Wine-pages Glasgow Festival of Wine Pre Offline

Cail Bruich, Glasgow
Tasted Friday, June 10, 2016 by andrewstevenson.com with 544 views

Introduction

This was an excellent evening, full of terrific wines generously shared by forumites, terrific food from Cail Bruich and also exceptional service from Cail Bruich, who coped amazingly well with us. It's worth saying just how well paced the evening was too - credit needs to go to both the kitchen and the front of house at Cail Bruich for that. We were not rushed, but had enough time to get through all our wines. It was great to see front of house so interested, that they were busily snapping photos of the wines with their 'phones.

Flight 1 - Aperitif (1 Note)

  • 1995 Domaine des Forges Coteaux du Layon Chaume Grains Nobles de Pineau 92 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Coteaux du Layon Chaume

    Quite a delicate nose with touches of honey, lemon, floral notes, and almost orange flower water.
    Lovely palate. It is very sweet of course, but there's a massive acidity too, which keeps it perfectly balanced.
    Very, very precise and focused. Very concentrated and powerful, but still very balanced.

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Flight 2 - White flight (3 Notes)

Smoked Haddock Croquette, Brown Sauce (v: Crispy Celeriac, Brown Sauce)
Steamed Bun, Ham “Jam”, Shallot, Beer Mustard (v: Seed Cracker, Pea, Egg Yolk, Lovage)
Spring Vegetable Tartlet

Mackerel, Cucumber, Green Strawberry “Sauce Vierge”
(v: Vegetables, Spring Vegetable Gazpacho, Green Strawberry “Sauce Vierge”)
Wye Valley Asparagus,Crispy Egg Yolk, Smoked Hollandaise

  • 2006 Dr. Konstantin Frank Rkatsiteli 83 Points

    USA, New York, Finger Lakes

    Mid gold colour. Fairly intense, nutty nose, feeling very evolved. Something a bit marsanne like on the nose.
    Fair palate. Bit of a spritzy zesty lemon note on the attack. This is fading and drying out. There's something very familiar about the flavour, but I can't pin it down. There's a rather odd combination of length and falling short at the same time. Possibly a hint of oxidation, but that might just be the Rkatsiteli. Really quite curious: it's definitely not dead, but it's not entirely alive either. The moral seems to be: drink your Finger Lakes Rkatsiteli before it gets to ten years old.

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  • 1991 Nicolas Joly Clos de la Coulée de Serrant 89 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières-Coulée de Serrant

    A deepish golden colour.
    Fantastic nose, with lemon, lots of white pepper, and some wet dog.
    Remarkable palate. Though it takes a bit of getting used to. It's slightly raisined, and there's a touch of oxidation. A wine to keep going back to. Absolutely bone dry. Good acidity on the finish.

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  • 2015 Riverby Estate Sauvignon Blanc 93 Points

    New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

    This has a lovely nose: very restrained, with some green peas, lettuce and a good minerality.
    Very good palate. Very bright and focused. There's also a fab peppery spice note.
    Very impressive and a very food-friendly sauvignon blanc.
    Great restraint. Quite a firm minerality. A splendid sauvignon blanc.
    93/100
    It also worked exceedingly well with Cail Bruich's excellent mackerel dish: soused mackerel, blowtorched on the skin, mackerel tartare, green strawberry, marinated cucumber.

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Flight 3 - Nebbiolo flight (2 Notes)

  • 2001 Cordero di Montezemolo Barolo Vigna Enrico VI 93 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    A very young colour.
    A nose verging on the glorious. Really poised black fruit (blackcurrant particularly), with a layer of fresh tobacco.
    A lovely palate. Just what it should be. If anything, it feels a bit young.
    Fascinating palate. Very dry and drying. Soft tannins, but very evident tannins.
    This is a jolly interesting wine now, but needs a few more years to really blossom.

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  • 2010 Castagna Adam's Rib The Red 94 Points

    Australia, Victoria, North East, Beechworth

    A very curious mint sauce nose. Very minty with lots of tar.
    Fascinating palate: fresh, vibrant black fruit, and then you get a real punch of the syrah (it's a blend of 70% nebbiolo and 30% syrah).
    These layers of flavours continue flowing over each other throughout.
    Carries its 14% alcohol very well.
    I love this: a fascinating wine.

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Flight 4 - Un-Burgundy flight (2 Notes)

  • 2013 Riverby Estate Pinot Noir Reserve 88 Points

    New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

    Very, very soft red fruit on the nose, with a nice herbal note.
    Soft, round palate. Quite a spicy touch with firm tannins.
    Worked very well with duck with apricot and peas.

