Burg Dinner (CA and France--Served Blind!)

This is the second time we have assembled this group, this time to do some comparative tasting through burgundy varietals. None of the group knew what each other had contributed to the event, although as the orgainzer I knew what was being poured to ensure we did not have duplicates. However, when I wrapped all the wines, I subsequently mixed them up and then numbered them. In doing so, I for the most part removed my bias, as well. We had Fratello's do the food for us, using complementary cuisine that would support the flavors: chicken marsala, pasta primavera with garlic and finished with the Dr Mrs chocolate cake.

We scored the results and used a descending award scale for 1st, 2nd and 3rd: 5 pts, 3 pts and 1 pt, respectively. Within the notes below, assuming you view this event in Cellartracker, I have put some of the scoring with the wines at the end of my TNs.

Served with 5 different cheeses, marconi almonds, dried apricots, duck breast, prosciutto.

• 1988 Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut Vintage Rare

  France, Champagne

  Gold color, turning to a bit bronzy, yellow. Seems a bit oxidized aromatically, with nuts and pear flavors.

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Continued with the cheese course

• 2008 Wind Gap Wines Chardonnay

  USA, California, Sonoma County

  Nice mix of pear, soft tones of apple and brioche. Seemed to lack some complexity for me. The group seemed to like it better than I: 2 1st place votes, 17 total points and finished a strong 3rd overall behind the Sauzet and Carillon.

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• 2008 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ-Canet

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Mineral tones, lemony with good citrus and a zingy core. Lithe with honeyed edges, and kind of a metal shaving/anise seed thing in the long finish. This wine was my WOTF and I scored it my first place. Total of 4 1st place votes, 31 points and the group's 2nd place. Really showed well.

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• 2007 Wind Gap Wines Chardonnay Brosseau Vineyard Flawed

  USA, California, Central Coast, Chalone

  I am going to call this bottle flawed. It came from my cellar and I selected it based on my last note I logged on the wine: I thought it would compete. However, something was off, as it seemed dumb, perhaps even oxidized? A bit of butter with unripe pineapple. Disappointing. I have one more bottle that I trust will be much better, as the wine showed nothing at all last night like it did the last time I had it. Got one 3rd place vote, 1 point total, and finished last.

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• 2008 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Thanks to Kevin for helping me secure one of these for the dinner--awesome customer service. I found a fair amount of oak on the wine, but had a nice pure lime core, with pear, pineapple and some mint, along with vanilla from the oak. Certainly needs time to let whatever wood Kevin put on the wine to soften in. 1 first place vote, 10 total points, finished 5th overall.

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• 2008 Louis Carillon Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Perrières

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  What an excellent bottle of wine. Was damn near my #1 wine of the night but between this wine and the 2008 Sauzet Champ Canet, I took the Sauzet as my #1 and finished this one #2. Citrus, orange rind, green apple/pippin and lots of mineral and complexity. I am fortunate to have bought a couple of these already so I can enjoy this wine a few more times in the future. With only one person not voting for this wine at all, it surely got the attention of the table: 6 1st place votes, 44 total points and overall winner of the white flight. Excellent bottle and for me why I'm on a straight path for more Puligny.

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• 2009 Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie Vieilles Vignes Clos des Briords

  France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie

  This was Wet Rock's ringer. Not chardonnay but muscadet. Good core of pear, spicy and present, energetic and minerally. Very nice. I scored this as my #3 wine. The group took a liking to it, as it got 8 votes but nothing for 1st place. 14 total points and finished in 4th place. Would have done better, I suspect, but it just was an unfair fight with the two Pulignys of the flight.

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Chicken marsala, pasta primavera with olice oil and garlic and the Steve Williams mac and cheese (which kicked ass!)

• 2008 Weber Wine Company Pinot Noir Kelley Family Vineyard

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  We rung this bottle in at the last minute. It actually was a pop and pour and started the flight as first around the table. Bit of oak, perfumey, raspberry, hint of cranberry and smoky. Tight finish but the fruit was bright. Was told this wine is around 20 bucks-ish. It got one 1st place vote, 5 points overall, finished in 8th place.

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• 1992 Etude Pinot Noir Estate Carneros

  USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros

  Has a barnyard note on it, stalky nose. I think several at the table guessed french. Juicy with the fruit hanging in pretty well for almost 20 years old. Smoked cherry. cedar and finishes with a sweet edge and barnyardy, old bones flavor. No votes and no points. Call it 9th place.

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• 2006 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  I was told this got a good decant before the event; however, for me it still showed as oaky. My comment to the table was aftershave/cologne-like. Clove. With some leftover wine from last night still in the bottle, I retasted just now. Fruit still is a bit muddled, with raspberry, strawberry and a toasty/oaky note that kind of cloaks the fruit in. Got no votes last night, no points. Call it 9th place.

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• 2006 Craggy Range Pinot Noir Single Vineyard Te Muna Road Vineyard

  New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough

  This was a ringer, placed in by Robo. Graham cracker, black cherry, dark fruit, dark cranberry, spicy, some richness. Unfortunately, the group did not take to the wine, as it got no votes and no points in terms of the scoring. Call it 9th place.

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• 2003 Domaine des Lambrays Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Les Loups

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru

  Ah-hah! Now we have a wine to vote on, as the 4 wines that preceded this wine got only 1 vote in total. Erasing all of that misery, smells like burgundy. Delicious, great fruit and balanced, complexity--all there. Finishes with nice acidity and some herbiness. Certainly got the group's attention: 6 1st place votes, 37 total points and was the first place wine of all the reds. I also voted this as my #1 wine, too. Thank you bringing, Mr London.

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• 2009 Wind Gap Wines Pinot Noir Gap's Crown & Griffin's Lair

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Young to open but I wanted to see what the raw material is in the bottle. Let's note that the alc on this is pretty low, listed at 12.5%, which is just a tenth higher than the Woodruff that Pax made in 2008 from the SCM ava. It's also 100% whole cluster. Darker in color than the 08 August West Graham I drank the night before: purple and crimson. Some whole cluster emerges through the aromatics but it's in the mid to background. There is a mixture of juicy red fruit, like chery and blueberry, then also a sappy or smoother element in the form of a cranberry. An herbal quality carries into the finish with some crisper red fruited acidity and hint of mineral, along with some mushroom and soil joining the acidity. Certainly leaner in tone but also brings along the sappy quality. I'll be interested to see how this wine ages but I like it and seems to have a good solid foot into the Old World with a mixture of New. NOTE--the TN here is from me enjoying the bottle the night before, as I saved the other 1/2 of it for the burg dinner. Got two 3rd place votes, 2 total points, call it 8th place. Perhaps since it was sandwiched in between the 2003 Lambray (WOTN) and 2007 Dublere (2 first place votes), maybe the Wind Gap here didn't have a fair fight??!!

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• 2007 Domaine Dublère Volnay 1er Cru Pitures

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  god, this wine showed so different last night, as opposed to the bottle I tasted and wrote up just less than 2 weeks ago. That bottle I drank over an entire day and I really sat with it. The bottle I am writing on now was tasted through the burg dinner and was preceded by and was followed by other french so perhaps the CA-like inflections I got in my note 2 weeks ago was drowned out by some bias/tasting influence of where the wine contextually fit in last night's dinner--the wizardry of tasting wines, I guess. I found the wine last night quite french-like, with fine grained tannin, sour cherry, herb and fresh but was certainly more like its place than the bottle a few weeks ago. The group gave it 2 1st place votes, 10 total points, finished in 4th place so not bad, although if you look merely at the attention the wine got, it only got voted on by 2 of 11 people.

