Coincidental Birthday Offline (Spanish mini-horizontal and Northern Rhones)

St. John, London
Tasted Tuesday, July 18, 2006 by Rani with 676 views

Introduction

With Guillaume and Paul Jaouen visiting London, this was a perfect opportunity to celebrate my birthday in style. We met at St. John along with Isabelle (Guillaume's colleague), Jeff Warren and Steve Matteo. Maybe it's the birthday mood, but I really thought the food was excellent this time (both the saddle of rabbit and the Old Spot were superb, as well as the veal hearts).

Flight 1 - Champagne (1 Note)

Flight 2 - 2001 "New Wave" Spaniards (3 Notes)

Here were 3 wines from Spain, that only had in common their vintage and the fact that they represent the more "international" winemaking style in Spain. Otherwise, they're from different regions and made from different varieties.
My WOTF was the IDUS, just because it's so enjoyable for current drinking. The Cabrida is very high quality but needs more time. I was somewhat disappointed by the Pintia - the oak treatment combined with the Tempranillo flavour profile just didn't do it for me as much as the other two. Still - very high quality all around.

  • 2001 Celler Vall Llach Priorat IDUS 92 Points

    Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

    Dark ruby purple. This is a blend of 40% carignan, 20% merlot and the rest divide between cab. sauv., syrah and grenache. Blueberry and bacon on the nose. Huge plummy fruit, surprisingly approachable with fat but soft tannins. A hedonistic wine. Great now, but I not one for the long haul.

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  • 2001 Celler de Capçanes Montsant Cabrida 92 Points

    Spain, Catalunya, Tarragona, Montsant

    100% Grenache. Dark ruby and fiercely tannic, it softened up with air somewhat, but I would still give it at least 5-6 years of cellaring. Spicy and peppery, blend of red and dark fruit and tightly structured. 92 now but will improve.

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  • 2001 Bodegas Pintia Toro Pintia 90 Points

    Spain, Castilla y León, Toro

    Lots of violets and vanilla on the nose. Brambly fruit on the attack, but lacking somewhat on the midpalate and felt over-oaked to me at the moment. I think it needs another 3 years to balance out.

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Flight 3 - Cote Rotie (3 Notes)

All 3 of these wines were great. I was especially fond of the Rostaing but would happily drink any of these.

Flight 4 - Hermitage (2 Notes)

Flight 5 - Sticky (1 Note)

Closing

Thanks all for coming and bringing such great wines (not a dud in sight!). It was great seeing Paul and Guillaume again.
I bribed the waiter with a couple of wines to taste, which gave us a substatial discount on corkage (he "forgot" to count some of our bottles). For future reference...

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