Notes from a garden blind tasting:
2006 Philipponnat Champagne Le Léon Extra Brut – quite pale colour, excellent acidity, crisp and long. Waxy nose with hints of pear and spice. Good.
2016 Champagne Christophe Baron Champagne Les Alouettes Charly-sur-Marne – prize for longest name of he day. More colour in this bubble, and less acid, so a softer, rounder presentation. Pinot meunier brut nature, with pear notes underlaid by tropical fruit. A very, very good wine. Made by Christopher Baron of Cayuse in Washington State.
2012 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru La Perrière Blanc – runner up for longest name. Medium yellow colour, nose of citrus, hazelnut and some sweeter fruit at the end. Suspect a bit of RS.
2018 Phantom Creek Estates Pinot Gris – first B.C. entry. Ripe and tropical in the nose, with floral notes and a bit of apple crispness at the end. Olivier Humbrecht is consultant on this.
2021 Little Engine Chardonnay – another BC wine with light colour, a sweetness in the nose and some difficulty nailing varietal with any certainty.
2015 Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Großes Gewächs Alte Reben – almost pipped the Baron bubbly for length of name. Up front lime, wet stone and a hint of wax, medium length, clean finish.
2017 Blue Mountain Pinot Noir Wild Terrain Block 09 – one of the top end small single vineyard** wines from this producer. Mid colour, some spice in the nose with some nice dark cherry/raspberry notes, smooth and long with some spice coming out with time. Excellent.
2015 Thomas Pinot Noir Dundee Hills – this Oregon Pinot was medium garnet with a sweet fruit nose with some black pepper. Sweet long finish.
2009 Domaine Michel Gros Morey St. Denis En la Rue de Vergy – this Burg showed medium to dark colour, dark fruit nose with good body and length. Very tasty.
2004 Fairview Cellars The Bear – made by a real ‘soup Nazi’ type of winery owner/vintner (if he didn’t like the look of you, it was “No wine for you!”). Very dark wine with a nose of big fruit with spicy hints and a long finish with soft tannins. In a good place now (the first bottle from my cellar). It is a Bordeaux blend (Cab. Sauv, Merlot, Cab. Franc, Malbec and Petite Verdot).
2010 Gali – an oddball from Gallipoli in Turkey made of merlot and cab franc. Came across as an older wine with an interesting nose of soy sauce and cherries (!?)
1995 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon Backus Vineyard – dark wine with intense nose of dark fruit and wood, soft tannin, plus the characteristic mint/eucalyptus, and good length. Very nice wine.
2009 Le Vieux Pin Syrah Équinoxe – my second bottle, from a BC winery with great aspirations and purist (and expensive) wine growing and vinification. Really excellent syrah nose with raspberry, roasted meat and a long dry finish. You could believe that you were drinking Hermitage if someone told you that. Seemed younger than it is.