Leo's first blind tasting event

WINE TALK
1

What a delightfully fun evening. Of course I liked some wines more than others but what’s always wonderful about these things is that some of my least favorites were other people’s favorites and vice versa.


Magnum Taittinger Brut Millesime 1999
Very yeasty nose, some notes of pair but a bit dull on the palate with sulphur sticking out. Not unpleasant but not my thing. C


Pouilly Fume Cuvee Majorum Michel Redde 2005
Loads of grapefruit on the nose, very ripe. We all guess sauvignon blanc but are at a loss as to where it comes from. C/C+

Puligny Montrachet Les Referts Louis Jadot 2005
Beautiful wine, complex, haunting nose, one of my favorites of the night. I guessed grand cru Jadot, maybe Corton-Charlemagne?. A-

St Veran Chapelle aux Loups Louis Jadot 2005
Decent, pleasant but a bit simple next to the Puligny. I guess Jadot village wine. B-


Louis Jadot Moulin-à-Vent, Château des Jacques 2005
nice, earthy, red fruit. I can’t take credit for identifying this as Beaujolais but as soon as Suzanne did I realized she was right. B-/B

Louis Jadot Fixin 2005
A bit light, not all that interesting. Some pleasant cherry and pomegranate. C

Louis Jadot Morgon Chateau des Lumières, Cote de Py 2005
Very Jadot. Lots of cherry, very young with room for improvement. I thought it was Jadot Burgundy. B


This flight came as a big surprise as I don’t usually think of myself as a Barbera fan. Which probably explains why I had no clue whatsoever as to what these were other than that I was enjoying them a lot.
Domenico Clerico Barbera d’Alba 2000
Nice, a good honest wine that matched well with the steak. B

La Spinetta Barbera d’Asti Superiore 2000
spicy, soft and elegant, a lounging wine (I’m not sure what I meant by that now, but I think I pictured myself in a bathrobe curled up with a good book while drinking this). My favorite red of the night. A


Roda II Roda 1999
sweet supple, nice enough but simple. not bad looking but not a wine you want to have a conversation with as it doesn’t have much to say. C+

Roda II Roda 2000
not doing much for me but I’d happily drink a glass of this if there was no good wine around. C

Roda II Roda 2001
Much more interesting than the last two, but it’s still fleshy with a slightly unattractive lactic note. C+/B-


Craggy Range Syrah Le Sol 2001
Big, a bit clunky. A peppery note that says syrah. Well made I guess. Others at the table liked it a lot more than me. C-

Branson’s Greenock Block Coach House Syrah 2003 (Two Hands)
Love the nose and my first sip is beautifully complex. But it behaves like a number of CA cults and by my second sip I’m tired of it. Too heavy, a cocktail wine. B+ for the first sip and C- for everything after that.


Taylor’s 40 year old Tawny
Easy to peg as port, I guess a 1966 vintage which I guess isn’t too far off :slight_smile:. Very nice light older wine. A fine note on which to end the evening.

Delaforce 1963 Vintage Port
If you said this was 1994 or 1997 (my first guess) I’d be less surprised. Young, young wine. After some time with it I suspect it might be a Banyuls (wrong!). Leo - I’m guessing you didn’t decant this very much?


Thank you Leo, I had a great time. Looking forward to hosting next month!

2

Thanks for the notes Jay. Blind can be a boatload of fun. I’ve served Cru Morgon’s in blind tastings a number of times and it’s almost universally called a Burg (I can rarely spot it). Still have yet to try the Lumieres or M-a-V Carquelins bottlings. Agree on the elegance of Spinetta Barbera d’Asti and don’t know why I keep forgetting to look for more. Tried that 03 Greenock about 3 years ago: “A bit reminiscent of a Vintage Port with slightly less sugar and alcohol”.

RT

3

As usual, Leo did a great job picking out some nice wines.

How was the food and service at Allegretti?

Jay, I would never have pegged you for liking La Spinetta. Glad you found something new to like!

4

When in Beaune last November, I had a pretty lengthy conversation with Jacques Lardiere, Jadot’s winemaker, about Beaujolais. The gist was that it was, for most part, a neglected area with great untapped potential. With better viticulture and winemaking, great Beaujolais should become the rule rather than the exception. Just hope the prices don’t head too far north.

5

Service was excellent. The goat cheese appetizer was bland, the mushroom pasta was delicious and a great wine match, ditto for the steak. The cheese course was mediocre. So I’d say the food was mixed but they came through in the most important courses.

6

Since when has Leo been drinking Jadot???

7

Something tells me it’s been a while.

8

It looks like the one to be thanked is his wife, Connie!

9

Why, are they spoofed? Or is it just because I’ve said so many times that I don’t really like Barbera?

10

La Spinetta is definitely spoofy but I think the Barberas are done much better than the Barbarescos, which you’d almost certainly hate.

11

Damn, wish I could have made this, it sounded like lots of fun.

