Yesterday was quite a whirlwind of tastes, highlighted by a blind tasting of the '67 Buena Vista Lachryma Montis.
We started with a highly anticipated mag of the '66 Jules Belin 1er “Petite Chapelle”. Unfortunately, this was completely gone by the time we got to it. The palate is rancid nuts and soy sauce. What a shame. 50 pts.
Next up, we had a stellar showing of California winemaking from the “bad old days”. I tasted this double blind, guessing it was a cab based California wine from the mid 70’s. Surprisingly, this was a blend of Cab, Pinot Noir, and Barbera. This had a bit of a sea shore meets vegetal funk that blew off after about 10 minutes. What was left was bright cherry, cranberry, a touch of pine, and rose petal - with great acidity to boot. 91 pts.
Next up was the '80 Mastroberardino Taurasi. This was the first old Aglianico based wine I’ve had. For some unknown reason, the nose was a dead ringer for Swiss cheese - go figure. Looking past the bizarre Swiss cheese, there is some great black fruit here - think Mulberries. The tannins are still hanging around what is still a dark, brooding wine. I would love to see where another 20 years would leave this wine. 87 pts.
Last up, we killed the remains of a '75 Dr. Thanisch Berncasteler Doctor Riesling Auslese Eiswein. Every bottle I open of this is pure exhilaration. The wine is of a rich-orange hue. The nose is still tropical with exotic baking spices. The palate is rich with honey, orange marmalade, a touch of brown sugar, and lively acidity. 93+ pts.
