Four of our Monday Night Blind Wine Dinner Group tasted through 4 wines that were pre-assigned for each of us to be a bubbly, 1 white and 2 reds.
As always, it was challenging to get the ID on each one of them. Here’s some notes:
2015 VILAMRT & CIE COEUR de CUVEE SAINT-AUBIN BRUT 1er Cru- blind; following its medium yellow color came robust aromas of yellow peach, nectarine, grapefruit and lemon grass which were joined on the palate by a coat of honey and some green apple; it was big, powerful and rich featuring bracing acidity and quite the mouthful; I considered it being a California sparkling wine, but then opted for a small grower champagne from a vintage in the 2013-15 range; once more clues were given, this Vilmart release was my first choice, but in no way did I nail this without lots of help; it is comprised of 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir and was disgorged March 2022.
2013 PIERRE-YVES COLIN-MOREY LES PERRIERES 1er Cru- served blind to the others; I immediately nosed the glass and it was obvious this was corked but I did not share it, allowing the others to come to their own conclusion; as it turned out, all got that it was but were hesitant to state it out of respect for me which I totally appreciated and acknowledged. As has been the case most of the time with me, the nose was full of wet cardboard, but the taste had some redeeming qualities, enough so in this case that I kept holding my nose and tasting small sips.
2012 M. SORRELL HERMITAGE LE GREAL- blind; the color was a medium red purple and the nose was replete with black pepper laden fresh blueberry and I’m thinking N. Rhone or a Spanish Tempranillo or a new world Petit Sirah; the taste profile was more of the same plus a generous dollop ripe and savory blackberry with hints of violets, tar and roses; as much as I loved the pepper accent, its hallmark may have been it super soft and smooth mouthfeel; the fruit for this wine was sourced and destemmed from the Les Bessards, Les Greffieux and Les Plantiers lieux-dits.
When we were tasting the champagne, I mentioned it was mindful of the 2018 Roederer Estate L’Ermitage and the one who brought this thought I was referencing Hermitage; I did conclude it was N. Rhone, but not from this region thinking Cote Rotie.
2006 MUGA PRADO ENEA RIOJA GRAN RESERVA- blind; the dark red purple color was suggestive of something pretty serious forthcoming and the nose and taste profiles confirmed it; it gave nice aromas and flavors of red and black currant, blackberry and blueberry with mild accents of pepper and spice in the background; it dried out past mid palate and finished with an astringent after taste; I did not recognize we had had the same wine a few weeks ago when it was presented unfortunately inundated with brettanomyces; the blend includes:70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, 10% Mazuelo and Graciano.
Cheers,
Blake
