WineLovers Discussion Group

Blind tasting lunch notes, November 2012

2005 Dom. Laroche Chablis 1er Fourchaumes – an atypical but pleasant Chablis. At first mostly lemon from this light yellow tinted wine, and the apple came in quite convincingly, only to pass off a few minutes later. Soft with good fruit on palate, the acidity was there on the finish, but not as evident in the middle.

2009 Foillard Morgon Cote de Py Beaujolais – medium colour, good fruit in the nose, with hints of cocoa and flowers and a little earthiness. Long sweet finish follows a medium bodied middle. Excellent.

1996 Edmund St. Johns Les Cotes Sauvages Fin de Siecle – a CNduP blend from California, this comes off far better than most. Quite dark with a slightly one dimensional burnt rubber nose, big framed wine with very good balance, acid and fruit. Enjoyable.

2001 Bois de Boursan Cuvee des Felix CNduP – not among my usual CNduP experiences, but very very enjoyable. Excellent nose of plum and some floral element, not too ripe in the middle, with slightly high acidity and not overly ripe. Interesting wine on the elegant side and it gained some ice black pepper notes after airing.

2001 DeAngelis ‘Anghelos’ – this wine from Marche is a blend of montepulciano, sangio and cab. Very dark, dense wine showing more burnt rubber notes in the nose, as well as dill and dark chocolate. Big fairly extracted wine with tons of flavour. No rush.

1993 Errazuriz Don Maximiano – this cabernet showed a nice bit of spice in the nose, as well as significant vanilla, some nice up front acidity, with good fruit and balance. Ready now.

2004 Isole e Olena Syrah – this wine was not like any syrah I’ve had – no typicity at all. Having said that, it was a pleasant wine, medium dark with some cocoa in the nose (we were guessing cab) and medium length.

2000 Kettle Valley Old Main Red – a cab, merlot petit verdot blend from BC made in small lots (66 cases). Warm ripe nose, full in the mouth, ripe sweet with medium length and remaining soft tannins, but I couldn’t identify the varietals from tasting it and it seemed simple and a bit awkward.

1997 Dom. des Aubuisieres Vouvray Le Plan de Jean – amber colour, waxy nutty nose with pears, medium weight and residual sugar (I found out later it was actually 10.5% but offset by good acidity so it seemed less), and coconut came in at the end, which makes sense given the use of oak on this wine. Pleasant.

Bill
The 1994 of the Isole Syrah was a wonderfully enjoyable wine for us... but I do get the nagging feeling that the less than stellar vintage may have been a blessing in disguise (more interesting flavours at lesser ripeness and perhaps more pertinently, the winemaker may feel they have to go easy on the oak).

Here's the TN from 5.5 years ago and no sign of oak influence.

1994 Isole e Olena Syrah Collezione de Marchi Toscana IGT - Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT (3/4/2007)
:¬)

Colour is still a rich purple, though there is a touch of age at the edge. Still remarkably young looking for 12-13 years old. The nose mixes blackberries with wild mushrooms and a some (pleasant) barnyard aromas. Perhaps a little eucalyptus there as well. Plenty happening on the nose at least and the intensity is very impressive.

On the palate, the complexity continues, but the balance is also impressive. Tannins are soft and supple, with the acidity judged perfectly. Despite the intensity of flavours, this isn't a soupy wine, far from it. It's easy to drink and went well with roast stuffed pheasant, but on it's own as well. Interestingly the alcohol was shown as 12.5%, which goes to show what depth of flavour can be achieved at lower levels of alcohol (and from a 'lesser' year). On the offchance someone has a bottle of this remaining, you can drink it with (great) pleasure now, but there's no reason to suggest it wouldn't see the decade out with ease.

Time to gloat. Picked this up for (IIRC) about £10. A quick check on wine-searcher suggests that £25-30 is nearer the mark, but on this performance I'd pay that with pleasure.


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