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• 2004 Privé Vineyard Pinot Noir Le Sud

  USA, Oregon, Yamhill County

  This was Silk's bottle, the only Oregon in the tasting. I found the wine to be a bit volatile in aroma, rich and funky, and my note says "seemed off?". I did not warm to this wine but in terms of the group, it actually did very well, getting 5 votes which included on 1st place vote, picking up 13 total points, and coming in 2nd place overall. A very good showing, Silk.

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• 1999 Domaine Taupenot-Merme Charmes-Chambertin Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Corked. Ramon had high hopes for this but several us got the taint before the bottle had even circled the table to hit the rest of the glasses. Dumped. Damn.

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• 2006 Copain Pinot Noir Monument Tree

  USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

  This was Robo's bottle. Well decanted before the event and served in the decanter, too. Seemed still a bit grippy to me. Red apple, a soil note which I liked and very nice length and medium weight. Was actually my #2 wine of the red flight and for the group, got 5 votes (no 1st, however), 11 total points and finished overall in 3rd place.

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• 2005 Nicolas Rossignol Volnay 1er Cru Santenots

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  Romo's bottle. My notes say pebbly, nice crunch, full of nice acid, driven red fruit. As there was some leftover of this wine from last night, retasting now. Note of spice on the aromatic but fairly subtle. I really like the palate of this wine--gentle, sleek with a pure cherry and raspberry kind of expression. Just a beautiful, finessed type of expression and finish. If I had sat with this wine more last night, I may have ranked it higher, as it was my #3 wine of the reds but is certainly better than that tasting it now. The overall group was one 1st place vote, 3 total votes, an overall score of 9 points, call it 5th place.

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• 2007 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Chambolle-Musigny

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny

  Ryan's bottle. And based on his reaction last night, he think he'd rather it not have been! For me, it lacked definition, had some crunchy red fruit, the acidity seemed kind of sharp to me. The group gave it two votes, a total of 4 points and call it 7th place.

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• 1999 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Echezeaux

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

  This was Ramon's 2nd bottle, to replace the corked Taupenot-Merme mid-way into the dinner. This Mugneret got very little air, although it did finish the entire red flight going last so it got some decanter time between being opened and then being served, maybe 30 mins. Fresh and vibrant, hitting the whole palate with some rocky tannin on the finish. I got the impression that the wine was very balanced but we surely didn't give it the fair due. The group voting still picked up the caliber, as it got 4 votes, a total of 8 points and it finished in the latter half of the placing but given its 'johnny on the spot' role, it did quite fine. Thank you, Ramon.

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To go with or preceded the Dr Mrs chocolate cake

• 1961 Bouchard Aîné & Fils Chambolle-Musigny

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny

  Had to add this vintage to CT, as it was not listed. Ramon pulled this bottle at the end of the flight, so we passed it around and enjoyed it. I certainly did. Still shows fresh nearly 50 years later, with watermelon, strawberry and cedar. I would have not guessed this kind of bottle age. What a treat, Ramon!

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• 2008 Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  I pulled this at the end of the event, to go with the Dr Mrs chocolate cake. Cocoa on the nose, opulent. Seemed a bit less heavy than the 2007 version and we drank it down pretty fast. I liked it with the cake, as it leaned down the wine and the two together actually seemed like a nice complement to me.

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• 1993 Turley Petite Syrah Hayne Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

  Drank after the 2008 Rivers Marie cab. This did not get decanted and honestly, it did not need it. I was surprised with the 13.5% alcohol on the label and was also pleased with the wine's taste. This is no longer (maybe never was?) modern day Turley or petite, as it showed a juicy blueberry, cedar and spice box but whatever weight or shoulders were on this wine have certainly faded off and it drank like an older styled red with good flavor. It finishes with a brushing of light chocolate and some remaining stuffing so I see the wine going further. No hurry but it is getting into a secondary expression, for sure.

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• 2002 Hartwell Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  The last and final bottle of the post-tasting goodies. Was a pop and pour, as Ramon had finished a trade of a bottle and said "why not, lt's open it". Some people around the table say soy sauce, steak sauce. I got the A-1 note on the aromatic, I can see their point. Black cherry and nice fruit.

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