Weekend in Minneapolis
Various Locations
Tasted Friday, August 17, 2018 - Saturday, August 18, 2018 by MC2 Wines with 261 views
Introduction
Made a trip out to visit some friends over the weekend and did a few fun wine things while we were there.
Flight 1 - Cellar Night (19 Notes)
Given the number of ppl there these were all fairly small pours and as bottles were continued to be popped didn't get much time to really follow them throughout the night.
Flight 2 - Dinner at BLG (2 Notes)
Closing
Wine of the weekend was prob the '80 Unico, but the surprise for me was the '01 La Chapelle which was just singing. Quite enjoyed the Roagna as well and got us interested in seeing the property when we visit in November. Overall a very fun quick trip.
NV Henriot Champagne Brut Rosé 89 Points
France, Champagne
(8/17/2018)
Friday night pink bubbles! This is the way to start a weekend. It's very fresh and fruity with tons of strawberries. Not really a thinking wine - the kind that is tasty in your glass as you are meeting new folks and settling into an evening of wine sharing. The right way to ease into the weekend.
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1993 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
(8/17/2018)
One of my favorites of the evening. I am always a sucker for the old ones of these. It's got tons of sweet red fruits (mostly red plum). Some almost hint of a balsamic there with just that touch of a savory note (I pick this up sometimes in older wines). Very well aged and drinking nicely right now.
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1995 Château Lynch-Moussas 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
(8/17/2018)
One of the downfalls of the format we had is a glass per person and enough ppl that the bottles finished fairly quickly so I went with very moderate (aka small) pours. This was a wine that I think would have benefited from some time in the glass (I noticed that even in the 10 minutes or so I had with it it was already changing). Black fruits. A kindof deeper note to it. Maybe a touch floral. Not a blow you you away wine, but there's good character here. Suspect I might have been a point or two higher if I'd spent more time with it.
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1995 Clos du Marquis Flawed
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
(8/17/2018)
From a mag. To be fair, if corked is a spectrum, this was on the almost drinkable area of it (as compared to some other bottles later that were over the top). It's young and the red fruits are still coming through, but there is a dullness and something is just a touch off.
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1998 Château Quinault L'Enclos Flawed
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
(8/17/2018)
Ok, officially officially by the super tasters in the group this was corked. But I'll admit I didn't totally get it. I'd be more inclined to say bottle variation and maybe this wasn't as good as a previous bottle. But there's still lots of sour red currants and it started to open in the glass and the mustiness that was there right at the beginning blew off pretty quickly.
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2014 Quivet Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard
USA, California, Napa Valley
(8/17/2018)
This is very much your classic Napa valley floor cab. Almost overpouring blackberry jam. It comes across as super fruity. There's almost no acid and almost no tannin. A wine that when I try it honestly makes me think it would appeal well to the child inside us all with the fruit and sweet. Very nice of Vinny to share with us. It's not really my style, but it was fun to try another Mike Smith wine. Holding on the rating as this isn't my sweet spot, but for me this would be more like an 88-89.
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2006 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Cailles 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
(8/17/2018)
We had two bottles go around the table of this. I just tried from the one. I appreciate the fruit in the bottle (lots of cherries). Lower on the earthy side of things. Very easy to drink and not overpowering, but also not always what I expect from a Burgundy. I appreciate it though and on the heels of the Quivet it was a nice contrast.
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1984 Inglenook Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Cask Flawed
USA, California, Napa Valley
(8/17/2018)
From a magnum and corked (this was a theme of the night unfortunately.
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NV Paul Dethune Champagne Grand Cru Nature Ambonnay 89 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
(8/17/2018)
Funny. This wine reminded me a bit of a cream soda towards the end. It's kindof a standard champagne and then that just comes out of nowhere at you. Higher acid style which isn't bad (esp since we were in the middle of a marathon of popping bottles and a champers in the middle of that always seems to stand out). Good wine although it did not wow me.
