Friday Betsy made a rare scheduling goof, agreeing we'd come to a simple dinner with friends and not noticing that I had a meeting of my local wine group. Luckily, they're good friends, and were perfectly happy to have me eat and run (while Betsy and the basset visited with the hosts and their standard poodle). When we got to their house we were greeted with a glass of Prosecco, the Riondo "Spago Nero" Prosecco (Veneto). A touch off-dry, light bubbles, light and refreshing. B
Dinner was a salad followed by spaghetti with a red sauce, sausages, and meatballs. A couple of reds were sampled:
2004 Rivera "Il Falcone Riserva" (Castel del Monte)
Not sure exactly where this is from or what grapes. Black cherries, currant with some firm tannins and some light vanilla/oak notes. Ripe but with decent acidity, fairly long finish with some spice notes. This was a little big for the food, but I'd like to try this again in maybe 5 years to let tannins and oak integrate a bit. A conservative B.
I had brought along the 2006 Masciarelli Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. Lighter, fresh acidty, cherries with a little leather. Nothing to swoon over, but nothing to complain about, a solid honest wine that matched well with the food. B
I made my goodbyes, and headed to Rob's for wine group. Fred had a couple of his samples on table for us to try while we waited for stragglers:
2007 Clos Siguier Cahors
A bit denser than the 2006 of this, black plums, earth, a tad short. B-
2007 La Regal du Loup
Interesting Languedoc, fresh berry fruit, a ferric note, good length. B
Then we were ready for the blind main event. Rob is a enviro-centric guy, and in the interest of reducing carbon footprints chose NY reds. I admit to groaning at theme (I wouldn't have minded if it included whites), not least because for first time in memory I actually had to buy wine for one of these tastings. But I vowed to keep as open a mind as possible. All wines served blind:
Wine #1 (Alex's)
Not very attractive nose - burnt rubber and a little nail polish/VA. On the palate its got some sweetness, and someone says "bad port." I really didn't want to drink this. There's also a foxy note that makes me claim it's not vinifera, it's not, it's the 2007 Benmarl Winery Frontenac (Hudson Valley). C-
(note- Alex said this was a party leftover from last year, someone brought it and it has just stood around, so maybe some damage)
Wine #2 (Rob's)
Green pepper and black plums on nose, sweet fruit but slightly unripe, rather short. 2007 Benmarl Cabernet Sauvignon C+
Wine #3 (Roger's)
A touch of real poop, fat, sweet dark fruit (though dry I'm sure), but quite short. I'm surprised when it's revealed as Cab Franc. 2007 Schneider Vineyards "Le Breton"Cabernet Franc. C+/B-
Wine #4 (Dave's)
Redder fruit, a little light edge of leaf and bell pepper, not a world beater but easily my fave so far. 2004 Pellegrini Cabernet Franc B-
Wine #5 (mine)
OK, this wasn't my fault. I had ordered some wine for this tasting from a friend on LI, but through someone else's mistake it didn't ship. I stopped by a store in White Plains and bought the "best" NY red they had. Easily the worst wine I've served to this group, green bell peppers, slightly dirty ashtray notes, unripe, short finish.
2004 Duck Walk Cabernet Sauvignon C
Wine # 6 (Fred's)
This isn't really long, but it's a straightforward pleasant red wine. Red plums, fully ripe, a little earth. Not complex, but quite drinkable (a triumph on this night). 2006 Shinn Estate Merlot B/B-
Wine #7 (James')
I found this quite similarly styled, just a little lighter. I feel good when it's revealed (and should have stopped making out-loud guesses!) NV (I believe) Shinn Red Wine. B-
Wine # 8 (Alex # 2)
This has a nasty green streak, fruit comes across as a tad unfresh. Once again a short finish. One of my least favorites of the night. (didn't note vintage) Wollfer Cabernet Franc C+
Wine #9 (Marc's)
Thank god the last one! Some brett on nose, though I say more barnyard than a couple of earlier poop/sewage noses (like #3). Decent ripe dark fruit, I miss that we tried before (#3!). 2007 Schneider Vineyards "Le Breton"Cabernet Franc B-
OK, so we ended up with no Niagara or Finger Lake wines. Not a great showing for NYS, but we mostly bought blindly, not selectively. One concern is the average cost of these wines, I think the range was from about $12 for the generic Shinn to several pushing $30. I know Long Island land is expensive, but these prices are not very competitive. I've had some very good LI wines from Macari, Lenz, The Old Field, etc, but few could be described as bargains.
So we're staring at a lot of half-filled bottles, but no one is really pouring. Rob sends an expedition down to retrieve bottles to retrieve the evening, they return with 2 reds:
2004 Ch. Belle Vue (Haut Medoc)
Big, some tannins and oak that needs to integrate, slightl herby note. Sturdy for a lower level 04 Bdx, could use some time. B- for drinking now, but think will get better
2006 Olivier Cousin "Pur Breton" Anjou
Not for the brett averse, but this is a more attractive strain for me -a touch of barnyard. Good acids, raspberry fruit, good. B
Fun night with the guys, even if not a very memorable wine night!
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.
