Wine Spectator Offline, San Diego

Mimmo's, Little Italy
Tasted Saturday, November 19, 2011 by Javachip with 716 views

Introduction

As usual, point scores are my own, and overall rankings are by group vote. Also as usual, I've been bringing quite a bit of madeira to our offlines lately, and tonight was no exception. Fortunately there were more than enough outstanding wines to keep everyone happy.

Flight 1 (10 Notes)

  • 2000 Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne Cuvée Spéciale 90 Points

    France, Champagne

    Very fine, subdued bead. Bright, fresh notes of Macintosh apple, unripe pear, fresh bread dough, mushroom. Crisp and delicious. My #3 tonight, out of nine wines.

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  • 2005 Olivier Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 89 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet

    A terroir-driven wine with pronounced mineral notes of chalk and flint, along with white flowers, white grapefruit, and key lime. Crisp and acidic, very nice.

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  • 2009 Benovia Chardonnay La Pommeraie Vineyard 88 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

    Burgundian style with some late harvest characteristics as well. Notes of butterscotch, golden raisin, quince, star fruit. An hour later, more typical New World chardonnay notes of smoky pear and lemon oil. Not as crisp or tart as I personally like, but this was the group's SECOND PLACE for the night.

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  • 2006 Linne Calodo Leona's 85 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

    Dark purple-fuschia-garnet. Stewed prunes, oak, spicy jammy black fruit. Excessive sur maturite for my taste. 74%Zin, 12% Mourvedre, 8% Alicante, 6% Syrah.

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  • 1987 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Flawed

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    En magnum. Upper shoulder fill. Cork shrunken, fully saturated, wet on top, and slightly loose. Color mahogany brick, more brown than red. Unsurprisingly, this was maderized, with notes of cashews, raisins, cedar, cranberries. 2/3 of the magnum was left on the table untouched. Bummer. These auction bargains seem less of a bargain when I end up pouring them down the sink.

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  • 1996 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova 86 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    Dark purple garnet. Notes of tobacco, barnyard, cherries, leather. Herbal finish.

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  • 1982 Château La Louvière 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Fill into neck. Not decanted. Youthful dark garnet-blood color. Expressive bouquet right out of the gate -- bright fresh red currants, plums, scorched earth. Later, some notes of iron and beef blood as well. Elegant, seamless. Medium-full body, long finish. Wonderful purity and balance. My #1 and group's FIRST PLACE out of nine wines. Thanks to Whine-Oh for this special gem.

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  • 2001 Tenuta Fanti Brunello di Montalcino 92 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    Dark garnet-purple. Fresh, pure, bright notes of cherries, leather, cedar, forest floor, cardamom. Outstanding. My #2 and group's THIRD PLACE for the night.

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  • 1993 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 89 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Fill into neck. Decanted for 15 minutes, then re-bottled and brought to restaurant. Clear dark garnet hue. Notes of creme de cassis, anise seed, fennel, oak, forest floor. I could do with a bit less herbal character, but otherwise very nice.

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  • NV Jean Bourdy Galant des Abbesses

    France, Jura, Côtes du Jura

    Hazy light straw honey color tinged with pink blush. Distinctive bouquet of mulling spices -- cinnamon and cloves. Wish I had some apple pie to go with this. We drank it at room temperature -- I bet it would also taste great heated in a mug. We awarded this a strong "Honorable Mention" even though it contains non-grape ingredients and thus can't be judged with the other wines.

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Closing

Many thanks to "Julie the Cruise Director" for organizing!

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