These were served to a group of experienced wine enthusiast friends, including @brigcampbell, at Eddie V’s in Newport Beach. They were all served double blind except for the Dom Perignon, but I was the host, so I knew all of them.
1996 Dom Perignon. I’d had this since release, one of the first expensive bottles I ever bought. Honeyed, with golden apple, pear, pineapple, sweet ginger, a light embrace of caramel and baked apple as it warms in the glass. The bubbles are fine and caressing, imparting a creamy texture. This seemed to marry the best of the freshness and structure of youth with the richness and complexity of maturity. This will certainly be a WOTY candidate for me.
Blind Flight 1 – 2018 Masters of St Aubin
2018 Pierre Yves Colin Morey St Aubin Le Banc. Gun flint and matchstick reduction which gradually retreated with time. Ripe lemon, green apple, white mineral, unsalted butter, high acid. As the wine warms to room temperature, some orange emerges. An impressive and important-feeling wine maybe just at the beginning of its peak window. The only thing that differentiates it from a premier cru level Meursault is perhaps just a little less density and concentration, but is that a bad thing or not really?
2018 Hubert Lamy St Aubin La Princee. This was a cooler, cleaner, less masculine style wine than the PYCM. Bright lemon and lime, cool mineral, white pepper, sea salt, oyster shell, tart pear, a bit of grassiness. A wonderful pairing with a cold shellfish platter. The PYCM was more powerful and impressive, the Lamy was more elegant and cerebral, it’s kind of a tossup which was better.
Blind Flight 2 – 2005 Pinot Noir
2005 Arcadian Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard. Dark cherry, grilled herb, dark spices, bay leaf, some sweet damp earth. The wine felt relaxed and fully integrated, no hard edges. As mature Arcadians often do, this had even the Burgundy experts fooled as being a Burgundy.
2005 Domaine d’Ardhuy Clos Vougeot. This was a little blockier and more stern than the Arcadian. Violet, unripe cranberry and pomegranate, green herbs, talc. A little drying and tannic at the end – I continue to try 1er Cru and Grand Cru Burgs in the 1995-2005 range and experience that drying finish, and I’m never sure whether that means the wine needed more years to mature or whether the fruit is fading and the wine will just dry out. And the answer probably isn’t the same from one to the next, but it’s just something I’ve puzzled out on the last several bottles I’ve experimented on from that rough age range.
Blind Flight 3 – Mature Napa Cabernets
1987 Beringer Cabernet Private Reserve. Red fruited, cedar, warm earth, saddle leather, sandalwood. Fairly high acid. I was served this blind a couple of years ago, and I think this bottle was a little less fresh and perfect than the one I had previously, but this was still very enjoyable bottle of a classic-styled Napa cab.
1999 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Estate. A darker profile than the Beringer, black and purple berry fruit which is fresh but not sweet or heavy, some olive, chalky mineral, anise. This showed the 12 year difference in age plus the cool and structured 1999 vintage in Napa. More cerebral than delicious, probably a bit of room still to improve.
Blind Flight 4 – Mature Argentine Malbec
2009 Achaval Ferrer Finca Mirador. Opaque intense purple color and fruit profile. Graphite, violets, good power and concentration without getting sweet or heavy. Still pretty high acid and medium tannin structure. This is an excellent wine at a great age – maybe the only thing it lacks is a higher degree of complexity and nuance.
2005 Bodega Catena Zapata Malbec Adrianna Vineyard. This was more rich and hedonistic, to the point of being a little sloppy. Big dark fruit, peaches, caramel, coconut, milk chocolate, bananas, a bit of alcohol showing. This might have been better a bit younger? But I think it was a somewhat overdone style. Showy and an interesting experience, but to me, the least enjoyable wine of the evening by a decent margin.
Nobody would have really been expected to guess the variety, country and age of these last two wines, and it’s no surprise that the group was confused but defaulted into them being cult style Napa cabs. My conclusion from trying these was that these offer much of the style and power of premiere modern Napa cabs, but a little less complexity and class. Kind of in the same way you observe at lower price levels – a good $25 Malbec will stand in pretty well for a good $60 Napa cab, but maybe it’s just a little simpler?
Thanks for reading.