Four of us enjoyed another fun and wine educational time together when our Monday night blind wine dinner group reconvened at Ca Dario Montecito.
Our assigned wine theme was for one to bring bubbly, another to bring a white and two of us to bring reds. This general theme necessitates that each of us has to stretch to just identify the varietal{s}, let alone the vintage, location and other details of a specific bottle.
Another benefit of this format is each wine is tracked over the course of the evening and as we have experienced numerously, wines change and evolve within that period of time and we get a true sense of what each one is about aside from bottle variation and others influences that can occur to a bottle.
We had 4 fabulous wines. Here’s some notes:
2005 PERRIER-JOUET BELLE EPOQUE BRUT ROSE- blind; since the bottle is one of those rare clear glass ones {with a beautiful pink flower design with an embossed anemone motif recalling the emblematic flower of the house, designed by French Art Nouveau pioneer Emile Gallé in 1902}, our provider poured it out of a brown bag; it was also clear this was a rose from its light pink salmon color and that it was a winner from its enticing aromas and lovely taste profile albeit quite different from the “normal” rose; in a few words, this was peaches and cream, but there was more with fresh mango and mature yellow apple notes as well; it was rich and full bodied, yet its frothy feel good mousse served to lighten it up; my first guess was it was a vintage Roederer Estate L’Ermitage Rose from California, but then it did not have the strawberry and red cherry/ berry fruit profile I remembered from that release; so, I had no clue what it was and where it came from. I was unable to find the actual blend, but the house did state it was atypically predominate with Chardonnay due to the vintage as opposed to Pinot Noir.
2019 VINCENT GIRARDIN LES GENEVRIERES MEURSAULT 1er Cru- blind; this comes from a 0.42-hectare parcel of 55-year-old vines; following its yellow toward gold color came distinct, intense aromas of minerals, flint and petrol accented citrus fruit which continued on to be joined by green apple and pear; it was stinky flinty and I’m thinking this is a young PYCM from En Remilly; regardless, it balanced and mellowed out over the next 30 minutes and was very delightful.
2000 ABREU MADRONA RANCH CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA VALLEY- blind; 93% Cabernet Sauvignon plus some Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot; the color was a vibrant dark inky purple and the nose offered a youthful, dark fruit forward profile with accents of talc, violets, milk chocolate and eucalyptus; it reeked of quality and new world Cab, but my mind went all over the place from Super Tuscan to Left Bank Bordeaux and then back to Napa; it was full bodied with lots of depth and the fruit profile was enhanced by fresh and sweetened black raspberry/ cherry; it was a lovely wine that I called much younger thinking 2010 or less.
2008 R. LOPEZ de HEREDIA VINA BOSCONIA RESERVA RIOJA- served blind to the others, but easily recognized when compared to the Cab that preceded it; decanted about 5 hours; 80% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha and the rest has Mazuelo and Graciano; the color was red purple and the nose was replete with lovely blueberry, black raspberry and cherry with a hint of cedar, tar and licorice; it was slightly sweet but not cloying and had a wondrous mouthfeel being velvety soft and easy on the palate; this was a taste treat and a half and it kept crescendoing until it reached a state of balance as the fruit became more integrated; by the end of the evening, it was a delicious treat and a difficult varietal for the others to identlfy.
As with each and every time I meet with these dear friends, I feel blessed and am thankful for opportunity to commune with them and to share the experience of exploring the intriguing world of wine together.
Cheers,
Blake
