A dear friend and I represented our Monday night blind wine dinner group of 4 for a 2nd consecutive week at Ca Dario Montecito and this time, we flipped the brings where I brought the red and my friend brought the bubbly, both to be tasted blind for the other.
When I say bubbly, this means it could be a Cava, Prosecco, Lambrusco, Sekt, Espumante, Cremant or other sparkling wines including champagne.
The bubbly was poured once we were seated and my first hit was it was a 2007 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses with its rich, ginger accented citrus notes, weighted texture, depth and complexity. I kept vacillating throughout the first hour and never did come up with another option, but once revealed, I recognized indeed I definitely had one that I’d overlooked.
2014 BOLLINGER GRANDE ANEE BRUT- this is an assembly of 19 crus, mostly in Aÿ and Verzenay for the 61% Pinot Noir and Chouilly and Oiry for the unusually high amount of 39% Chardonnay; it is 100% fermented in small aged oak barrels; our bottle was disgorged 4/21 and dosed at 8 gpl; I last tasted this release in 8/22 with another wine group with a Bollie rep in attendance.
This bottle had a light yellow color and distinct aromas of ginger infused citrus which on the palate translated into sage honeyed lemon and grapefruit coming in at the back end; all was delivered in a creamy, weighted like texture provoking a tangy, zingy acid hit on the palate; it was super rich, full-bodied and delicious holding a steady course throughout; later on, it had additional notes of white pepper in the nose and green apple in the taste; when I read my notes from 2022, it was obvious this bottle was much more giving and mature although it still needs lots of time to evolve and it has all of the ingredients to do so magnificently.
I poured the red blind for my friend and as he noticed, it hoirad some bricking and definitely showed some age with a faded red purple color, but that is where the possibility for it being over the hill stopped.
1994 RODNEY STRONG RIVER EAST VINEYARD RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY PINOT NOIR- decanted 1 hour with a lot of sediment both in the bottle and on the upper half of the bottle; the nose was very inviting with aromas of spicy, burnt red cherry/ berry and the taste profile included more of the same plus some mature red plum, sweet red cherry and black raspberry; it was fruity good, but its hallmark may have been its ultra smooth, velvety mouthfeel which was apparent with every taste; this was in its perfect place and I have to think it could not get any better; a marvelous new world Pinot at age 30+.
As always, it was a fun evening and I was humbled once again by the blind tasting format.
Cheers,
Blake
