LI Blind Tasting

WINE TALK
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It was Kim Caldwell’s turn to plan tonight’s dinner. I took notes, and I even took them with me…this could be a first. Dinner was held at one of my favorite LI restaurants, Kitchen, A Bistro.

First course was Caramelized Onion & Goat Cheese Tart
2002 Huet Vouvray Petillant Brut - great way to start. A scent of light peaches and a palate that was crisp with Granny Smith apples, and nicely acidic. Showed young and delicious.

2002 Huet Vouvray Petillant Reserve Brut - a nose that was yeasty and showed apricots - had just enough acidity, and displayed some elegance, but not fully open.

Warm Lobster Salad with Fennel Puree
2009 Peter Lauer Riesling Barrel X - lots of pleasant citrus and nutty aromas. Delightfully light with good acidity and precision, and drinking great at this time.
2009 Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp Riesling Seniour Fass 6 - I think this was nose of the night. Spring water, peach, and a freshness and clarity that was intense. The palate had more peach - it was light and charming with lots of minerality.
2009 Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp Riesling Unterstenbersch Fass 12 - corked [cry.gif]

Cavatelli with Wild Mushrooms & Truffles (DTN - dish of the night)
2001 Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva Asili - The nose was cherry liqueur. The palate was dark cherry, and as soon as you tasted it, the tannins clamped down.
2001 Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva Ovello - the nose was alcoholic and the tannins overtook the fruit.
2001 Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva Rabaja - there were dark cherries, but it was mostly acidity and tannins. It was a recurring theme, as they were all tight and tannic and not a good time to be drinking this trio.

Duo of Lamb - Crisp Braised Shoulder & Roasted Double Chop
2001 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape - it was dark fruit with a hint of barnyard on the nose. Well balanced, ripe, and drinking well. It was the wine I kept returning to.
2001 Domaine de Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee - this had the most funk on the nose and palate. Ripe, sweet, savory, and funky. Not my favorite
2001 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape - at first it appeared elegant, but then I realized it wasn’t showing much. Not what I would expect of this Beaucastel - tightly wound, and pretty much closed down.

Tarte Tatin
1989 Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ere Trie Le haut-Lieu - the biggest disappointment of the night. It could have been stunning, but it was cloaked in cork taint.

Kim - you did good.

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Diane - Thanks for posting your notes. :slight_smile:

All - Truthfully, I was a bit underwhelmed by both the food and many of the wines last night. I’d like to chalk it up to my head cold but that would be too easy. Once again, I am convinced that I just don’t enjoy drinking so many wines at the same time, comparing and contrasting wines that deserve to stand alone and to be consumed thoughtfully over the course of an evening. That said, it is always fun to see everyone and to pop corks!

The Huet and Lauer flights were nice but I’ve seen all the wines in these 2 flights perform better. As for the Lauer’s, I thought they were great aromatically - but they fell short on the palate. If I could have taken the nose of the Senior and put it on the Barrel X. I’d have loved it. Corked Fass 12 - bummer.


The Produttori flight was a complete disaster because I screwed up the serving temp by allowing the wines to get too cold prior to bring them to the restaurant. This shut down the aromatics, made the acidity stand out, the alcohol was all over the place, and the tannins were just plain OUCH. Also, the hot red pepper flakes in the cavatelli dish bothered me a lot. FWIW, I have had all 3 of these wines before and know them to be terrific. Sorry for screwing this flight up.

The CdP flight was the pleasant surprise of the night for me. I’ve not been into CdP lately but was very pleased with how well these showed. The Clos des Papes is in a truly wonderful place and I loved it. I enjoyed the Beaucastel more than Diane did.

Lastly, the corked 89 Huet was just plain heart-breaking. I purchased this wine at Huet (not that it matters with a corked bottle) and had really high hopes for it. You could actually smell lots of wonderful stuff beneath the wet cardboard. :frowning: I guess I’ll just be happy that I didn’t personally cellar it for the last 20 years.

Again, it was great to see everyone and see everyone in February at Dave’s shindig.

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Wow Diane, you got those notes up fast! Great job!
Don’t have much to add except this;
The Clos du Pape was excellent–I thought it was nicely polished and savory.
I loved the Pegau–once it warmed up, it also opened up and was also savory, more rustic, with lots of garrigue. Maybe that’s what you call funky?
The Beaucastel, I agree, was closed and not showing much. Probably needed a few more hours of air.

I thought the food was excellent and really enjoyed seeing everyone.
The lobster dish was out of this world, and the pasta with mushrooms was fabulous–I liked the little kick of heat in it. Lamb was delicious too.

My tasting will be in March, shooting for the 27th. I’ll post on the offline section when things get confirmed.