Virtual Tasting for Charity Week 5, Dec 20th - 27th - Wines you wonder if you are going to like

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Thank you in advance for participating in the Wine Berserker series of Virtual Tastings for Charity.

The Charity: The Free Wheelchair Mission. This is an amazing charity which provides high quality, durable wheelchairs to disabled people in the third world, so they have an opportunity to see their friends and loved ones, find employment, and meet other basic human needs. Every $96 donated provides a person with a wheelchair like this:

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You can read more about the great things they do at their website: https://www.freewheelchairmission.org/ They have provided over a million wheelchairs to date.

The Donation: I will donate $5 per tasting note, and $10 per tasting note which includes a photo of the taster and the bottle (not just one or the other). The commitment applies to bottles opened and tasted between December 20 and 27, inclusive. I would love it very much if anyone else wanted to volunteer to match, or make any other donation in any form they want; you can quite literally change someone’s life for the much better.

The Tasting: The theme is Wines You Wonder if You’re Going to Like. It could be for any reason:

  • Never had this producer or this bottling before
  • Got it as a gift and don’t know what to expect
  • Think it might be a variety, region or style you aren’t that into these days
  • Wonder if the bottle is too old
  • Have question about the provenance or condition of the wine
  • Forgot why the hell this is in your cellar to begin with

We all have bottles like this in our collection, and often they languish there because of the uncertainty, so this is a good excuse to pull them out and pull the cork. [I’m not going to scrutinize whether your wine qualifies or not, anything you post about is going to be fine, your reasons are accepted whatever they are.]

The Tasting Notes: Remember you need to post some sort of descriptive tasting note. Please also share what were the reasons you didn’t know what to expect or whether you were going to like it. And then, of course, say what you actually ended up thinking.

Thank you in advance for your support, your friendship, and your sense of humor.

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Anyone else thinking about that Seinfeld episode . . .?

But seriously, good choice of charity and theme, Chris.

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I’m blanking, which one?

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2019 Inniskillin Vidal Icewine Gold
I have some lovely memories tied to Swiss icewine, but rarely purchase this category anymore because reality falls short from that memory. Second, Vidal is a hybrid grape (ugni blanc x another hybrid), and I have disliked most hybrid grape wines (except for some Johanniter). Third, my opinion of Canadian wines wasn’t the best after tasting some during a business trip. So it’s a mystery why I purchased this Canadian hybrid grape icewine, but not a mystery why it lingered for a while in its box.

Deep golden color; as dark, if not darker, than the 2003 La Tour Blanche Sauternes I opened this weekend. The aroma made me recoil initially: the first thought that came to my mind was “this smells like Costco rotisserie chicken,” which is not something I am looking for in a wine, much less like an icewine. After swirling a bit, it settled more to caramel chicken. Yes, it sounds like I am hallucinating, but my husband said that the icewine smelled “odd,” so even though it does not really smell like “caramel chicken,” the aroma is not something fabulous. Taste: a lot of dark caramel notes and a bit of apricot preserves. The finish seemed oaky, for lack of better word, and there didn’t seem to be much, if any, acidity. Price paid: $60-ish for 375mL. For that price, one can get just about any Sauternes except d’Yquem and DD’s l’Extravagant.

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Astrid is my ace in the hole for my annual turn at Virtual Tasting for Charity. I’m hereby doubling the donation for all of her posts in the thread.

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Bring it @AstridKG

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‘CostCo rotisserie chicken’ and ‘caramel chicken’ are definite first in tasting notes.

Does anyone know a good spot for caramel chicken in the OC?

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It’s on page 27 of the spiral bound Cheesecake Factory menu I think.

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I bought this wine while visiting the winery in Lodi. I’m in love with the history and the fact that these vines are 135 years old now. There are cinsault on the property that are even older which are the oldest in North America. The vines are like tree stumps, it’s unbelievable.

I so wanted this wine to be awesome but the stuff from Lodi scares me. Tends to be way riper than what I’m looking for and lacking acidity.

It’s great when history compliments personal expectations

Super excited about how nice this wine was and my wife said this is great.

