Seattle Tasting Group does Southern Rhône
Seattle, WA, USA
Tasted Saturday, April 19, 2003 by Eric with 1,591 views
Introduction
On Saturday eight of us were graciously hosted by Susan Garrett at her home for a tasting of Southern Rhone reds. This was probably our best and most consistently scored set of wines out of 4 tastings, and was a real testament to the wonders of Southern Rhone wines.
NOTE: All wines were bagged and tasted blind. As has become our custom, we started with a flight of white wines, moved to a regionally themed set of red wines, and finished with a handful of dessert wines. Also, the scores below are mine and mine alone and do not necessarily represent the sentiment of the tasting group. Where I noticed that I was way off from other tasters I try to note that.
Flight 1 - THE WHITES (7 Notes)
Flight 2 - SOUTHERN RHONE REDS (11 Notes)
Flight 3 - DESSERT WINES (3 Notes)
Closing
Thanks again Sue for hosting a great tasting! NEXT UP: WA-state Bordeaux varietals at Jason & Tracy's on May 11th.
1995 DeLille Cellars Chaleur Estate Blanc 84 Points
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
The nose shows distinct yeasty notes, minerality, and a fair bit of toast. The palate is grassy but to my palate somewhat bland and flat. The finish shows nice persistence and acidity. This wine was actually rated very well by the group with 6 of 8 tasters at 89 points or higher (and 4 at 91+), but as usual with any white wine showing heavy wood treatment, I was the low-boy. I actually brought this bottle and was somewhat disappointed. If they all gain this amount of prominent wood with age, I need to remember to drink my 2001's young while they are fresh and still showing some fruit.
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1999 Witness Tree Vineyard Chardonnay 86 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
A nice clean nose, showing some rainwater elements. On the palate this is tart and lively with some distinct green apple. The finish is simple but nice. A pleasant drink and a nice relief to taste a Chardonnay with very little wood treatment.
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2001 Chateau Ste. Michelle & Dr. Loosen Riesling Eroica 90 Points
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
The nose on this wine was wildly tropical with lemon and apricot, and it had more than a few of us thinking Viognier. The palate however was zingy, showing lovely acidity and a very racy, acidic finish. I really enjoyed this! This was actually quite a bit different (and better) than the same bottle tasted 4 weeks earlier at another offline, and a few folks commented on significant variation in these thus far.
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2001 Domaine de la Mordorée Lirac Blanc Cuvée de la Reine des Bois 85 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Lirac
This had nice minerality on the nose, and was very dry, with a clean finish. But where is the fruit, the flavor, the anything? A number of tasters commented on the very bland nature of this wine that seemed very closed. Nonetheless, it was clean and refreshing.
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2001 Turley The White Coat 86 Points
USA, California
This was big, buttery and golden with a hint of buttered popcorn. On the palate this shows a bit of acidity but loads of wood. The finish is moderate but I detected a slight bitter note. Despite all this, I enjoyed the wine even though it was not really to my personal taste.
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1991 Waterbrook Chardonnay Reserve 85 Points
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
This had some very distinct yeasty, doughy notes on the nose with a faint hint of Barbie-doll plastic. It was served a bit cold, and as it warmed up the wine really improved. Nice palate feel witha faint hint of being over the hill. The finish was unfortunately rather clipped. While this was hardly singing, it was hanging on rather admirably for a domestic Chardonnay getting ready to reach Bar Mitzvah age.
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NV Churchill/Graham Porto Branco Dry Apertif 92 Points
Portugal, Douro, Porto
This was rather amber with lots of alcohol on the nose and fat teardrops in the glass. This has a gorgeously sweet entry with a palate that is syrupy, luscious, a displays hint of marmalade (I stole that great descriptor from Dave Browning). The finish is warm from the alcohol and pleasantly dry. Wow, this was a GREAT way to finish off the white wines before we tucked into some Cassoulet!
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