WTN: Loosen Ducru Melchor Leonetti Taylors

Blind tasting lunch notes

While waiting for the crew to assemble, the punctual few shared a bottle of Gardet Brut Tradition – decent nose, a tad sweet in the middle and simple clean finish.

2007 Dr. Loosen Urziger Wurzgarten Spatlese – medium colour, excellent grapefruit apricot nose, only slightly sweet and impeccably balanced in the mouth and smooth long finish. Very good.

1995 Latour a Pomerol – corked (and MY wine!)

1970 Ducru Beaucillou – super claret nose with emphasis on wood rather than fruit, good sweetness on palate and well balanced long finish. Good wine that still shows tannin!

2003 Osoyoos Larose – on a good day, this BC wine made by Gruaud Larose can stand as a decent quite claret like blend. This wasn’t a good day – it was a dark, tannic, astringent wine, closed and with some tarry stony attributes. Eek! Should have been drunk up earlier.

1998 Dom. Remizieres Hermitage Cuvee Emilie – featured fruit in the nose, mostly red, and faint mint, balanced on palate, medium weight and pleasant.

1999 Concha y Toro Cabernet Sauvignon Don Melchor – medium colour, good varietal cab nose with cassis and cedar and slight mint. Good length and over all a very enjoyable wine.

2005 Leonetti Merlot – what has happened to this wine? Butterscotch hints in this nose, fairly dark wine and sweet entry and a nice vanilla hit near the end. A much different style than what they were doing with this grape in the previous decade.

1977 Taylors Port – wine of the day by far, for me, and not just because I guessed it correctly. Slightly warm spirit nose, still good colour, medium red to the edge, not hot on palate, nice tactile chalky mouth feel and very good length. Lots of ripe fruit in the nose developed as it opened. Very good.

[Jenise]

Re the Osoyoos, my notes on the two bottles I owned:

4/27/2016 - I DON'T LIKE THIS WINE: (Edit)
Blind tasting. Grippy tannins, lots of cedar, a bit hot. Lacks the elegance of it's French cousins or the essential Paulliac-ness of the bottle we opened two years ago. Don't think there are better days to come--drink up.

7/15/2014 - I LIKE THIS WINE: (Edit) 91 Points
Very strong showing! Med-full bodied with bold black cherry fruit harmonized with tar, cedar, and tobacco notes. Very Paulliac-ish. Yes, there was a bit of a green pepper note as often occurs in PNW wines that I recall from earlier bottles, but it shows now more as mint. Entering it's prime drinking window methinks--drink or hold (but not too long).


The most recent CT reviewer of it gave it 71 pts.

But hey, here's the most interesting factoid: there are still 1193 bottles in cellars. Going to be a lot of disappointed drinkers in the near future!!!


Glad you were all otherwise drinking so well while I was in jail.

[David M. Bueker]

Jail?

[Jenise]

Jail?

I was winking as I said that, but only halfway. Long story but we were detained for a couple hours and sent back.

Jail?

I was winking as I said that, but only halfway. Long story but we were detained for a couple hours and sent back.

Thought they were refugees fleeing the land of Agent Orange.

[David M. Bueker]

Tried to bring too many bottles of wine to Bill's tasting?

Guess big questions about the sparkling Blue Nun.

[Jenise]

Tried to bring too many bottles of wine to Bill's tasting?

Naah. Went to Woodinville the day before, bought a lot of wine for the next neighborhood wine tasting. Had about $2K worth in the back hatch area of our Murano and got home too late and tired to unload it. "I'll just do it in the morning," said Bob. Next morning we packed up in the dark garage for the trip to Van for Bill's lunch. Our wine bag went in the back seat along with our jackets.

Got to the border and rolled down all the windows so the agent could look around. I was driving. Declared the three bottles we were taking to lunch (one each plus a back-up). She said nothing, just handed us a yellow notice to go and visit with the agents in the big building. We thought it was just the random check one can get impartially selected for. There was a bad cold wind blowing off of Boundary Bay so I uncharacteristically asked Bob for my jacket. When he opened the back seat door to get out the jackets, he went "OH F---. I forgot to unpack the wine!"

So that was the problem. I declared three bottles but had over three cases in the car. They don't like that.

So that was the problem. I declared three bottles but had over three cases in the car. They don't like that.

I once brought 118 bottles back from Detroit, but miscounted and only declared 117. They not only counted the bottles, but when they found the error, they pulled everything out of the car and inspected it. Ain't customs wonderful

[Jenise]

So that was the problem. I declared three bottles but had over three cases in the car. They don't like that.

I once brought 118 bottles back from Detroit, but miscounted and only declared 117. They not only counted the bottles, but when they found the error, they pulled everything out of the car and inspected it. Ain't customs wonderful

Wow, that's picky!

They certainly went through all of mine, and my purse and my phone too. I had explained the mistake, and that I'm not in business, that I just put on these large group tastings. After which they found a pile of biz cards in my purse. "These aren't for business?", they wanted to know. Well no, but this is the best way of introducing yourself at wineries, I said, so they don't mistake you for just a tourist. "And usually, they forgive tasting fees and you can see on that receipt you're holding," I told her, "that I not only wasn't charged a tasting fee but I received an excellent discount as well. That's what the cards are for." But it sure looked bad--I can understand that the world of serious wine hobby is a total mystery. And it was, as the agent told us, pretty black and white. You must declare everything, and I did not. Regardless of why, and they couldn't be expected to believe my story. True enough.

But I got lucky. We were called back to the desk five times. Upon the third time, she pointed behind her to where our wines had now appeared. They had been seized, she told us, and our Nexus privileges would be revoked. We then returned to our seats. When called back the fourth time I had an idea, and asked if I could have my phone back to show her where I could reach into my home files and let her read the email announcement I'd sent out for the tasting. The wines were mostly Malbecs, and the announcement was all about Malbecs. I even showed her the file full of RSVPs. Everything lined up with the story as I'd told it.

When we got called back the fifth time, we were told they'd reversed their decision. We would get all our wine back, and our Nexus cards would probably not be revoked but that was somewhat else's decision, and we had to return to the U.S. with the wine. So we missed lunch.

And we have since received a VERY scolding letter, but our Nexus cards are safe.