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Chambar - Vancouver, BC
Tasted Tuesday, November 20, 2012 by MattTM with 770 views

Flight 1 (1 Note)

  • 2003 Dom Pérignon Champagne

    France, Champagne

    Quite ripe on the nose, showing a generous amount of toast, yeast and nuts, along with some tart lemon zest and green apple skins hiding behind. The richness follows through to the palate, displaying more of the dominant nuts and yeast up front, followed by fresh lemon juice and a hint of tart green apples. Long length finish ending on notes of yeast and lemon. A firm mousse and moderate acidity provides some punch to the ripe and round flavors on the palate. Much debate has been made regarding the age-ability and quality of the 2003, and it will be interesting to follow this over the years. While lacking the precision and focus compared to other young DP's I have tasted, this was still very enjoyable in an unorthodox style. Very good.

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Flight 2 (1 Note)

  • 2000 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

    This appears to be in a difficult stage right now. Super tight and light on the nose, and after vigorous swirling exposes faint lemon juice, saline, crushed oyster shells, and a hint of oak. Very restrained on the palate as well, showing lemon, crushed sea shells, salty sea spray, some floral notes, sour orange zest and some charred oak. Plenty of acidity present, with a medium- length finish ending on notes of lemon and charred oak. Difficult to judge at this stage, this was flat and pretty shut down. I'm not sure how the bottle was prepared, but it clearly needs more time in the cellar or a long decant. Withholding judgement

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Flight 3 (2 Notes)

  • 2006 Henschke Shiraz Hill of Grace

    Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley

    Huge, dense, and concentrated on the nose showing aromas of salty saline mixed with rich ripe dark fruits, new tire rubber, black licorice, and a generous amount of spice. The saltiness carries through to the palate, displaying salty fig, ripe black fruits, anise, blackberry jam, menthol, asphalt, some slight floral lavender notes, along with a ton of spicy clove and black pepper. Moderate acidity complimented by plenty of gritty tannins. A long length finish ending on notes of menthol and salty fig. While very ripe, this manages to drink with incredible balance even in its youth. Big, chewy, and salty with a gorgeous velvety texture coats the tongue. There is no doubting the quality here. Fantastic.

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  • 2006 Château Margaux

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Beautiful nose, although quite restrained at this time, showing lots of leather up front, followed by rich cassis, forest moss, red cherries, black plums, and some graphite. Quite tight, but with some coaxing opened up a tad. Onto the palate, flavors of tart red currants come to the forefront, followed by more leather, black plum, candied red cherries, menthol, and a touch of clove. Tons of tart acidity surround plenty of sandy tannins. Medium length finish ending on notes of menthol, black cherries, and red currants. As one would expect this is in a tough stage of development at the current time as it's quite shut down. After about an hour in the glass this had closed down completely, but gave a nice glimpse into the future prior to that. The underlying components are there, this just needs time to sleep. Give this 10 years at least. Fantastic.

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Flight 4 (2 Notes)

  • 1999 Gaja Langhe Nebbiolo Sperss

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC

    Tons of barnyard on the nose, throwing off aromas off saddle leather, dirt and forest floor, along with a ton of red cherries, cassis, blackberries, and menthol. More of that leather character flows through to the palate, along with lead pencil shavings, black cherries, menthol, tart red currants, and red cherry cough syrup. Tons of mouth numbing tannins are coupled with lots of drying acidity. Long length finish ending on notes of mint and cherry cough syrup. While quite open and expressive on the nose and showing some nice aged character, the palate was a different story. Tightly wound and restrained, yet showing a glimpse into what the future has in store. This clearly needs at least another 5 years, but it will prove worth the wait. Fantastic.

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  • 2008 Antinori Solaia

    Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

    Possessing tons of power on the nose, this displays lots of rich ripe blackberries, black cherries, cassis, menthol, black licorice, coupled with a slight note of saline. As expected huge and ripe on the palate as well, showing rich black cherries, cassis, black licorice, cedar, graphite, and a generous amount of menthol and black pepper spice. Even though this is quite ripe, it all comes into balance with a nice showing of acidity along with plenty of sandy tannins. Long length finish ending on notes of menthol and cedar. For my taste this is a bit over the top right now and is in need of plenty of cellar time to calm this beast. Would be interesting to try this again in 10 years. Very good.

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Flight 5 (2 Notes)

  • 1997 Ridge Monte Bello

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Beautiful feminine nose that's showing some age, displaying aromas of cedar, graphite, red cherries, fresh mint, show leather, blueberries, and a touch of prune. Lots of red and black cherries appear on the palate, along with some more mint, cedar and graphite, yet now with some clove spice appearing. A moderate amount of acid is still hanging in there with light tannins that are mostly resolved. Medium length finish ending on notes of black cherries, cedar, and clove. While the nose was quite modest and restrained, the palate appeared tired and was a bit dilute and lacking fruit which surprised me. This bottle was clearly more advanced than it should be and wouldn't be fair to rate based on this showing.

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  • 1985 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Still incredibly youthful and harnessing a ton of power on the nose, displaying aromas of spicy black pepper, cloves, raisins, sweet dried dates, prunes, and black licorice. An even better showing on the palate exhibiting a generous amount of black pepper and clove spice, along with gingerbread, fresh mint, rich dark red cherry, and a hint of sherry. A pleasant bite of crisp acidity compliments the rich fruit and spice. Long length finish ending on notes of spicy black pepper, prunes, and caramel. Obviously this is still incredibly young and just beginning to come out of it's shell, but was already showing good balance. I believe this bottle only saw an hour in the decanter, but it would have benefited from at least a few more if you plan to enjoy this now. Very good+

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