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2001 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 93 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
(8/17/2018)
My WOTN by a decent margin but I am particularly partial to Rhones and when this wine is good I quite like it. This is prob on the young side (still opening up in the glass as we were drinking it), but it's quite fun. Meat and brine and olives and a touch of smoke. What makes it great is just behind that are all of the black fruits. Well structured. Well integrated. A wine that I would have liked to follow over a bit more time, but the bottle went fast and so it was just a moderate pour. Very tasty though.
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NV Levert Frères Crémant de Bourgogne Rosé 85 Points
France, Burgundy, Crémant de Bourgogne
(8/17/2018)
It's interesting how having other sparkling wines next to champagne always proves just how in its own league champagne is. Perhaps if we had started with this wine I would have been more interested. As it was this was totally fine, very fruity, and very basic.
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1982 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon Flawed
USA, California, Napa Valley
(8/17/2018)
Keeping with the theme of the night this bottle too was corked (and really badly so - this was not a question in any way). Sad since I was pretty excited to try.
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1994 Bodegas Muga Rioja Selección Especial 91 Points
Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
(8/17/2018)
Always a very reliable producer. Nicely aged and yet still a touch on the young side (e.g. there's no rush to drink these - CT window of 2015 is too short). Get this odd mix of dried tomato (think sundried) and a sortof sweetness to the fruit that seems to actually work ok together. Reasonable tannin and oak there, but nothing overpowering. Tasty.
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1997 Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County 88 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County
(8/17/2018)
I'm generally a sucker for old Napa although not always the '97s. This one was totally fine. Good aged character. Lots of dried fruit and potpourri. It should have been a wine that I quite liked, but I felt like something was missing. Perhaps a bit more of a shift? It was fairly one dimensional which is odd for a wine with this much age. Decent though and given the string of corked bottles we'd had that night nice to have one that was not.
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2013 Hayfork Cabernet Sauvignon Lewelling Ranch 89 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
(8/17/2018)
Another younger Napa cab. What helped this one compared to some of the others was the stronger spice cabinet notes. Most folks got curry or something Indian. That seemed to keep the bright fruits almost a bit more in balance (and there was plenty of black fruits going on here). A touch of the sweetness. Decent.
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2009 Gérard Mugneret Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Boudots 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
(8/17/2018)
This is just a baby killing and between that and the fact that Burgundy isn't really my thing I almost hesitate to put a rating down. But one of my goals has been to try to rate everything so take the above with a necessary grain of salt. This is clearly an elegant wine and well-made. Lots more earth than the 2006 Burg we'd had earlier in the evening. Perhaps lacking in the fruit for me. And just a bit closed down and quiet. I suppose good to check in, but I wouldn't pop this bottle again for awhile.
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2014 Château de Chantegrive Graves 87 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves
(8/17/2018)
This was a pnp and with the way things were structured everyone got maybe a third to a half a glass. The wine is young and it's a bit disjointed at this point. Lots of tannin. Some oak. I think behind that you've got some other flavors going on, but at this point those two are just dominating. Nothing really jumps out for me, but I haven't spent a lot of time with young Bordeaux.
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2015 Aurélien Chatagnier St. Joseph Blanc 90 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph
(8/17/2018)
Tried this blind and interesting to hear the different opinions at the table. To be fair, I didn't immediately pick up on the Roussanne here. It's got that lovely honey/nectar/floral component and fuller bodied structure to it, but I often associate those wines with a lower acidity and here it was quite prevalent as well. Good.
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2014 Ridge Petite Sirah Lytton Estate 90 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley
(8/17/2018)
Last wine of the night and again blind. Clearly more new world and definitely something where the fruit was prevalent. Funny because I don't always catch the alcohol on Ridge wines, but I did here. Also get some dragonfruit. A bit of a yummy side to it, but with balance. It was a tasty wine, but much too young.
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