Notes from a blind tasting dinner:
2011 Joie The Noble Blend – a BC wine made from a bunch of different white varietals, pleasant and having a nose mostly of Riesling although there is also a good shot of Gewurz in it. Didn’t get in the way of the conversation.
2009 Stony Hill Chardonnay – mid colour, nose reticent at first as it was cold, but came out to show lemon and nuttiness, clean on palate, good acidity. This one deserves to be reported to the committee on Un-American activities – quite French in style, maybe enough so as to be a decent ringer for a white Bordeaux.
2001 Ch. Latour Martillac - interesting one, and probably (surprisingly, at this age) one of the best bottles of this I’ve tasted. Colour a medium amber, the nose clean and unoxidized – unlike a 2007 Bruno Colin Chassagne Montrachet I had recently!), nose typical white Bordeaux with some ripe pear hints and smooth in the mouth. Must have been well cellared.
We had the whites with a seafood tower – 3 layer affair with stacked crab legs, oysters and prawns – delightful.
Then we moved on to the main course – Beef Wellington, with:
2000 Di Majo Norante Ramitello – a blend of Montepulciano and Aglianico, this is a well priced wine that seldom disappoints, though this one was getting long in the tooth. Slightly funky nose, sweet entry and a bit pruny with a hint of spritz – would definitely have been much better, say, five years ago. Which reminds me that I have some of their 2003 Aglianico that needs drinking!
1989 Ch. Phelan Segur – this St. Estephe was good on release, and is still good but needs drinking. It showed a good claret nose, decent colour and structure, but was a bit low on fruit and is in slow decline.
1993 Ch. Magdelaine – this was my attempt at fooling them as no one is likely to taste an obviously decent Bordeaux and guess this indifferent vintage (selectively quite decent on the right bank). Excellent nose with green notes and floral and slight mint notes, good colour, bricking at the edges, and caramel coming in with time. Smooth and tasty with spice hints coming in at the end. very good showing for this vintage. I was surprised an a bit saddened when Mouiex merged this estate with the lesser known Belair-Monange, as it had a long history.
1997 Mondavi Cabernet – this regular cab jumped out at once as being a non-claret just on the nose – this showed pretty well for the age (not as well as older ones like the 1990 that I’ve just finished up, though). This showed slightly dilly oak, and dark fruit in the nose, had excellent dark colour, and a long sweet finish. Nice wine.
1988 Ch. Mouton Rothschild – this was an interesting one because the person that brought it was under the impression he’d reached for his 1988 Lafite, and answered questions based on that misapprehension. The wine showed creditably enough – a classic nose, if a tad high in smoky oak, cassis carried onto palate, where it showed a good balance of fruit and acidity, and tannins, which were softening and not too astringent. The cedar in the nose came out only with airing. Decent finish. Our discussion when we thought it was Lafite concluded that it was a tad disappointing based on what one would expect. When it was revealed as Mouton, everything fell into place and made sense and we thought it a more decent showing for that house.
2004 St. Prefert CNduP Reserve Auguste Favier – this high Grenache Chateauneuf stood out markedly from all the clarets – sweet raspberry cherry nose, immediate sweet tea in the mouth, plus dark fruit and a bit of iron/blood, and a fairly long, sweet finish.
2000 Broadbent Port – I wouldn’t even have thought of opening a Port this young, but I have no problem offering an opinion when someone does! Dark, with a blackberry/plum nose, medium weight, not too sweet and medium length finish with some nice currant trailing notes. I wouldn’t think this is a long haul wine, more a mid term ager, but surprisingly drinkable now.