Our Monday Night Blind Wine dinner group enjoyed another fun evening at our venue of choice, Ca Dario Montecito.
This time our wine theme was for 2 of us to bring a Spanish red, one a bubbly from anywhere and the another to bring a French white wine. As usual, all were served blind in brown bags and repeatedly discussed and reviewed throughout the evening. Here’s some notes:
NV A. BERGERE SOLERA de CHARDONNAY- blind; as stated on the back label, this is a blend of different BdB cuvees starting with the 2013 vintage with the total package being comprised of 50% reserve wines and 50% from the base year, 2020; it was disgorged 1/23 and dosed at 3 gpl; therefore this is an extra brut; it was a terrific champagne and one that I initially called vintage and from a big house or high end small grower thinking it might be the 2008 Laurent-Perrier or an Egly-Ouriet, but when I really considered everything, it just did not have enough of the power and complexity to merit those speculations, but it sure had enough likeness with lots of finesse, grace and charm; following its light yellow color came aromas of fresh citrus fruit with lemon first noticeable and then grapefruit finishing it off; it had bright acidity and a bit of richness and complexity; one mentioned it was very “fizzy”, a good pickup IMO, and he deduced it was therefore new world Sparkling wine. I loved the thinking and in my experience, fizzy wines can come from anywhere, but maybe they have been more prevalent in new world sparklers. That’s how we discuss, pay attention and learn on this night.
2010 DANIEL-ETIENNE DEFAIX CHABLIS VAILLON 1er Cru- blind; this was an amazing wine that was pretty easily picked out to be old world Chardonnay, but where from and who made it? I’m going through all of the communes and producer styles not really finding the answer, but I know I’m liking it for its super smooth mouthfeel and its savory taste profile which was primarily honeyed yellow apple which followed aromas of flint, minerals and petroleum that also joined in on the palate.
2001 ARTADI GRANDES ANADAS RIOJA- blind; sadly, this high pedigree wine was badly corked and I did not go beyond the nose; I knew it was not my bring as I had checked the nose while decanting it a couple of times and it was clearly devoid of TCA.
2011 VEGA SICILIA UNICO GRAN RESERVA RIBERA del DUERO- served blind to the others; decanted 4+ hours; this youngster had a dark inky red purple color and aromas initially dominated by coconut until after 15 minutes or so when some talc and blackberry came in and continued on through to the back end where a hit of mint showed up; it seemed a bit dry and not in balance and I kept swirling and taking small samples and after 30+ minutes, it started to expand and allow for some red cherry and cranberry fruit to also join in while taking on a persona that suggested sophistication and an element of elegance. It was just too young and I learned another lesson of being patient as well as there is probably not a duration in the decanter that will speed up the process of evolution = wait at least another decade or 2 on this vintage.
We had our waiter bring over a bottle off their wine list to replace the corked wine and tasted it blind; It was so young and fruit forward, I just kept going back to the Unico hoping for more:
2022 TENUTA GUADO al TASSO {ANTINORI} IL BRUCIATO BOLGHERI DOC- blind; the color was a vibrant, youthful dark purple; this nose offered a big dose of tar laden blackberry which was joined on the pallet by talc, oak and leather accented sweet black cherry; it was very intense and palate challenging; it is made from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah from Guado al Tasso’s vineyards.
Cheers,
Blake