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  • 2000 Chateau Musar Flawed

    Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

    Yup. Musar nose. Old sweaty leather. Oxidative. Sweaty and cheesy.
    While Musar can swing every which way, I'm not convinced this bottle is quite right. It feels both a bit oxidised and a bit reductive on the palate, and a bit cooked. Being generous, it might just be suffering from not having been vigorously decanted a few hours previously. Dunno.

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Flight 5 - 1996 Ridge flight (2 Notes)

  • 1996 Ridge Petite Sirah York Creek 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District

    Very attractive, very approachable nose. This is so much more approachable than the Santa Cruz Mountains merlot.
    Lots of juicy black fruit on the palate. Very enticing.
    Drying tannins on the finish.

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  • 1996 Ridge Merlot 91 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Quite a slight nose - black fruits. Slightly murky nose. It's not especially thrilling on the nose.
    Round, full, soft black fruit on the palate, with big, spicy tannins on the finish.
    There's something slightly curious about this, though I am rather liking it.
    It's a bit too young and tight, I think. Slightly sweaty palate. Leathery tannins.

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Flight 6 - Under 300 cases Reds flight (2 Notes)

With all the reds:
Goosnargh Duck, Apricot, Peas, Lettuce, Girolle, Black Garlic
(v: Kholrabi, Apricot, Peas, Lettuce, Girolle, Black Garlic)

  • 2003 Fetzer Coro Mendocino 95 Points

    USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino County

    A blend of 50% Zinfandel, 30% Syrah, 15% Petite Sirah, and 5% Grenache from vineyards in California's Mendocino county.
    An intriguing nose. Soft, slightly herbaceous black fruit. With aeration, this is really growing on me. Delectable and very balanced.
    Wow. This is very good. Much better than I was expecting.
    It's an intriguing blend, and it works very well. Lovely balance on the palate.
    Huge depth with real spice. There's lots of zinfandel character, yet balanced by the other varieties.
    Delicious and full of character. Very accomplished.
    I'd buy more of this.
    Probably being generous, but 95/100

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  • 1997 Domaine de la Grange des Pères Vin de Pays de l'Hérault 92 Points

    France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Vin de Pays de l'Hérault

    Fantastic nose with gorgeous rounded black fruit.
    Rich, full palate. This is delicious, if rather hefty stuff.
    But it feels a little simple compared to the Fetzer.
    Really rich in the mouth. Very wide and mouthfilling. Very rounded and open.

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Flight 7 - Sweet riesling flight (2 Notes)

Strawberry, Katy Rodgers Yoghurt, Elderflower Soda

  • 2014 Riverby Estate Noble Riesling Single Vineyard Marlborough 92 Points

    New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

    Delicate, precise nose. Lovely botrytis notes. I've got written down here "risotto primavera nose" but have no idea what that means, and can't really see how it would apply to a botrytised riesling: somebody must have been talking about risotto at the time, or something.
    Gorgeous palate. Very sweet, but that sweetness is kept entirely in check.
    Rich, yet very balanced palate. Very, very balanced. Good acidity. Really bright.
    92/100
    Fabulous with the first dessert of strawberry, yoghurt and elderflower.

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  • 2012 Delheim Riesling Edelspatz Noble Late Harvest 91 Points

    South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

    Very precise, focused nose. Very fresh, ripe riesling fruit.
    Lovely balanced palate. Huge acidity. Pretty impressive.

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Flight 8 - Other sweeties flight (2 Notes)

Meadowsweet, Rapeseed Oil Cake, Sea Buckthorn, Cream Cheese Ice Cream

  • 1977 Lenz Moser Gewürztraminer Beerenauslese 92 Points

    Austria, Burgenland

    A deep copper colour.
    Oof. Fabulous nose that really wakes you up. Wonderfully precise nose, though not especially gewurz-y.
    It's almost as though it's evolved from being gewurz and is now "just" an old Beerenauslese.
    A lovely old BA.
    A very, very good BA.

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  • 2004 Linne Calodo Zinfandel Sweet Leona Leona's Vineyard 92 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

    On the nose, this seems fully mature. Sweet fresh and dried blackberry fruit.
    Vaguely sweet, ripe, red and black fruit on the palate.
    Quite concentrated on the palate, with a pleasing intensity.
    Slightly musky and very deep. Lots of rich black fruit, with a nice spice.
    Very good balance.

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Flight 9 - Reserves and wines shared by other tables (9 Notes)

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