Tampa FL
Tasted Friday, February 16, 2018 - Sunday, February 18, 2018 by retired_and_roving with 634 views
My second time joining the CT Tampa Spring Break celebration and what a fun weekend it was. Special thanks to Mark, Larry, Claudia and Nancy for organizing and hosting such a fun event and herding all of us winos. The weather was terrific this weekend with temperatures in the 80's and lots of sunshine to warm the frozen souls of those of us from the Northeast.
We had some great wines this weekend and thanks to all the participants for sharing their cellar treasures. It was really great to reconnect with those of you I have met before and to meet some new folks this year. What a great tradition!
For an additional perspective on the wines and detail on all the food served please take a look at Mc2wines tasting story here: https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=37620&searchId=B9F5E544&UISource=list
The NYers all stayed at the same hotel and we were met at check-in with a bottle of celebratory welcome bubbles which turned into everyone opening their wine bags and pulling out some more. Sitting in the sunshine on the terrace, sipping some nectar of the gods, what a great way to kick off the festivities. Given a super light lunch on the airplane - some of us opted to get a snack sampling and ordered a margarita flat bread, parmesan fries, and zucchini ribbons.
Great meal paired with some fun wines, many of which were the first time I had tried.
Favorites for me:
2000 Chateau Pavie Decesse & 2007 Fattoria Petroli Galatrona
1996 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
1981 R. Lopez de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Vina Tondonia
For full notes on the menu served please refer to Mc2wines tasting story.
Ending the night back where we started out on the terrace - enjoying the warm air and reflecting on all the wines we sampled over dinner.
Given the big day before, I opted to taste the wines and enjoy the company at this tasting, so no formal note taking. There were two wines that really stood out for me here that we decided to add to our cellar - so I will share some of my thoughts from memory here. Thanks to Matt for coming all the way from Napa to share his lovely wines with the CT group, thanks to Mark & Claudia for their gracious hospitality hosting this event and thanks to Larry & Nancy for organizing the tasting. A really special and fun event.
A couple of hours between the afternoon winemaker tasting and the new world dinner. A discussion ensued over whether naps made sense or whether we should just keep rolling. Group consensus agree we should just keep on rolling - so out came the bonus bottles. Wines were paired a couple helpings of tasty parmesan french fries.
The New World Dinner on Saturday night was held at Capital Grill. We had a great line up of wines, and some new faces joining the dinner tonight. I have to say it was a really special treat to get to try the 1998 Grange - which was the last red served and my WOTN - thanks Ibetian.
A few whites were brought to sample prior to the blind tasting. All the pour to impress wines were blinded with tin foil and then shuffled and assigned a number. Tasters worked their way through the line up and submitted scores which were tabulated to arrive at an overall average for each wine. The wines were then revealed from lowest to highest score. Tasters also made guessed as to origin/variety/region and vintage - but we ran out of time at the venue to tabulate - so this year the tasters were not ranked.
Lots of diversion in the scores as you can see from the ranges. Think we had a mix of new world and old world palates going here - clearly no general consensus - every wine from the top to the bottom had some yays and some nays. Blind tasting is very humbling - that is all I can say. Lots of fun to do it with other enthusiasts though!
Results as follows:
90.42 - #17 - 2007 Clos Erasmus Priorat - range (84-96)
91.00 - #16 - 2009 Saxum James Berry Vineyard - range(89-95)
91.30 - #8 - 2007 Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Éloge range(?-?)
91.44 - #15 - 2013 Nine Suns - range (89-95)
91.60 - #7 - 2007 Buoncristiani Cabernet Sauv - range (89-96)
91.70 - #13 - 2001 Henri BonneauChâteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Célestins - range (85-97)
91.80 - #6 - 1997 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauv Reserve - range (82-99)
92.30 - #1 - 2010 Peagau CdP Cuvee du Capo - range (?-?)
92.35 - #12 - 2013 Herman Story Grenache 440 Days - range (90-94)
92.40 - #9 - 2002 Dominus - range (90-96)
92.78 - #4 - 2005 Roy Estate Cab Sauv - range - (90-96)
93.05 - #11 - 2007 Alban Grenache Estate Vineyard - range (90-95)
93.20 - #3 - 2009 Cayuse Bionic Frog - range (82-100)
93.27 - #10 - 2012 Memory Found Syrah - range (87-99)
93.45 - #2 - 2007 Colgin Tyschon Hill - range (91-98)
93.75 - #14 - 2004 Bond St. Eden - Range (90-96)
A great event - thanks again to the organizers and to everyone for bringing such great wine.
My personal favorites of the tasting were:
2009 Bionic Frog
2010 Domaine du Peagau CdP Cuvee da Capo
2012 MTR Productions Syrah Memory Found
2007 Colgin Cabernet Sauv Tychson Hill
We arranged to get the wine list well in advance of our trip and pre-marked all the selections of interest - it was a very long list. The somm came back with suggestions in each category to help us hone in the best selections for each region. At the end of the day we settled on 10 bottles - all of which opened beautifully except for the Barolo. Original pull was dead on the nose - so this was swapped out for a second bottle. Very memorable dinner - great wine - excellent company - lots of laughter. A terrific way to end the weekend.
2011 Soter Brut Rosé Mineral Springs Ranch
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton
(2/16/2018)
First glass of the weekend - immediately upon arriving at the hotel - what a lovely way to begin the festitivites! This has a pretty red fruited nose. On the palate lots of strawberry, essence of blood orange and then crushed rocks. Finishes with a hint of sweetness. Very pretty.
Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
NV Louis Roederer Champagne Brut Premier
France, Champagne
(2/16/2018)
When the welcome glass decides to turn into a mini round of champagne tasting - this is wine #2. Very fresh and lively on the palate with fine zingy bubbles and some toast and biscuit notes. Quite enjoyable!
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2005 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Rosé Brut
France, Champagne
(2/16/2018)
My first time with the Comte Rose - and while I enjoyed it I am not thoroughly convinced it is worth the price of admission. Perhaps it needs more cellar time to develop additional complexity. Most striking characteristic was the bright salmon color. On the palate some strawberry and a little bit of yeasty bread dough, some creaminess on the mouthfeel - but no fireworks here.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue