WTN: Manila Offline Extravaganza with WLDGer Ramon Cabrera

A few months back I was contacted by fellow WLDGer New York based Mon Cabrera about getting together during his annual visit to Manila. Our local group of the usual suspects immediately went to work organizing a dinner and tasting worthy of our esteemed guest.

Nearly 200 emails were exchanged between the participants before we all agreed on the themes, the way the wines would be tasted and scored, the venue and other miscellaneous arrangements. We finally settled on Red at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel which had the appropriate food, the necessary number of good glasses and, importantly, a veteran Sommelier, Ace, who has handled similar events in the past. It didn’t hurt that Chad Davis who joined us at the tasting is part of the Shangri-La group and arranged waiver of corkage for our group.

There would be 2 flights. The first flight consisting of Bordeaux and New World Bordeaux equivalents would be tasted blind, without food and would consist of the following wines all from the 2000 vintage: Chateaux Gazin, Leoville Poyferre and Smith Haut Lafitte and New World wines Cosentino Meritage “The Poet”, Don Melchor, and Balnaves Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon.

The second flight would consist of 8 Rhone style wines and would be tasted blind with food. All these wines would be from either 1998 or 1999 vintage. The wines: CdP Domaine du Pegau Reserve 1999, CdP Domaine du Pegau Cuvee Laurance 1998, Soumade Fleur de Confiance Rasteau 1999, Duclaux Cote Rotie 1999, Peter Lehman Stonewell Shiraz 1999, Glaetzer Shiraz 1999, Penfolds St. Henri Shiraz 1998, Wendouree Shiraz/Mataro 1998.

Ratings would be done using the American Wine Society Wine Evaluation Chart giving the following points: Appearance 3, Aroma/Bouquet 6, Taste/Texture 6, Aftertaste 3, Overall Impression 2. Each taster was also asked to rank his top 3 wines per flight. Note that the top wines would not necessarily have to be those with the top score. The rating out of 20 would be more technical while the top 3 ranking would be more hedonistic in approach I suppose. While some might criticize the flighting of the wines, especially the Rhones which had all sorts of things from Cote Rotie to Chateauneuf du Pape, Cotes duRhone, pure Shiraz and Shiraz/Mataro, we were generally satisfied by it and more importantly, it was a lot of fun.

I kept my notes quite short and they got shorter as the evening progressed. With about a bottle’s worth of wine for each participant, it was difficult staying focused with note – taking as the night wore on.

Flight 1 Bordeaux and New World Equivalents. The numbers are my ratings out of 20.

#1 Meaty nose. Ripe, dry, Medium to full bodied. Long, slightly bitter finish. Good. Bordeaux? 16/20. Chateau Gazin Pomerol 2000. This got the lowest number of points and no one chose it among his top 3.

#2 Slightly lactic nose. Dry, lightish. Tannic. Decent length. Just good. Bordeaux? 14/20. Chateau Leoville-Poyferre 2000. Tied with the Balnaves for most points but interestingly, only 3rd in the group’s overall favorite although the points difference was quite small.

#3 Good nose. Chocolatey. Very ripe, full, sweet. New World oaky. Don Melchor? 18/20 My second favorite overall for this flight. Cosentino Meritage “The Poet” 2000. Second placer in total points but tied with Don Melchor in first place in the group’s top 3 ranking.

#4 Nose of olives, herbs. Ripe, sweet, full. Silky tannins. Very nice. Gazin? 18/20. My favorite overall for this flight. Concha y Toro Don Melchor Chile 2000. Fourth in total points but tied with Cosentino in top 3 ranking.

#5 A bit stinky. Ripe. Good balance. I suspect better with food. Dry. Long finish. Very good. 16/20. Although tied with #1 in points, I preferred this marginally and chose it as my 3rd favorite in this flight. Balnaves Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2000. Tied with Leoville Poyferre in total points out of 20 but did not place in the top 3 ranking.

#6 Roast coffee. Very dry and a bit light but tannic. Unbalanced. So so wine. Bordeaux? 13/20. Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte 2000. Ranked just before Gazin in both scoring systems.

Flight 2 Rhone style wines

#1 Sweet nose. Sweet and tannic. Nice. New World? 18/20. My third choice in my top 3. Soumade Fleur de Confiance Rasteau 1999.

#2 Earthy, interesting nose. Dry impression but sweetens on the finish. Berryish. A little flabby in the finish. 15/20. Domaine du Pegau Reserve 1999.

#3 Smoky nose. Dryish, tannic. French? 14/20. Duclaux Cote Rotie 1999. Lowest scoring wine in this group.

#4 Fabulous flowery nose. Very ripe. A bit soft. New World? Very nice. 19/20. My first choice in my top 3. Penfolds St. Henri Shiraz 1998.

#5 Again a great nose. Very soft, ripe, sweet, chocolatey, caramel. Complex. Oaky. 19/20. Tough call between this and #4 but settled on this as my second choice in my top 3. Peter Lehman Stonewell Shiraz 1999. Group #1 in both points out of 20 and top 3 ranking.

