Pinot noir extravaganza

Simple format:
All ppl bring nibbles and 2 btls where ONE must be a Bgn PN and the second btl can be anything, but preferably a PN.
We drink everything blind and deliver our scoring + answers to two Q's before the wines are made known.
We had lots of fun :-)

Q1: is this PN? Y/n
Q2: is this Bgn? Y/n

Who would've guessed a white PN?
The Champagne was much more simple.

• 2009 Anne Amie Pinot Noir Blanc Prismé 85 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  Pale yellow, looking young.
  Nose: a strong oak character towards toffee (New World gone a bit mad) and young fruit. Nondescript.
  Mouth: Nose had promised a bit of acid (association of Chardonnay) but this was dry, sporting an oily character due to the low level of acids with hazelnuts and "tropical" aromas. Et-OH was shining through. Taste profile was ok, but nothing to walk around the block for.
  
  With THIS (!) price tag, completely not interested!

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• NV Paul Dethune Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs Brut 88 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Pale yellow.
  Slightly darker Champagne aroma palette.
  M+ acids, creamy mouthfeel, mild and a fine, long delicious finish almost without elegance. Mild wood treatment. General impression: A little clumsy.
  
  The Champheads around the table enjoyed this wine much more than I did.

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Blind, random.
The Gros Frère & Soeur started ut in a most strange way, but came back. Personally, the later Vosne-Romanée was a block buster, but many ppl thought of it more as a ball-buster...

• 2011 By Farr Pinot Noir "Farrside" 90 Points

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong

  Light red.
  Dusty, smokey, grande, attractive nose of clear PN distinction.
  Displays hints of maturity. Ashes-dust-minerality, licorice. Superb acids that vibrate in this wine. In the finish, you find a gulp of jam. But this wine is very well kept together and aaaalmost tastes of cold clime PN.
  Screamed: PN!

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• 2011 Gros Frère et Sœur Vosne-Romanée 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée

  Light red.
  Nose: First whiff and I put it aside: Wet dishcloth, strange meaty aromas and something unclean.
  After some intense swirling, it comes in the glass. Superb red berries, good meat.
  
  Palate: Thin and watery but intense and distinct at the same time as it is marvellously transparent. The minerality oozes up everywhere, and this is just incredibly delicious. Intense and looong.
  
  This is something I can easily imagine myself drinking more of.

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• 2011 Friedrich Becker Sankt Paul Spätburgunder Großes Gewächs 84 Points

  Germany, Pfalz

  This is not my preference.
  
  Light red with early bricking.
  Nose: Tutti-frutti candy, a bit sweet/jammy and not altogether attractive aromas of early maturity.
  Mouth: Acids create a nerve in this wine, even if the acids are not completely balanced and rule the experience. Has a Tutti-Frutti character and I must say that this is delicious, but not particularly good.

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• 2009 Friedrich Becker Pinot Noir Tafelwein 92 Points

  Germany, Pfalz

  Light red with slight bricking.
  Nose: Grande, super toasted oak.
  Palate: Pure, clean, distinct PN fruit with a luxurious ambiance from the lavish oak. Small maturity also found in the mouth.
  
  This is a bit OTT, but a glass or two during a meat dish would be cracking.

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• 2009 Lucien Le Moine Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots 95 Points

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

  Light red with violet streaks.
  Nose: Aroma of spring water (I know: very, very, very small) and a wee hint of eucalyptus. Almost not there.
  Mouth: One of the most pronounced tannic PN's I ever had. Intense like nothing else and something I'd love to have again and examine during a full evening of fine dining and great conversation.
  
  However: Prohibitively expensive.
  
  Should benefit from at least 15 more years of rest.

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• 2003 Felton Road Pinot Noir Central Otago 93 Points

  New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

  Dark red.
  Nose: M sized with rather attractive aromas of PN and maturity.
  Palate: Delicious and complex with maturity. The muddled transparency takes away something that this wine may have had if the grapes had been of just a little higher quality... Minerality, albeit not distinct. I perceived this as a REAL wine. Delicious! Completely integrated, intense, very fine oak treatment and a hint of Brett.

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The Chinon wine presented me with the biggest faceplant of THIS evening. I was so blinded, I took it fpr a sure PN. All the other tasters hailed the Loire flag :-)

The Fleton rd Block 3 was clearly tonight's winner. A fabulous wine!

• 2010 Domaine Grosbois Chinon Clos du Noyer 80 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon

  This was my face plant at the blind tasting: All the other tasters immediately recognized it as a Loire CF, except me. After giving my guess and score, one guy turned to me and said: "Loire?" and at that instant:
  "Whereas once I was blind, suddenly I could see."
  
