Five members of our Monday Night Blind Wine Dinner Group enjoyed another fabulous evening at our venue of choice, Ca Dario Montecito.
As usual, we were served and ate righteously while tasting through the pre-assigned wine brings that consisted of a bubbly, 2 whites and 2 reds, plus I brought the remnants of another red wine to test the troops at the end.
Here’s some notes:
2012 TAITTINGER COMTES des CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANC- blind; following its medium yellow color, came an experience that I first noted as being tasty, zingy, citrusy, tangy, toasty and lemony; in a word, it was fabulous; it had all of the features that I relate to the 2008 Comtes including the power, depth and complexity with a bit more elegance, finesse and charm; I had first stated it was a BdB with a dosage of around 8 gpl; I stayed with my early on pronounced guess until much later when doubt set in as it changed a bit with some pepper and grapefruit notes arriving plus the table conversation that was swerving in other directions; I’m learning to just hold on to my first impressions and let it be; 1 or 2 had it as a Dom Perignon and 2008 was thrown out a few times and another called it a 2012, but not the Comtes; it was the best bottle i’ve had and I checked to see how much I have and if i needed to get more. Finding 3 bottles, the answer was YES!
2015 ROTEM & MOUNIR SAOUMA MAGIS CHATEAUNEUF du PAPE- my bring served blind to the others due to the huge, telltale punt and heavy bottle weight; this is comprised of 75% Grenache Blanc with the remainder of the blend consisting of 10% Clairette, 10% Roussanne and 5% Bourboulen; it is not fined, filtered or racked and aged 2 years in Jupilles oak barrels; it had an atypical dark browning gold color and the nose included petrol laden yellow peach, apricot and yellow apple; on the palate, it gave tasty honeyed peach, mandarin, apple and nectarine with accents of licorice and sage; the color suggested it was oxidized and it was more advanced than previous bottles which were replete with fresh lemon, lime, pear and green apple along with some flint and minerality; it was a tough challenge for the gang to come up with the varietals and place of origin.
2010 HENRI BOILLOT CORTON-CHARLEMAGNE GRAND CRU- blind; the bright pale yellow color led to aromas of really nice yellow apple that was joined on the palate by a streak of minerals and accents of vanilla, butter and honey with d’anjou pear in the background; it had a lovely mouthfeel with some body, but not the power I usually associate with C-C; I thought it might be a white Burgundy from Saint-Aubin or a Puligny with the minerality prominence.
2010 CHATEAU PRIEURE-LICHINE MARGAUX- blind; 65 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 30 % Merlot and 5 % Petit Verdot; this had a dark red purple color and “grapey” robust aromas of blackberry, red and black cherry with an emphasis on the blackberry; assuming this was a huge wine, I eased into a sip and discovered eucalyptus, oak and dark chocolate laden dark fruit in spades while being delivered in a smooth and velvety texture; it was definitely full bodied with lots of depth and length where the tannic structure was most evident as it finished quite dry; I deduced this was much younger and called it a 2018 Bordeaux blend, but not sure it came from Bordeaux; in fact, it had enough oak to suggest it may be Spanish; once revealed, it was a surprise as this was so much bigger than the normal Left Bank wine.
2003 AMPUIS LA LANDONNE COTE ROTIE- blind; the color was medium dark red purple; the nose offered generous amounts of pepper accented black currant and blueberry that were joined on the palate by tar and some sweetness; it had lots of finesse and charm and was medium bodied at best; the texture was super soft and added a degree of elegance to the package; perhaps its hallmark was its wonderful balance; the pepper note that prevailed throughout was a strong suggestion of this being a Northern Rhone and there was enough familiarity that reminded me of previous Rostang La Landonne; so, I went with that as my guess. Sometimes, we get pretty close.
I had some leftover 2005 Muga Prado Enea Gran Reserva Rioja from the previous Monday and thought I’d bring it and see if anyone could pick it out. They didn’t. Spanish wines are tough calls for our group. So are white Southern Rhone,
Cheers,
Blake
