Friday, June 20, 2008
Lopez de Heredia 1981 and Kracher TBA #12 1998
These were Tuesday night at a friend's house. The Lopez was a recent release; the Kracher part of a case I purchased at auction a few years ago.
I really liked the Lopez de Heredia Vina Bosconia 1981. A little volatile but a great, sweet nose, and then lots of strawberry and cherry on the palate. Lowish tannin but lots of acidity so this can probably go quite a while longer.
The Kracher Chardonnay TBA #12 1998, on the other hand, I have completely grown out of. Thick, syrupy, cloying and with almost zero acidity. The flavors were pretty good, and I can see why people love them but they're not for me.
I really liked the Lopez de Heredia Vina Bosconia 1981. A little volatile but a great, sweet nose, and then lots of strawberry and cherry on the palate. Lowish tannin but lots of acidity so this can probably go quite a while longer.
The Kracher Chardonnay TBA #12 1998, on the other hand, I have completely grown out of. Thick, syrupy, cloying and with almost zero acidity. The flavors were pretty good, and I can see why people love them but they're not for me.
Friday, June 13, 2008
An interesting blind tasting
I attended a blind tasting last night of Burgundy and Rioja, the idea being to show off the similarities of the two once they have some bottle age. I correctly identified 8 out of 10, but they did show a lot of similarities; the differences were easiest to spot in the tannin and acidity, rather than in the flavors. 8 wines were in the main group, followed by two 2005s which were not included in the rankings.
The unanimous choice of the worst wine there was the "sweet, sour and bitter" Griottes Chambertin Frederic Esmonin 1995. I thought it showed signs of rot as well. I hope this is not a representative bottle.
The other wines that I disliked were the Chambertin Clos de Beze Pierre Damoy 1996, which was all medicinal cherry, and the mentholly, overly acidic (which completely obscured the fruit) Monte Real Gran Reserva 1998. Also Le Corton Bouchard 1998, which had a lot of tannin, a fairly short finish, and not a lot of fruit, but it's really not fair to judge Corton young, and Bouchard's is usually one I like quite a bit. I ranked it (before the wines were revealed) 5th out of 8.
My 4th place wine was a little simple but quite nice, not that expressive on the nose but a pretty attractive palate of red fruits. It turned out to be Vina Albina Gran Reserva 1998; this was one of my errors, as I thought it was Burgundy. I quite liked the Contino Reserva 1995, which had really nice acidity, tobacco notes, good fruit, decent length, and improved in the glass. My second place wine (which won the tasting) was the balanced, well structured, medium bodied, complex Vina Real Gran Reserva 1996. My top wine, which the group ranked 4th, was Clos Vougeot Drouhin-Laroze 1997, which was elegant, complex, medium weight, with great flavors and a long finish. This was my other miss; I thought it was a Rioja.
The other two wines, the 2005s, showed well. The first wine, with a lot of dark cherry flavors, didn't go in a great direction as the wood completely took over after a couple hours in the glass, but until that I liked it a lot; it was Gevrey Chambertin VV Marc Roy (a producer I'd never heard of). The other was the excellent Sierra Cantabria Coleccion Privada, a little smoky, a touch sweet, with nice dark fruits.
My ranking:
1) Clos Vougeot Drouhin-Laroze 1997
2) Vina Real Gran Reserva 1996
3) Contino Reserva 1995
4) Vina Albina Gran Reserva 1998
5) Le Corton Bouchard 1998
6) Monte Ral Gran Reserva 1998
7) Chambertin Clos de Beze Pierre Damoy 1996
8) Griotte Chambertin Frederic Esmonin 1995
The group's ranking:
1) Vina Real Gran Reserva 1996
(tie) 2) Contino Reserva 1995
(tie) 2) Vina Albina Gran Reserva 1998
4) Clos Vougeot Drouhin-Laroze 1997
5) Monte Ral Gran Reserva 1998
6) Chambertin Clos de Beze Pierre Damoy 1996
7) Le Corton Bouchard 1998
8) Griotte Chambertin Frederic Esmonin 1995
The unanimous choice of the worst wine there was the "sweet, sour and bitter" Griottes Chambertin Frederic Esmonin 1995. I thought it showed signs of rot as well. I hope this is not a representative bottle.