#6 A little hot. Dry. Soft. Good but not special. 13/20. Wendouree Shiraz/Mataro 1998. A disaster! This was the wine I brought. I thought it was already drinkable and didn’t need to age the recommended 20 years or so. Then again, maybe extended cellaring would bring out everything this wine is supposed to be.

#7 Smoky, soft. Dryish finish. 13/20. Domaine du Pegau Cuvee Laurance 1998. Group #3 in both points out of 20 and top 3 ranking.

#8 Caramel nose. Sweet. Oaky, soft. Flabby. 15/20. Glaetzer Shiraz 1999. Group #2 in both points out of 20 and top 3 ranking.

For dessert we had 2 Rieslings although these were no longer served blind.

Escarpment Riesling Hinemoa Martinborough New Zealand 2006 – The label did not appear to have any indication of the ripeness or sweetness level of this wine although I could be wrong as I was unable to see the back label. About Auslese level sweetness. Very fresh. Citrus peel in the finish which I thought was nice but which didn’t go down too well with the others.

N’k Mip Qwam Qwmt Riesling Icewine 2005 – I’m not sure if the spelling is right but it’s something like that. From Canada. Strong candied pineapple flavor. Some peach as well. Thick, oily. Very nice although it could do with a bit more acid to balance the sweetness.

It was great fun for everyone with new friendships toasted. Special thanks go to Mon, who provided the excuse for this event, Vince, who arranged the paperwork and tabulation, Johnny, who coordinated with Chad on the restaurant arrangements, Chad, who arranged matters with the restaurant, Ace, Red’s sommelier, who provided great service, and Arnie, who played Devil’s Advocate by arguing about pour sizes, tasting sheets, the lineup of wines etc etc. nearly every step of the way.

Watch out for the sequel on February 21 at Paparazzi, EDSA Shangri-La Hotel, where the same cast of characters toast Bon Voyage to Mon before he leaves for New York and Vince who goes back to Vancouver.

Nice event.

#3 Smoky nose. Dryish, tannic. French? 14/20. Duclaux Cote Rotie 1999. Lowest scoring wine in this group.

I don't know about the general group preferences, and I have heard that 99 Cote Roties are showing remarkably well and un-shutdown for this stage of their evolution, but still, perhaps it was a bit of a victim of the format/age curve?

I believe Mon had an earlier note on the Duclaux in which he thought it was quite good. I would tend to think it really was lower in quality than the other wines since it consistently scored lowest among all tasters. Then again, the Rhone group wines were really all over the place appelation-wise so it wasn't really fair pitting them against each other.

Thank you for the notes, Jay. Those were good wines with great company.

The Duclaux was not well matched against the 2 very nice Pegaus, imho. I thought that the 98 Pegau Laurence showed very nicely during the Rhone/Shiraz flights - but both 98 and 99 Pegaus can still round up nicely with longer bottle age. I thought that the Soumade Rasteau was a pleasant surprise in the group.

As far as the Bordeaux 2000s are concerned, I think that some form of early decanting may have helped. I still liked them and, as I had left a bit in my glasses for re-tasting towards the end of the dinner, the Medocs exhibited the compact structure and well balanced nature that I have come to expect from most of the wines that I've had from the vintage.

Again, thanks for getting the ball rolling on this fun night in Manila.

Thanks for the nice write up.

Do you know if the '99 Pegau was a first release or second release (longer time in foudre)?

I have no idea about the Pegau. I'll ask Mon and see if he knows.

Well done, Jay. Thank you very much. Lots of interesting wines, but setting up such a great tasting is a great triumph. Well done indeed.

Gregg,

I'm not sure which one. I have a few that I bought about 2-3 years ago and a couple of bottles that I sourced just late last year.

As I'm still on the road, I'll have to get back home in NY to see from which stash I pulled the one that I brought to Manila with me.

In any case, how will I be able to tell which is first or second release? Can I just base it from when I bought them?

Thank you.

Ramon

Ramon,

I'm not certain the bottles you purchased 2-3 yrs ago are first release, but they likely are. The wines sourced within the last year could be either release depending how long the retailer had them. I believe the second release became available in the US, where most of it ended up, in early 2005. The definitive way to determine is by checking the coding of the lot number on the neck just under the capsule. If the number ends in 01 or 02 it is the original release. Lot numbers ending in 03 or 04 are the second release. Other than the lot numbers the bottles are identical. It's the juice that is different.

There is a reason for the second release of the '99. The Ferrands normally produce a "Cuvee Laurence". With the '99 vintage, the foudres held for this cuvee were only marginally better and the decision to release them as "Reservee" was made as the wine sat in foudre. The juice did not warrant a "Cuvee Laurence" designation in 1999.

Tasting the wines side by side one can easily tell the difference between the releases. The second release shows more polish and balance and less brett than the first release. No doubt, due to it's extended elevage.

Gregg,

I finally was able to examine my Pegau and the one that we drank came from the most recently purchsed lot, but, I still wasn't able to locate the numberings under the capsule that you mentioned.

However, from what I read in other threads and postings from another board, the 1st release was evidently very bretty. The one that we drank was not. Based on my recollection, I found it to be silky, nice drinking, not a blockbuster, but tightly integrated with moderated fruit, tannin and acidity, and imho I would look to consume all the remaining few that I have within the next few years.

Ramon