Flight One
Fratelli Alessandria Barolo Monvigliero 2000 smelled tight and a bit oaky (I wonder why? Isn't this supposed to be a pretty traditional producer?) with a touch of chocolate. Very ripe fruit for Nebbiolo, but also obviously Nebbiolo. Very decent if one likes a modern style (one more interjection after tasting: I was thinking of Vietti when tasting this - did I utterly misunderstand the Alessadria philosophy?).
Denis Mortet Gevrey-Chambertin 2003 smelled of oak and lingonberry jam, certainly not a Burgundy (oops!), but seems like a not too OTT NZ style (oops again!). Very plump, sweet and oaky, jammy - obviously Pinot but not a style that I enjoy.
Charles Joguet Chinon Clos du Chêne Vert 1997 was a lovely, leafy style with quite a bit of sucrosity. It smelled like an unspoofulated Bordeaux, but was lighter in texture yet strangely sweet in fruit. I still guessed a Left Bank with a bit of age (oops - this word will recur often tonight, lol!).
Mas d'en Gil Priorat Clos Fonta 1998 smelled of dark cherries and oak - it seemed rather anonymous. Sweet, pleasantly tannic, very alcoholic (I was surprised that the label had "only" 14,5% abv!). It's not bad wine as such, just something very different from what I like to drink.
Marques de Riscal Rioja Reserva 2003 was an inky mess that smelled of chocolate and cherry. Soft and sweet. The best thing I can say about it is that it was anonymous and boring.
Anima Negra An 2004 was a wine from Mallorca made predominantly from Callet with a bit of two other mainstream grapes (Mantonegro and Fogoneu) thrown in. It seems like such a fascinating creature but sadly it smelled of toasted oak and some vague fruit aroma a bit reminiscent of Pinot when drenched in oak. It also tasted oaky and was very sweetly fruity. My guess was a wine from the quercus grape.
Clos St. Jean Châteaneuf-du-Pape 2004 was a correct if not hugely exciting example of a Grenache based wine. Bright red fruit, very, very sweet; decent structure, but a bit fruit-heavy. I guess it might become more interesting with some age.
Flight Two
Pago de Carrovejas Ribera del Duero Tinto Reserva 2003 smelled of rhubarb jam. Plump fruit with harsh, seemingly fake acidity, Ewww! I guessed it was a Chilean Cab and cheap.
Bodegas Baigorri Reserva 2002 was soft, plump, very modern and with a bit of Pinot-like fruit hiding underneath the charred oak. Soft tannins, feminine except for the disastrous oak and harsh alcohol. Ewww!
Ch. Vieux Maillet 2000 was at last a wine with a sense of place: dark, primary fruit with pencil shavings/graphite/cedar, etc. that Bordeaux has. I did think it more a Médoc than a Pomerol when served blind (oops for the x'th time). It seemed pretty un-spoofulated yet very young and with oak to shed, but from a ripe year, so I thought 2005 (oops again).
J.L. Chave Selection Hermitage Farconnet 2001 was a very attractive wine. It smells deliciously animal but with peach stone and dark fruit aromas that I hope to see in the N. Rhône. Sturdy, but friendly already. Nice! (And for once, yay!, I guessed the area right!)
Burge Family Draycott Shiraz (Barossa) 2001 smelled sharp and fake and like the rhubarb jam that I too often find in Chilean Cabs. Sweet, unstructured, hot and horrible. (I feel sad for being so harsh as almost everyone else liked it!).
La Brancaia Chianti Classico 2006. Wine? Nope. I wonder how an alcoholic drink made from oak and fermented and aged in new oak was able to get the words Chianti Classico on the label?
Janzen Estate (Bacio Divino) Vagabond 2005 was a Syrah + Cab Sauv Blend from Napa Valley. It again smelled of rhubarb jam (why do so many wines I dislike smell of rhubarb jam? is there a popular yeast that emphasizes such scents?) and it was sweet and had too high alcohol (only 14% IIRC, but seemed more when tasting blind).
Flight Three
Ch. du Tertre 2002 was a very classic Bordeaux. I was guessing Pauillac rather than Margaux, but it smelled of pencil shavings and cassis and was wonderfully cool and restrained. The oak was already integrated. Lightish, refreshing and wonderfully moreish. Much more classy than expected from its pedigree!
Concha y Toro Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 was a rather strange Maipo Valley, Chilean. I kind of liked it as it had some strange mustard, cumin aromas (as in Pinotage) yet these were elegantly integrated into a cassis aroma. Full body, but not offensively oaky. It was a big, sweet, in-your-face wine but with a personality different enough from the Chilean in-your-face norm! (Though it is of course debatable whether any in-your-faceness can be thought positive.) Despite the currant aromas I still guessed this is as one of the better Pinotages (oops!).
Zenato Ripassa Valpolicella Superiore 2005 was a decent drop, but nothing special. What I most liked about it was that it was honest (at least in this company) and didn't try to cover up itself in a spoofy cloak. It was a sweet but lively drop. Not hugely memorable, but perfectly drinkable.
Tua Rita Rosso dei Notri 2007 was sweet and very lactic. It tasted lactic. The aftertaste was like yogurt. I don't know what to think of it since I couldn't really see anything but hints of massively ripe fruit behind the lactic curtain.
Domaine Cros Les Aspres 2004 a 100% Syrah from Minervois. It smelled massively sweet, almost like a dessert: ink and cola. Sweet, oaky and alcoholic. Not to my taste at all.
Copain James Berry Syrah Paso Robles 2005 was a rather interesting Californian: it had obvious Syrah aromas but was sadly enveloped in a blanket of new oak. Good structure, honest fruit. Dishonest blanket. It is more tragic when there is a Syrah of such obvious beauty that is blanketed like this than it is with a wine that is so spoofulated that one can't see anything of the wine itself.
Bellingham The Maverick Syrah 2005 was a South African Shiraz, not Syrah. Mulberry and vanillary oak is all I smell. It tastes not like a blueberry but a strawberry milkshake.
Knowing the taste of our host, it is not a surprise that I didn't like many of the wines; rather the surprise was how many I did actually enjoy!
Most importantly of all, it was huge fun and was hopefully a bit of good practice for Taina before her ordeal.
