Blind humiliation with Scott Thornber

After Scott Thornber and I traded posts earlier this week on our opinions of Cadence wines, we decided to get together for a meal and a blind tasting lineup. Scott prepared a simple and delicious meal of perfectly roast beef with a morel sauce and some luscious mashed potatoes. Yummy!

Apart from the Paloma, Pegau and Barraud, the wines were bagged and served single-blind. As is always the case in blind tasting, the results are not what you would expect.

• 2000 Daniel & Julien Barraud Pouilly-Fuissé En Buland Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Mâconnais, Pouilly-Fuissé

  Rich toasty, marshmallowy nose. Really gorgeous mouthfeel with a nicely balanced citrus. A nice start to the evening.

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• 2001 DeLille Cellars D2 92 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Talk about eating some crow. Last weekend I didn't enjoy this terribly, but a week later, tasted blind, this was the wine of the night. Initially this showed lots of raspberry. On the palate this was a tannic monster, licorice, herbal, spicy, vanilla, wow! On the finish this shows stunning levels of acidity and is huge, almost painful. A really nice, powerful, layered wine. I need to let my other bottles age for several (5) years.

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• 2001 Cadence Ciel du Cheval Vineyard 91 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain

  Somewhat murky in the glass. Initially this was stunningly primary with very dominant notes of raspberry, but with time more spice comes out. On the palate this was initially very tight and extremely acidic with more raspberry fruit, very compact. With time this spreads out. The finish is dusty and tannic. A very primary, young, powerful wine.

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• 2001 Paloma Merlot 90 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District

  Non-blind. Very floral, high-pitched nose. The palate features very enveloping fruit with loads of brown sugar and thick mouthfeel. A long finish that spreads out nicely on the palate. This is an exciting wine with lots of similarities to Pride Merlot.

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• 1999 Château Quinault L'Enclos 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Wow, this is stunningly obvious as a Bordeaux wine in a lineup of Merlot from CA and WA. A very dusty, medicinal nose with scorched earthy and some very brooding character. This shows layers of black fruit and licorice with initially very stern tannins. This wine seemed to open and close a few times over the evening. Tons of earth and dust on the finish. With a lot more air some subtly sweet fruit emerges, and this gets much more enjoyable.
  DAY 2: Wow, this wine has really opened its wings overnight. There is much more chocolate on the nose and palate, and now the palate has gained a beautiful sweet element with a hint of anise. This is still very tight, but it bears almost no resemblance to the wine I tasted yesterday. Lovely.

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• 2001 Kiona Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 88 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain

  This has a stunningly Bordeaux-like nose with a scorchy, medicinal nose and a hint of earthiness. On the palate there is black fruit and licorice. Initially this was initially slightly dilute, but this put on weight over time. The finish is medium in length, a bit compact, with hints of iron and tart acidity.
  DAY 2: This has become a different wine. The nose is thick with blueberry and blackberry, and the palate is sweet, almost piercing. The finish does show nice acidity and firm, dusty tannins, very nice. Frankly I preferred the more medicinal nose yesterday, and today I find it almost simple and cloying.

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• 1997 Beringer Vineyards Merlot Bancroft Ranch 85 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

  A more aged nose than the other wines, slightly briary, more herbal with hints of caramel. On the palate this is more green, tight and acidic. Some sage and dill. Did I mention that this is tight? Very dusty tannins that almost rip your teeth off. Right now the tannins are way ahead of the fruit. Is it sleeping or doomed?

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• 2000 Cadence Spring Valley Vineyard 80 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

  I really didn't enjoy this wine which surprised me to no end. Was it an off bottle? I had another a few months ago and rated it 10 points higher. The nose shows a lot of bright, violet notes with some heat and a very off-putting VA thing. On the palate this is very primary and tannic, somewhat hot and grapey. On three prior occasions I have loved this. What happened this time?

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• 2001 Pride Mountain Vineyards Merlot Flawed

  USA, California, North Coast, Napa / Sonoma

  Hideously corked. The folks at Pride were kind enough to send me a free bottle to make up for this.

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For 'dessert' I brought a leftover half bottle of 2001 Pegau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Reservee. This was extremely peppery with a briary, animalistic character. On the palate and finish this is just stunning, like getting on an amusement ride. I love this juice. Easy 93 points!

Cheers!