12

Hey folks, sorry for the delayed response; just as I was about to post my notes, I got pulled away by work for the whole day. You may have seen this on ‘the other board’ but if not, here goes:

Thanks for the notes, Jay, and of course, a HUGE thanks to Leo not only for starting this club, but for being so welcoming to all interested parties and hosting such a large group. The man is a champ. And big thanks also to Ben G for arranging the restaurant, very tasty food and good service and atmosphere!

The experience itself of course, was humbling as everyone says. Leo kept us guessing all night. Here are highlights from my notes:

Champagne
Magnum Taittinger Brut Millesime 1999
Nutty, rich, hints of caramel. I thought this was terrific, and guessed early 90s champagne

Pouilly Fume Cuvee Majorum Michel Redde 2005
Like the other table, we all get grapefruit on this and the majority seems to think sauvignon blanc, which I agreed with. It didn’t taste new world to me, so I decide to guess Loire, and Sancerre just for the heck of it.

Puligny Montrachet Les Referts Louis Jadot 2005
Lightish gold color, buttery and oaky on the palate. Definitely burgundy in my mind - so I guess Jadot, not because of any palate insight, but just playing the odds because hey, this is Leo Trying hard to analyze the fruit, I decide that I think this is not grand cru, so I guess 1er cru. Very nice stuff.

St Veran Chapelle aux Loups Louis Jadot 2005
Very light in color, flavor - so light that I wonder if Leo was toying with us here, going from the rich burg to this. The lightness, almost wateriness, is something I’ve only had before in semillon so that’s my guess. The nose has a slight slatey quality with a bit of kitty litter stink that reminds me of some Graves blancs so I throw out my ‘crazy’ guess - that this an all-Semillon Graves blanc (is there even such a thing?) because we don’t detect any sauv blanc at all, or a semillon from Australia’s Hunter Valley. To me, this would be great with some spicy Thai food.

Louis Jadot Moulin-à-Vent, Château des Jacques 2005
Here’s an example of how getting the wrong theory early can throw you for a loop for a while. I detect a little exotic spice here that reminds me of some Rioja, so that’s my guess.

Louis Jadot Fixin 2005
Then I get to this wine, which shows oak on the nose, and something a bit Rhoney. But it doesn’t seem like Rhone at all on the palate - and a juicy tartness. I start playing with the idea that this is a light Blaufrankisch. Maybe an entry level Moric?

Louis Jadot Morgon Chateau des Lumières, Cote de Py 2005
I get chocolate on the nose, more alcohol than the others in this flight, and an aroma of mossiness. I examine the color and the texture seems a bit thicker. I start to entertain the idea that this is merlot, maybe from South America? Something about it reminds me of Clos de los Siete. Or could it even be Clos Apalta? Slight medicinal cherry here. Like this best of this flight.

After contemplation of the flight as a whole, I start to wonder if there’s a theme that ties these wines together. Could it be a tour of Spain? Rioja, then Priorat, then Jumilla?

But the pace is relentless, and we’re already on to the next flight.
Domenico Clerico Barbera d’Alba 2000
On the nose, sweet red fruit, slight porty oxidative note, a certain tomatoey sense to the fruit. My early guess is Nebbiolo. Other people think that’s not too crazy, so I stick with that hypothesis.

La Spinetta Barbera d’Asti Superiore 2000
This wine also seems like Italy to me. Possibly nebbiolo, or aglianico, is my guess.

Next flight already!

Roda II Roda 1999
I smell this, and I backtrack. Uh-oh, maybe THIS is Spain, I say. I decide to taste the rest of the flight to gather more evidence.

Roda II Roda 2000
Didn’t keep notes.

Roda II Roda 2001
Didn’t keep notes.

At the end of the flight, I decide perhaps this is another Italy flight, continued from the last two wines, but I guess that it’s a region unfamiliar to me, as I haven’t had anything quite like this.


Craggy Range Syrah Le Sol 2001
I smell this, and I go yay! I know what this is. The smell is so familiar - pepper, minty underbrush, dark fruits - it must be syrah, and from one of two places: California, or Australia. The more I take in, it seems to have a slight cool-climate bent to it, so I decide CA over Australia. I venture a guess at producer, Carlisle, based on it reminding me of a Carlisle Two Acres I had once.


Branson’s Greenock Block Coach House Syrah 2003 (Two Hands)
Nose gives me loads of sweet oak, clearly new world. Lots of alcohol here too. Is this over the top CA zin? Very high alcohol, older Turley? Whatever it is, it’s something I’ve never had. Not to my liking at all, feels like a mess, honestly.

Taylor’s 40 year old Tawny
I guess very old port.

Delaforce 1963 Vintage Port
I guess also very old port.

All in all, a fantastic first tasting. A pleasure to meet new folks - Ben G, David, Caroline, Josh Leader, Ben Aneff, the affable Mauricio, and all the folks from the other table too. Looking forward to drinking with you all again. I’m interested to see if we get any better at this as the year goes on!