In honor of Keiichi's visit to Manila this week, we got together for a lunch at Je Suis Gourmand. To make Keiichi feel at home, we also had a "panic tasting" which is a wine game he and his friends do in Japan. Essentially, it's a blind tasting under time pressure where you have to name the vintage, country and sometimes style or grape. In our case, we simplified it so that we only had to name vintage and country. For France, one also has to identify region if Rhone, Burgundy, Alsace, or Bordeaux left or right bank. If Italian, one has to say if Piedmont or other Italy. For the vintage, within the decade of 2000 to 2010, you must get the year exactly. For 1990 to 1999, you can guess within one year of the actual vintage and so on. One point for every right guess. There would be two teams: Jojo's team composed of Arnie, Johnny, Noel, and Greg and my team with Aaron, Vince, Keiichi, Rene and Miguel. Each team would serve 2 whites and 3 reds to the other team, which needs to make its guess within 5 minutes. All wines must be at least P 1500.00 in order avoid Hearty Burgundy or Liebfraumilch.
White A served by my team - Sweet nose, A bit woody, lemony but good fruit. Rather easy and modern. Good finish. They guessed 2007 Spain. They got the country but not the year. Remelluri 2007. One point to Jojo.
White B served by Jojo's team - Very subtle up front. All flavor seems to be concentrated on the finish. A little bit of stink and slightly bitter finish. Not bad. Keiich guessed Loire but the bitterness made me think Viognier. We settled on 2002 Rhone. I should have known better as I've had this twice before and rather enjoyed it. Cuvee Salamandre Cour Cheverny 2005 . Keiichi was right as this was from the Loire. We were guessing Sauvignon Blanc or Chenin Blanc if Loire and we never considered Romorantin, which is the grape of this wine. No points.
White C served by my team - Medium yellow. Looks aged. Rich, supple mouthfeel but firm finish. Good length. A little woody. Very nice. For reasons having to to do more with the people on my team and their preferences in wine rather than the wine itself, Jojo's team settled on Germany 1999. Wrong on both counts. It was a Morlanda Blanc 2007 from Priorat Spain. Mostly Garnacha Blanc. No points.
Jojo's second white was a dessert so would be served last. We moved on to the reds.
Red D served by Jojo's team - Sweet nose, sweet, ripe and rich. Some earthiness. Very nice and my favorite red in this tasting. The ripeness suggested New World but the earthiness was a little disconcerting. Could be California but I figured Chile. We went with 1998 Chile. It was a Tempier Bandol Cabassou 1997. We got a point for the vintage.
Red E served by our team - Very dark, young. Very sweet nose. Good fruit, heavy oak, cough syrup. They were going with New World until Noel suggested Portugal which they finally went with. They guessed 2005 Portugal. It was 2004 Quinta do Crasto. One point to them for country.
Red F served by Jojo's team - Very dark. Stewed fruit. Chocolate. Soft. New Worldy but acidic finish. We figured Australia 2004. It was a Baigorri Rioja Reserva 2004. We got a point for the vintage.
Red G served by our team - Very dark. Sweet nose but no sweetness on the palate. Unripe strawberry, sour cherry. Rather unpleasant. A real disappointment. Arnie nailed the country for the opposition, guessing Australia but they didn't get the vintage as they guessed 2001. This was a 2007 Yarra Yering Dry Red #1. One point to them for the country.
Red H served by Jojo's team - A little hot on the nose. Young, tannic, coffee, very Bordeaux. We quickly agreed this must be Bordeaux, but what bank? Most of us guessed left bank. We were divided on vintage I thought 2004 but Keiichi said 2006 although he eventually deferred to me. We guessed Left Bank Bordeaux 2004. We got left Bank Bordeaux right and I should have given in to Keiichi as it was a 2006 Chateau de Fieuzal. One point to us.
Red I served by our team - Young, extremely dark and very tannic. Plum, a little overripe. Needs a great deal of time but should develop very nicely. Lovely wine. They guessed Australia 2005. For some reason, they seemed to be focused on thinking it was a Penfolds. Wrong on both counts. They did manage to guess the grape but no points for that. Tua Rita Syrah 2006. No points.
White J served by Jojo's team - Obviously a dessert wine. My team pretty much left the guessing of this up to me since I'm much more into dessert wines than the other team members. Some orange. Very ripe. Excellent balance. Crystallized fruit. Very fresh. Very nice. Definitely a Muscat from the nose alone. Probably French as it didn't have the weight of a New World wine. I settled on 2007 Rhone (Muscat Beaumes de Venise). Right grape but no points for that, unfortunately. Samos Grand Cru Muscat 2009 from Greece. No points.
In the end it was a tie with 3 points each. Great fun and we'll definitely be doing this again although the teams will be mixed up.
As usual, we had one for the road before leaving:
Chateau Lascombes 2004 - A bit hot on the nose. Spicy. Soft, rich and very dry but rather monolithic. Not bad but needs a lot more time to open up