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Here goes another one… ! I struggle with CdP. When it’s on, it’s absolutely glorious, but when it’s off… UGH. In the last decade, many CdP in my budget have been too fruity, too alcoholic, too oaky… off balance. In any case, I got FOMO during some random Last Bottle offer, and ended up with a few bottles of 2015 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape. I opened one bottle in 2019, it was clunky and did not agree with me, so I decided to let the rest sit for a while. “A while” has arrived, and last night I PnP, hoping that time had been kind.

Composition: 75% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 4% Mouvedre, 3% Cinsault, 2% Vaccarese, 1% Muscardin.
Color: Gorgeous limpid deep red ruby-garnet color. Smells of fresh crushed blackberries / boysenberry jam, but then I stuck my nose in a little further into the glass, and OUCH. The alcohol nearly curled my nose hairs (lovely visual, no?). 16% Alcohol listed on the bottle, so it may be more. On the palate, it’s very smooth, unexpectedly a bit thin, with not as much fruit or flavor as I expected. The overwhelming flavors were alcohol and vanilla oak with secondary of stewed plums or stewed fruit and minor baking spices. This is odd because apparently only 25% of this was aged in oak. Moderate-low acidity. A surprising lack of tannins, and unsurprising lack of alcohol. Four hours later, the nose had improved with more fruit and something floral (violet??!), but the taste was unchanged. The alcohol was still dominant. I don’t think this will improve - fruit is faded and there is little structure. Drink up now if you have this in your cellar. This could have been nice if it had either been elegant or big. To be elegant, the alcohol needed to be lower, as it’s currently overwhelming some of the delicate fruit flavors. To be a good big wine and carry off the 16%, there needed to be structure/tannins, more fruit, and less vanilla.
Not horrible, but it’s not for me.

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Wines I have tasted from Paso Robles for the most part have never done it for me. Most have been blends that seem to be seeking an identity. When I received this one from my Secret Santa I was like, “Familiar with the producer name, never had one, let’s give it a whirl.”

Brought it to dinner last night to share with Son-in-law and Step-Daughter. Totally whiffed on a photo op. My punishment is I’ll donate $50 to your charity.

  • 2016 Linne Calodo Problem Child - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (12/23/2023)
    Was a Secret Santa gift, never tasted one before. Only Paso bottle in my cellar. Zin, Syrah, Mourvèdre blend at a whopping 15.7%abv. Dark black cherry color, nose more GSM than Zinfandel. Blackberry, black cherry, the blending wines must have been pretty ripe as the palate was all ripe fruit with no acid backbone to speak of and little spice. Kinda what I usually get from Paso wines I’ve had. Was easy drinking and hid the alcohol well but not memorable. Wouldn’t seek out more.

Posted from CellarTracker

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That’s fantastic, Brian, thank you.

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I hope that this is ‘on theme’, Chris…

We needed three cups of red wine for cooking the Boeuf Bourguignon ‘a la Julia Child’ that Jacqueline is preparing. I played with a few ideas before settling on a variation of “one for the pot and one for the table”. I pulled two Hamilton Russell Pinot Noirs, a 2014 and a 2017, and based on previous foggy, not so positive, recollections, I thought the 2014 would be for the pot. As a further check I poured some of the 2014 and sipped at it for an hour or so. To my palate, it was on the thin side with tart almost sour red fruit. Smugly, I offered Jacqueline a taste without comment just to confirm my impression. .
“Hmm this is good” she said.
“REALLY?!#*” I silently shouted.
I then went and poured some of the 2017 and we went to a face off mode. Alls well that ends well and the 2017 impressed both me and Jacqueline as the better drinking wine. Better balance , richer flavor, and more complexity. The 2017 was awarded a Repour stopper and a couple of days in the refrigerator. The 2014 was poured into a carafe and set aside to meet its fate later today.
Cheers, Chris.

