In what seems like it's going to be an annual tradition, our wine group got together for our dress-up Christmas party at Lemuria last December 18. As there were a lot of us and we would certainly get noisier as the the night wore on, the restaurant reserved the main dining room exclusively for our group.
There would be two parts (wine-wise) to the night's festivities. The first part would be a single blind tasting of Merlot and/or Carmenere and the second part would be dinner proper.
To get everyone in the mood, attendees were given some Champagne: Lanson Brut NV - Fruity but not sweet. Some coffee. Good weight. I remember Lanson as being a lighter Champagne but this has some depth to it. Very good.
The blind tasting was divided into two parts. Two Pomerols would go head to head first to be followed by 4 New World wines.
Pomerols:
Wine A - Lightish color. Good nose. Light but quite juicy. Coffeeish. Already a very good drink but could age more. Chateau Clinet 2004 and the unanimous winner.
Wine B - Deeper color. Fragrant wood. Tannic. Definitely not ready. Will probably be very good as it seems to have more heft than wine A but will take at least 3 years before it becomes approachable. Chateau Grange-Neuve 2004.
New World:
Wine A - Sweet nose. Caramel. Ripe. My #3. Tied with Wine D for group #1. Blackbird Vineyard Merlot 2005
Wine B - Green pepper. Menthol toothpaste. Juicy and sweet. Finish not too impressive. My #2 Tied with Wine C as group #2. William Fevre Gran Cuvee Carmenere 2006 from Chile.
Wine C - Lovely nose. Leather. Some heat. Mint. Rich, vibrant. Very good finish. My #1 and tied with Wine B for group #2. Montes Purple Angel Carmenere 2004.
Wine D - Hot. Not much on the nose. Ripe fruit. Unbalanced. My #4. Tied with Wine A for group #1. Trapiche Iscay 2004 from Argentina.
Very short notes from dinner:
Gunderloch Nackenheimer Rothenberg Riesling Spatlese 2005 - Sweet apple. Year in, year out, this is a must buy for me. A particularly successful match with the first course of souffle with baked apple.
Chateau Siran 2004 - A bit of stink which eventually blew off. Dark. Very dry. Mostly dried fruit. Already approachable.
Montgras Ninquen 2004 - Oddly, no note on this although I know I had some.
Chateau Gloria 1985 - Still alive but starting to hollow out. Dried fruit. Drink it up if you have it.
Chateau Rieussec 1996 - Fabulous, classic Sauternes nose. Excellent now but a rather lighter style than what I'm used to with Rieussec. Could possibly gain some depth with age.