Due to a 25 day stay in Amsterdam, it had been over a month since I’d last joined our Monday Night Blind Wine Dinner Group and I missed the camaraderie and the wine educational challenges.
So, it was with great delight that I could share an evening with the gang and resume the task of blind tasting while feasting on fine Italian cuisine and thanks to one of our members, shave a large white truffle into oblivion atop all of the dishes.
As usual, our theme asked for one to bring a bubbly, one a white and 2 to bring red wines.
We started off with my assigned “bubbly” bring:
2012 DOM PERIGNON- blind; It had been 3 years since I last visited this vintage; so, it was pulled to get a read on its current place as well as future openings and to compare it to the 2006 and 2008 which we had tasted earlier this year; I poured it blind for the others and was super impressed and delighted in how this showed out of the gate and over the course of the entire evening; following its medium yellow color came aromas of spice laden citrus fruit which on the palate translated into lemon, lime and orange zest with some ginger accented yellow apple coming in late along with an unexpected note of peppermint; it had bright if not bracing acidity, was super tangy and exuded class and sophistication. The others struggled to get the vintage with most calling it 2008, whether it was a BdB or a blend and the house, but one eventually concluded it was 2013 DP. It is comprised of 51% Chardonnay and 49% Pinot Noir and was dosed at 4 gpl.
IMHO, this held its own against the 2006 and 2008 although the former was much more mature and ready and the 2008 was bigger and better with promises to be even more formidable in a few years.
2018 PIERRE-YVES COLIN-MOREY CORTON CHARLEMAGNE GRAND CRU- blind; the color was a medium straw yellow and the huge nose was replete with balanced notes of minerals, oak, almonds and yellow apple; it reeked of white Burgundy and its massiveness strongly suggested Batard or Corton Charlemagne as I leaned more toward the former; the taste profile was an extension of the aromatics while being delivered in a creamy like texture that had some body and weight adding more to the overall complexity and power; I also guessed it to be from about 2015 and one had it as CC from the beginning. The initial bottle was poured into another bottle to disguise it although it was bagged and the telltale white wax capsule had been removed.
2011 DOMAINE JEAN GRIVOT CLOS de VOUGEOT GRAND CRU- blind; this had a medium red purple color and offered fruit forward aromas and tastes of spicy, fresh red raspberries and red cherries which continued on all the way to the back end; my initial thoughts were that this was new world Pinot Noir and more specifically from either the Sonoma or Russian River Valley since it was so typical of many Williams Selyem wines from those appellations; there’s no way I could get nice and fruity wine as being old world nor from a grand cru vineyard.
2005 DOMAINE NICOLAS POTEL CLOS de VOUGEOT GRAND CRU- blind; it had a dark red purple color; the first nose suggested red Burgundy, but after the 2nd nose, I was ready to call this Nebbiolo from Piedmonte and after 20 minutes or so, I had not moved away from that at all; aromas of tar and roses lingered on along with red plum, red apple and black currant; it was full bodied with depth and complexity and sported a pretty strong tannic profile that was not yet totally integrated, but should contribute to its illustrious long and pleasing life. I guessed the vintage to be in the 2005-10 range, but did not ever get back to Burgundy as my last and final answer.
I continue to be amazed at how much there is to learn and how difficult it is to call wines with any consistent amount of accuracy. It’s a fun and humbling challenge and we have the perfect makeup of like and kind minded folks to make this enjoyable and informative.
Cheers,
Blake
