Sunday, May 04, 2008
Regular blind tasting
I joined a tasting group in Westchester this year; I had been to a number of their tastings last year as a replacement for someone unable to attend, but this was the first as a full member of the group. There are occasional deviations (for example, one member put on a vertical of Haut-Brion), but generally the wines are all served blind, with the host providing everything.
Our host for this one was John Gilman, publisher of the newsletter "View from the Cellar" (which I cannot recommend highly enough). The first flight (after a warmup of Fritz Haag's Brauneberger-Juffer Spatlese 2001) had one wine that I was convinced was a good Graves blanc; the other was quite odd, at times seeming like a Gruner, or perhaps a young white Rhone wine. Turns out they were both Sancerres, the first Pascal Cotat's "Mont Damnee" (I did not record the vintage, but I believe 2002), the second Edmund Vatan's Clos la Neore 2002. Preferred the Cotat for sure.
The next two flights were red. Two Burgundies first, one showing a lot of strawberry and some earthiness; the other was denser, darker fruits, even a bit of cinnamon; we thought perhaps a Morey-St-Denis. They were Charmes-Chambertin VV Jacky Truchot 2001 (the wine of the tasting) and Charmes Chambertin Roumier 2000.
We were all stumped on the next flight; I thought they were California cabernet. The first had a minty note and was pretty unbalanced; the other was volatile and tannic but had a nice palate of black fruits, which led one participant to think it was Mayacamas. We were only off by a continent and a varietal, as they were Barolo Brunate Marcarini 1993 and (in a very poor showing) Sori Tildin Gaja 1990.
Back to whites, with two wines chosen especially to complement an outstanding chicken and sausage stew John made. The first was obviously a top flight white Burgundy, the second just as obviously Chablis, full of lemon and minerals. Those were Puligny Montrachet Champs Canet Ramonet 2000 and Chablis Blanchot Raveneau 2000, both completely spot-on.
Another strange flight next. First, another minty, volatile, unbalanced wine; at least this time when we guessed a Cabernet based wine we were right, as that was a very disappointing Vega Sicilia Unico 1987. Alongside that was a wine with Graves-type aromatics, a bit of alcoholic heat, but clearly a wine of pretty good quality despite inelegance; it was Lafite Rothschild 1985, also not a star but at least one person present thought it would continue to evolve into a first-rate Lafite.
Back to Burgundy for the last flight of reds. The first, very acidic but also quite nice, with a lot of cinnamon and spices, as well as red fruits; it was Beaune Clos du Roi Tollot-Beaut 1985, which I liked a lot. The other was my only good guess of the night, as it reminded me of the chaptalized 1972 of a couple of months earlier. Sure enough, this reasonably good wine (but which clearly was showing its sugar) was Beaune 1er Cru Leroy 1972.
A fun night, as always. Thanks to John for great flighting decisions and for the excellent cooking!
Coming up next: a night of Trimbach's Cuvee Frederic Emile and older Riojas, also at John's.
Our host for this one was John Gilman, publisher of the newsletter "View from the Cellar" (which I cannot recommend highly enough). The first flight (after a warmup of Fritz Haag's Brauneberger-Juffer Spatlese 2001) had one wine that I was convinced was a good Graves blanc; the other was quite odd, at times seeming like a Gruner, or perhaps a young white Rhone wine. Turns out they were both Sancerres, the first Pascal Cotat's "Mont Damnee" (I did not record the vintage, but I believe 2002), the second Edmund Vatan's Clos la Neore 2002. Preferred the Cotat for sure.
The next two flights were red. Two Burgundies first, one showing a lot of strawberry and some earthiness; the other was denser, darker fruits, even a bit of cinnamon; we thought perhaps a Morey-St-Denis. They were Charmes-Chambertin VV Jacky Truchot 2001 (the wine of the tasting) and Charmes Chambertin Roumier 2000.
We were all stumped on the next flight; I thought they were California cabernet. The first had a minty note and was pretty unbalanced; the other was volatile and tannic but had a nice palate of black fruits, which led one participant to think it was Mayacamas. We were only off by a continent and a varietal, as they were Barolo Brunate Marcarini 1993 and (in a very poor showing) Sori Tildin Gaja 1990.
Back to whites, with two wines chosen especially to complement an outstanding chicken and sausage stew John made. The first was obviously a top flight white Burgundy, the second just as obviously Chablis, full of lemon and minerals. Those were Puligny Montrachet Champs Canet Ramonet 2000 and Chablis Blanchot Raveneau 2000, both completely spot-on.
Another strange flight next. First, another minty, volatile, unbalanced wine; at least this time when we guessed a Cabernet based wine we were right, as that was a very disappointing Vega Sicilia Unico 1987. Alongside that was a wine with Graves-type aromatics, a bit of alcoholic heat, but clearly a wine of pretty good quality despite inelegance; it was Lafite Rothschild 1985, also not a star but at least one person present thought it would continue to evolve into a first-rate Lafite.
Back to Burgundy for the last flight of reds. The first, very acidic but also quite nice, with a lot of cinnamon and spices, as well as red fruits; it was Beaune Clos du Roi Tollot-Beaut 1985, which I liked a lot. The other was my only good guess of the night, as it reminded me of the chaptalized 1972 of a couple of months earlier. Sure enough, this reasonably good wine (but which clearly was showing its sugar) was Beaune 1er Cru Leroy 1972.
A fun night, as always. Thanks to John for great flighting decisions and for the excellent cooking!
Coming up next: a night of Trimbach's Cuvee Frederic Emile and older Riojas, also at John's.
