WineLovers Discussion Group

We all had a terrific evening at the Grill and 11 participants, four from this forum--- Ruth, Michael, Mishy(guest of honour)and myself. Tasting notes and reflections will be posted here as well as some pics!!
My WOTN was the `97 Sangioveto from Badia a Coltobuono but the `89 Musar was a revelation to many. Served blind so lots of guesswork! Stay tuned for all the action forumites.

Thanks Bob for the heads up on more to come! I am especially anxious to to read your (and others) take on the 1989 Musar. I took a bottle of this to Mo'Cool for a vertical of 5 vintages with the wines being a 91 and a 93 provided by OW. A 1966 provided with many many thanks by Mike Conner. Mine were the 89, and a 94. My 89 though was less than stellar, due (I suspect) to the trip from Ky, to Michigan stirring up a lot of fine tannin sediment. I guess if I were to be stranded on a temperate island with only one red wine to drink it might well be Musar.

I will be out of town for the next couple of days but I'll try to get the notes and pics up by Sunday. Be forewarned that I was taking comments from everyone and they start to get sketchy about half way through the evening. I think we had a total of 16 bottles between the 11 of us.

The Musar had a fair amount of sediment and was showing its age, but it impressed the heck out of me. Ruth's Sangioveto was a highlight, too.

It was a great time and I look forward to doing it all over again, Bob.

The Musar had a fair amount of sediment and was showing its age

So by that you mean it was tight and youthful?

Rahsaan wrote:

The Musar had a fair amount of sediment and was showing its age

So by that you mean it was tight and youthful?

My experience with Musar is limited to the '89 we drank last night, but it showed significant bricking and secondary notes on the palate. It wasn't tight at all, but Ed Fong, who brought it, indicated he had opened the bottle much earlier in the day.

You'll have to wait until later for more detailed comments on the Musar and all of the other wines.

Mike, our vertical was held around noon or so, and I had decanted both the 89 and the 94 at 6am, so Mine had 6 hours of air and the 89 while, like yours was bricking, and as I said it had a lot of suspended sediment so fine as to be ugly but not gritty. It was cloudy due to the sediment, but had been transported from Ky to Mi only a couple days before. If I were to find a source of 89 at a fair price I would not hesitate to buy it.

Bob Henrick wrote:Mike, our vertical was held around noon or so, and I had decanted both the 89 and the 94 at 6am, so Mine had 6 hours of air and the 89 while, like yours was bricking, and as I said it had a lot of suspended sediment so fine as to be ugly but not gritty. It was cloudy due to the sediment, but had been transported from Ky to Mi only a couple days before. If I were to find a source of 89 at a fair price I would not hesitate to buy it.

As I said, Bob, this wine was served blind and none of us got really close...apart from old world!!! I thought Rioja with one other person, so good try eh.

BTW, have a contact in BC to get the Tahbilk Marsanne. I emailed the winery and they gave me the rep out there. That`s a start eh.

You are going to love the marsanne Bob. If the source has any of the library release(s) be sure to try an older bottle. I have a half case or so of the 95 which is drinking very very well right now. If you can't get the older stuff, come to Mo'Cool next year and I will bring a bottle. Also if you can't get any of the older, be sure to buy at least one bottle to hold for a few (or several) years. Marsanne is one of the white wines that will age and develop some nice attractive nuances.

Rahsaan wrote:

The Musar had a fair amount of sediment and was showing its age

So by that you mean it was tight and youthful?

Rahsaan,

There's this funny myth going about that Musar tastes old young and young when old. I think even the Hochars propagate this myth. I find that in the first couple years when the wine is released (i.e. now the '98 and '99) the wine is lovely. Then it closes down for several years (i.e. now the 95-97) when it shows little apart from the oxidation and funkyness and earthiness. 93 backwards are showing "young" again. (Haven't tasted the '94 in a while.) I think the cliché is more another way of saying that the fruit emerges after a closed phase. Of course, maybe I got it all wrong and I'm just trolling now....

-Otto-

There's this funny myth going about that Musar tastes old young and young when old

So then if the 89 were to show its age it would taste old. As it is quite young?

I don't know, I'm confused, I was just surprised that something as relatively young for Musar as an 89 would be fading, but then I don't know the vintage that well. So..

Rahsaan wrote:

There's this funny myth going about that Musar tastes old young and young when old

So then if the 89 were to show its age it would taste old. As it is quite young?

I don't know, I'm confused, I was just surprised that something as relatively young for Musar as an 89 would be fading, but then I don't know the vintage that well. So..

Quite. An '89 should be still tasting young. I think 60's and 70's as Musars as being in their prime now - as the all too few early 80's I've had. The mid-80's -present are young. An 89 should not be fading. For my tastes that is. I understand perfectly that others prefer their wines at a different age than I do.

Otto and Rahsaan, just wish you could have been there to taste this blind!!!! Oh yeah. I thought this was holding up quite well but what do I know. Sure it was having a last kick at the can but notes will be here soon. Again, we were all over the place and I thought Rioja!!! TBH, I never knew a wine such as this could always create such discussions. Neat eh.

Going over some thoughts on the whites we tasted, I was surprised the Scurati from Sicily did not match up too well with the seafood appetizers. Think tasting notes should be here soon?

It was a fun night all around.

IMHO the 89 Musar was the Dowager Empress of the evening. As is sometimes the case, the aroma was reminiscent of a well aged Rhone. It was lovely, though starting to fade. It did not carry the structure I found in the '93 that we last drank about a year ago but it is still a terrific wine. Colour was pale ruby with a fade to brick at the edge.

Ed opened the wine and decanted several hours before the tasting (and then back into the bottle just prior to the tasting) .

Other highlights for me
97 Tignello which is still pretty tight, but starting to show how rich full and complex this wine will be. Coffee and dark fruit, a trifle tannic but a stellar wine. Decanted for about one hour. I have one in my cellar that will stay there for another couple of years.

98 Vieux Telegraph Chndp--another wine that really needs a year or two, but hinting at the rich rewards coming to those who wait. The nose carried just a hint of brett, cinamon, touch of clove, nice overtones of saddle leather.

(thanks Mishy for those beauties!)

The 97 Sangioveto is a well integrated, new world style Italian wine that the tasters had a hard time identifying but seemed to enjoy. It is at its peak now and carries Cab berry type aromas with a nod to Sangiovese.

The Kim Crawford SB was a nice surpise(I had not tried it)--a little too cold at first, but nice lychee nut and honeysuckle on the nose, great mouthfeel.

Mishy said something about taking off of her clothes for the 2002
E and E Shiraz which was as peppery as ever.

Thanks again to Bob and Mike for organizing...looking forward to seeing the 'real' notes!

Mike is swamped at work right now but will post asap!!!