Blind tasting lunch notes:
Elisabeth Goutorbe "Cuvée Eclatante" Brut Champagne – slight sweetness in the nose with apple aromas, up front sweetness on palate, finishing crisply. Nice job.
2011 Taille aux Loups Montlouis ‘Les Dix Arpents’ – I’d bought the killer Remus Plus from this producer and wanted to try this wine also in our market, so brought it along to lunch. Best party by far was the nose, which showed excellent Chenin notes of lemon and flowers with hints of bergamot. On palate quite soft in the mouth despite adequate terminal acidity. Not good value at the price ($27)
2004 Dom. Latour Giraud Meursault Charmes – corked, dammit! Started out right after pouring as a ‘WTF is that nose. Went back a couple of minutes later and the wet cardboard had come right to the fore. C’est dommage!
1995 Clos des Papes CNduP – surprisingly light garnetty colour, quite attractive, a nose that had me waffling a bit between Burgundy and the Rhone, ending up finally in the right place, with white pepper hints and dark fruit. On palate this once fairly tannic wine has arrived! Now smooth and elegant, this wine has a long silky finish and was an all round winner. Time to find the case I have hiding in the cellar as this has hit prime time in a very convincing way, though there should be no rush.
2000 Bernardus Pinot Noir Gary’s Vineyard (Monterey) – not a familiar producer for me – I think I’ve only had their wines once or twice and both times it was the Marinus cab blend. Another lovely garnet colour, sweet pinot fruit and spice in the nose, but restraint, not so much that you’d mistake it for a Burg but heading in that direction. Long harmonious finish with mint popping up to add further flavour interest.
2000 Vignalta Gemola IGT – this dark Bordeaux blend from Veneto had a slightly ripe nose and a nose of soy mixed with significant VA and slight hints of raisin. Medium bodied and the quite dry finish seemed at odds with the expectations formed based on the nose. Decent wine.
2007 Grgic Plavac Mali – a Mike Grgich Croatian endeavour, this wine was a stumper. Very unusual salty leathery nose made you think of new shoes at the seaside – really! Balanced wine with up front soft tannin, interesting. Plavac is a hybrid of two native grapes, one of which is Zinfandel (under it’s ancestral Croatian name).
1996 Argiano Solengo – a blend of cab, merlot, petit verdot and syrah, the latter component was what leapt out of the glass at us despite the fact that it is a minor player in terms of percentage. Dark medium bodied wine that had a killer nose of toasted bread, some cassis and hints of cinnamon, it had significant tannin yet was fairly smooth and soft on palate with excellent midpalate fruit concentration and a long dry finish. I liked this a lot! First bottle I’ve opened since I bought this on release.
2001 Dom. Tempier Bandol – rich Rhonish nose on this basic non-reserve wine, sweet in the mouth and with black pepper coming in on the finish. Nice mouth feel. Shows fairly mature now.
Christopher’s Rare Old Verdelho Madeira – bottled for the 1969 investiture of the Prince of Wales, this was a browning medium colour, had a classic nose of walnuts and orange peel, a bit of residual sugar but not over my threshold (I am a Sercial kind of guy), and real persistence and length. Very nice. Probably an 80 year old blend or so. (Thanks, Jenise!)