Notes from a recent blind tasting lunch:
2007 Gayda Cuvee l’Occitane – Languedoc/Roussillon blend of Marsanne, white Grenache, Roussanne and Viognier. Lots of flavour, decent fruit, not bad.
1998 King Estate Pinot Noir Reserve – pinot nose and the right weight, with maybe a bit of excess ripeness in the nose, fruit only moderate – tired.
1996 Finca Valpiedra Rioja Riserva – very good nose with big fruit, good colour, good fruit levels on palate, not too sweet, soft tannins and good length. No hurry here.
1990 Ch. Les Ormes de Pez – oddly, RP has revisited wines he previously rated and downgraded them based on his recent tastings, but when I have tasted the same wines (notably this one and the 1970 Latour) the wines are in fine shape. Not sure what is going on with his cellar sources, but it can’t be anything good! This wine showed as fairly dark with a very good nose of cassis and blackberry, with a bit of wood smoke, the tannins fully resolved, with good length. Drink now or in the middle term.
2002 Ch. Cos d’Estournel – my first taste of this. Dark wine still with purple edges, very nice nose of fennel and currant with a hint of thyme, gobs of fruit but the tannins are quite soft now, so while it will age well, it is delightful right now.
1989 Ridge Monte Bello – this was a fairly …well, crappy … vintage in California, and anything less than this would be pretty much a disaster, but this wine showed at least decently. Big warm nose with lots of fruit, it was rather Bordeaux-like, and the mediocrity of the vintage was manifested mostly in the shortness of the finish and lack of flavour definition at the end.
1920 Grand Cru des Carruades – sadly this bottle was toast, but an interesting way to end the tasting. The vineyards at Lafite include areas on the plain, and that area is called Carruades. The terminology on this old label was used into the 1960s at least, but wine made as the second label is now called simply ‘Carruades de Lafite’.