Notes from Monday night's dinner at Sala with Jojo, Gerry, Miguel and Noel. All wines care of Jojo, all reds double blind although all from the same year. which was not disclosed. It was also mentioned previously that all the wines would be from the Northern Hemisphere and all the same grape. Three are from the same general area.
Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 1996 - After some hesitation as to whether we would be able to finish both a Champagne and a white Burgundy before the reds, it was decided that both would be opened and that the Champagne would be served first. Tremendous fruit in this. Lightly roasted coffee and light spice. Medium to heavy weight. Impeccable balance. Very youthful but a real pleasure to drink. No bready or nutty notes yet but a few years should bring those characteristics on. Excellent now and will be outstanding with another 10 years of age. A great way to start.
Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatieres 1er Cru 2003 - I have very little experience with white Burgundy but I really enjoyed this. Light scent of mandarin orange. Medium-rich. Powerful, long, dry and slightly nutty finish. This starts out with a lot of fruit then ends with some bitterness. The initial sweetness was particularly good with the corn trio of the first course. Good complexity. Quite enjoyable now.
On to the blind tasting:
Wine # 1 - Old World nose. Very dark. Rhone nose. Spicy, dried herbs. Good balance with good acidity. Soft tannins. A slam-dunk with the foie gras portion of the squab. Much later on, mushrooms. Very good now. This has got to be Rhone and since all the wines have the same grape, it's unlikely to be Chateauneuf so it's probably Northern Rhone. My #3, Group #2. Chave Hermitage 1996.
Wine # 2 - Just a little hot. Firm, young, dark. herbal. Soft tannins. Similar in flavor and nose to #1 but this is a bigger wine and seems younger. Reinforces my thinking that this is Syrah. Excellent and still has room to age, I think. My #2, Group #1. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon 1996.
Wine #3 - Very sweet toffee/caramel nose. Sickly sweet in fact. Definitely New World. Despite the nose, oddly closed on the palate. About 2 hours later, the sweetness on the nose blew off and the wine opened up. Northern Hemisphere, so is this California? Smells Australian to me. Very awkward at this stage. Not showing well at all for me. My #4, Group #4. Just 1 point separating it from the last wine. Penfolds Grange 1996. What a shocker for me! I just had this wine about 2 months back and it certainly wasn't as disjointed as this! I hope this was off somehow as I'm invested quite a bit in this wine. Also, I thought these were all from the Northern Hemisphere. A little misdirection there to throw us off.
Wine #4 - A little oaky, New Worldy nose at first later giving way to lovely sweet spices and fragrant wood. Quite ripe fruit. Not as dry as wines 1 and 2 but yet, not in a New World style. Soft and very easy to drink. The slightly modern feel of this wine makes me guess this is Guigal. Excellent. My #1, Group # 3. Guigal Cote Rotie La Mouline 1996.
Everyone got the region right - Northern Rhone. The vintage guesses were pretty close. Some guesses 1995. I guessed 1998.
We ended with a half bottle of Sauternes:
Chateau Rieussec 2001 - Classic Sauternes nose. Not as rich as I expected, given the glowing reviews of this wine. Creamy. I can't help thinking oyster shells on the nose, for some reason. Chef Carlo said he detected saffron. Burnt sugar and pineapple definitely in there as well. It seems rather young and primary at this stage, not really giving much. I think a few more years will improve the complexity of this wine. For now, very good.
Looking forward to the next one, guys. Thanks.