WEDNESDAY NIGHT BLIND - MARCH 2010 - Peter Pratt’s Inn (3/3/2010)
Once again our group gathered on the first Wednesday of the month for our blind dinner/tasting. We only had 6 brave souls, but 13 wines and roaring fire to warm us. I had a wonderful Bison Carpaccio as my appetizer and a Short Rib that I could eat with a spoon, absolute nirvana!
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2004 Domaine Vincent Girardin Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
Tasted blind - definitely Chardonnay, distinctly oily texture, notes of butterscotch, lychee, a touch of toast. I thought perhaps a weaker vintage of Aubert. I revisited this late in the evening and it had fleshed out a bit and was a bit more broad shouldered. A very nice wine. (90 pts.)
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2007 Biblia Chora Ovilos - Greece, Macedonia, Pangeon
Tasted blind - Pouring the wine, my first thought was Semillion, based solely on the light color. First whiff though and it absolutely screamed Sauvignon Blanc, with huge robust notes of fresh cut grass and grapefruit. Very acidic, a nice mouthfeel, I went back to this later and was thoroughly impressed how it held together and put weight on. Delicious wine and what a fun way to trick people at a blind tasting, A for the effort Mark! (92 pts.)
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2004 By Farr Pinot Noir - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Mornington Peninsula
Tasted blind - Very light color, gamy nose, lots of spice and charred meat, nice zingy acidity, good wine, very nice mouthfeel. Most votes were for minor Burgundy. This was shocking when revealed as nobody present had ever had an enjoyable Aussie Pinot. (90 pts.)
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1991 Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
My wine, poured blind - I opened this 4hrs prior to the dinner, no decant. Light to medium bodied wine, great balance, soft black fruit, nice complexity, most people were guessing Rhone varietals, nobody picked this as Cabernet. It was a really nice wine, very elegant. Bob and I returned to it later in the evening and all the fruit had left the building, all that was left was oak, so I would advice drinking any you have very soon. (92 pts.)
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2001 Antoniolo Gattinara Osso San Grato - Italy, Piedmont, Northern Piedmont, Gattinara
Tasted blind - This was a tannic beast at first, very tight, very meaty on the nose, hints of earth, truffles, shoe leather, it had to be Nebbiolo, maybe Barbaresco. When I tasted this with the Bison Carpaccio lights and bells went off, what a perfect match, tannins dissolved and a wonderful wine emerged. Very nice, but very young still. (90 pts.)
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2003 Kaesler Grenache The Fave - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
Tasted blind - Huge amounts of heat and alcohol, very ripe cherry fruit, vanilla, cola, had to be Grenache. Not my cup of tea anymore. (84 pts.)
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1999 Andrew Will Cabernet Sauvignon Ciel du Cheval Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
Tasted blind - lighter style, a touch meaty, smoke, very interesting, mild fruit, cedar, black olives, hints of allspice, my guess was an older (pre-91) Cal Cab. Very nice wine aging very well. (91 pts.)
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2006 Rudius Syrah Emerald Pool Alder Springs Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino County
I popped this the day prior and decided to bring the half bottle remaining to the tasting. It was well received. Dark fruit, plums, smoke, black pepper, anise, well built and restrained, nothing over the top here. (92 pts.)
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2005 By Farr Shiraz - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong
Tasted blind - Big, bright fruit, highly acidic, not overly impressive in any way, the Pinot was much more interesting and tasty. (86 pts.)
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2007 Lewis Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley - USA, California, Napa Valley
Tasted blind - full throttle yummy Cal Cab, lush dark fruit, big, rich and decadent, good amount of oak but it’s woven nicely into the fabric of the wine. I guessed Merus. (95 pts.)
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2003 Mas de la Barben Les Calices - France, Languedoc Roussillon
Tasted blind - dark color, big menthol notes initially on the nose, very well balanced, beautiful dark fruit, hints of bacon fat, spices, powdered cocoa, good acidity and body, long finish. Really yummy. I thought maybe a big Spanish Garnacha. (94 pts.)
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N.V. Sleight of Hand The Archimage - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
My wine, served blind - Very elegant, gorgeous and seamless fruit, really well made, velvety mouth, good weight, impeccable balance, Asian spices, truffles, mushrooms, cassis. Everyone was pretty impressed with this wine. My man Trey Busch hits it out of the park again! (94 pts.)
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2003 Domaine de la Grange des Pères Vin de Pays de l’Hérault - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Vin de Pays de l’Hérault
Corked! Our first corked bottle at one of these tasting, not a bad run. Too bad it had to be this wine as I would have loved to see what it tasted like. You could sense the underlying depth of the wine, but the TCA really killed the nose and the fruit. A shame. NR (flawed)
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