This was one of the most fun and educational tastings I have had a for a long time. Kudos to Leonard and Jillian for putting it together. This time round, we gathered at the rather campily named DeClassic Golden Spoon with our black glasses to taste wines that were strictly either under $60 or above $120. All blind of course. The whole goal was of course to see if the wines are really worth their price tags and if, shorn of the veneer of expensiveness, we would be able to tell the difference. Quite unexpectedly, almost every wine was pegged to its correct price point except for the 2001 Reignac and the 1999 Bierzo, both of whom were thought to be over S$120. It should be pointed out that they were about pushing the S$60 mark though. However, it was heartening to know that 1. we did not pay for disguised plonk and 2. there are easily purchasable wines that punch above their price tag. Strangely enough, even the Moss Wood, which was not popular around the table, was unanimously spotted as an over S$120 wine. All in all, a really fun exercise, and one that we will be repeating in different formats in the future.
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2008 Dr. Loosen Riesling Dr. L - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Very consistent impression from the last outing with this wine - it is a simple but well-built Riesling that goes very well with food. Nose was typically Mosel, with minerally chalk and slate scents layered over apple notes. The palate had some hint of sweetness, not quite feinherb or kabinett, but certainly a bit of residual sugar, along with more apples flavours, some sweet lemons and white flower notes all woven through with zippy but nicely integrated acidity. Not great complexity, but eminently drinkable. The finish even had a surprisingly nice persistence - something I did not get with the earlier bottle. No one was in any doubt that this was an inferior bottle to the auction Fritz Haag BJS Spat served blind alongside, but at a quarter the price, this is certainly good value for money. (90 pts.) -
2007 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese Auction #14 - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Painfully young, but this just screamed quality when poured into our black glasses. Clearly the more superior of the two Rieslings, it had an intense nose full of ripe passion fruit, grapefruit and daisy flowers scents playing against a backdrop of rubbery mineral accents. Beautiful rich fruited stuff. Very expressive. Beautiful on the palate as well. Rather fruitier and denser than typical Haag BJS Spat, this could well be an Auslese from a cool year. It was rich, creamy and altogether gorgeous with peach flavours galore, nectarine and more flowery notes. Not the brightest acidity, but there was enough to keep it alive, and it had that typical Fritz Haag elagance and integration that shone through even amidst all the powerful, slightly OTT 2007 character. Finish was long, sticky and powerful, keeping very much in line with the rest of the wine. Tons of material here, but painfully primary. This will last for just about forever, and if you have any, I would suggest waiting another decade and a half before even broaching it again. (94 pts.) -
1999 Tower Estate Shiraz - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
An interesting wine. Very typical Hunter character on the nose - lots of savoury, almost funky meat, wet fur and leather scents with some sweet cassis underneath. The palate had softened tannins and good acidity framing dark fruit flavours of plums and prunes. Lots of midpalate density, with a little dried-fruit sweetness that suggested new world when served blind. The finish showed lots of spice and some dark chocolate, but also had a drop in terms of energy and power. I found it quite rustic, just a bit too awkwardly so, but otherwise this was a very pleasant drink with lots of character. (89 pts.) -
1998 Tahbilk Shiraz 1860 Vines - Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes
Wow - this was superb stuff. We were quite sure it was Australian with its mint and eucalyptus scents, but it showed almost like a classy Cab, with subtle blackcurrant, minerally earth and tobacco accents making up the rest of the bouquet. The palate was shaped by a stylish structure of fine tannins and beautifully fresh balance that gave the wine an elegant feel - a really nice backdrop for its lovely sunny blackcurrants and blackberries, prunes, earth and mineral flavours, all wonderfully integrated after 12 years or so in the bottle. Great persistence on the finish as well, with dried leafy undergrowth, spice and mouthful of fresh cassis fruit. Very complex, lovely concentration, yet super-drinkable. This is a world away from big, hot, sweet modern Barossa renditions. A beautiful wine. (93 pts.) -
2004 Domaine de l’Ecu Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Expression de Granit - France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine
A delicious wine for its price. Served blind, the nose showed as you would expect from the name, with mineral infused earth, mushroom, some damp cotton wool and lanolin and flowers. Very Loire, could well have been a Chenin on the nose if not for those very stony mineral scents. The palate had an intriguing, almost odd synthetic note to it - reminded me somewhat of Japanese grape gummies, and then some slightly more citrus pineapple notes, slightly browning apples and more of that serious mineral streak. Decent acidity too. Finish showed beeswax and spice, again making me think Chenin. Interesting stuff, and a pretty nice pairing with our Chinese food. (90 pts.) -
2007 Vignerons de Caractère Vacqueyras Domaine de la Curnière - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Vacqueyras
This was alright, but barely so - not my favourite way of handling a Southern Rhone blend. The nose pretty much set the stage for the rest of the wine, with sweet candied strawberries, almost bubblegumy and a touch of earth and incense. This was taken up on the palate, which had more sweet fruited, bubblegumy strawberries and cherries. There was some acidity, but it was not exactly fresh. Finish showed some oak notes, spice, flowers and an inexplicable banana note. Drinkable in a very modern way, but rather too obvious - like going for bust enhancement surgery and wearing a tiny top to boot. (87 pts.) -
2000 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon Moss Wood Vineyard - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River
