Peter was our gracious host for the most recent monthly poker game. He had a theme for each blind flight that we drank, though it was up to us to guess what that theme might be. In the first three flights (all Champagnes), we were awarded points for correctly guessing vintage vs. non-vintage, grower vs. non-grower, Chardonnay vs. blended wine and the overall theme within each flight. I know I failed miserably in all of those, though I did better at least in guessing the correct variety for each of the blind red flights that came afterwards. It was lots of fun, but also typically humbling.
Starter wines (not blind):
2005 Huet Vouvray Sec Clos du Bourg. The nose of this young Huet is rather tightly-coiled, showing some fine scents of lanolin, spiced pear, yellow apple and lemon peel. In the mouth, it is moderately oily-textured, with a cool minerality and a squeaky acidity throughout. It displays plenty of body, good length and a tight but very promising finish.
2009 Chateau La Rose Sarron Graves Blanc. In contrast, this wine has a gently floral bouquet to it, with soft scents of orange blossom, sweet chalk dust, grannysmith apple, peach juice, minerals and gravel stones. In the mouth, though, it is very dry and minerally, with just a light airy frame to support it. It is more about the mineral, stone and herb notes than the peach, apple and lime bits that occasionally show themselves. If you want something light and exceedingly dry, this might be for you.
Champagne Flight #1:
N.V. Launois Pere et Fils Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Cuvee de Reserve. This wine features fine aromas of struck match, schist, apple, pear and chalk that have nice character and class to them. In the mouth, it is very creamy, with a lot of froth and pleasantly clean tastes of apple, lemon, flint, cream and chalk. It displays nice tension on the back of the palate and finishes with perhaps just a hint of nectarine and redder fruits. Overall, it is pretty, elegant and tasty.
N.V. Louis Roederer Champagne Brut Premier. Aromas of gunpowder, apple skin, chalk and yeasty bread lead to a Champagne of rather yeasty and creamy texture in the mouth. The wine tastes of apples, pears, chalk and a hint of ginger on a full-bodied and expansive frame that allows for a broadly fanned-out mid-palate with solid presence. It is not the most nuanced of wines, but it shows lots of richness, gusto and presence throughout.
Champagne Flight #2:
2002 Pierre Gimonnet Champagne Extra Brut Oenophile Premier Cru. I find the nose of this wine to have a rather brassy quality to it, with lots of herbs, white pepper, peach pit, lemon zest and white flower notes riding above that hard metallic core. It is certainly the darkest-tasting wine so far and is rather dry all the way through. It feels earthy, steely, minerally and dark-toned, with some not-so-pleasant bits of nettles or dry stem notes even further enhancing the sense of tough austerity. Non-dosage was never on my mind, but I can’t say I was surprised when that fact was revealed.
N.V. Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Terre de Vertus Premier Cru Brut Nature. According to our host, this non-dosage cuvee is labeled as non-vintage but all the fruit is from the 2004 vintage. Right off the bat, this wine feels lighter, more refined and elegant than its flight-mate. There is an airy yet precise quality to the aromas of smoke, flint, lemon rind, herb and chalk. And that feeling continues onto the palate, where the citrus tones become much more of a factor to go along with cream, smoke and mineral flavors. A nice tangy acidity is present, but it gets a bit too puckering on the finish for my tastes. Overall, it is a somewhat tight and very even-keeled performer right now, maybe playing it a bit close to the vest and needing some time to unwind.
Champagne Flight #3:
1996 Bollinger Champagne Grand Annee. It is obvious that we are now dealing with older Champagnes, as the nose here is definitely showing some age to its funky undergrowth, cooked ginger, baked apple and copper kettle aromas. It is not my favorite aromatic profile, but it is a clue to the age (I guessed 1990). In the mouth, it shows a certain rich sweetness to its mellow flavors of biscuit, toasted nuts, baked apple, cherry, lime pie and meringue. It seems a bit advanced to me (perhaps after the non-dosage wines), but the finish is more eager, with some bright tang to keep it going. I think others liked this more than I did.
1996 Duval-Leroy Champagne Brut. This wine also smells a bit older, but I find it to be a lot cleaner and more engaging in its profile of honey, ginger, apple, lemon peel and wet stone aromas. It is very nice in the mouth, with touches of sherry, blanched almond, lemon peel, ginger and browned apple flavors supported by fine acidity and a nice frothy mousse. The finish is nuanced and lasting, with a more lifted quality that is refreshing and pulls one back in for more.
Red Wine Flight #1:
2000 Louis Jadot Beaune 1er Cru Theurons. This is very fresh, vibrant and boisterous on the nose--featuring a pure core of cherry, red berry and cocoa aromas supported by more savory notes of toasted brown spices, leather and fur. In the mouth, it is light on the concentration and kind of leafy and earthy, and also exceptionally dry in feel. There is a tightly-compacted core of vibrant red fruit and some citrus notes in there, but mostly right now all I can focus on is the black tea leaf, earth and forest greenery elements and that saliva-suckingly dry finish.
