WTN: SOBER does Burg, Loire, Pdmnt, Bdx,RdDuero

Last night SOBER met at John Gilman's home. John put out a nice spread of cheeses and pate, made a delicious chicken/sausage stew, and came up with a great array of interesting and tasty wines.

As always, wines were double-blind and served in decanters. John kept quiet most of the time, only occasionally confirming or refuting guesses (and occasionally trying a little misdirection). Great fun was had, and wines were very good. Due to general quality, I probably tightened up my grading a bit.

Flight1
A pair of whites. First example of #1 was corked, John quickly opened another, though it was a tad warmer than the other bottle. Most of us quickly thought Sauvignon Blanc (with one Riesling holdout) for at least the first bottle, with discussion centered on Loire versus Bordeaux.

Wine #1 Clearly SB, with light grass and clean citrus (grapefruit) notes. Minerally. Substantial, good acidity, a very nice wine.B+/A-

Wine #2 Rounder, a bit herby (I wrote herby at first, then someone said anise, which I think was more accurate). Not as precise B

#1 2002 Pascal Cotat “Monts Damnes” Sancerre
#2 2002 Edmond Vatan “Clos la Neore” Sancerre

John felt the Vatan was just in an awkward phase, thinks it will age well.

Flight 2
On to reds. Everyone was in Burgundy quickly. Seemed too meaty for Chambolle or Volnay, I opted for Pommard for at least first. Nope.

Wine # 3 Sweet red berry fruit, a touch of spice, some meaty notes. Good length and depth, seemed very ripe at first but settled into a very nice classic Burgundy with long life ahead. A-/B+

Wine # 4 Bigger black plum fruit, a bit less acidty, more forward. tasty but I preferred flightmate. B+

#3 2001 Truchot Charmes-Chambertin
#4 2000 Roumier Charmes-Chambertin

Flight 3
This was the flight that had us all over the place. Discussion of 70s CA and other wines till John confirmed they were Italian.

Wine #5 Red berries and plums, a little minty note, good acidity, good length, nice wine with a future. Once John confirmed Italian I searched for and found some tar notes. B+
Wine #6 Very sweet fruit, lots of toasty oak. A bit of VA. I thought maybe Taurasi, except didn't seem to have the tannic structure. B

#5 1993 Marcarini "Brunate" Barolo
#6 1990 Gaja "Sori Tildin" Barbaresco

Flight 4
White again. We quickly agreed on Burgundian Chardonnay.

Wine #7 Rather tropical and woody at first, I was wondering if Coche-Dury. Dan quickly nails Puligny. The tropical notes fade and it becomes a more classical pear meets butterscotch. B+

Wine #8 This is lovely. Crisp, elegant, refreshing. Chalky minerality, a little hint of anise/licorice, great depth and length. A

#7 2000 Ramonet "Champ Canet" Puligny-Montrachet
#8 2000 Raveneau "Les Blanchots" Chablis GC

I've always thought Raveneau was too expensive, more than even R & V Dauvissat , but maybe it's worth it!!!

Flight 5
We thought both were Bordeaux at first.

Wine #9 I'm thinking high-acid vintage on Medoc, black currant and cherry fruit, some VA, leathery. OK, but not a lot on finish. B-
Wine #10 Not showing a lot, some cedar and cassis, a bit of earth. Restrained. B

#9 1987 Vega Sicilia Unico
#10 1985 Ch. Lafite-Rothschild

Flight 6
Clearly Burgundy, with some age.
Wine #11 My favorite red of the night. Red berry fruit, some forest floor, floral notes. Good acids, bright fruit, good length. A pointe. A-
Wine #12 Very pale, delicate. Nicer on nose than palate. Some woodsmoke and spice. Mature but not really fading. B/B+

#11 1985 Tollot-Beaut "Clos du Roi" Beaune (I'm 95% certain on vineyard, will check)
# 12 1972 Leroy Beaune 1er

Excellent night, thanks to John. And Mark and Dan who drove me to and fro, so no need to spit.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

Dale,
I envy you this opportunity.
BTW, what vintage was Gaja?
Best, Jim

OOps, it was the 1990. Will edit back in.

Good to hear the Tollot performed so well. I like their style a lot (though it may have changed since 1985), and find their prices less inflated than most...

Tollot-Beaut is generally well priced, I guess because their base is in Chorey. Lots of people felt they ramped up the oak a bit in the 90s, but seem to have cut back down. Thanks for reading.