P.S. One of my favorite skits form the early SNL days had Dan Aykroyd impersonating Julia Child in her French Chef persona https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSxv6IGBgFQ

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The warden has an obsession with purchasing wine from trader Joe’s. Since it’s never over 10 bucks a bottle I don’t really care, she seems to enjoy it. How she selects the bottle ranges from the “label looks like it was good” or the kid with a box cutter stocking the shelves said it’s popular. This time she overheard two customers asking an employee for the specific wine because it wasn’t on the shelf and he went back and brought out a case.

FOMO took over and she grabbed the bottle. $6

Probably the best $6 bottle of red wine I’ve ever had. LOL. I actually enjoyed it and would have no problem serving it to people.

Fireplace Socal style: YouTube video playing on the TV

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around 15 or so years ago, My wie and I were visiting family in California and took a side trip to Lodi and visited Jessie’s Grove while we were there…Queen Mother’s name is Jessica so it seemed like the thing to do…Regrettably, no notes or memories re the tasting,.I do remember we had lunch at a very charming inn while we in Lodi.

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1998 Pietranera Brunello di Montalcino
25 years and I had some trepidation as to the soundness of the bottle. I had a terrific 1997 Brunello from another producer last year, so I had high hopes.

Turned out to be brandied and loaded with sediment. Down the sink it went. As noted in other threads, the ratio of bad bottles seem to be higher for Italians of age.

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Several years ago a partner at work gave me a bottle of the 2005 Sierra Visa Cabernet Five Star Reserve. I should have drunk it upon receipt, as the extra age has done it no favors. The fruit has surrendered to the tannins, and I would never have guessed this as Cabernet drinking it blind. Drinkable (best cold), but not particularly enjoyable, at least for me.

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NV Phillipe Gamet Brut RosĂŠ de SaignĂŠe
I purchased two bottles of this online without seeing the color, which is like Tavel. The first bottle was not something I enjoyed, but perhaps time had done a little magic.

100%PM from Fleury la Riviere, from 2015 harvest, 30 hours maceration, no malo. Disgorgement date unknown. Dosage unknown.
Tavel-reddish color, vivid mousse, tiny vivid bead. Nose of blood orange, red berries, and some herbal note (maybe thyme? It was pretty faint). Tastes of blood orange, raspberry/boysenberry, a bit more citrus on the finish. There are definitely tannins on this, but it didn’t feel distracting or weird the way it did on the 1st bottle. Nice acidity. I liked it a lot more than last go around, and it paired great with a hearty “winter” (SoCal…) dinner.

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So the story here is that this 1997 Rene Renou Bonnezeaux Cuvee Anne was something I bought eons ago at a LWS and never knew what to do with. The Mrs is not a big sweet wine fan and we have a small lake of Yquem etc, so this just sat in our cellar for years — outside the temperature controlled parts, which means it spent years with summers up to the low 70s in the cellar. Eventually I decided to take it to my wife’s family home in Ohio. It languished there for a few more years, never the right occasion, etc. Comstruction in the Ohio house forced us to bring this unloved little bottle back to the east coast. This charity theme finally gave us a reason to open this. And it turns out to be pretty intact — very advanced, but intact, with an intriguing balance of sherry like bitter and sweet butterscotch along with hard to place herbal scents.

From CT review:

From an ignored and indifferently stored 50cl bottle. The color is by now a deep amber. Far less sweet than I thought it would be. There is an almost sherry - like quality to this — imagine a slightly sweet (a little more than off-dry) version of a venerable sherry and you’re getting close to the experience here. Strikingly, it still had some herbal touch to the nose — grass, seaweed, something like that — and a surprisingly fresh rainwater finish. While it is not the most complex dessert wine it makes up for that with some unexpected tastes and gets extra credit for longevity and sheer endurance after years of neglect.
Score : 93. Relative to expectations: +++ given how badly I treated it. The little bottle that achieved redemption in a little Xmas miracle.

It gets an extra point because the youngest member of our tasting party thought this was the bomb. This is someone who, despite her tender years, has had Yquem and RTC Essenzia, and yet thought this was the greatest dessert wine she has ever had ….

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And yes , before you raise your hand, that is a Grassl champagne glass. Don’t ask. It was that kind of night.

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Bonnezeaux is an awesome name. Thanks for the great note and story.

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