TN: Some More from Blair's Cellar...(short/boring)

We tasted last night (8/19/19) More Blair’s Wines:

1. Dom.Weinbach Cuvee Theo GWT (12.5%; MeBalP) TheoFaller/Kayserberg 1992: Deep gold color; beautiful
   slight cedary old GWT/slight lychee/spicy slight cinammon/nutmeg very complex nose; fairly rich/lush
   cedary slight lychee very spicy quite dry rather old GWT very complex flavor; very long/lingering
   old GWT/spicy/nutmeg slight lychee very complex finish that goes on & on; no signs of oxidation
   whatsoever; a classic old GWT that’s hard to identify as GWT; on the quiet side and little old lady
   just fading into the sunset; one of the best old GWT’s I can recall. $16.50 (vBS)/$44

2. Maximilian v.Othegraven Weingut Kanzemer Berg Kanzemer Altenberg Auslese (Fuder 5; QmP;
   A.P.Nr. 3 518 034-5-77; 10%; EA) Kanzem/Mosel 1976: Deep golden/some browning/PX color; beautiful
   cedary/pencilly very strong petrol/valve oil old R/floral quite complex old Auslese nose; lightly
   tart very rich/lush quite complex old Aus/petrol/valve oil rather cedary/pencilly fairly dry flavor;
   very long/lingering gout de petrol/valve oil/bit floral bit cedary/pencilly quite complex near dry
   finish that goes on & on; a beautiful example of an old Mosel Auslese. $9.30 (vBS)

3. Ch.LaFleur AC: Pomerol GrandVin (MeBaC; 12%) Ch.et M. Robin/Pomerol 1975: Dark brown/PX color; slight
   cedary/pencilly rather oxidized/tired rather dead nose; very dried-out astringent/bitter tannic flavor;
   totally dead & gone. $14.95 (HT)/$3,000

4. DunnVnyds CabSauv NapaVlly (13.0%) C&B by DunnVnyds/Angwin 1982: Very dark brown/murkey color; slight
   cedary/pencilly old Cab rather oxidized/tired nose; very dried-out tired/astringent/bitter/tannic flavor
   w/ slight cedary/old Cab component; pretty much dead&gone. $15.05 (KK)/$360

5. Giuseppe Mascarello Dd’OC: Barbaresco Bernardotti in Comune di Treiso (13%)
   MauroMascarello/Monchiero 1978: Rather browning bit murkey color; some old Nebb bit tarry/pungent slight
   cedary/pencilly slight dried rose petal some complex bit tired nose; light cedary/pencilly old Nebb/bit
   tarry/pungent some dried rose petal/old leaf pile rather tired bit astringent flavor; some interesting
   old Nebb character but rather on the dried-out/tired side. $14.75 (DeerPark W&S)/$375

6. Thomas Moillard Clos de Thorey Nuits St.Georges 1985: Some browning color; rather cedary/pencilly/oak/toasty
   old Burg bit earthy/dusty slight floral/violets complex rather attractive nose; some toasty/pencilly
   old Burg/earthy somewhat tired/dried-out flavor w/ light astringent tannins; rather attractive nose but
   somewhat tired/dried-out on the palate.

7. MontereyPeninsulaWnry Monterey JohannisbergRiesling LateHrvst (1st Picking: Late Nov;
   50% botrytized; SaH: 35 Brix, 15% Cahrd; 2nd Picking: Dec.15; totally botrytized; SaH: 40 Brix;
   RS: 19 Brix; 4 mo. in neutral oak; BA-level) Monterey 1979: Very dark/black/PX color; very intense botrytis/
   peachy/apricotty slight earthy not very complex nose; lightly tart intensely sweet very intense botrytis/
   peachy/apricotty bit earthy old TBA flavor; very long/lingering intensely sweet bit tart huge botrytis
   finish; pretty classic old Calif TBA that is all about botrytis and sugar and not showing much signs of
   complexity. Probably will go on forever. $22.19/750 ml (K)

A wee BloodyPulpit:

1. Blair’s daughter Stacey was in town, so I pulled some more wines from his cellar and we got together last night
   to try them over dinner at Pig+Fig. Just a small group of six. The two whites were pretty incredible wines.
   Absolutely seamless with such complexity they were difficult to come up with words to describe them. The two
   Cabs were totally shot. I was expecting the Dunn to at least be hanging in there. The Barbaresco spoke of old
   Nebb, but its better days were long gone. The Moillard was probably the best of a sorry lot of reds, but it
   too was on the tired side. Alas these old relic reds didn’t deliver much but historical interest, not much
   pleasure. It’s been interesting in that the whites from his cellar have, in general, been better than the reds;
   especially the Germans. The storage conditions were pretty good. An enclosed/insulated closet in his basement.
   Maybe in the upper 60’s in the Summer and quite cold in the Winter. So I don’t think it’s been the storage conditions.
   Tom

Dunn has a short window for me. It is tannic, tannic tannic, then good for a few years then dead. I quit buying it for that reason.

That’s quite surprising about the Dunn: I drank a bottle of the exact same wine—the 1982 Napa—on Saturday, and it was still very much full of life. I have a picture of the wine in the glass on my phone somewhere if anyone wants to see. Sounds like the Lafleur was also an off bottle which is really too bad given the market value.

Both btls had ullaged down to mid-shoulder. But that shouldn’t have been the problem. The Dunn cork was
totally sound. The Lafleur pretty soft & mushy.
Don’t know what happened to those two.
Tom

appreciate the notes on the Cuvee Theo…I have never let a white wine age that long…I drank the last of my 92 Cuvee Theos a loong time ago,probably in the mid to late 1990’s and they were all quite enjoyable with prominent cinnamon and lychee notes…

I bought a couple of bottles of the 1975 Lafleur on release - at $10.95 because the store couldn’t sell it at $14.95. I served one of them at a friend’s 40th birthday, and while it was tannic, it was sound and not at all like the wine Tom had. I will serve the second bottle at my friend’s 50th birthday.

David