  Dark red.
  Nose: Dark, young, tightly knit fruit. Big. Also violet and Brett.
  Mouth: Neither interesting, elegant nor fine-tuned.
  
  (...and a most distinct Loire-CF character...)

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• 2005 Domaine Sylvain Pataille Marsannay L'Ancestrale 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Marsannay

  Red.
  Nose: Licorice, anise seeds, fennel, huge.
  Palate: Superbly balanced wine. Warm core and made me smile, this is like a friendly hug. This is good s**t! Displays its transparency well and the PN-kind of "voluminousness".
  
  Made me happy that this was a Bgn.

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• 2002 Felton Road Pinot Noir Block 3 94 Points

  New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

  I loved this one. First thought it was a 98p wine of pure pedigree, but changed my mind as the sniffing and gargling went on.
  
  Red with clear maturity towards brown.
  Nose: Gunpowder extravaganza, very attractive maturity R uS including burnt hair and other wonderful stuff.
  Palate: This has some good tannins still, is transparent with raw wood, mineral bits and some vegetabilia. Intense and a real wine on its plateau, where it will remain for some time. In its stride - YAY!
  
  Out of 24 wines, nine tasters gave this wine the evening's highest score of a humble, Swedish: 89.6 points. I agree to the recognition, but would have been happy to see a higher score :-)

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• 2011 Neudorf Pinot Noir Moutere 91 Points

  New Zealand, South Island, Nelson, Moutere

  Light red.
  Nose: Supermarket soap and a stale red wine that you can be served as a glass wine in a pub in the forgotten village of Loch Olcrombie.
  
  Palate: First taste
  Stalks and tannins and no balance *sigh* put it aside.
  
  Palate: Second taste
  Ah? But? This is becoming a fine wine. The raw wood is worth mentioning. There is superb concentration, but the balance never quite arrives at some kind of conclusion.
  
  (Wish I had written more as I can't remember this wine today.)

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• 2012 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Williams Selyem Estate Vineyard 82 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Not a great wine at an insane price-per-btl.
  
  Light red.
  Already on the nose, this PN ended up in the US as a rather bleak PN-wannabe-fail. Toffee-barrel-character, raspberry caramel.
  Palate: Mouth stuffed with raspberry caramels. Superb easy drinking plonky PN, non-complex with raspberries and Tutti-Frutti.
  
  Sadly enough for those expecting a superb delivery: this was a loud faceplant.

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• 1997 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

  One whiff and this was noted as a Bgn PN.
  
  Light red with some maturity.
  Nose: Incredibly Bgn with the inimitable maturity aromas of cold cuts and medium aggressive cheese.
  Mouth: Superbly balanced and I agree with what Paul S suggests: Early plateau with upside for keepers. It's layered and complex, transparent and true to its terroir. This one has a good dose of tannins. What it lacks, is that it's a good deal watery for my palate, and the price it commands is just insane. Not for my funds.
  
  But, for Burgheads, this wine is probably worth emptying your wallet for and also waiting 3-4 years for.

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Only 4 btls.
First btl: Flawed.
Second: Plonk.
But the remaining two were quite nice.

• 1989 Domaine Launay Chambertin Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

  An active biological experiment that went terribly wrong. This must be what zombies smell like.
  
  Later on, we examined the cork, and it was in a terribly poor state: bled through. And it was evident that a nasty critter (larvae) had bored pipelines in the cork. It probably also invited some friends, and they all later died happily in the bottle, gave rise to very unusual aromatics and zombies.
  
  *ugh*

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• 2010 Irony Pinot Noir Russian River Valley 80 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Red towards violet.
  Nose: Red fruits and sugary PN.
  Palate: Simple and easydrinking. The ok intensity and ok deliciousness save this wine from the 70'ies.
  
  Could be useful for late-night-plonk-quaffing.

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• 2008 Gérard Raphet Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Aux Combottes Cuvée Unique 91 Points

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

  Took three whiffs and a little taste to decide this was a Bgn.
  
  Light red.
  Nose: Very fine oak, elegant, rich, flint and gunpowder. Incredibly appealing and promising wine, completely out of the ordinary.
  Palate: If only the palate had followed suit, then we'd be looking at close to 100 points. BUT (there's always a hairy one) Acids rule this wine's kingdom. Very fine transparency, good enough stuffing for giri-giri 90p.
  
  As it's a little watery and too acidic, but with everything else in place, I had to think for a long time before scoring. I decided that awarding it 91 points is reasonably generous. I also made a promise to myself that I will never buy this wine, even if the price is not completely deterring for a Bgn.

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• 2007 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay 1er Cru Clos du Château des Ducs 92 Points

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

  Nose: Delicious candy, violets and red berries.
  Palate: Decidedly tannic with the aromas of the rubber-powder inside of a balloon. Umpa-umpa.
  
  Quite unusual for a Bgn, so took me a while to figure this one out.
  
  (Wish I had written more, as I can't remember it.)

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Interesting to have exactly the same wine as one of the German btls in the first heat, and the group scored it very close to its original score.
Personally, I think this was the consistently best flight, also with the old lady, that I'd have loved to have in the first heat, in order to savour it extendedly.
The Sheridan did not even pretend to be a PN, it was just itself, cool and sexy as always :-)

• 2009 Friedrich Becker Pinot Noir Tafelwein 93 Points

  Germany, Pfalz

  The Second time (!) this wine showed up in our tasting.
  
  Light red.
  Nose: Huge roasted oak with a bit of a frowsy aspect of the other aromas.
  Palate: Rich, huge roasted oak palate. Overdone. Reminded me of one of the previous Germans. Wide aroma palate, and even if this is somewhat of an abomination, I just love it. This wine is a restrained beast but a troll that is far from beautiful.

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• 2008 Friedrich Becker Pinot Noir Tafelwein 93 Points

  Germany, Pfalz

  My first thought was: "What? Yet another German?" But I thought it impossible to get 4 German PN's in one event of a PN-brown bag.
  
  Light red.
  Nose: A lot of oak (again) but other than that: tightly shut, a borderline grim face. Hints of spruce needles.
  Palate: A lot of oak, this is a welcoming, open-for-business and exuberant wine that is made for food and love.
  
  ...but the pricetag is sheer insanity X-(

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• 2005 Domaine Tortochot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Champeaux 93 Points

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

  Red.
  Nose: Some maturity on top of cassis, black currant leaves and lingonberries. Astonishingly attractive!
  Palate: Great tannic experience with everything in place for a perfect wine, BUT it is ... watery. A delicious wine with great intensity, a fair amount of complexity, but not at all my cup of tea.
  
  Scoring this wine was this evening's second most complex challenge. A lot of thoughts went into this score. From personal preference, 87p would probably be my position.

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• 2009 Sheridan Vineyard Cabernet Franc 94 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley

  From afar: Neither a Bgn nor a PN. Brought this btl as I was afraid that too many watery, ballerina, Project Runway wines would make me crave for a real wine. And THIS, ladies and gentlemen, is a real wine!
  
  Blackish red.
  Dark-fruited with slight vegetal/star-fruit CF-character. It is SA-tannic with distinct aromas from inside of a fabric store, of CF and a generous climate.
  
  This is a love-affair in a bottle.

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• 2007 Flowers Pinot Noir Andreen-Gale Sonoma Coast 92 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Nose: restrained oak, superbly elegant PN character and with a very fine flow.
  Palate: So deceptively Bourgognesque that the majority of tasters called: BGN for this one. Of course including moi :-)
  Elegant, transparent, complex, delicious, watery... All the grand hallmarks of Bgn.

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• 1930 Maison Jules Régnier Chambertin 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

  The label was in poor shape, and the label was completely peeled off at the place where the vintage should be. The severely blackened cork did not show any traces of a vintage or any other branding. Maybe the group's later findings mean we need to move this wine to an earlier year. Our clue so far is that the guy who so generously served this unique part of cultural history had received it as a gift from his grandma who said "something" about 1930.
  
  For sure it's a btl by Jules Régnier & Co or Cie. You can read "Chamb..." on the label, and there is no possibility to fit any other appellation than "Chambertin". The btl is clearly hand-blown. We are currently investigating the vintage, and other labels seem to suggest that this btl may very well be much older. Mind boggles!
  
  Very pale pink with brown sludge.
  Nose: grated raw Jerusalem artichoke and chocolate factory, as they mince the beans.
  Palate: This is a beautiful old lady that is incredibly intense and alive today. And not in the zombie way. This wine struck me as an awesome experience, and I pondered 100p for it, but I decided that 100p was not something you can achieve (in my World) with the age factor alone.
  
  ...how I love these old wines for their interesting history and scars. *mjuff*

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The New Zeeland PN 2002 Felton Road Block 3 was best in show.
The host scored 21 correct answers in both bouts.
I managed to be his equal in the first round (PN or not) but failed in the second (Bgn or not). Still, a silver medal for someone who is not particularly happy with PN is ok.