The weekly Wednesday night wine dinner group held another outing, this time at the formidable Oil e Limone Ristorante in Santa Barbara.
We had 11 attendees and as usual, we had way more wines {17} than people and not enough time to track them over the course of the evening.
This is my 23rd year with this group and I’ve been blessed to have been exposed to so many great wines from around the world that I would never have had otherwise. In the last year or two, I’ve found that I’m much happier drinking fewer wines blind over a longer time while I’m learning a whole lot more about each wine and what it truly is expressing currently and where it may transcend to down the line.
So, on this night, it was pour, taste and maybe re-taste and dump and move on. When it is Cristal and Bollinger GA and Krug Grand Cuvee and 3 other champagnes and 4 white Burgundy and 4 Super Tuscans including Ornelaia and Sassacaia and Flaccianello and more, IMHO, it’s an injustice to the wines and a major reason I have pulled back from this group in favor of the Monday night dinner blind tasting group that 5 of us do with 5 wines that actually have an opportunity to fully express their bounty of treasures over the course of the evening while we discuss them and share our impressions.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed this evening and the fellowship and the massive accumulation of superb wines along with the tasty Italian cuisine served by one of the best waitstaffs in our area.
I was even able to take some photos and notes albeit rushed with limited impressions.
We started off with 6 champagnes, one served blind:
2014 LOUIS ROEDERER CRISTAL- I served this blind to the others, one of whom called it a 1990 and a few others had it as from the mid 1990s; this was my 2nd bottle, the first coming a few weeks ago when I was in NW Arkansas and bought it to share with dear friends; that first bottle was laden with tasty and rich lemon oil and good enough for me to buy some; this bottle was initially very different from the first one as it started out with some bitter and sour stone fruit notes with a hint of licorice; once tasted, the stone fruit was more specifically peach and tangerine, but still had some off-putting sour and bitterness; after 20+ minutes, the lemon showed up and took over and we’re back to the rich lemon oil profile enhanced by a creamy texture.
With 5 other champagnes being poured and a limited number of wine glasses, few, if any had a chance to experience its true expression at this early stage. It certainly needs a few more years to develop and mature and shed some of its unpleasant notes.
2007 ALFRED GRATIEN BRUT MILLESIME- oak influence was evidenced throughout as this gave up accents of pepper, hazelnut, toasty, vanilla, brioche, laden citrus, yellow apple and strawberry notes; the more dominate licorice and pepper notes were mindful of Piper Heidsieck Rare; it’s a nice bubbly for those who enjoy the above notes of which I am one.
2008 CHAMPAGNE CHARLIER & FILS SPECIAL CLUB- bottled 4/09, disgorged 11/15/22 with a dose of 3.4 gpl; therefore, an extra brut; 70% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Noir and 15% Pinot Meunier; it was big and yeasty with some nutty sour lemon and yellow apple notes while being full bodied with a soft and smooth mousse; I liked it although it finished with some musty, dusty notes that I could have done without. Perhaps more air would have benefitted this bottle.
NV KRUG GRAND CUVEE- this bottle was at least 4-5 years old and my photo did not capture the code clearly enough to research it {this was before the ID Code/ app was implemented}, but some of us were guessing it to be the 168 edition or perhaps 166 eme; my best guess is this was the 166 which was based with 2010, but strengthened by a healthy addition of 2000 to bolster the 39% Chardonnay and more Meunier, in this case 16% of the total; following its medium yellow color came toasty brioche accented lemon, lime, grapefruit and apple notes were delivered in a mellow textured medium while sporting a backbone of bright acidity.
2002 CHAMPAGNE BOLLINGER GRAND ANNEE BRUT- 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, 71% from Grand Cru villages, 29% from Premier Crus; disgorged 2/11; yellow gold color; I expected this to be big and oxidative, if not more advanced and it was neither; certainly it was rich and full bodied, but nicely balanced while sporting some nice honey coated yellow apple with an unexpected accent of coconut and providing more elegance and finesse than power and thrust. I’d loved to have had more time with this to see where it would land after an hour or so.
2012 LOUIS ROEDERDER BRUT-70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay; dosed at 9 gpl; I’ve had a few lovely bottles of this release, but it’s been over a year or so and this bottle seemed very atypical in that it expressed spice, licorice and pepper accented apple and red cherry notes that reminded me of Piper Heidsieck Rare.
Next up 4 white Burgundy:
2016 DOMAINE VINCENT MOREY & SOPHIE LES CAILLERETS CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET 1er Cru- this fabulous wine was fully loaded and charged with nice citrus and apple fruit with a streak of minerality running through it from the nose through the tail; although it was fruit forward, it was super smooth and very pleasant with enough acidity to ensure longevity giving rise to perfect balance.
2018 DOMAINE PAUL PILLOT LA ROMANEE CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET 1er Cru- this wondrous wine was made by Thierry Pillot, a 4th generation family member who took over in 2004 and has been crafting some wonderful wines; our bottle was stupendous with a super inviting nose of mineral and flint accented citrus with lemon zest most prevalent and continuing on once tasted; its creamy texture added to its allure as did its amazing balance already attained early on.
2020 DOMAINE de MEURSAULT CLOS DU CHATEAU BOURGOGNE- the fruit for this is sourced from 7.5 hectares of vineyards located in the park of Chateau de Meursault; it is vinified and aged like a top premier cru by going though a 10 day ferment in oak, then aged on the lees for 10 months in 1-2 year old barrels, 25% of which are new oak; the lees are stirred twice a month for 6 months; this became evident once tasted as rich oak and mineral accented lemon and later on yellow apple and white peach notes satiated the palate while being delivered in a creamy smooth texture; fabulous village wine here.
2008 DOMAINE DANIEL- ETIENNE DEFAIX CHABLIS LES LYS 1er Cru- flint, mineral and earthy notes accented the yellow apple and pear fruit in this nice medium bodied wine that finished on an upbeat with everything coming together.
We had an additional white wine, this coming from Sancerre:
2018 ALPHONSE MELLOT GENERATION DIX-NEUF SANCERRE- lovely Sauvignon Blanc here with honeysuckle, lemongrass and mineral laden tangerine, yellow grapefruit, orange and lemon fruit with the lemon most notable; it was medium bodied with crisp acidity and had a palate pleasing finish.
Our last flight had 6 red wines all poured blind, of which at least 3 met the Super Tuscan theme requested:
2007 TENUTA SAN GUIDO SASSACAIA BOLGHERI TUSCANY- blind, my unrecognized bring, decanted over 2 hours; medium red purple color; the nose offered spicy black currant with leather undertones which continued on to be joined by red plum and black cherry/ berry; it was full bodied with layered complexity and had a silky smooth texture; there were noticeable tannic underpinnings, but not to the extent of being too astringent; I loved it had had it as my #2 in the flight.
2009 PETROLO GALATRONA TOSCANA- blind; 100% Merlot and hailed as the “Baby Masetto” by our group; following its dark red purple color comes aromas of fresh and ripe black cherry and blackberry; on the palate it also gave black currant, red cherry and jujube with a touch of talc, leather and milk chocolate; it was full bodied and highly energetic suggesting some youthfulness and I called it around 2012 vintage and thinking it was a Bordeaux varietal blend since that was what was requested and what it resembled, {atypically}.
2019 FELSINE FONTALLORO TOSCANA- blind; 100% Sangiovese aged in new and 2nd year barriques for up to 20 months; this was fabulous and reeked of royalty and class as it gave generous notes of dried, wild cranberry and red cherry fruit with accents of toasty oak and spice; it had a super soft mouthfeel which added to its finesse and charm and lots of depth and power; it seemed very young and in need of a long decant. My #1 in the flight.
2006 ARAUJO EISELE VINEYARD NAPA CABERNET SAUVIGNON- blind; once revealed, I’m not sure how this got into the Super Tuscan theme, but I really did not care as it was terrific; the color was a dark red purple; the nose offered cedar, leather and coconut accented black currant which continued on to the back end while being delivered in a soft and smooth textured medium; it was full bodied with lots of depth and complexity; great wine seemingly willing and capable of pleasing.
2007 FONTODI FLACCIANELLO della PIEVE COLLI della TOSCANA- blind; after some funky aromas that blew off, this full bodied beauty had wonderful spicy black cherry fruit in the nose and on through which was enhanced by a bit of chocolate and vanilla and blackberry coming in past mid palate; it had nice mouthfeel and a long satisfying finish that was more about elegance than anything else.
2008 TENUTA dell’ORNELLAIA DUPERIORE ORNALLAIA BOLGHERI- blind; following its dark, inky purple color came something that was much less than the color suggested; it had aromas of mild expressions of tar, mocha and milk chocolate blackcurrant also were found in the taste profile in this medium bodied, light weighted wine than faded at the end; after revealing the bottle, I had to think this one had been gone through some drastic temperature changes or had TCA that reduced it from what it could have been.
So, what is the more ideal number of wines for a group of 11 to be able to fully track and obtain a good impression of what those wines are really about? For me, the answer is the number of wines that can be retained over the course of the evening, re-visited and reassessed for over an hour or more. For this night that would translate into maybe 8 wines in all with 2-3 champagnes, 2 -3 white Burgundy and 4 Super Tuscans; in other words, about half as many as we had.
A better idea might be to limit the group to 8-9 people with the same amount of wines, but that won’t happen with this group unless the restaurant limits us to a lesser number which does occur about once or twice a year.
Bottom line, this was a fun night and it was good to share the evening with the gang.
Cheers,
Blake
@Jon_Lawrence @Warren_Taranow @Mikael_OB @Chris_Seiber @Steve_Nordhoff
