Our Monday Night Blind Wine Dinner Group experienced a deviation from our planned evening when one had to cancel on the morning of and another never got the texted revised format; so, 4 of us enjoyed 3 wines, one bubbly and 2 reds and all was good.
The bubbly was a real challenge for me in that it presented a very different profile that had me scrambling from new world to old world, from being an Oregon or New Zealand sparkling wine to a Cremant from Loire or Alsace, but with the possibility it comes from Champagne which it did from the Cramant village in Champagne. Both are made from the same traditional method although Champagne has much stricter rules.
NV SAVART & CHARTOGNE EPHEMERE 029 GRAND CRU EXTRA BRUT- when poured, it had a huge frothy effervescence; the color was a very light yellow and the nose was equally as bland with little if anything being expressed initially, but after 10 minutes or so, it started to open up just a bit to allow some lemon and lime to come in; additionally, I got some grassy, hay, honey and mineral notes that translated into lemon grass, honey dew lemon and honeysuckle; it remained quite subdued for a long time and yet had enough charm and integrity to suggest staying with it and eventually it all came together and offered a pleasant experience; it was quite tangy sporting bright acidity that initially felt like little explosions on the palate and I had the image of firecracker wands going off inside my mouth until that dissipated and the smoke was coming out of my ears.
“Released to celebrate the project’s seventh year, Éphémère 029 is a joint effort between Frédéric Savart and Alexandre Chartogne. The wine brings together two distinct approaches, pairing Savart’s focused, high-energy style with the broader, more textural character typical of Chartogne. Drawn entirely from Grand Cru Chardonnay from Avize and Cramant , it was produced in a small run of just under 10,000 bottles, based on the 2022 vintage. Finished with 3.5 g/L dosage.”
2018 GIROLAMO RUSSO FEUDO ETNA ROSSO- blind, my bring, recognized; this had a medium red purple color and offered aromas that included pepper and spice laden red raspberry and red cherry that continued on all the way through with some nice black cherry coming in late to finish it off; the hallmark of this wine was its amazing flavor profile with the signature pepper accent that also makes me think of N. Rhone absent the blueberry and blackberry fruit; it had a lovely mouthfeel being so easy on the palate while allowing us to enjoy the savory experience; I knew this would be a challenge for the troops even though we have had a couple of these wines within the last year or so and I finally had to rule out some of their guesses before divulging the label; this is made from 94% Nerello Mascalese and 6% Nerello Cappuccio, aged in large pre-used oak casks for 18 months and in the bottle for at last 6 months.
2000 CHATEAU LA MISSION HAUT-BRION PESSAC-LEOGNAN- blind; this had a dark red purple color and the nose offered some pretty serious notes that included cedar accented sweet blackberry fruit that was less sweet on the palate and joined by some nice milk chocolate accented black cherry and black currant; I immediately thought of left bank Bordeaux, then went through the other possibilities that included right bank Bordeaux and Barolo, thinking Nebbiolo, not Merlot dominate of which this is 58% comprised of; in fact, many of the notes I find in Merlot were missing especially the soft and smooth mouthfeel as this was very tannic and as such, challenged the palate to dissect and go beyond to discover all of the treasures; I vacillated back and forth and finally landed on left bank Bordeaux, but one that was more Cabernet based and probably from Pauillac; 2 of us did guess the vintage. The full blend: 58% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc; they used 75% new barrels in this highly rated and revered release.
Cheers,
Blake
