Just got back from another graduation dinner at the Center for Asian Culinary Studies. This time the theme was amuse bouche so we had 26 little bites for dinner although some of the portions were a lot more substantial than amuse bouche size. It was a bit tough to keep track of all the wines with all the food coming and going so these are very abbreviated tasting notes.
Freixenet Carta Nevada Cava Semi-seco - Simple, sweet. A bit hollow with a tinge of oxidation but not bad.
Faccioli Bardolino Classico 2004 - Dry and smooth. Ready to drink. Pizza wine. Not bad.
Penfolds Koonunga Hill Chardonnay 2003 - Deep color. Well-judged oak. Good balance of oak and fruit. Drink this sooner rather than later.
Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg Riesling Spatlese 2005 - Very nice. Ripe pineapple, yellow tropical fruit, pear, orange. Good complexity and sweetness. Drinking very well now but will undoubtedly age nicely as well. My WOTN and the wine I brought.
Voyager Estate Chenin Blanc 2006 - Spicy, ginger, hint of sweetness. A bit of a letdown unfortunately as it followed the excellent Gunderloch.
Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz/Cabernet 2004 - Easy, dry. Coffee finish. Drink now. Not bad.
Grant Burge Hilcott Merlot 2005 - I used to hate this wine because of the sweetness. They seemed to have toned it down with this vintage. Milk chocolate, caramel, soft. Oaky. Still don't like it but better than before.
Salmos Priorat 2005 - The first vintage from Torres' Priorat project. Spicy wine. Coffee, bitterweet chocolate, fresh baked bread, very fine tannins. Didn't make much of an impression at first but gained power with air. Maybe this needs an hour decanting to show its stuff.
Penfolds Bin 2 Shiraz/Mourvedre 2004 - Juicy, soft and velvety smooth. Real easy to drink. Dry finish and a bit spicy. Maybe lacks a bit of structure but it has appeal.
Cape Barren GSM 2004 - From McLaren Vale. Nothing there. Lacks flavor. Didn't make an impression.
Torres Moscatel Oro - Didn't take notes but very dark. Burnt sugar. Not bad.
Ended with some Torres Acqua d'Or and Hidalgo 200 Brandy de Jerez. Two more dinners to go next week and thankfully those have the normal number of courses.