Blind tasting lunch notes
Giusti Prosecco Extra Dry Rosalia (nv) – this fizz avoided the primary sin (in my view and to my taste) of combining limp flavours withy too much RS. Decent nose, with some citrus, almost no colour, decent flavour, also citrus, a clean wine with good terminal acidity, inoffensive and neutral.
2010 Mendel Semillon – more chard than Semillon in presentation, some oak in the nose as well as soft melon/lemon, good stuffing and decent acidity. A real stumper!
2003 Jaboulet Chevalier de Sterimberg Hermitage –another white – must have been a last salute to the passing (past?) summer! Light amber with a sweet nose of honey and peaches, and some vanilla, and in the mouth, good body, and perhaps a hint of oxidation. Not bad.
2016 Lightfoot & Wolfville Pinot Noir Ancienne – from the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, this was a very light colour, had an odd cranberry nose, was green, thin and acidic. Nice to taste a new area, but think they need a bit more global warming before entering the mainstream. Might have just been a poor vintage? It should be noted that other vintages have received good reviews, so could also just have been an off bottle.
2001 Vieux Donjon CNduP – medium colour, good red fruit nose without much pepper or garrigue, but a nice long smooth finish. Ready now!
2006 Vieux Donjon CNduP – interesting comparison – bright, with lively fruit, some leather iun the nose, decent weight and good length with some spice coming in. Good wine, but unaccountably hard to peg as CNduP, or even as a Rhone at all.
1993 Gigi Rosso Barolo Arione – picked up by a member just back from Piemonte. A slightly musty muted nose (cleared up a bit with time), fair bit of up front acidity, adequate fruit, and medium long finish. Ready now, and might be a tad past due date, which is not uncommon regarding the 1993 vintage, in my experience.
1997 Giovanni Corino Barolo Vigna Giachini – my wine, which I immediately trotted out to follow the 93. Darker with an excellent nebbiolo nose of tar and dark fruit, a sweet entry , excellent fruit levels, and a long sweet finish. Very good. I had a half case and this was the first I’d opened (I like to drink them when mature) and hate to inadvertently miss a drinking window – nailed this one, though and will drink the rest in the near to medium term.
1986 Leoville Poyferre – surprising how many people continue to characterize this vintage as hard and needing age, not having tried them recently. Many have come around very nicely and this is one of them. Typical claret nose and softer and more forward than I remembered with a fair bit of acidity. I have to wonder if this hasn’t started a little bit down the ‘other side’ of it’s development, but nonetheless pleasant.
2006 Tardieu-Laurent Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Spéciale – dark wine with a nose of meat and leather, just a hint ripe. In the mouth it reprised that nose, showing some ripeness and heat, finishing medium long. Good performance.
2013 Domaine Pinnacle Ice Cider – that made two firsts for me, both from Canada, as this was from Quebec. Interesting to try but a miss for me – sweet over ripe apples says it all.