WTN: Laroche, Lagune, Tanner, Betz, Conseillante

Lunch notes:

1998 Tyrells Vat 1 Semillon – I’ve had this before, but this bottle was different, a very good stumper for a blind tasting like this. No real hints of Semillon and more acidity than normal. Fair bit fo colour, a citrus nose with faint sulphur notes at the start and tropical fruit under that, clean and tasty.

2004 Dom. Laroche Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos – similar colour, lots of fruit in the nose and on palate had use grasping for wines from other Burgundian areas (I was pushing for Meursault). Some bright bulb then spoke up and suggested it might be a Le Clos if it were a Chablis and we headed home from there. Interestingly, a screw top bottle.

2002 Lane Tanner Pinot Noir Melville Vineyard (Santa Barbara) - quite dark with lots of what seemed at first to be plumy fruit, but I decided after a bit it was more black cherry. Seemed slightly hot in the mouth but not the nose. A very slight slightly salty bitterness at the end that was very interesting, and very good length. Nice.

1982 Ch. La Lagune – absolutely mature and riding along on plateau right now, this wine has always pleased. Lovely nose of briar, currant and spice, and a little earth. The edges are starting to lighten on this but it has nice medium red tone. Lots of fruit on palate and a good follow through with soft tannins adding some textural interest. Will last a few years yet.

2001 De Toren Fusion V – this Cape wine, a blend of the 5 main Bordeaux varietals, fooled me again! It was dark and showed a sweet slightly hot nose of berry fruit, had great legs, was rich on palate with well defined flavours and had a smooth finish. No hints of being South African here! I have all 7 vintages in the cellar since the first in 1999. Might be fun to do a vertical some time.

1999 Betz Family Winery Pere de Famille – another Bordeaux blend, this one from the Columbia Valley. Still quite dark and fairly tannic, this had cocoa in the nose and some blackberry. No rush to drink this. Long finish.

2001 Ch. La Conseillante - medium body but fairly dark colour in this Pomerol, slightly funky nose, with vanilla overtones, slightly on the austere side with some green notes, good weight in the mouth, though. Decent.

2001 Ch. Romieu – this Sauternes had an amazing amount of colour considering its age, quite well along toward amber. I got a hint of petrol, and then apricot that started me wondering if it were a Riesling based wine as there wasn’t too much hint on just what it was. Not bad, but not typical. It would appear that I have a bottle of 1983 in the cellar. That may have been a mistake to hold it that long…….

[Jenise]

1998 Tyrells Vat 1 Semillon – What you said. So unusual to have that kind of lush fruit on the nose and then be so dry on the palate. Excellent; a fascinator.

2004 Dom. Laroche Chablis 1er Cru Les Clos – Liked it a lot, but didn't think it had Grand Cru qualities nor justified what I paid for it at retail.

2002 Lane Tanner Pinot Noir Melville Vineyard (Santa Barbara) - Santa Ynez, actually. And I thought both plum and black cherry were correct, it wasn't just one fruit; what's more it had those qualities and lacked the tomato skin/thyme/tomato leaf thing that usually attends wines from this growing region. But for Lane's trademark acidity, this wine seemed more Oregonian than Californian to me--but no less good. It was terrific.

1982 Ch. La Lagune – This is why I buy and cellar Bordeaux.

2001 De Toren Fusion V – Loved this; why don't I own any? Sweeter, richer in a new world kind of way but with more sophisticated Bordeauxish elements than typical of new world wine, so not that very surprising that it turned out to be South African. Excellent.

1999 Betz Family Winery Pere de Famille – Didn't show quite as well as the last bottle we opened so though not exactly disappointing, it didn't show the same resolution that had caused me to bring it along. It was less generous.

2001 Ch. La Conseillante - Lot of green in this wine, which is not something I dislike, but that made it seem angular and masculine even, not LC's usual style. I liked it, but would give other bottles more time.

2001 Ch. Romieu – Very good, but uncommonly mature and apricotty for a 2001.