Our Monday Night Blind Wine Dinner Group met once again for another wonderful evening of fellowship, fine dining and wine education. Four of us carried on the ever challenging task of identifying the 4 wines tasted throughout the evening.
As usual when we have 4, we had a bubbly, a white and 2 reds. Here’s some notes:
2000 POL ROGER SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL BRUT- blind; the color was very advanced with some browning yellow gold and the nose also confirmed some oxidative notes with bruised apple, caramel and butterscotch being most evident; on the palate, I got honeyed strawberry and honey dew melon adding some delightful flavors which tended to embellish the taste profile; it finished a little dry as the fruit dissipated a bit; for me, this was about the maximum amount of oxidation that I can tolerate before it gets too overwhelming and the wine becomes like all others that are oxidized; I guessed the vintage to be 1996, the wine to be a brut with more Pinot Noir than Chardonnay and from Laurent- Perrier; the typical blend is comprised of 70-80% Pinot Noir, 20-30% Chardonnay aged 11 years on the lees; this bottle was disgorged June 2012 and dosed at 8 gpl.
2019 DOMAINE HENRI BOILLOT CLOS de la MOUCHERE PULIGNY-MONTRACHET 1er Cru- following its clear, clean light yellow color came fabulous aromas of perfectly balanced minerals and flint that accented the very tasty lemon oil on the palate; later on, honeyed yellow apple joined while all was being delivered in a super smooth textured medium; it had nice acidity, was big, rich and round; this marvelous wine was no doubt a white Burgundy and I guessed it was 2014 PYCM En Remilly Saint Aubin as it also had some nicely integrated oak.
2012 PIO CESARE ll BRICO BARBARESCO- blind; my bring and eventually recognized; decanted 5+ hours; the color was medium red purple with some transparency; the nose included some red and black raspberry and I thought Pinot Noir and therefore not by bring, but in short time it was obvious this was something else as mildly sweet jujube {candied red cherry} and blackberry fruit came in as well, plus it had a lot more grip, complexity, depth and length; it dried out at the end as some pretty stiff tannins took over; 100% Nebbiolo.
1999 DOMENICO CLERICO PERCRISTINA BAROLO- blind; decanted 5+ hours; the color was dark red purple and the mellow nose had some mild spicy red raspberry and later on, some mocha, tobacco and coffee accents; all of this continued on to be joined by lovely blackberry and red cherry; as the spice component expanded, it became a taste treat from heaven; this wine had elegance, charm, sophistication and class; minimal dryness was experienced in the after taste; I first thought this was Sangiovese and was leaning toward Fontodi Flaccianello, but the last tastes seems to suggest Nebbiolo and I picked 2010 vintage with no clue as to who the producer was.
Once we revealed the red wines, it was interesting that 2 of us had brought Italian Nebbiolo and they both showed extremely well.
Another great night with the gang.
Cheers,
Blake
