Really enjoyed last night. The food at Olea was very good, with the sauces and the way they did the fish dishes really good. Thank you for doing the wines @Chris_Seiber, for the way you flighted these and selected them based on finding a wine that represented each person at the table, what brings them joy.
BOOKCLUB (SERVED BLIND)--COUNSELOR SEIBER - Olea in Newport Beach (3/13/2025)
All served blind. Counselor picked the wine and Olea as the dining. Great array of things to try and test my humbled senses, as usual!
- 2014 Marie-Courtin Champagne Éloquence Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut - France, Champagne
April 2018 disgorgement. 100% Chard, no dose. Haven't had the 14 in almost 3 years, and last night's bottle told me the wine is doing great. Tasted blind. Jasmine, citrus peel and a light caramel mix of aromas. Citrus and ginger with slice apple palate, then a finish of saline and lime. Before we left to go home, I poured another sample from the bottle that was just about drained. The wine was a coolish room temp, and I found a great pear note that was lurking. Overall, this vintage of Eloquence continues to age well.
- 2017 Château Lynch-Bages Blanc de Lynch-Bages - France, Bordeaux
Tasted blind. Initially the group had put this on Chardonnay but as I tasted through the wine, that didn't resonate for me as the varietal. I found a ground anise seed, herb leaf and lemon oil, and what shifted my guess was the passion fruit and the peach. I don't really know white Bordeaux, this drank great for me. - 2020 Olivier Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet
Served blind. The aromatics on this were quite reduced when we first poured this around the table...matchstick. Lots of round texture, melon, lemon zest and some new wood poking through. I also found some bergamot in the wine, which was pretty cool. Enjoyed this but it has more of a modern style for me.
- 2000 Ici/La-Bas Pinot Noir Les Révélés - USA, Oregon
Served blind. This showed a red licorice, spicy with some elevated alcohol, and tangy acid. Brewed coffee, tobacco leaf. Some age is showing here. I mistakenly put this on an older Zinfandel, so if you like that style of red wine with age, this is gonna fit you well. - 2010 Ici/La-Bas Pinot Noir Les Révélés Elke Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Served blind. Gotta say, this is drinking great! Fruit, acid, texture are al in harmony, creating lovely balance. Yeah, some cola bean here that is not a note I like in my Pinot Noir, but it's subtle enough here to season the wine and not screw up the balance. Tangy red raspberry and some black fruit. At 15 years old, this is a wine I'd love to drink again. - 1997 Ici/La-Bas Pinot Noir Les Révélés Mendocino County - USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino County
Yikes, I have the only note on a wine that is nearly 30 years old. Someone, please join me! Served blind. Damn, this stuff at this age tastes like something that was made 5 years ago. Big ripe aromas and metal shavings. Density of blackish fruit, dark raspberry, all of it juicy and weighty. Later on this picked up some red fruit too--sour cherry, red apple, too. Just a mammoth, ripe wine that befuddles me at this age!
- 1973 Inglenook Vineyards Charbono - USA, California, Napa Valley
Corked. AGH! (NR/flawed) - 2011 Château des Tours Vacqueyras - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Vacqueyras
Served blind. Juicy, nice polish, spicy red fruit, legibly jammy and I just love the spice feature in this wine. Very good. - 2003 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Served blind. Damn, this was good and I am certain we didn't get to taste all of its beauty as we finished the bottle over the meal. Perfumey and fragrant. Tarry, herb, lots of dusty edges from the structure, and very concentrated. Really good.
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