When I heard that last night's topic was something as generic as "red blends", I was disappointed. But in the way that some of this group's best nights are the Open Topic nights, last night was actually a lot of fun: it was an Open with a narrower focus. The Dorks are a small group where Bob and I have the deepest cellar and aren't trying to raise a family at the same time, so we usually contribute three or so bottles because we can afford to. For last night I chose three bottles from disparate parts of the globe with one thing in common: merlot-heavy. The wines are served single blind, and each of us chooses when to put our wine(s) into the rotation.
1) My wine. Lovely nose of flowers with alternating whiffs of tobacco and powdered sugar signal a blend of merlot and cabernet sauvignon in which a little syrah might have been blended. That is, others thought they tasted some but I didn't/don't find it at all, and this is my second bottle in two weeks. One of the best of the kitchen-sink red blends that every premium Washington winery makes from the wine left over after the best stuff is bottled that I've had, it has a great Bordeaux-blend presence with ample spice and tannins, yet it's drinkable now. Made by one of the wineries who always picks a little earlier, and a little greener than almost everyone else, bless their hearts. I brought it to let everyone know what a great value this is for $16. 2010 Seven Hills Planing Mill Red .
2) Gabe's. Cool funk, spicey, European, pretty, do I taste Sangiovese? Yes. It's an 07 Argiano Rosso Toscano , also with cabernet, merlot and cab franc. Shows well on first pour and improves in the glass.
3) Vic's. Sweat, sweaty nose, violets and burnt rubber, raspberry fruit, black olive, tar, toffee. Divine, something major. I go straight to Cote Rotie even though I'm troubled by qualifying those wines as 'red blends', so when Vic shakes his head no I move south to CdP, and that turns out to be right. And boy is it major: 2001 Beaucastel. Btw, I didn't ask but I think this wine was passively stored; good as it was it was far more mature than I would expect for a 2001.
4) I take advantage of vintage to trot out another of my bottles. Sandalwood, camphor, huckleberry (which is blackberry, blueberry and black currant all rolled into one fruit), structured, grippy youthful tannins, barely middle aged with years of evolution ahead of it, had tasters "on the fence" about origins because it was so traditional on the one hand and yet a bit modern on the other. More rustic than elegant but in a good way; hefty on the palate, clearly excellent. If votes for WOTN were taken before the wines were unveiled, I think this would have won over the Beau. As soon as it was revealed to be a 2001 Rustenberg John Merriman (53% merlot, 40-something Cab Sauv and some CF) from South Africa, the two retail wine sellers present got on their iPhones to order the current vintage.
5) Alan's. Tallest bottle on the table by at least an inch; it's packaged for a big impression. Alan falls for that kind of thing a lot. On the palate, glossy, homogenous red-black fruit with velveteen tannins hiding behind a lactic, curtain I can't get past. Tastes like an expense account wine, all glam, no personality. It's an 06 Col Solare and yup, he's bought a case of it. In its defense, he and Gabe (whose favorite red on the planet is Loire Cab Franc, so we trust him) assert that a bottle opened a week ago was much better. I accept that, but at the same time this bottle has no flaws. It was probably just a bit travel-shocked from the trip over, or something.
6) My last bottle. Bordeauxish, with roasted coffee and tobacco on the nose and toffee, cooked beets, iron, tomato skin, and paprika on the palate. Orange glints hint at some age, and everybody's loving on all that acidity. Delighfully lighter in the way of a pinot noir or aged nebbiolo, and that throws everyone off the Bordeaux trail but we do finally get there. 1998 Faizeau, St. Emilion. There's some merriment when I read the back label which instructs "drink within the next five years".
7) Tim's. Seems acid-free after the Faizeau, light and peppery with odd mint and chocolate notes on a soft, pizza wine kind of carriage. I go straight to Northern Italy but suggest the Veneto. And I'm not far off, it's a Friuli wine made from refosco, cab franc and cab sauv though we don't really taste or smell either of those last two. 2008 Castell Argo 'Rubeus'.
And that concluded the regular part of our program. After this, the wine rep pulled out a few things he'd been schlepping around that day for us to taste.
2008 Finca La Linda Reservada A Malbec/Syrah blend. Prickly cactus pear, red plum and cumin (thanks, Otto!) with a little Mexican oregano and a soft sweet finish. Not a fan.
And two from Kermit Lynch:
2009 Henri Perrusset Macon Village: good prospect from a warm vintage, lots of ripe pear.
2010 Dom de l'Aujardiere, Val de Loire Pinot Noir: sweet nose of strawberries and black pepper, but dry on the palate, very light body. A delightful summer wine.
