SAG (Blind) Tasting

Chez Weber - Chicago IL
Tasted Friday, October 24, 2014 by Burgundy Al with 641 views

Introduction

A group of Gary's wine friends got together for a fun blind tasting. Our host was as generous as always. Fantastic time.

Flight 1 - Champagne to Start (1 Note)

Flight 2 - Whites Served Blind Before the Festivities Begin (2 Notes)

  • 2004 Domaine Lamy-Pillot Montrachet 94 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

    Served double blind to tonight's group. Lots of apple, pear and spice with some richness, marzipan and baby fat. Every component is sensational balance. Very long. Not a producer I frequently get to try. Lamy-Pillot's holding in Montrachet is just over 0.05 of a hectare.

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  • 2008 Lucien Le Moine Montrachet 95 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

    Tasted double blind. Generous fruit aromas with background spice. Lemon and lemon peel aromas with lots of fresh energy that made others think Chablis Grand Cru, but I found the understated elegance and power here I associate with Montrachet. Very, very long and graceful.

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Flight 3 - Blind 1985 Flight (4 Notes)

Served double blind.

  • 1985 Château Mouton Rothschild 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Tasted double blind in what turned out to be "1985" flight. Large, fresh black fruit with cassis, cigarbox. Lots of power and very long. Best I can ever recall for the wine. At a great place now.

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  • 1985 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia 89 Points

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

    Tasted double blind in what turned out to be "1985" flight. Lots of red cherry but even more earth. Lean styled, I don't think this is close to ready yet.

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  • 1985 Maison Leroy Beaune 1er Cru Grèves 91 Points

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

    Tasted double blind in what turned out to be "1985" flight. Very ripe and slightly sweet black fruit giving a character we all had trouble recognizing as Burgundy at first. Subtle spice on finish with everything coming together in good harmony.

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  • 1985 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia 92 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Tasted double blind in what turned out to be "1985" flight. Open and decanted several hours. Powerful black and red cherry with lots of anise and green peppercorn. Firm structure, unmistakably Piedmont to almost all tasters.

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Flight 4 - Blind 1982 Flight (4 Notes)

Served double blind.

  • 1982 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Cascina Francia 94 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Tasted double blind in what turned out to be a "1982" flight. Open several hours before serving. Easily identifiable as from Piedmont, lots of licorice and mostly red cherry, some ripe, black cherry in background as well. Very powerful and long, a bit firm right now, this is another wine that kept improving over the hour+ in glass.

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  • 1982 Château Mouton Rothschild 96 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Tasted double blind in what turned out to be a "1982" flight. Clearly Mouton again given the prior 1985 flight. Massive black fruit with great density. Subtle spice kept unfolding and emerging with more air. Exceptional balance. Open ~4 hours before serving, this was charming to start, glorious several hours later.

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  • 1982 Domaine Clair-Daü Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques Flawed

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

    Tasted double blind in what turned out to be a "1982" flight. Dead. With hindsight something might have been salvaged if this had been popped and poured,

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  • 1982 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia 91 Points

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

    Tasted double blind in what turned out to be a "1982" flight. Lots of mostly fresh red cherry. Very elegant and nicely balanced, also on the lean style. i expect this is just entering its peak drinking window and will continue to improve for at least another decade.

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Flight 5 - Blind (Mostly) 1970 Flight. (5 Notes)

Served double blind, but the theme was clear at this point. Only mystery was determining the vintage and figuring out how the older bottle fir into the flight.

  • 1970 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia 93 Points

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

    Tasted double blind in what turned out to be a "1970" flight. This was one of the most surprising wines of the night. Almost all of this thought it from Burgundy! Mature red cherries on nose and palate with great balance and woodsy spice. Long and well textured. I've had this wine 3 or 4 times over the past few years and there had been considerable bottle variation with tonight's certainly the best bottle.

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  • 1970 Château Mouton Rothschild 88 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Tasted double blind in what turned out to be a "1970" flight. Charming aromatic start with mocha, espresso, cedar and spice. Less interesting flavors with a slightly bitter finish. 92 point nose, 85 point flavors.

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  • 1970 Maison Leroy Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Jarrons 89 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru

    Tasted double blind in what turned out to be a "1970" flight. Mature red fruit with modest spice. Interesting, elegant and well styled but slightly short and simple.

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  • 1970 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Tasted double blind in what turned out to be a "1970" flight. Open many hours by the time we got here, this was again obviously from Piedmont for all tasters tonight. Red cherry with lots of licorice and dried rose petal. Good structure, very charming right now.

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  • 1962 Scarpa Barolo Riserva Speciale

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Tasted double blind as a ringer/bonus in what turned out to otherwise be a "1970" flight. Murky. Rose petal and distant memories of red fruit. Not the most pristine of wines. Well past its peak.

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Flight 6 - A Few Bonus Bottles (6 Notes)

  • 1991 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5° 90 Points

    Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

    Tasted double blind. Dense, black and meaty. Good power to start with while retaining good balance. Moderate length and finesse.

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  • 1996 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru

    Tasted double blind. Open 3 hours before serving. Easily identified as from Burgundy, but the wonderful spice made me think Vosne 1er. All red fruit with hints of maturity. When given the 3 choices of Chambolle's best vineyards and producers, I correctly identified this as Mugnier Amoureuses, but thought it was so balanced and integrated that I thought 1998, not 1996.

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  • 1976 Maison Leroy Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru 94 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

    Tasted double blind. Immediately recognizable as Vosne from the Asian five spice jumping out of the glass. Chewy, fresh red fruit with great density. Long with lots of subtle nuance and layers. George says this is declassified Grand Cru, which certainly doesn't surprise. Substantially better than another bottle from several years ago.

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  • 1983 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único 93 Points

    Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

    Tasted double blind. Big powerhouse of a wine with great spice. Dark, dense and slightly lush but with all elements in balance. Much better than another bottle (probably from the same case) from last year.

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  • 1994 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

    Tasted double blind. An odd bottle. Very reductive to start, i had lots of trouble getting past the sulfur even though the bottle was open an hour+, then in glass perhaps another 30 minutes. Seemed ripe and powerful and not distinctly Rioja, which is very different than I remember this wine from previous times tasted.

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  • 1971 Château Suduiraut

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    And then this was served after grappa. Caramel apple, dried apricot, some tropical fruit background notes. Very good from what I recall. Bought last year from a good cellar, most likely where it had been since release.

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