Our Monday night dinner group has been doing all wines blind almost exclusively for the past few outings and we just enjoyed another humbling, informative tasting featuring a theme for one blind flight of whites from anywhere and another partially blind flight of red Burgundy.
Our weekly venue, Ca Dario in Montecito, serves us royally and we feast on amazing appetizers and savory main courses while tasting and discussing each wine before revealing them at the end of each flight.
Doing it this way allows us to track a wine for over an hour and follow it as it opens and warms up, that being especially true for the previously chilled whites although we encourage a slight chill for most reds.
The 5 of us started off with 4 brown bagged whites. My MO is to first go through the lineup and check out the color and all but one were light yellow and the glasses were frosted from the wines being chilled. Next, I nose all, compare them and it was apparent that #1 had a distinctly different profile, but what is the varietal? Then I taste each one going through the whole flight before eating anything. Here’s the tasting notes from before and after revealing:
2019 CANTINA KELLEREI-TERLAN QUARZ ALTO ADIGE TERLANO- 100 % Sauvignon Blanc; 2.7 gpl RS not noticeable; this is whole cluster pressed and clarified by natural sedimentation, then slowly fermented and aged on the lees for 9 months, 50% in big wooden barrels and 50% in stainless steel tanks, then blended 3 months before bottling; the terrific nose was first replete with toasty, smoke laden citrus and apple before a streak of minerals came in along with some grapefruit and a hint of flint; it sported bright acidity and was super refreshing, enhanced by a good chill. It was a tough call to get this as a Sauv Blanc; I was thinking N. Italian Pinot Grigio after ruling out Riesling and Gewurz.
2007 AUBERT REULING VINEYARD SONOMA COAST CHARDONNAY- it had a yellow gold color and a nose of mineral accented citrus fruit which continued on to be joined by toasty, honeyed apple; it was very mild mannered all the way through and as such, exuded elegance and sophistication; once revealed, I could also appreciate the cool climate Chardonnay source and the winemaking skills of Mark Aubert who has consistently made good new world Chardonnay.
2013 QUPE BIEN NACIDO VINEYARD RESERVE BLOCK ELEVEN, SANTA MARIA VALLEY CHARDONNAY- my bring and I did not recognize it, but did choose it as the fav of the flight which I believe most others did as well; it was fabulous and everything I want in a Chardonnay, from its amazing aromatics, taste, mouthfeel, finish and balance; the inviting aromas of vanilla, butter and honeyed apple got it off to a grand start and then the lovely taste profile had more of the same, especially the buttered apple component that was delivered in an oily, creamy like textured medium; it held a steady course throughout the entire evening and actually was just as good an hour or more later than it was early on. Good friend, Bob Lindquist, knocked it out of the park again with another stellar Chardonnay; and this comes from a winemaker renowned for his Rhone’s. His current releases are under the name of Lindquist Family Vineyards. OUPÉ (kyo0-pay ) - A Native American Chumash word for California Poppy.
2017 MAISON JAFFELIN LADOIX BLANC- this was really good and competed for the white WOTN; it had wondrous aromatics of spicy grapefruit, apple and lemon that were joined by oak, minerals and pear on the palate; it was super soft and easy and maintained its perfect balance throughout; if anything, it seemed to become even more mellow over time as it just gracefully continued on seemingly with the purpose of pleasing all who partook.
We are off to a good start and at this time in the evening, we have finished all of our appetizers, eaten a few hundred pieces of hot toasted and buttered bread ends and ready to move on in to the red Burgundy:
2009 DOMAINE MARQUIS d`ANGERVILLE CHAMPANS VOLNAY 1er Cru- as with the white I brought, I did not recognize the red, but I sure did like it, at least after about 30 minutes as it started off as a fruit bomb, way out of balance and fruit forward; I’d decanted it for an hour and now believe another 2 or 3 may have been more beneficial; the initial fruit profile was that of tart berries that were picked unripe, but then everything changed and now it’s giving super nice black raspberry and black cherry with accents of talc and sandalwood; it was medium bodied, but had some weight which provided more texture and feel; at the end of night, it reached a great place and was easily showing its best.
2014 DOMAINE A.F. GROS FLOR de la FONTAINE VOSNE-ROMANEE- this bottle had Brettanomyces, the 4-ethylphenol type that gives off the band aid, barnyard character; it was evident throughout the entire evening; there were times when some good attributes showed up, but the Brett never did dissipate and it was a challenge for me to sort out the good from the funk.
2010 DOMAINE de L`ARLOT LES SUCHOTS VOSNE-ROMANEE 1er Cru- the color denoted a young wine and the nose was suggestive of a N. Rhone with pepper and spice accents to what was to become dried and burnt red cherry berry once tasted; it was so different from what is expected from a Burgundy and yet it hit my wheelhouse as I love almost all red wines that have pepper and spice; in fact, there is another compound of Brettanomyces, 4-ethylguaiacol, that gives off spice, bacon and clove, but no pepper and I’m wondering if that was present; nonetheless; I liked this wine also for its smooth feel, layered depth and long finish.
2009 DOMAINE BARTHOD LES VEROILLES CHAMBOLLE-MUSIGNY 1er Cru- this wine went through lots of changes and in the end, landed in a good place; the nose was always indicative of something good, but the flavors went from wild and woolly to tame and gentle; the settling place offered a medium bodied, talc, smoke and spice accented black raspberry/ cherry delight that featured more grace and charm and less seriousness which was supported by its soft and smooth texture and a finish that just faded out easily.
1991 DOMAINE JACQUES CACHEUX ECHEZEAUX GRAND CRU- there was some redeeming qualities in this wine; however, it was corked to the extent that the wet cardboard aromas and taste were always in the background; too bad as it had some really fine spicy, toasty and earthy black currant that tried to please in this full bodied, at one time super serious wine.
My favorite white was the Qupe and because of the spice and pepper notes, my favorite red Burgundy was the LArlot although the dAngerville was the most varietally correct representation of a true red Burg.
This was another wonderful evening with the gang where we actually give wines to opportunity to showcase their merits over the course of an evening. All of us are in another wine dinner group that includes so many wines, that we pour, taste and dump and it seems to her such an unfair waste.
Cheers,
Blake