon removal of the capsule, the scene presented us with dirt. Not the taste of, nor an analogy to dirt but the actual stuff. The cork was free from it, but how and where did that dirt come from?

Brown sugar and almost a bean protean that faded in the finish. It is amazing how well this wine has kept, it showed much younger than my previous experiences with older Burgundy.





We decanted the 2001 Alter Ego de Palmer for an hour in the bottle. It needed that hour to put weight on the mid-pallet. You get that sea influence mixed with the wonderful notes of tomato and pepper only found in better Bordeaux with a few years behind them. Eric found a Ridge Zin at Jack's Market in Manistique. It was delicious, even better in the red reduction. Lamb always needs yogurt, youg and red and asparagus. When you work hard and drink well, there is nothing left to do but play cards and pass out.