The other wines that I disliked were the Chambertin Clos de Beze Pierre Damoy 1996, which was all medicinal cherry, and the mentholly, overly acidic (which completely obscured the fruit) Monte Real Gran Reserva 1998. Also Le Corton Bouchard 1998, which had a lot of tannin, a fairly short finish, and not a lot of fruit, but it's really not fair to judge Corton young, and Bouchard's is usually one I like quite a bit. I ranked it (before the wines were revealed) 5th out of 8.
My 4th place wine was a little simple but quite nice, not that expressive on the nose but a pretty attractive palate of red fruits. It turned out to be Vina Albina Gran Reserva 1998; this was one of my errors, as I thought it was Burgundy. I quite liked the Contino Reserva 1995, which had really nice acidity, tobacco notes, good fruit, decent length, and improved in the glass. My second place wine (which won the tasting) was the balanced, well structured, medium bodied, complex Vina Real Gran Reserva 1996. My top wine, which the group ranked 4th, was Clos Vougeot Drouhin-Laroze 1997, which was elegant, complex, medium weight, with great flavors and a long finish. This was my other miss; I thought it was a Rioja.
The other two wines, the 2005s, showed well. The first wine, with a lot of dark cherry flavors, didn't go in a great direction as the wood completely took over after a couple hours in the glass, but until that I liked it a lot; it was Gevrey Chambertin VV Marc Roy (a producer I'd never heard of). The other was the excellent Sierra Cantabria Coleccion Privada, a little smoky, a touch sweet, with nice dark fruits.
My ranking:
1) Clos Vougeot Drouhin-Laroze 1997
2) Vina Real Gran Reserva 1996
3) Contino Reserva 1995
4) Vina Albina Gran Reserva 1998
5) Le Corton Bouchard 1998
6) Monte Ral Gran Reserva 1998
7) Chambertin Clos de Beze Pierre Damoy 1996
8) Griotte Chambertin Frederic Esmonin 1995
The group's ranking:
1) Vina Real Gran Reserva 1996
(tie) 2) Contino Reserva 1995
(tie) 2) Vina Albina Gran Reserva 1998
4) Clos Vougeot Drouhin-Laroze 1997
5) Monte Ral Gran Reserva 1998
6) Chambertin Clos de Beze Pierre Damoy 1996
7) Le Corton Bouchard 1998
8) Griotte Chambertin Frederic Esmonin 1995
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Nuits St George 1996 + cooked 1982 firsts
Haven't posted in a while; I moved out of my apartment, which both took up some time and meant that I buried my tasting notebook!
Went to a friend's house Tuesday night who opened Nuits St Georges Clos des Forets Domaine de l'Arlot 1996. I am generally a huge fan of the domaine, but I thought this was good but not great. It was a little funky, which is fine, but the acidity on the finish was pretty unbalanced. Good earthy/cherry flavors but I don't see this getting any better.
We opened last week, for screening purposes (i.e., to see if we could accept for consignment) bottles of Haut Brion and Lafite Rothschild 1982. Neither was terrible, but both showed some signs of heat damage--not madeirized, but the fruit was muted and the wines did not hold up in the glass. Oh well. A good lesson. And we rejected the consignment, of course.
Went to a friend's house Tuesday night who opened Nuits St Georges Clos des Forets Domaine de l'Arlot 1996. I am generally a huge fan of the domaine, but I thought this was good but not great. It was a little funky, which is fine, but the acidity on the finish was pretty unbalanced. Good earthy/cherry flavors but I don't see this getting any better.
We opened last week, for screening purposes (i.e., to see if we could accept for consignment) bottles of Haut Brion and Lafite Rothschild 1982. Neither was terrible, but both showed some signs of heat damage--not madeirized, but the fruit was muted and the wines did not hold up in the glass. Oh well. A good lesson. And we rejected the consignment, of course.
