One of my best ever friends returned to Santa Barbara for a visit and we dined at one of our favorite local restaurants, Ca Dario Montecito, the day after he arrived.
As per our MO, we brown bagged our wines to perpetuate the consummate wine learning experience we have been sharing for over a couple of decades.
We agreed in advance for him to bring bubbly and me a red. Little did I know he brought a champagne I’d had a couple of bottles of in the last 3 weeks and 6 or 7 bottles of this year AND I did not recognize it.
2006 LOUIS ROEDERER CRISTAL BRUT- blind; the color was brown gold and I immediately thought of this being oxidative and/ or around 25 years old as in a 2000 or 2002; the nose was so distinctive with salt and pepper and anise notes that I was pretty sure this was Piper Heidsieck Rare and probably from one of the above 2 vintages; additional notes of petrol, minerals, peach, pear, caramel, butterscotch and honeysuckle contributed to the overall experience along with its smooth mouthfeel made possible by its atypical mild acidity; it really didn’t change over an hour or so and I held to my first impressions of P-H Rare until it was revealed and I was shocked as to how much of a bottle variation this was to all of the previously consumed bottles of the 2006 Cristal; this is comprised of 55% Pinot Noir, 45% Chardonnay; dosage near 9 gpl; 20% of the wine was aged in oak and sees no ML.
2010 MARQUES de MURRIETA FINCA YGAY RESERVA RIOJA- knowing my friend likes Spanish wines, I pulled this bottle, decanted it for 3 hours and served it blind to him; he did the correct thing by eliminating what it wasn’t and narrowed the varietal down to only a few choices; it was not so easy as the usual coconut American oak notes were not present; it was somewhat fruit forward with red cherry most prevalent joined by lesser expressed notes of red apple, blood orange, blueberry and strawberry accented with touch of oak spice; it expanded in the glass and although good out of the gate, it was even better within 30 minutes with good mouthfeel and more balance; this is made of 93% Tempranillo, 4% Mazuelo, 2% Graciano and 1% Garnacha aged for 21 months in French and American 225 liter oak barrels.
I’m always super grateful for sharing this kind of evening with my dear friend where we catch up and solve the world’s problems and challenge ourselves with blind wine tastings over dinner.
Cheers,
Blake