A Monday night in February at the Carlton in Zürich. The first handful wines (up to the Mouton, that is, the wines the cycle of wine buddies I met up shared with dinner) were all served blind (but note the theme was „Bordeaux 10 years old and over“), tasted all the following non-blind.
Typed these and other tasting notes lately listening to Beethoven’s complete String Quartets played by the Quatuor Talich; Fricsay’s, Furtwängler’s and Mravinsky’s live and studio Tchaikovsky symphonies; as well as comparing Blomstedt’s and Harnoncourt’s Schubert symphony cycles to favourite recordings of individual symphonies by e.g. Beecham, Böhm, Furtwängler, Kertész, Kleiber father and son, Krips, Maag, Mackerras, Munch, Muti, Szell, Walter and Wand. In other words, enjoyed myself a great deal!
Château Léoville Las Cases St. Julien 1988
Thanks to Nick. Healthy ruby-red with black reflections, watery rim. Minerality, blood/rusty iron, tobacco, cherry, plum, forest floor, sweet but not too fruity, faint truffle, the dried rose petal of a Piedmontese Nebbiolo, the flavourful tannin quality, too. Nice acids. Balanced and harmonious in a more old style/traditional way. Very pretty wine, drinking as well as can be expected, and not oaky at all – merely a tiny marzipan sweetness and cedar give away there must have been some earlier. Actually wondered if this was my 1994 Troplong Mondot for a moment. That was before, unfortunately, this turned a touch metallic with airing (by which time the wine’s true age became more apparent, too). Drink now and over the next few years. Rating: 91-
Château Troplong Mondot St. Emilion 1994
My contribution that night. Brilliant colour and pretty nose apart from the cork taint. Pity! Rating: N/R
Château Branaire (Duluc-Ducru) St. Julien 1999
Thanks to Lukas. Medium ruby-black, faint purple hue. Warming and oaky nose, seemingly from a ripe vintage and/or modernistic in style (honestly, I would not have been surprised to learn it was a pirate, e.g. New World). Touch of cranberry. Round and smooth but simple. Good acidity, but a tiny bit volatile? Lighter and shorter than the other Bordeaux that night (with the exception of the 1990 Mouton served at a neighbouring table). Firmed up a bit with airing, but no more attractive. Rating: 86-/85(+/-?)
Château Sociando-Mallet Haut-Médoc 1998
Thanks to Pascal. The positive surprise of the night. Lightly plummy ruby-red, opaque at the center. A bit animal, faint horse sweat. Good intensity, concentration, density and complexity. Firm tannin. Lightly citrusy acidity, possibly a bit high (potentially out of balance in the long run). Good minerality. Green tobacco leaf top note. Quite long. A bit lighter with airing, turning oakier and a little less harmonious. Thus, while it was tempting to assume this may improve with further cellaring, it increasingly looked as if there may be little to gain. The vagaries of blind tasting: one would think a Pontet Canet 2000 would come across as “better” (which in terms of potential, it is), instead, it merely seemed more obvious. Rating: 89+/90(+/-?)
Château Pontet Canet Pauillac 2000
Thanks to Andreas. Full, ever so slightly evolved purple-ruby-black, watery rim. Modernistic nose, perfumed cassis, rose petal, vanilla oak. Firmer and more complex with airing, quite impressive terroir expression, despite the wine-making style. Nice, quite noble tobacco. Polished, extremely finely grained tannin. Quite high acidity. Relatively long, toasty (burnt) oaky finish and aftertaste. Started closing up on us later on. Andreas was rather disappointed, especially initially. Dani, to whom I served a glass later that night, thought this convincing enough. Rating: 89+/90(+?)
Château Mouton Rothschild Pauillac 1990
From a neighbouring table. Medium ruby-red, soft black reflections. Mushroomy-truffley and tobacco-tinged, subtle dried blackcurrant and sour cherry fruit of medium sweetness, a touch of malt, soft dried earth, pine needle, smoky grey and black pepper, faint artichoke. Soft and not too complex tannin, faintly stale acidity. Fairly long, if not a bit short. Undeniably light for a 1990 1er Cru. Never had a prettier bottle, though, nicely mild, no angularity or toughness here at all. Rating: 86-
Sat with Dani (a wine merchant, wonderful chap, and one of the most gifted tasters I know) at another table (Monday is the restaurant’s official BYO night, ours offline was not the only one) afterwards, tasting through all they had:
Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Smaragd Singerriedel 2006
Nice “sweetness” due to some alcohol. Heavy herbs and fruit. Quite long. Rating: ~92?
Jean & Jean-Louis Trapet Latricières-Chambertin 2006
Medium ruby, soft black reflections. A bit exotic-appley nose. Soft iron and earth, ripe raspberry. Medium-plus body, some alcohol. Fairly long. Rating: ~90/89+
Jean & Jean-Louis Trapet Chambertin 2006
A bit blacker colour. Tiny TCA taint. Even so, one could tell there would be more iron, earth, complexity and depth of fruit, more tannic and complete. Rating: N/R
Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras 2006
Raspberry-red, faint black reflections. Nice raspberry purity. Well-integrated, faintly hazelnutty oak. Clean. Softly tannic, no grain. Lightly “fruity” acidity. Not too long. Rating: 88+/89(+??)
Daniel & Martha Gantenbein Pinot Noir 2006
Purple hue to the raspberry-ruby. A bit tannic-tight. Relatively intense, but not too fruity. Medium minerality. Fairly full-bodied. Not easy to judge. Rating: 88+/89(+?)
Daniel Marugg Fläscher Pinot Noir Weingut Bovel 2008
Lightly purple, quite deep ruby-red with a black hue. Artificial chewing gum like cherry (Bazooka, the kind we used to chew as kids). Fair enough density for the vintage. Medium body and length. Rating: 85(+?)
Pöckl Pinot Noir Mönchhof 2008
Light raspberry red-black. Roasted thyme. Relatively high-acid. Slightly oaky-burnt and relatively leafy, thistle-like tannin. A bit tight and not fruity enough. Rating: 83(+?)
Weingut Seeger Blauer Spätburgunder “RR” Heidelberger Herrenberg 2007
Medium ruby-black. Fascinating “roasted” metal note, red onion, firm red beet and blueberry-tinged raspberry. Bit roasted. Touch of oak nuttiness. Nicely exotic freshly cracked Sichuan pepper. Quite intense if a bit straightforward. Nice, if a bit metallic acids. Good body and length. Rating: 91+
Jean-Paul & Jean-Luc Jamet Côte-Rôtie 2006
The positive surprise of the night. Deep plummy ruby-black. Exotic cinnamon chocolate and a tiny caper top note. Good fruit density, bacon fat, soft lavender. Nice metal underpinning. Sweet and nicely tannic. Quite long. Rating: 91+/92(+?)
Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 2006
Tiny TCA taint here too? Certainly a bit rubbery (reductive?). Some nice roasted Provençal herbs, relatively ripe but still subtle enough fruit. Softest metal note. Medium tannin and acidity. Rating: 89+/90(+?)
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti