Berserkers,
The Toronto Wine Elitist Cabal ™ got together casually at member Mike Grammer’s condo for a mostly liquid lunch with the following goodies on hand:
CARTUXA PERA-MANCA 2018 VINHO BRANCO – A creamy wine with dragonfruit and kiwi flavors. Very mineral. Low acidity, though. Reminds me of an aged Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc or a California Sauvignon Blanc in that regard.
JEAN COLLET 2011 CHABLIS 1ER CRU VAILLONS – So this was unfortunately oxidized though not corked or spoiled by any means. Of course, this ruins what you expect from a white Burgundy. It has sherried nuances but if you want those then you drink an actual Sherry wine. Naturally, the crisp fruit and acidity one would expect from a Chablis were just killed here. So off to the cooking pot for a Coq au Vin Blanc or the wine vinegar crock for you it is.
BERNARD DEFAIX 2019 CHABLIS 1ER CRU – Classic white Burgundy here. Crisp and acidic, lots of salinity and green apple flavor. This is more like it and obviously what Burgundy lovers would expect. Nice stuff.
KUTCH 2019 BOHAN GRAVEYARD BLOCK PINOT NOIR – My words to Michael were: Tell Jaime this wine is a triumph. Translucent ruby color, lacqueured cherry nose, sweet California cherry fruit, a little pencil lead and an extremely delicate and creamy texture that matches any Burgundy. The sweeter cherry flavor is a dead giveaway this is a California wine but its the texture here that is mind-blowing. Singlehandedly better IMHO than every other of Jaime’s Pinots we had at the MEOW 2022 event of the summer.
DOMAINE MICHEL MALLARD 2016 COTE DE NUITS-VILLAGES – Translucent ruby, strong sour cherry nose, a little green pepper, bright sour cherry fruit flavor and very high acidity. Was actually very refreshing. Interestingly, not a whiff of pencil lead aroma or flavor. Sweetness comes out with Mike’s Molé Chicken.
So here I have two distinctive Pinot Noirs with distinctive characteristics the other didn’t have. So just for fun, I asked Mike for a new clean glass and blended about an ounce of the two together in it. I was theorizing that the two together would make a perfect wine and that’s we’re all hunting for, right?
The only distinctive change was that the blend had a much more perfumy vanilla nose to it. While the flavors and characteristics were complementary to each other, they were also all quite neutered. Especially the Mallard’s acidity. Everything was here and balanced, but that wasn’t a good thing. Nothing stood out about the blend and the unique individual characteristics of each wine were lost. A very good lesson here: be careful in the search for a balanced “perfect wine”, as perfection itself may completely lack character.
Anna Francesca 2017 Merlot Passito – A unique dessert wine from Italy I found made using raisined Merlot grapes. Not too sweet, lots of black cherry and cocoa flavors with some tannins. Sweetness has a distinct fructose taste to it. I asked Michael for some chocolate to go with this which was a good pairing, it really brings out the acidity. Michael found it pleasant but nothing outstanding or mind-blowing.
PELISSERO 2010 BARBARESCO – Mild nose, light tannins, plenty of sour cherry flavor and high acidity with a creamy smooth texture. Really went well with our charcuterie.
Good stuff and a nice wine start to the new year. 
