4 Guys, 7 Wines, Blind Tasting & Dinner

Nice dinner with some fantastic Pasta and a bunch of good bottles.

• 2016 Reichsrat Von Buhl Forster Pechstein Riesling Großes Gewächs 87 Points

  Germany, Pfalz

  Tasted Blind. Very Sauvignon Blanc like (we all guessed this to be a SB) with a nice herbal component, fresh acidity, lime, some stone fruit aromas, bone dry. Less austere than Sauvignon Blancs tend to be but would not have guessed this to be a Riesling. Did not reveal much, not overly complex but a nice wine for a summer aperitif on a terrace but I guess this will certainly gain a lot with 10 more years on the hips. Wouldn’t necessarily open another bottle soon.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2010 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Complex, thick, concentrated, creamy, very high aroma intensity with some citrus fruits, grassy herbal notes and the distinctive White Bordeaux minerality (sea salt, oysters). On top, this had slight oxidative notes. In my opinion, this added to the complexity but others in the group did not enjoy it that much. So, while the wine was quite fresh with an acidity backbone which would allow for one, two decades of further ageing, not every bottle might survive (or not every taster will like the result). Tasted blind, well identifiable as a white Bordeaux but due to the slight oxidative notes it felt 5 or 10 years older.

  Post a Comment / 4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1996 Opus One 97 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  What a nice surprise! Never had an Opus that old and given the rather low critic scores I would have never guessed it to be such a good wine. Tasted blind (decanted for 2 hours, slow-ox for another hour – which seemed perfect for this wine). Quite easily identifiable as Cab (dominated blend) with the typical dark berries and cassis aromas. The dominating factor on the nose, however, was a Bordeaux barnyard, leather, earth, truffle smell to die for! With time in the glass some smoke and herbal notes added to the complexity. Very round, soft, silky tannins, enough acidity there to balance all the power out. I would have guessed Bordeaux but the sheer opulence hinted to a rather old-world style Napa star around the age of 20 (guessed Dominus 1994 but high-intensity forest floor/wild berries aromas shouted Opus all along). My (and the group’s) WOTN.

  Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2004 Antinori Solaia 95 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  Same notes as a few months ago. Despite being almost 15 years old, the wine is still very young, very primary with a lot of freshness, good and silky tannins, and strong, bold aromas of black fruits and a nice, almost CDP like herbal component. Decanted it for 30 mins, slow-ox for 7 hours. I would advise to wait another 5+ years before drinking the next bottle – it should become so much more complex and more elegant with some more time. The group tasted it blind and clearly identified it as Cab but not Bordeaux or Napa.

  Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2012 Cayuse Tempranillo Impulsivo En Chamberlin Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

  Not sure what to think of this wine. Many components for a good wine are there with a high aromatic complexity, smooth tannins and an acidity backbone which will give the wine a long life. But today and even with a few hours in the decanter these components were not well integrated. I would advise to wait 5 or rather 10 years before opening a bottle. The 90 points are for the potential. The drinking experience was rather an 80/85.
  
  Update: The last glas two days later was markably better structure wise but still not overly good. No comparison to the 2011 Impulsivo I had some time ago which was amazing.

  Post a Comment / 4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2012 Jim Barry Shiraz The Armagh 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley

  Tasted blind and thanks to the typical mint/eucalyptus and asian spice aromas well identifiable as Aussie Shiraz. Of course, it is still too young but with a proper decant (4 hours) it was drinking well with nice blue and black fruit (at first it felt slightly overripe), some spices and the before mentioned mint/eucalyptus. No hints of secondary aromas yet. Desnity and structure quite impressive and pointing that this something high end in the glass. This will likely shed-off some more of its baby fat and gain a lot of complexity with time.

  Read 7 Comments / Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2014 Georges Noellat Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes 90 Points

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

  Very interesting wine with lots of complexity with sweet cherries, red berries, some toast aromas, smoke, spices in addition to the big but smooth tannins, a good structure. While there might be a lot of nice pieces of a puzzle they do not yet form a beautiful picture. And I’m not quite sure if I should like the ripeness here. Nevertheless, the 90 points might be a bit too harsh considering that this bottle had a hard time as we opened it spontaneous after six big and bold wines.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue