Leo's blind tasting group got together again last night - this time David Lazer provided the wines and we had dinner at Restaurant Saul in Brooklyn. Lots of fun as always, an eclectic mix of wines with a few really impressive bottles. Plus the food and wine service were outstanding, I'll certainly have to head back.
Flight 1:
2007 V Madrone Chardonnay (Napa Valley)
Very rich and ripe, combining soft peachy fruit with floral elements and vanilla/oaky accents. This has a very creamy, slightly waxy texture with low acidity; pleasant for a few sips but the lack of acidity makes it come across heavy and tiring after that.
2001 Kongsgaard Chardonnay (Napa Valley)
Slightly oxidised and over the hill. The fruit's tired and dull, dominated by butterscotch-like elements with no freshness or depth.
2007 Rex Hill Vineyards Chardonnay (Willamette Valley)
Quite pleasant initially with fresh pear and green apple fruit up front, light on its feet and nervy with bright acids, but there's also a faint sour/underripe character on the back end, and not much in the way of depth/complexity.
Flight 2:
2005 Pisoni Pinot Noir Estate (Santa Lucia Highlands)
Really confected and jammy, full of monolithic red fruits with a candied sweetness to the flavours and barely any acidity.
2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune 1er Cru Grèves Vigne de L'Enfant Jesus
Comes across rather restrained and closed, showing quiet red fruited flavours and some savoury earthy notes around a spine of firm tannins. More about promise than anything else right now.
2005 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir Laurène (Willamette Valley)
Very ripe and extracted, full of heavy, confected red fruits and berries without much acidity or any sense of freshness and elegance.
Flight 3:
2001 Le Clos du Caillou Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Caillou Les Quartz
Full of ripe cherries and blackberries combined with savoury earthy elements and a faint roasted note; still quite primary and fruit-forward with a fair bit of tannin. Quite pleasant, though this still has a fair bit of time ahead.
2001 Schwarz Rot "W" (Burgenland, Austria)
Yikes - what happened here? Nothing like my last experience with this wine, this bottle's dominated by roasted coffee and oaky flavours that obliterate the fruit and any other nuance.
2001 Rotllan Torra Priorat Tirant
Hideously corked.
2007 Bodegas Alto Moncayo Campo de Borja Veraton (Aragón, Spain)
Bombs away! Monstrously overripe (I think the alcohol level was around 16.5%), heavy and incredibly alcoholic. Yuck.
Flight 4:
1997 Dalla Valle Maya (Napa Valley)
Don't think this is a representative/pristine bottle. Quite advanced for its age with developed red fruited flavours and a strange balsamic note.
2000 Château Léoville Poyferré (St. Julien)
Fantastic. This is in a great place right now, still showing plenty of primary cassis and dark fruited flavours, but augmented by cedary and herbal notes and the start of developing leathery/earthy flavours. Quite rich, conveying power with a sense of restraint and great balance.
2004 Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio (Jumilla)
Woody and alcoholic.
Flight 5:
1988 Château Margaux
Really disappointing to see this unveiled as an '88 Margaux, showing none of the finesse or depth I'd expect from an older Margaux (or any top Bordeaux for that matter). Dense red and dark fruit accented with licorice and a strange fennel note, rather monolithic and dull.
2005 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta (Colchagua Valley, Chile)
I liked this a lot more on release. There's not much in terms of flavour development; the fruit's taken a bit of a step back, the oak and herbal flavour elements here are more prominent and it finishes with some alcoholic warmth.
1998 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia (Tuscany)
Outstanding. Comes across like a classical older Bordeaux with a seamless combination of rich dark fruits, cedar, tobacco, fresh herbs and an exotic sandalwood element. It's still very youthful with plenty of primary fruit and a fair bit of tannin, but it's drinking incredibly well now, very polished and finessed with fantastic depth and persistence.
