by Bill Spohn » Mon Feb 18, 2019 4:45 pm
Blind tasting notes:
Lelarge-Pugeot Champagne Rosé de Saignée Brut Nature – pale pink with a cheesy yeasty nose and pleasant sugar cookie and cherry cola notes on palate. Good length and very dry finish, as expected with a zero dosage wine.
2009 Château de Fieuzal Blanc – pale colour, very nice lemon and orange nose, dry, balanced, smooth and long. Very good. 50/50 blend of Semillon and SB
2012 Dog Point Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc Section 94 – this Marlborough wine had a big gooseberry nose along with grassiness, and a sweet entry and clean acidity. Very good.
2000 Tahbilk Marsanne 1927 Vines – pale, with a waxy lemon and toasted nut nose, slightly oxidative but not too much, medium length and lots of acidity at the end. Interesting.
2014 Dominio del Aguila Pícaro Clarete – this Ribera del Duero wine was bright, almost lurid pink colour, an unusual nose of crushed strawberries and herbs, full bodied and medium length with some tannin. Very interesting. Great showing of white (and pink) today.
1994 Renwood Zinfandel Grandmère – this Amador Valley wine was not too hot at 15.5%, and was showing a colour depth like a dark Burgundy. The nose was like a mature Italian wine, it was slightly warm in the mouth, had medium length and clean finish. One of the Zins that lasted and continued to develop after the initial fruit settled down – sad that many tasters declare them dead when the sweet briary early fruit subsides.
1982 J.E. Luper Napa Cabernet Sauvignon – medium colour, a clearly cabernet nose, dark plummy fruit, still in good shape with ample acidity. A real curiosity as Jerry Luper (who worked at Montelena, Freemark and Diamond Creek, only made three vintages (this was the first) under his own name at Ch. Bouchaine.
2007 La Rasina Brunello – this one was a WTF moment for me when I realized after tasting that I had some in my cellar. Dark wine with a ripe nose, ripe and sweet on palate and pretty big tannins, to the point that the guesses started in Australia and then went to California. Good wine by atypical. Will watch development on this with interest.
1988 Grahams Malvedos Port – colour on this is lightening and had a sweet berry and cocoa nose with raisin. The nose was warm, but it didn’t show that way in the mouth where it slid in to a medium length sweet finish. Coasting along now.