Blind tasting notes, theme – southern France and Iberia
2006 Luca Chardonnay (Mendoza) – the starter wasn’t in theme, nor were the finishing wines. This chard is well made, showing slight colouring and a good varietal nose with a fair bit of oak, but far less than the most excessive California or Australian woodies. Made by Laura Catena, it saw 12 months in 30% new French oak, was matured sur lies and came across as very finely balanced, slightly sweet on entry and with a smooth lengthy finish with just the right amount of acidity. This is the best Argentine chard I have tasted.
1996 Faustino Rioja Gran Reserva – right off the bat we were in trouble, as this wine showed some real Rhone notes in the nose, although also a perplexing vanilla note from the wood that would have exceeded most Rhone wood use. Warm in the mouth with a titillating acidity and good length.
1999 Brusset Les Hauts de Montmirail Gigondas – mellow smooth wine with good length and soft tannin, and some nice dark fruit aromas in the nose.
1998 Ch. St. Cosme Gigondas Valbelle – I trotted my wine out following the Brusset as I thought it would be a nice comparison. It showed good colour and enough of a floral element in the nose to have some thinking I’d slipped in a northern Rhone ringer. It also had some black cherry and a hint of smoked meat and olive, along with significant black pepper. I liked this a lot. In prime drinking window now but no rush.
2000 Brusset CduR Cairanne ‘Homage Andre Brusset' – I was with the person in the cellar in Gigondas when we picked this up and remember being impressed with the wine. Big and with good weight and flavour concentration, sweet nose and developed with time in the glass, although I felt it fell a little short of what I’d remembered it to be when tasted in France.
1999 Dom. Berthoumieu Madiran Cuvee Charles de Batz – I love tannat and Madirans but failed to spot this one right off. It was very dark, with a ripe rich nose of cassis and a bit of anise. Pretty young, but coming around, I think this will improve with more time.
2001 Casa l’Ermite Tinto (Jumilla) – a blend of cabernet, Tempranillo and monastrel, this wine was dark with a slightly funky nose, smooth on palate, low tannins, ready to go and pleasant.
I then presented a trio of oddball dessert wines in increasing order of age as a final course.
Beaulieu Vineyards Muscat de Frontignan (nv) – I brought this back from the winery in about 1980 so it must have been made shortly before that. I just never got around to drinking it and thought it might be a bit of a stumper. It was a medium tawny colour, had a hot nose (18%) that was sweet and quite nutty, rather like some Olorosos, and presented quite well.
Fonseca Setubal 20 Year – this Portuguese wine was made from Muscat as well, this one was bottled in 1987 so was made with grapes from around 1967. This added an extra dimension over the previous wine, which now seemed a bit simple in comparison. There was an uplifting level of acidity, and the ripe fruit aromas were not cooked, but mellow. Nice wine.
1947 Keo Commanderia – this wine is made from local grapes in Cyprus, and although many are fortified, with only 14% this one wasn’t. It had a distinctly orange tint to it, was quite hot (more so than the higher alcohol BV) and there was a little varnish in the nose, as well as the sort of raisiny concentrated flavours most often experienced in wines made from Pedro Ximenez..
