Mark hosted SOBER last night, great food, interesting wines, good company. As we gathered he poured a couple of bubblies
Nyetimber Brut
Awardwinning English bubbly! Tart acids, sweet orange fruit, a bit short. If this was priced like Gruet I might think worth it, but apparently it's several times more expensive. B/B-
1990 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne
Round, toasty, heavier and a bit duller than I'd expect from this bottling, I assumed the warm vintage. Some with more experience opined it might have seen warm storage. Still, not bad, and rather complex, but not what one would hope for. B
On to the blind wines. Everyone got Riesling, and John quickly said MittelMosel Auslese. When Mark said same vintage/pradikat, he also got that second was GK.
(white flight served with Stuart's caramelized onion/sunchoke soup, good match, especially with the regular Auslese)
White #1- lovely, long, fresh, not really high acids, but enough to balance. Pretty pretty wine.
White #2 - big, larger framed, some botrytis, table favorite.
#1 2006 JJ Prum Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese A-
#2 2006 JJ Prum Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Goldkapsel Auslese B+
(interestingly, though these were opened/decanted just before serving, no heavy sulfur notes)
Red Flight 1
John was on a roll, quick call of Northern Rhone, then I think of CR.
#1 Cloudy, Mark had just pulled from storage that morning. Leather, meat, floral, restrained black fruit. I think I was alone at preferring this. Tired, but quite interesting.
#2 Complex nose with mint/herb and autumn leaves, ashtray, meager fruit, a tad clipped. others liked more.
#1 1978 Guigal "Brune et Blonde" Cote-Rotie B
#2 1985 Guigal "Brune et Blonde" Cote-Rotie B-
(second course was pasta with lobster, bacon, mushrooms, and cream)
Red Flight 2
Most guesses were in Piedmont.
#1 - Tarry, tired, some red currant fruit, still tasted more like too old Barolo even after Mark said Burgundy.
#2 - Meat, violets, red fruit, spice. Seemed tired at first but actually freshened.
#1 1976 Domaine de Courcel "Epenots" Pommard 1er B-/C+
#2 1976 Domaine de Courcel "Rugiens" Pommard 1er B/B+
Red Flight 3
No notes on guesses , but I believe John and Craig said Graves early.
#1 - somewhat tough and tannic, but lovely fragrant nose of tobacco and flowers. Not so fun to drink at moment.
#2 - clearly Bordeaux. Ripe blackcurrant fruit, cigarbox, low acid but not at all flabbly, easy tannins.
#1 1986 Ch. Pape Clement B
#2 1989 Ch. Pape Clement A-/B+
(main course was great, chicken thighs over white beans with broccolini)
Red Flight 4
Mark warned us cork had fallen in on #1, but it didn't seem to suffer
#1 - Tar and animal, I thought this Barolo at first. Good length, full, cassis fruit seemed to come out with air.
#2 = Floral, complex, round, complex, long. I though Right Bank or Margaux, nope, Really nice bottle.
#1 1966 Ch. Montrose B+/A-
#2 1961 Ch. Calon Segur A-
Red Flight 5
Andy called Pauillac in seconds, and someone then immediately got P-Lalande.
#1 Pretty, long, ripe and full fruit, leather, herbs, hint of espresso. My WOTN.
#2 Herbal, tannic, a bit rough, needs a steak, nice Bdx in a hypermasculine style.
#1 1970 Ch. Pichon Lalande A-/A
#2 1975 Ch. Pichon Lalande B/B+
Last up was a dessert wine, small pours (turns out it's in a 200 ml bottle). Grape (someone suggests Nehi), cocoa, coffee. Acid deficient. Mark asked "any guess on grape" to which Dan responded "Concord."
Some others liked more. 2009 Perico Cabernet Sauvignon Rose Ice wine (Brazil) B-/C+
Fun and interesting night.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.