Blind tasting notes October 18, 2019
2009 Marcel Deiss Mambourg – this Alsatian was no dog! I used to buy it when it was reasonably priced in our market, which it no longer is. Medium colour, nose initially subdued but opened to vanilla, butter, and some lemon. Had a heck of a time trying to get the grape (OK, I failed miserably) but don’t feel too bad as this grand cru is a blend of Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Noir. Lovely.
2008 Gravner Ribolla Gialla Anfora (Venezia Giulia) – seeing the dark amber colour gave me pause for thought, but the wine showed a sweet pear nose and clean acidity, finishing quite dry. The odd fermentation in anfora gives it some interesting qualities aside from colour – the nose just kept growing and changing the longer I held it.
First course was a nicely cooked duck breast (the theme of the tasting was ‘wine that goes with duck), and I opted to bring my wine out next.
1997 Turley Zinfandel Tofanelli Vineyard – my last bottle and it showed well. Getting pale in colour as do most Turley Zins (not so much with the Petite Sirahs) and the nose has shifted away from young berry zinfandel, now showing tomato and tobacco in the nose, and a touch of prune, and on palate the wine was showing ample fruit and herbal notes and there was no sign of brett. The duck crackling I detected could well have been due to that very product being on the plate in front of me, so I don’t insist on including it as an observed element of the wine. Lovely.
2003 Sandhill Cabernet Sauvignon-Syrah Small Lots Program Burrowing Owl Vineyard – a venerable BC wine was still dark, slightly sweet, a tad simple, ripe and still showing some tannin. The syrah notes were obvious. Made in very small experimental lots.
We moved on to the main course which was a very nicely crafted duck poutine (we’re Canadian, eh?) with fresh fries, a great sauce and shredded duck leg galore. Unlike poutine served at fast food restaurants in Quebec, this was NOT a vast pile of greasy fries covered in vile gravy. It was just enough freshly made fries (fried in shortening rather than tallow) to give texture to the dish, with lots of sauce and duck meat.
2008 Domaine Jean Tardy et Fils Vosne-Romanée Vigneux – medium colour, a nose dark cherry and tar nose and in the mouth quite smooth with medium weight and an overall brightness. Very nice.
2014 Sanctuary Estates Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard – medium colour a very good nose of forest floor and mushroom, almost Burgundian, sweet red raspberry fruit, with a herbal component (thyme?) and good length. I have always enjoyed Santa Maria wines.
Ramos Pinto 30 Year Old Tawny Port – brown wine with an odd slightly musty oxidative nose made me conclude that this bottle may have been heat damaged at some point. Other than that, the fruit levels were good. Too bad no general conclusions can be drawn.