Keith's 2010 Blind Challenge 2

28-50, London
Tasted Friday, August 13, 2010 by SimonG with 821 views

Introduction

All wines served blind from their original tin-foiled bottles. A huge thank you to Keith for his generosity and to my fellow guessers for making the evening so fun. First visit to 28-50 and I liked it. The food was good, added to the experience but played a supporting role to the wine.

Flight 1 (20 Notes)

  • 2006 Domaine Le Soula Le Soula Blanc

    France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Côtes Catalanes

    Mid golden yellow. Slightly waxy, chenin nose. Full, quite rich. Reasonable oak. Quits spicy. Good depth and length. Lovely acidity. Would benefit from cellar time. ***1/2

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  • 2006 Dry River Gewürztraminer

    New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough

    Light gold. Sweet and spicy nose. Very gewurtz. Sweetish but finishes very short. Little interest here for
    me. Apparently it's new world, so probably Dry River. **. (I'm no fan of gewurtz though)

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  • 2007 Göttelmann Munsterer Chardonnay Spätlese trocken

    Germany, Nahe

    Light, slightly green colour. Flinty, mineral, clean nose. Quality Loire SB? Some oak on the palate giving a slight creaminess. Good acidity, zingy Sauvignon fruit. Long. Lacks a little precision but very nice. Not SB. Central European Pinot blanc? ***1/2

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  • 2007 Ataraxia Chardonnay

    South Africa, Cape South Coast, Walker Bay, Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

    Mid straw. Quite a sulpherous, reductive nose. Chard on palate, quite ripe and rounded, just about new
    world alc levels and warmth. **(*1/2)?

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  • 1985 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

    Mid garnet. Rioja nose and palate. Still quite acidic. Trad style. Lovely. Bottle looks like LdeH, so must be Tondonia. Early 80s, say 81? ****

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  • 1990 Domaine Dujac Chambolle-Musigny Flawed

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny

    Corked and not poured.

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  • 1989 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Deep, dark red. Quite an evolved, ripe fruit nose. Fat and leggy. Stewed and pruney element to the nose suggesting a ripe vintage. Quite high acidity. Some tannin to resolve. Quite muted on palate, a bit stripped
    of fruit. Jamie thinks TCA. Late 90s? Oops, no, 89. ***(*)

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  • 1996 Château Palmer

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Obviously left bank from a decent vintage. Quite dark but reasonably resolved on palate. A little lacking in body but opening up nicely on the palate with time in glass. Surprised it's Palmer -
    not really getting the merlot richness though it does round out in the glass. ***(*1/2)

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  • 1999 Yarra Yering Dry Red N°1

    Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley

    Full, deep red. Fat and leggy. Rich, ripe nose with just a hint of leanness and a mineral edge coming through. Really enticing. Ripe and quite luscious on the palate with a fair thwack of tannin. Right bank or new world? Elegant, mineral and nicely poised. ***(*)

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  • 2000 Vérité La Muse

    USA, California, Sonoma County

    Deep, dense red. Cool, quite lean but with a latent density on the nose. Very full, dense and focused on the nose. Loads of fine tannins. Loads of everything in fact. A glass or two could be tiring. Apparently Keith bought after I raved about this a while back; can only be the Verite Muse then, but this isn't as elegant as the 99 I raved about though. Needs a couple of hours in a decanter ***+?

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  • 1988 Château Haut-Brion

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    OK, so proof that context and external clues are everything in this 'blind tasting' game. Nailed this as 88 HB before it was poured in to my glass from the bottle shape and our host's recent purchasing history. Full garnet, nicely smokey with a touch of spice and a Graves tobacco element. Really complex and interesting nose. Palate quite restrained initially, but with a range of flavours. Finishes a little short to start but it's starting to lengthen and I guess it would fatten out further with an hour or so of decant time. I like this more than most it seems. Genuine complexity and interest but it doesn't shout. ***(*)

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  • 2007 Keermont Cabernet Merlot Shiraz

    South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

    New world something or maybe a modern Austrian blaufranish etc. Not to my taste anyway. Very full and fruity. Needs a while to calm down. Well made but I'm struggling to find it interesting. ** to ***1/2 depending on your cup of tea. 40CS, 40Mer and 20 Syrah

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  • 2004 Cuvelier Los Andes Grand Vin

    Argentina, Mendoza, Valle de Uco

    Very dark and dense deep red. Dense fruity nose, very much in the blue fruit spectrum. Subtle! Gosh, this is a bit of a shocker. Very OTT at the moment. Argentinian malbec? Possibly a shiraz? No, not for me. Needs some acidity to cut through the blueberry jam (**)

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  • 1999 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

    Pale ruby.. Lovely colour, very bright even in this dim light..Fragrant nose. Good acidity, still a good thwack of tannin but this has some bottle age. Mid to late 90s northern Italian neb? ****

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  • 1990 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Mid ruby to full garnet. Sweet, slightly smokey fruit on the nose that makes us think of northern Rhone. Fat, leggy, quite a high alcohol level for its weight but very elegnt despite this. Lovely, long, but carried through to the finish by the alcohol/glycerin rather than complexity. Very good but others like it slightly more. ****

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  • 1991 Chateau Musar

    Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

    Gorgeous nose. Smokey, beefy, sweet fruit. Trevallon-like. No, apparently it's from a country we haven't had a wine from so far tonight so it has to be Musar. Yes. No guess on vintage though. This is a very good bottle of 91 Moose, probably the best of the half dozen or so I've had. ****1/2

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  • 2006 Domaine Treloar Motus

    France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Côtes du Roussillon

    Young, full, almost young modern burgundian nose. Attack consistent with good acidity but this is too tannic and full now for pinot. Far fatter and chewier on the palate in fact. Ripe, warm climate but old world elegance. Needs time. ***

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  • 1995 Antinori Solaia

    Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

    Full ruby. Blackcurrant fruit. Smooth new world style. Cullen maybe? No, apparently old world. Oh well. Mid 90s probably, very smooth, good vintage, still some tannin to resolve. Nice tobacco element to the finish. Really quite drinkable. Lots here if one looks. ****1/2

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  • 2006 Domaine Pinnacle Ice Cider

    Canada, Quebec, Eastern Townships

    Wow! Volatile banana and caramel nose. That doesn't do it justice, this is really quite the foulest, most off-putting nose on a sweet wine I've ever come across. Rancid. Far better on the palate fortunately. Sweet, really good balancing acidity. Quite distinctive. No clue. * nose, ***palate.

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  • 2005 Rudera Chenin Blanc Noble Late Harvest

    South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

    Phew, that's better. Nicely complex chenin-like nose. Good acidity, sweet, quite rounded. Nice. ***1/2

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Closing

My wine of the night for drinking over an evening now would be the 88 Haut Brion and the 91 Musar. For the cellar, the 96 Palmer, 95 Solaia and the 95 Yarra Yering. For now or later, the Tondonia. A very high quality and pretty consistent set of wines here. Thanks again Keith.

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