Notes from our group's latest blind challenge at La Regalade. We bagged and uncorked our own wines but the ladies marked them after they were bagged. I have no idea why some letters were skipped in the marking. As usual we only vote for our top 3 wines.
A - Pale, a bit of age in the color. On the nose, good fruit mixed with antiseptic and iodine. Faint chocolate. Sweet attack but dry finish. Quite a bit of oak. Medium weight. Long but oaky finish. New World? Hitching Post Julia's Vineyard 2002. Group last.
B - Quite dark. Good, deep, berry nose. Good structure. Vibrant acidity. Good fruit but dry. Still a bit of tannin on the finish. Very nice. Hubert Lignier Morey St. Denis Vieilles Vignes. My number 3, group number 2.
C - Old nose. Prunes. Tamarind extract. Very soft, ready, easy to drink. Sweet fruit. Still good for the first 30 minutes in the glass but after that, fell apart. Unfortunately, Past its peak. My wine. Prince Florent de Merode Corton Marchaudes Grand cru 1990. Tied for group number 3.
H - Good, deep color. New Worldy, chocolatey nose. Good dried fruit. Nice flavor. Tannic. Smokey and spicy. Could use a bit more age but very good now. Cedar Creek Platinum Reserve Pinot Noir 2005 from Okanagan, BC. My number 2. Tied with C for group number 3.
Z - Young color. Sweet, well balanced. Ripe fruit. Lovely and at peak now. Wither Hills Pinot Noir 2006. My number 1 and group number 1.
K - The donor of this bottle did not cast any votes for the other wines although if she did, wine C would have been the clear number three rather than tied with H. Quite dark. Strong strawberry nose. Meaty. Slightly medicinal. Some bitterness on the finish. Very young, tannic. Needs time. Escarpment Martinborough Pinot Noir New Zealand 2006. Group number 4.
We also had a pretty mediocre generic 5 puttonyos Tokaji for dessert.
After dinner some of us moved to Cav for a few more wines from the Enomatic machine.
Opus One 2002 - Strong cigar. Sweet plum. Dry, tannic, closed.
Chateau Pichon Baron 1995 - Very dry, tannic. Dried herbs. Needs more time to open up.
Duckhorn Merlot 2001 - Sweet, juicy and ready. Rather easy and bland.
Ferrari-Carano Tresor 2004 - A Bordeaux blend. Starts soft but firms up on the finish. Ripe fruit, bitter chocolate. Brambly, dried herbs. Good Complexity. Tannic. Needs more time but already quite excellent.
Ben Glaetzer Wallace Shiraz Grenache 2006 - Lightish, much lighter than I expected. No sweetness or oakiness. Not too interesting.