First tasting of the 2009/2010 season for a group that was founded in 1974, and which I joined in 1998. The wines were double blind to the group, and single blind for me, as I had Laura mix them up & create the tasting order. Only the first wine was decanted, as it was not part of the main tasting.
2005 Chateau D’Arsac Cuvee No. 1 Michel Rolland (Haut Medoc)
Predictably monolithic when first opened, I decided to decant it, and that helped a lot with more distinct fruit coming out to play with the massive tannins. By the end of the night this was much more open & shedding its shell. (This was supposed to be compared with Cuvee No. 2, but that wine was corked.)
2001 Chateau Pichon-Longueville Baron (Pauillac)
Fantastic right out of the gate - this was aromatically gorgeous & very well balanced on the palate. Delicious wine that can be drunk with great pleasure now or cellared for a while longer. I would not go for old bones on this, but it will be fantastic mid-term drinking.
2004 Bodegas Muga Rioja Selecction Especial (Rioja)
After the Baron, this was a monster that took the full two hours (plus the 90 minutes that everything had been sitting open) to open up and show itself. There's great concentration here, both in fruit and tannin, comparing only with the Rolland wine for sheer huge-ness. I would give bottles of this a lot of time.
1999 Chateau Pichon-Longueville Baron (Pauillac)
Soft and supple aromatically, and bearing a resemblance to the 2001 (no shock there), this did not deliver on the palate what it promised on the nose, but would
be a lovely dinner wine any time over the next several years. The balance is fine now, it's just a little weak in the mid-palate.
1996 Bodegas Muga Rioja Selecction Especial (Rioja)
This is minty and sappy beyond belief. Wrap a piece of Wrigley's Doublemint gum around a fresh pine log & that's what this wine smelled like. It was interesting and distinctive, but I have no idea what I would use it for.
1997 Isole e Olena Cepparello (Tuscany)
Bright red fruit and hints of volatility. After a little while the volatility started to take over, so I might suggest drinking this sooner rather than later & do not open in advance. I very much enjoyed the first few sips, but it paled over time.
2001 Chateau Lagrange (St. Julien)
Another 2001 shows well, as this had all the aromatic complexity of the 2001 Baron, and perhaps just a touch more punch on the palate that made it more of a crowd favorite. I preferred the Baron, but this was also a lovely wine that I would drink over the next 5-10 years. I have a bunch of 2001 Bordeaux in the cellar, and tasting the two last night makes me very glad that I stocked up on the less hyped vintage.
1996 Chateau Lagrange (St. Julien)
This was more old school, with a distinct note of green pepper lurking in the background, and a more earthy, leathery set of aromatics. This was another wine, like the '99 Baron, that I would want to have with dinner, and not in a tasting.
Sadly the final wine, a 1999 Isole e Olena Cepparello was badly flawed by volatile acidity, but overall the tasting was a lot of fun & I was thrilled with the 2001s.