Dale
I had a bottle of the 93 Marcarini Brunate a year or so ago. IIRC it was a bit 'four-square' - a fair wine with some interest, but lacking a little depth. Vague memories though - if I can find a TN we'll see how my memory is. Your bottle sounded good.
regards
Ian

It seems my recollection of the date is better than my recollection of the wine!

1993 Marcarini Barolo Brunate - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (3/31/2007)
Light claret in colour and showing age at the rim.
Simple nose, with a certain tinny nature, though on swirling a delicate nose of red fruit, with mushroom a touch of leather and smoke emerge.

The palate is light as the colour suggested, the fruit is understated and there's a touch of coffee. Acidity is fresh and tannins soft enough. Relatively short finish.

Overall very pleasant and at the price paid, decent value. It isn't a great Barolo, but it's in character and enjoyable for that.

I like both Pascal and Francois Cotat's Sancerre (Chavignol) wines. Haven't had the opportunity to try a Raveneau Chablis yet. It says something that the '72 Leroy Beaune 1er was not really fading. That's longer than I would have hoped for a premier cru Burgundy. Sounds like a fun evening.

Wine #1 Clearly SB, with light grass and clean citrus (grapefruit) notes. Minerally. Substantial, good acidity, a very nice wine.B+/A-

Wine #2 Rounder, a bit herby (I wrote herby at first, then someone said anise, which I think was more accurate). Not as precise B

#1 2002 Pascal Cotat “Monts Damnes” Sancerre
#2 2002 Edmond Vatan “Clos la Neore” Sancerre

John felt the Vatan was just in an awkward phase, thinks it will age well.

Interesting. I don't know about 02, but Cotat often has more rs than Vatan. Although rs and precision are not mutually exclusive, of course.

Must have been interesting to taste the wines next to each other.

Ian,
thanks for data point. Sounds like I liked more than you (with usual caveats about bottles vs wine, storage, etc- also I think John decanted few hours in advance)

It says something that the '72 Leroy Beaune 1er was not really fading. That's longer than I would have hoped for a premier cru Burgundy.

I think general opinion is that '72 wasn't as well recieved as '71, but better ones will be very long lived. Not to stir the pot, but some people would say there is not 100% confidence in what label says in some of the Leroy later releases. This was not a recent release, but it wasn't acquired in '74, either.

Rahsaan,
I didn't get any RS in either. As noted, John seemed pretty confident that the Vatan was just being a grumpy adolescent, and he felt it would eventually be the better wine.

Terrific line-up of wines there Dale and, as always, thanks for your notes. Interesting to note the less-than-stellar performance of some of the "trophy" labels. When a humble Tollot-Beau does over Lafite, Leroy, Roumier, Vega Sicilia Unico and a Gaja Sori Tilden et al for red wine of the night, I'm reminded of the value in 1) seeking out wonderful producer's who are not excessively hyped by global wine scribes and 2) serving and assessing wine "double blind". I'm reasonably confident in suggesting, whenever wine is served "unmasked", the effective "visual" bias of a famous/expensive label can tip the rating scales dramatically for many people.

I enjoy tasting blind. The Tollot-Beaut had the advantage of being a pointe, and many felt the Lafite was in an awkward stage (even before unveiling). Stylistically modern Gaja is not usually my thing.

I enjoy tasting blind. The Tollot-Beaut had the advantage of being a pointe, and many felt the Lafite was in an awkward stage (even before unveiling). Stylistically modern Gaja is not usually my thing.

Thanks for the notes Dale. Sorry I missed it but at least your notes made me feel as though I was there.

I have had the 1985 Lafite a couple of times. It is exactly how I remember it; awkward, restrained and maybe a bit diluted.

I would have thought Gaja is not John's thing either. I'm surprised he likes it.

I hope to join you guys again soon, probably around September (if you'll have me of course).

interesting that the dispute about riesling and SB is never mentioned. prior to the finger lakes competition we have a 'palate cleanser' served blind. often it is riesling since it is near the finger lakes; and this year it was SB. in both cases there have been several votes for the opposite grape variety when we were asked to identify it. one would think that riesling and SB should be super easy to distinguish; but the evidence is otherwise. glad you mentioned this. never seenit metnioned before.

Jacques,
John was a big advocate of Gaja, till I think the '85 vintage. I believe he said '90 was last he bought. He served an '82 that was great at groups first dinner. I'd love to see you back.

David,
personally I didn't get the confusion. I was more certain that this was SB than of any other wine of the night. Yet the person who thought Riesling is ITB and a much better taster than I am. It's good to be right once in a while.