Another Saturday at Knightsbridge - mostly blind

• 2007 Rivers-Marie Chardonnay B. Thieriot Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Dark golden color. Lots of ripe apple and pear aromas with good background spice. Same lush fruit on palate with very crisp character from lively acidity plus good minerality. An impressive Sonoma Coast chardonnay. (91 pts.)
• 2007 Vincent Dancer Chassagne-Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet
  Slightly floral with lots of green apple and lemon on both nose and palate. Good acidity and precision, very characteristic for this classic vintage. A rare Villages level wine that's easy to enjoy now and also likely to improve over the next few years. (87 pts.)
• 2006 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin Vieille Vigne - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin
  Tasted double blind. A very unusual bottle that I didn't really enjoy today. Was it just a very advanced bottle? Others thought this might have been shut down. This didn't show Gevrey-Chambertin meatiness or animale character to any taster today. (85 pts.)
• 2002 Bernard Dugat-Py Gevrey-Chambertin Les Evocelles - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin
  Tasted double blind. As often happens with Dugat-Py, some tasters thought this from the northern Rhone. While i didn't make that mistake, I struggled with identifying exactly what it might be. Big and bulky with a unusual level of concentration that didn't seem well integrated. (87 pts.)
• 2000 Antinori Tignanello - Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
  Tasted double blind. Big, ripe, black fruit aromas showing some advance evolution, hints of tobacco and licorice. similar fruit and spice on palate, also fairly evolved with a moderate, simple finish. (90 pts.)
• 1996 Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) Cabernet Sauvignon Los Vascos - Chile, Rapel Valley, Colchagua Valley
  Tasted double blind. Earthy and barnyardy, which made me think this was a much older wine from a mediocre St. Emilion producer. Certainly drinkable overall but don't hold this any longer. (85 pts.)
• 2000 Domaine de la Mordorée Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de la Reine des Bois - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  Tasted double blind alongside the Usseglio 2000 CDP Mon Aieul. This came across as big and fat but past its peak already. I recall not enjoying this wine the last time I tried it a year ago, but for completely different reasons.
• 2000 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  Tasted double blind alongside the Mordoree 2000 CDP Cuvee de la Reine des Bois. Good black fruit, very fresh, clearly ripe. Very enjoyable, just a bit short. (91 pts.)
• 2004 Elio Altare Langhe Barbera Larigi - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
  Tasted double blind. Lush and extroverted aromas clearly showing ripe black cherry with licorice hints, all of which continued on to the palate. I frankly had lots of trouble identifying where this was from and the grape varietal. Those who thought it Piedmont were all still wrong...this is a great Barbera, not Nebbiolo. I liked this wine, others liked it a lot more, but it will be interesting to see if they like it as much knowing the actual varietal. (90 pts.)
• 2001 Markham Petite Sirah - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Tasted double blind. Black fruit at an elegant point right now, in fact surprisingly elegant for the varietal. (87 pts.)
• 1990 Comte Armand Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Epeneaux - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru
  Open 5 hours before serving, 2 hours in decanter. Served to the group double blind. Easy to identify as Burgundy, but everything else was difficult from there. Muddy nose didn't show much of anything. Palate was far more interesting showing ultra ripe, dense, meaty and spicy black fruit, very 1990 in character. 92 point palate, 84 point aromas.
  
  I took the remaining 1/3 bottle to try the next day. Nose stayed the same, palate went the wrong way.
• 2002 Schloss Wackerbarth Radebeuler Goldener Wagen Traminer Spätlese - Germany, Sachsen
  Tasted double blind. i believe this was from the Radebeuler Lößnitz vineyard. Served too warm, it had a modestly sweet character with no grip and no acidity, so seemed incredibly flabby and uninteresting. Another wine probably never worth trying again. (79 pts.)
• 2009 Saxum Broken Stones - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
  Tasted double blind. Massive modern black fruit with huge spice. I was warned I might not like this wine, but actually really enjoyed the lush fruit on the nose. Palate was another matter. I found it way too ripe with an overwhelming sense of very prominent alcohol that almost made my lips numb. Certainly a well made wine in its style.

Another good tasting except for a couple of bottles that probably cost $10 each and are frankly embarrassing to be brought to this tasting.