2005 Bouchard Pere et Fils Beaune 1er Cru Teurons. This wine sports a sweeter, more richly-fruited bouquet that is sort of sexy and slinky with its notes of sweet raspberry, chalk and spearmint. It is showing really young on the palate, with a good deal of structure, tense acidity and tight edges. But one gets a glimpse of the sweet and sultry red fruit at its core. It needs time, for sure.
Red Wine Flight #2:
1981 R. Lopez de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Vina Bosconia. This wine has a finely high-toned nose to it that I like a lot—showing pretty and sappy aromas of menthol, cedar, tobacco leaf, leather, black pepper and pure dark cherry fruit. In the mouth, it has excellent lift and a fine twangy freshness. Flavors of dark cherry, mixed currants, tobacco, leather and ash have a definite Old World feel to them. The finish is a bit tartly acidic, but otherwise there is a lot to like here.
2001 R. Lopez de Heredia Rioja Reserva Vina Bosconia. There’s kind of an herbal, foresty bouquet to this wine with its aromas of tobacco, leather, soil, green pepper skin and fine cherry. It is shows more flesh in the mouth than the previous wine, with a definite purity of red fruit supported by notes of ash and earth. This wine has a lot of character to go along with its fresh and pure fruit, but the finish sports a good deal of tannin, so I’d prefer to hold off on drinking it again for a few more years.
Red Wine Flight #3:
2001 Edmunds St. John Syrah California. There’s a lot going on aromatically with this wine, where one finds all kinds of purple fruit, soy, earth, tobacco, charred wood, tar, rubber, white pepper and chocolate aromas making appearances at one time or another. It starts off in the mouth with tobacco leaf, black tea, white pepper and dry earth sensations before pulling in brawny black fruit and meatier sensations. It is a wine that shows a lot of character and complexity and still has some tannin to chew on at the very end for good measure. This is interesting and rewarding drinking.
1999 Eric Texier Hermitage. The aromas of this wine are tighter, more reined-in than with its flight-mate—with cool aromas of black currants, blueberries, toasted herbs and campfire. In the mouth, it is a tad compacted at times but is still absolutely full of juicy black currant and blackberry fruit, surrounded by meat, smoke and earth qualities. There is a nice streak of acidity running all the way through it and the finish is fresh and twangy. This is my third time having this wine in the last two and a half years and each time it gets better, though I think it still hasn’t fully uncoiled yet.
Red Wine Flight #4:
2001 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Bella Oaks Vineyard Napa Valley. By this point I had fallen pretty far behind the rest of the gang, and the wines were revealed just after I poured these last two wines, so these last few notes are not based on blind tasting. Despite a big hit of purple fruit on the nose, the Heitz Bella Oaks generally smells fresh, cool and mildly savory—with aromas of plums, smoked herbs and toasted wood. In the mouth, it is fairly big-bodied, chewy-textured and tannic, but there is excellent raw stuffing that comes through in the black cherry, mixed currant and dried clay flavors and the finely-controlled acidity. There is a lot to like here and this should continue to improve over the next several years.
2001 Etude Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. The Etude is a lot riper and clearly more on the plushly exotic side—featuring all kinds of fig, fruitcake, cherry paste, pumpkin spice and vanilla-tinged oak aromas on the nose. In the mouth, it is even more lush and heavily-spiced, with thick and fleshy blue and purple fruit coating the palate with luscious flavor. The tannins here are plump and yielding and the finish is fun, exotic and characterful—an enjoyable ending to the afternoon.
After hours wines (not blind):
2007 Souverain Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley. Somehow after all of this, people were still popping corks, so I went along for the ride. Here we have a wine that features a very ripe and rather rich bouquet of blue and purple fruit sprinkled with nutmeg and other spices. It comes across as very young on the palate, again showing a lot of very ripe fruit and strong spice notes throughout. The chewy, chalky tannins are present but not overwhelming, and the texture overall is pretty smooth and polished. It clamps down after a short while and starts to turn drier and more austere, so definitely wait at least a little while on these.
1975 Fonseca Vintage Porto. This is a nice, mellow bouquet to savor at the very end of a long day of terrible poker playing and heavy wine drinking. Aromas of dried cherries, dates, raisins, and Christmas spices are aged and mellow, but also plenty giving in nature. In the mouth, it immediately reminds me of Christmas ribbon hard candy my grandmother used to put out during the holidays—very evocative. Beyond that esoterica, though, one finds lifted and lilting flavors of sweet cherry paste, mulling spices, fruitcake and mince pie. A quibble would be that the alcohol sticks out too much for my liking and the finish is a bit short, but otherwise this is really interesting and a satisfying way to end the day.
-Michael