Seattle Wine Group - July 2013 Wine Tasting Event - Theme: Old World Whites ABCR

Freelon's house - Kent/Covington Area
Tasted Friday, July 19, 2013 by f22nickell with 623 views

Introduction

This month was Freelon's turn to choose the theme - Old World Whites ABCR ("Anything But Chardonnay or Riesling"). Quite the difficult task for most of us this appears to be an area we collectively are lacking. Freelon also wanted to host this event at his house instead of the Amaroso room in Bellevue.

Talk about a gracious host! We arrived to two bottles of Champagne (I didn't catch the labels) with an antipasto plate of cheese, smoked salmon, and olives.

During the Old World White ABCR Tasting, Freelon served Scallops right off the grill.

After the Old World White ABCR Tasting, Freelon sent the group to raid his cellar for reds to go with big, beautiful steaks on the grill. We chose 3 bottles while Freelon and his wife served up the perfect steaks, salad, oven potatos, and french bread.

Finally, as the evening rolled to an end, Freelon brought out some chocolate and a Sauternes.

Flight 1 - Old World Whites - ABCR (7 Notes)

Anything but Chardonnay or Riesling

  • 2012 Bodegas del Palacio de Fefiñanes Rías Baixas Albariño D Fefiñanes 85 Points

    Spain, Galicia, Rías Baixas

    Color: Light yellow, very clear
    Aroma: lemon, melon, smoke and minerals
    Palate: Nice and fresh with medium body and slightly oily and round texture. Decent acidity.
    Moderate length

    Bottle "A" - 4th place for me, seven entries.

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  • 2006 Château Carbonnieux Blanc Flawed

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Color: Lemon yellow, very clear
    Aroma: oxidized - Nutty, yeasty
    Palate: Bitter, caramel, a touch of grapefruit juice
    Oxidized

    Bottle "B" - 7th place for me, seven entries.

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  • 2009 Château Guiraud Le G 82 Points

    France, Bordeaux

    Color: Straw colored, almost clear
    Aroma: musty, band-aid
    Palate: citrus, tart, white tea, green apple - not appealing.
    Moderate length

    Bottle "c" - 5th place for me, seven entries.

    Had the 09 and 10 in the line up ... came in 5th and 6th place for me out of 7 entries (last place was a flawed, oxidized bottle.) Pretty clear this is not my style of wine.

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  • 2009 Château Gaudrelle Vouvray Clos le Vigneau 91 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

    Color: Very pale gold
    Aroma: honey, fig, minerals, white peach, green apple, straw, melon
    Palate: honey, minerals, white flowers, faint tropical fruit, fig.
    Rich, round & smooth, long, tangy finish seamlessly melts away. Moderate length

    Bottle "D" - 1st place for me, seven entries.

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  • 2007 Didier Dagueneau Silex 91 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé

    Color: Bright straw, light and clear
    Aroma: grapefruit, herbs, minerals, a bit of peach
    Palate: Citrus lemon and flint. Medium acidity, medium complexity. Good balance. Moderate length

    Bottle "E" - 2nd place for me, seven entries.

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  • 2010 Château Guiraud Le G 81 Points

    France, Bordeaux

    Color: Straw color, almost clear
    Aroma: Diesel and band-aids
    Palate: Pineapple juice, white tea, citrus, green apple.

    Bottle "F" - 6th place for me, seven entries.

    Had the 09 and 10 in the line up ... came in 5th and 6th place for me out of 7 entries (last place was a flawed, oxidized bottle.) Pretty clear this is not my style of wine.

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  • 2009 F.X. Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Ried Kellerberg 88 Points

    Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau

    Color: Straw colored, almost clear
    Aroma: musty, crisp, citrus
    Palate: citrus fruit on the front end, hops on the back end. Decent flavor, but found the hoppy after taste a bit unpleasant. Left me reaching for the water glass to get the taste out of my mouth.

    Bottle "G" - 3rd place for me, seven entries.

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Flight 2 - Cellar Raid! (4 Notes)

Freelon sent us down to his Cellar to pick out some reds to go with big, beautiful, juicy steaks on the grill.

  • 2004 Cayuse Syrah En Chamberlin Vineyard 93 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

    Cellar raid! - Freelon gave us (near) free run of his cellar - this is one of three bottles we dragged up to have with steaks following the white wine tasting - Thank you Freelon!

    Not quite as good as the one we opened back on May 20th for our Tuscan wine tasting event. Still had the classic Cayuse funk on the nose, but the palate was muted compared to last time. Could be that we just popped n' poured. Palate improved over time, but the fruit never came up to the level of the last bottle. Still an oustanding bottle of wine, just not quite as good as the last one.

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  • 2001 Château La Mission Haut-Brion 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Aroma: smoke, blackberries, plums, earthy, cedar cigar box
    Palate: velvety, dark berry fruit, cassis, swisher sweet cigars, a hint of chocolate
    Moderate length

    Cellar raid! - Freelon gave us (near) free run of his cellar - this is one of three bottles we dragged up to have with steaks following the white wine tasting - Thank you Freelon!

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  • 1982 Château Giscours 89 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Color: very dark, slightly browing rim
    Aroma: earth, black fruits, anise, medicinal
    Palate: silky, rust, earthy-copper notes, touch of leather.
    Moderate length

    Jason brought this to the tasting. Interesting aroma - an intellectual exercise.

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  • 1999 La Spinetta (Rivetti) Barbaresco Vürsù Vigneto Valeirano 90 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

    Color: Light ruby color, a little bricking
    Aroma: dusty red fruit, black tea leaf, and rose petals
    Palate: nice acidity with cherry, red fruit flavors, and dried leaves - a bit tart
    Moderate length

    Cellar raid! - Freelon gave us (near) free run of his cellar - this is one of three bottles we dragged up to have with steaks following the white wine tasting - Thank you Freelon!

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Flight 3 - Digestif (1 Note)

Dessert wine with chocolates to wind down the night.

  • 2009 Château Doisy-Daëne 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

    Color: Pale yellow-golden color
    Aroma: white peach, pineapple, apricot
    Palate: well balanced, good acidity. stone fruits (pears, apricots), a hint of lime. Moderate length

    Preferred the flavors of the single berry late harvest riesling we had two months ago, but this was a better, balanced wine.

    Freelon brought this out with chocolate as the evening started to wind down. Quite the host Freelon, very generous!

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Closing

A wonderful evening Freelon!

We all thank you very much, gracious host!

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