We started with four blind wines: a fizz and three whites.
- 1998 Medot Klasicna Metoda - Slovenia, Brda (7/25/2006)
Dark yellow - a bit mature looking. The nose is honeyed, very earthy, spicy, not very mineral but very pleasant. The mousse is a bit big and inelegant, but the taste is quite lovely: earthy, pleasantly acidic, with a nicely herbal aftertaste. Very nice! If only it had smaller mousse and a bit more minerals, this would be top class fizz. - 2003 Lavrencic Edvard Sauvignon Blanc SUTOR - Slovenia, Vipavska Dolina (7/25/2006)
Very oaky nose at first, but the oak calmed down after half an hour open. Then emerged notes of grass and gooseberry which showed that this was indeed a Sauv B. The palate was smothered in oak, but had decent acidity taking into account the year, and a fine not so oaky aftertaste. Not to my taste: fine elements, but destroyed by use of too much oak. - 2002 Simcic Teodor Belo Reserve - Slovenia, Goriska Brda (7/25/2006)
Very dark yellow. The nose is totally spoofulated: toffee and oak. Nothing else. The palate is very similar: toffee and oak and surprisingly fine acidity. The aftertaste is very alcoholic. - 2003 Šcurek Stojan Stara Brajda Belo - Slovenia, Brda (7/25/2006)
Again, the nose is terribly oaky. There are some faintly bitter grassy notes. The palate has a redeeming feature of very fine acidity (surprising for the year) but is still too oaky. Drinkable.
Then we had the three red Movias, all outstanding wines and cheap for the quality!
- 2001 Movia Pinot Nero - Slovenia, Brda (7/25/2006)
Oh my God what a lovely wine! The nose is earthy and beetrooty - true to the grape and reminding me of Volnay! Also there is a slight oxidised note to the fruit which doesn't cut the gorgeous fruitiness, minerality and earthiness at all - reminding me of d'Angerville! The palate is true to the grape with fair amounts of acidity, and again that Volnay-like earthiness peeking in. Long and layered. Lovely stuff! - 2001 Movia Cabernet Sauvignon - Slovenia, Brda (7/25/2006)
A very fine Cabernet. The nose is leafy, earthy, herbal and has much cassis. The palate is very fruity, surprisingly accessible with copious yet soft tannins, much cassis and fine length. Very good, indeed. - 1999 Movia Veliko Rdece - Slovenia, Brda (7/25/2006)
This spends a whopping 60 months in oak!! The oak is not at all evident, though. The nose is quite lovely but very primary: there is Pinot-like vegetality and earthiness, a refreshing lift and herbalness from the Cabernet Sauvignon, and dark toned, chocolatey (yet not in the oaky sense) fruit from the Merlot. The palate is fruity, rather dark toned yet earthy and perfectly balanced. I would never have thought that Pinot Noir could be blended with such great results. Lovely stuff!
Then we had the white Movias, which were of interest, but I don't think they handled the oak very gracefully.
- 2003 Movia Sauvignon Blanc - Slovenia, Brda (7/25/2006)
A tad oaky nose, lacking definition and with little Sauv B characteristics. Not bad, in fact it has fine acidity, but it seems to be a victim of the year. A pity, as the red Movias were stunning. - 2003 Movia Ribolla Gialla - Slovenia, Brda (7/25/2006)
The nose is delightfully earthy, with quite a bit of oak, but it is balanced by the mineral notes. The palate has surprising acidity for the year, but the oak does come out a bit. A nice enough wine, one that I'll gladly drink any time, but not on the level of the reds. - 2002 Edi Simcic Ribolla Gialla Reserva - Slovenia, Goriska Brda (7/25/2006)
Oak, oak, oak, oak, oak. Totally unlike all other Edi Simčič wines in this massive oakiness, so perhaps a flawed bottle? But I just cannot say in what way this could be flawed. - 2001 Movia Veliko Belo - Slovenia, Brda (7/25/2006)
Oak juice on the nose, some minerals peeking through from behind the oak and the juicy fruit. The palate is also oaky, with fine fruit, almost tannic even. I have a feeling that if the oak subsides this could become a fantastic wine. I'm just not sure it will.
Then we had a couple of fully blind wines at the end.
- 1998 Zind-Humbrecht Gewürztraminer Heimbourg - France, Alsace, Turckheim, Alsace AOC (7/25/2006)
A surprising nose: served blind, we all thought this was Riesling. It had a very mineral sea-breeze nose with hints of petrol and - from which we should have guessed that this wasn't Riesling - spice and flowers. The palate has very fine acidity (more so than in most Gewurzes I've had), fine minerality and a touch of sweetness. I guessed an off-dry Alsatian Riesling. - 2004 Weingut Robert Weil Kiedricher Gräfenberg Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Rheingau (7/25/2006)
Lovely young Riesling aromas - very pure and mineral with perfect precicion. The palate is similar and pleasantly high in acid yet perfectly balanced by the sweetness. Quite an ideal of its type I would say!
Posted from CellarTracker
Like after all tastings, we needed to clear our taste buds with some beer. I had a stunning bottle of Cantillon Lou Pepe Kriek 2002 which was tart, frighfully acidic, drier than the sahara and unbelievably intense! Cantillon rocks as much as Musar!
