WTN: St. Cosme, Clape, Harlan, Taylors

Great bunch of wines to start of the first blind tasting lunch of the new year!

1998 Tyrell’s Vat 1 Semillon – medium colour, waxy slightly sweet nose, with a hint of lemon, medium body, lemon coming back at end. Pleasant.

2007 Gibbsten Highgate Dreammaker Pinot Gris (central Otago) – grassy nose, but it said Chard on palate. Well made and crisp.

2005 Jos. Dubois Bourgogne Grande Reserve – this was a curiosity – a red Pinot Noir made in Chablis! Unfortunately it was corked.

2002 Dom. Parent Pommard 1er cru Les Rugiens – very light colour with purple edges, lots of tannin and acid, very dry finish, only adequate fruit. Bit disappointing.

1995 Dom. Le Clos de Cazaux Cuvee de la Tour Sarrazine Gigondas – medium colour, big black pepper nose which seemed to switch to white pepper after awhile, and lots of pepper on palate as well. Nice, balanced and with good length.

1998 St. Cosme Valbelle Gigondas – a little funk in the nose and a lot of fruit, with some coffee, very good length and balance – excellent showing!

2000 Grand Veneur CNduP – dark, with an older colour, more muted nose, pruny and ripe, with tomato soup, sweet in the mouth.

1996 Clape Cornas – closed a bit at first, some berry and child’s white library paste in the nose, and very dry at the end. Intend to retaste soon.

1998 Harlan ‘The Maiden” – excellent right from the fist whiff – big ripe sweet nose, slightly hot, smooth and tarry in the mouth, with a nice feel, very dark, long.

1977 Taylors Port – slighty closed nose at first and very slight whiff of TCA, but decent complexity , a bit sharp at the end.

1983 Taylors Port – simpler nose sweet smooth and very pleasant, though without the complexity of the 1977.

Alvear PX Solera 1927 – nose of oily fish, brown in colour, very sweet and viscous. Interesting but not my choice of style.

[Jenise]

Terrific assemblage of wines this time, though none of these lunches is ever a disappointment.

1998 Tyrell’s Vat 1 Semillon Opens with pretty, almost chardonnay like fruit and minerality but fairly quickly morphs more lemony and SBish. Never found the waxy component you did, but it was mysteriously good.

2002 Dom. Parent Pommard 1er cru Les Rugiens – very light, fresh-nosed young pinot, but it lacks substance. Didn't phase us to think it was a red Chablis as we did at first, but it was a major disappointment as a 1er Pommard.

2007 Gibbsten Highgate Dreammaker Pinot Gris (central Otago) – Great nose, pretty and floral with canned pears, complex, sweet and minerally on the palate. Almost transpaprent color. Am surprised to find out this is PG, like the Lawsons Dry Hills we had a few months ago at home it's a revelation for what this grape can do in NZ. Move over Sauvignon Blanc.

2005 Jos. Dubois Bourgogne Grande Reserve – the red Chablis we thought the other wine was. Sadly, corked.

1995 Dom. Le Clos de Cazaux Cuvee de la Tour Sarrazine Gigondas – Floral cherry nose with a boatload of white pepper, medium weight body and a long finish. Loved this.

1998 St. Cosme Valbelle Gigondas – huge fruit and a little bretty funk on the nose, dense and very black-fruited with good tannins. A great drink and the wine everybody wished they had brought.

2000 Grand Veneur CNduP – Honestly, about the only flavors I could get from this wine were roasted fruit, alcohol and sugar. Did not care for at all, and I'm sorry about that because I have some of the 04 in the cellar.

1996 Clape Cornas – reticent sweet and sour red cherries in the nose with a bit of cardboard (my first impression, but I agree with your library paste), but I thought this opened up to show violets on the nose and lengthen a bit on the palate, and I guessed Cornas before it was revealed to be one. I think (and hope) a bit of decanting time (and not following a Veneur) will help it fill out.

1998 Harlan ‘The Maiden” – Surprising wine. Where of all the wines today, at any price, the two Gigondas are more of what I hope to find in any bottle I open, I have to say this was impressive and interesting and not at all the "emporer has no clothes" experience I anticipated.

1977 and 1983 Taylors Port – What you said.

Alvear PX Solera 1927 – Strange brownish green color with sunny yellow rim, nose of new plastic and pureed dates, and the viscosity of pancake syrup. Les drank all mine.