Our Wednesday night dinner group enjoyed an evening at the Santa Barbara Club where 5 for us blind tasted 8 wines while enjoying some of the fine delectables offered from the menu and being righteously served in the dining room by one of Santa Barbara’s best wait staffers.
We started off with 2 champagnes tasted blind:
2012 TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANC- I avoided noticing the potentially telltale bottle shape and kept this as objective as possible since I did not bring bubbly; whatever it was, it was fabulous and I started to go through the process of elimination to determine what it was; it was super rich and full bodied with a major hit of lemon zest and therefore so mindful of either a 2008 Cristal or Comtes or possibly a Dom Perignon; the more I tasted it over the entire course of the evening, the more I loved it; it had a nice spicy accent and a creamy, dreamy mouthfeel and bright acidity; I landed on Comtes, but I’d never had the 2012, but have had many 2008 {and other vintages}; this is a must have champagne for me and I’m grateful for the blind exposure that confirmed getting it.
2002 POL ROGER EXTRA CUVEE de RESERVE BLANC de BLANC- this had a yellow gold color suggesting some maturity; the nose however did not as it gave nice fresh red cherry/ berry and citrus notes that were also found on the palate along with honey and ginger accents; it had elegance and yet some depth and weight and also had a creamy, feel good texture; while trying to identify it, I’m vacillating between younger or older and the color was strongly suggesting older, but the elegance said otherwise; one correctly called it 2002 and I just could not get there; once revealed, I realized I’d had a few other bottles from the same one who brought it in the last few years and they were much more advanced and easier to call, vintage wise at least.
We had 1 white wine tasted blind by the others since I brought it:
2014 LEEUWIN ESTATE ART SERIES MARGARET RIVER WESTERN AUSTRALIA CHARDONNAY- this was a perfect wine to taste blind as it showed wondrous notes that emulated many a white Burgundy; 2 had it as a Chassagne and 1 called it a Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey; their guesses were very reasonable with the mineral and flint aromatics that inundated the nose and early part of the taste profile and is so often found in Burgundy; the fruit included lovely yellow apple, pear, grapefruit and lemon plus a nice touch of spice and honeysuckle topping it off; it had a nice streak of acidity running through and finished with everything coming together beautifully; the oily texture added to its allure; this is an outstanding wine that has many years to go before reaching its apogee. When I went to pull the cork, I discovered it had a screw cap, a rare experience for wines in my cellar.
Next up, 4 red wines tasted blind and poured at the same time:
2001 PAUL HOBBS HYDE VINEYARD CARNEROS NAPA VALLEY CABERNET SAUVIGNON- at first, I’m thinking this was my bring {’05 Unico}, but in time, it was pretty clear this was a new world Cab, but my mind played all kinds of tricks on me before I got to that conclusion; the main tell was the oak influence which seems to be significantly pronounced; following its dark, inky color came aromas of oak spice and mint chocolate laden dried black cherry and black currant that made up a predominance of the taste profile; it was soft and easy on the palate and finished with everything coming together for a wondrous, lasting impression.
2005 VEGA SICILIA UNICO GRAN RESERVA RIBERA DEL DUERO- in advance of arriving, I knew 2 of the folks that would be attending this dinner and wanted to treat them to a wine I knew they would enjoy and this was the choice; at first, when poured, I did not pick it out and I thought it would be easy; my notes were all about softness and glamour and class and the iron fist in a velvet glove analogy; it had a dark red purple color; the nose included talc, sandalwood, fennel and licorice accented dark fruit which on the palate translated into black currant, plum and some nice blueberry coming in late; the velvety texture served to soften the intensity and allowed the wine to just dance gracefully all the way to the back end where it reached its plateau and I reached nirvana.
2019 DOMAINE ANNE et HERVE SIGAUT LES NOIROTS CHAMBOLLE- MUSIGNY 1er Cru- the color was a youthful, vibrant dark purple; the nose included jujube fruit which is often my descriptor for a slightly sweetened red fruit forward Pinot Noir which is what I considered this to be; I was not sure whether it was old or new world, but a Pinot for sure; it also gave up some nice wild red cherry fruit plus a briary accent that came in late; all the goodies were delivered in a smooth and silky textured medium in this medium to full bodied wine that needs some time to evolve and mature, but has enough stuff to please now.
1995 CHATEAU COS d’ESTOURNEL SAINT ESTEPHE- I struggled to ID this as it had an immense amount of brettanomyces, the 4-ethylphenol type, that dominated the aromatics and then the taste profile even after repeated swirling and over an hour in the glass; I considered it to be a Beaucastel from1989 or 1990, but the fruit profile just did not merit it; the brett did; the color was a dark purple with a slight bit of bricking; beyond the barnyard, band-aid notes were leather and cigar box accented dried black currant; it was medium to full bodied with some weight and finished a bit dry; this bottler was popped and poured and seemed to be past its apogee which I take as an anomaly for this vintage.
Our last wine was a dessert wine which we still served blind:
2008 VIOGNIER 8 OJAI VINEAYRDS ROLL RANCH LATE HARVEST in a 375 ml- this was a sticky, sweetie with honeyed tropical fruit delivered in a honey like texture; liquid dessert.
It was a fine evening and once again, my learning curve was enhanced by the blind format which I am a big fan of.
Cheers,
Blake