Minneapolis Wine Club does a Blind Tasting

Tasted Sunday, November 14, 2010 by 3daywinereview.com with 1,021 views

Introduction

A fun tasting and picking the first 4 wines was easy as we had the list of all the wines. The last 4 I got the US and Italian wines mixed up and I was shocked at the quality of the Ridge. A top five wine of the year for me. The Avignonesi Desiderio was drinking really well but didn't display as much Merlot character as the Elio Altare Barolo did. Blind tastings always humble.

Flight 1 (8 Notes)

  • 2005 Nicolas Potel Savigny-lès-Beaune 89 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune

    Nice intro wine to Burgundy. Light in color with a nose of cranberry, spice, minerals and clay. Body of this wine is medium and shows good acidity.

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  • 2000 Château Brane-Cantenac 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Nice wine with gravel, funk, raspberry, cherry and earth. Classic Bordeaux flavors and medium finish. Drinking well right now but has another decade of fine drinking.

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  • 2005 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 92 Points

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

    Decanted 2 hours and drinking the best of 2 previous samples. Dirty color with garrique, raspberry, spice and floral notes. Clean wine overall and I got mild funk which blew off quick. Should age for a decade.

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  • 2003 Mitolo Shiraz G.A.M. 90 Points

    Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

    Good but not a great Aussie Shiraz. Dark purple in color with Eucalyptus, blackberries, spice and pepper. Not a deep wine and I don't see this evolving and getting any better.

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  • 2007 Andrew Will Sorella 90 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills

    A bit tight even after a 3 hour decant. Dark in color and the nose shows cherry, oak, vanilla, spice and pepper. The palate reveals fruit, pepper and oak. This wine at this moment is not the 96 pointer but closer to a low 90s score. Maybe over time it will improve and I would advise to cellar for 5 plus years.

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  • 2001 Avignonesi Desiderio 92 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

    Drinking well right now with cedar, raspberry, licorice, some funk and earth. Tannins have soften and the wine should be consumed sooner than later.

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  • 2007 Ridge Santa Cruz Mountains Estate 94 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    A sleeper wine and now a top ten of the year for me. It was interesting that in a blind tasting of eight wines this was the lowest pro rated wine by quite a bit. Blind it was the group's favorite wine of the night. Firm tannins but the wine shows cherry, blackberries, coffee and spice on the nose and palate. The finish is medium and has a nice earthy quality. I was surprised how expressive the wine was and it dominated the 2007 Andrew Will Sorella in quality at this stage of the game.

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  • 2004 Elio Altare Barolo 92 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    A bit unusual as it was tasted blind and I would have never guess Barolo as it had many Bordeaux qualities. Raspberries, funk, gravel and spices on the nose. The palate had a Bordeaux like gravel quality and finish. Some of the character overlapped but hard to tell for sure the region. In any case a nice wine overall.

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Closing

The group's wine of the night was the Ridge and a few votes for the Andrew Will and Brane-Cantenac. Not a bad wine in the bunch.

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