A strange wine. Objectively plenty of quality, and yet it did not give all that much pleasure. HM really liked it, but the rest of us were not so sure. Served blind, we all thought it was clearly above S$120, yet not many gave it a thumbs up. On the nose, this was clearly the most new worldy of the lot. Tons of vanilla mocha, milk powder - in other words, lots of very new french oak scents, alongside some slightly subtler blue fruits notes. It had a very sunshiny palate, lots of fruit, with sweet blackberries and dark cherries at the fore, along with some spice, chocolate and a bit of smoky tar towards the finish. By this point of the wine’s evolution, its tannins had softened into a plush robe, lending it a classy and yet very friendly, easy-to-drink feel. Not super fresh, but there was enough balance and definition to mark this out as a well-made wine too. However, all said, I still felt that there was quite a bit of ways to go yet, with primary fruit still dominating the flavour specturm and the oak not quite settling down and integrating with the rest of the wine. Looking at my previous note almost 3 years back, it seems that the wine has improved slightly, but has not moved all that much from my impressions then. Would be interesting to try in another 5 years’ time. The raw material is there, but the wine is just not en pointe at the moment. (91 pts.) -
2008 Girolamo Dorigo Colli Orientali del Friuli Ribolla Gialla - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Colli Orientali del Friuli
Classic Italian variety grown in Fruili, not to be confused with Ribolla Nera, or Schiopettino (the red grape grown in the same region). This has been made into white wine there for hundreds of years, yet I have somehow never tried it. In fact, none of us had no idea what this was when blind. It had shades of Sauvignon Blanc, and yet was not quite. Nose showed grass, sweet gooseberries, white flowers and some flinty mineral. The palate had more body than a typical SB from the region, but was very fresh, with plenty of acidity and citrus grapefruit and lemons notes alongside more tropical fruit flavours. Some nuttiness at the finish, apparently quite a characteristic of Ribolla Gialla, certainly ruled out SB for me. Good QPR. An interesting wine, and pretty well-made as well. Nice pairing with a whole range of Chinese food. (90 pts.) -
1999 Descendientes de José Palacios Bierzo - Spain, Castilla y León, Bierzo
This was a really nice wine. Modern treatment stood out more in this wine than any other save the Moss Wood Cab, but I preferred this over the other wine for being somehow more “together”. There were milky new oak notes on the nose, followed by plums, blackberries and spice. A bit heavy on the oak side, but it was nicely integrated with the other accents, making for a very attractive bouquet. The palate showed similarly ripe tones of blackberries and some cassis gummy notes. I would have tended my guesses towards the new world if not for the teeth-coating but really fine tannin structure and nicely integrated freshness. The finish showed more spice and another dollop of deftly handled oak. Some smoke and mineral notes started emerging when HM and I finished up the remainder of the bottle a couple of hours later. Really nice stuff. This will benefit greatly from another 3-4 years in the bottle, and will probably go on for far longer than that. It is worth noting that it was one of the only two wines (together with a Chateau Reignac 2001) where we could not pin the price range down when tasted blind - this was definitely punching above its weight. (92 pts.) -
2001 Reignac - France, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur
Third bottle in 3 years tasted blind, and this stunned me again. One of the the surprises of the night and certainly amongst my favourite. If anything, this has developed even more than the previous two bottles. Nose showed mushrooms galore - Morels, Chanterelles et al - and then wet earth, damp tobacco, plummy fruit and chocolate. Quite a bit of Merlot here for sure. Same impressions on the palate. There were lots of tannins, well-shaped, but still very firm, and some nice cassis flavours suggesting Cabernet, but there was a fresh young deliciousness along with spice, dark chocolate notes unfolding in the longish finish that pointed quite firmly towards Merlot and the right bank. Very yummy. There coating of tannins right at the very tail before the wine kissed off. I really enjoyed this. Solid stuff, and it will go on improving over the next decade or so. (93 pts.) -
2005 Yellow Tail Cabernet Sauvignon - Australia, South Eastern
Ooh… nobody liked this. It is often said that blind-tastings are the great levellers, but this wine fooled no one. Not quite undrinkable, but certainly not a bottle I would want to have on my table again. All candied red fruits, marashicno cherries and some smoky earth hints. Some acid - acidified I think - but somehow still imbalanced. A caricature of a wine. (85 pts.) -
2002 Château Branaire (Duluc-Ducru) - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
A really solid effort. Perhaps suffering a little from being outshone by the cheaper 2001 Reignac on the night, but this was quite a surprise in itself. Nose showed a dose of expensive oak notes riding alongside a savoury bouquet of meat, earth and tobacco with a hint of dark fruit. Very nice. The palate had plenty of ripeness in its cassis flavours, some richness here, along with nice balance and impressive integration. I would never have guessed 2002. A bit one dimensional at the moment, but all the pieces are in the right place and this should age well. Firm, nicely-shaped tannins gave the wine a good sense of structure and the the finish held just that hint of tobacco and a little spice that added a touch of complexity. A very nice wine considering the vintage and where it stands in the Bordeaux hierarchy., and one that should only really hit its stride in another 4-5 years’ time. I would be very happy to have a few of these in my cellar (92 pts.) -
1998 Château La Tour Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
A nice wine. This fitting round-up to a mini-series of decent Bordeaux and to a great night as a whole. Nose showed sweet plums, cassis and oak. Nothing that made me think Pessac, but clearly Bordelais. The palate had some sweet ripeness in its cassis tones and a very substantial mouthfeel. Yet there was nice acidity that kept it really well balanced and nice ripe tannins that gave it a sense of structure. Finish had decent length too, with some chocolate tones melding with the dark fruit flavours. Nice tannins, good structure. A bit straightforward, but very pleasing in the way in came together. Clearly a well-made wine, and one that would benefit from a few more years in bottle. (91 pts.)
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