NobleRottersSydney - Blind pinot & burg

A night of blind pinot, in Burgundian and Australian forms. Three premiere crus from Beaune & Nuits St George, a Pommard and a humble Bourgogne lined up against a couple of Yarra top names with more prosaic offerings from NZ, NSW and Yarra. More-or-less random serving of masked bottles. Nothing decanted earlier as far as I know.

• NV Bollinger Champagne Special Cuvée Brut

  France, Champagne

  {12%} [Glenn] Impressive, assertive nose of toast and brioche bun. Somewhat developed too. Fresh palate, with powerful, creamily aggressive medium-sized bubbles, medium/full weight and rich chardonnay fruit, apparently much younger than the nose suggested. Subtle autolysis character. Medium long finish. Lifts with food, but very drinkable under any circumstances.

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• 2018 Yarra Yering Pinot Noir

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley

  {screwcap, 13%} [Andrew] The ‘who-cares’ label and the incongruous Bordeaux bottle remain from the days of founder Bailey Carrodus, but the contents are very different from the hefty, meaty affairs he used to offer. This is brightly floral on the nose, with roses and violets; very much fruit (or flower!)-driven. The palate is built on medium/high acid, low powdery tannins, subtle oak, and cherry/violet flavours with a spice twist. Only light/medium-bodied, but with a nicely even palate, a medium/long flavourful finish and great potential.

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• 2002 M. Doudet-Naudin Beaune 1er Cru Grèves

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru

  cork, 13%} [Aaron] Bricking garnet; looking its age. Same goes for nose and palate; meaty, compost and earth-like aromas follow onto the slightly medicinal palate. Low dusty tannins, tremblingly high acidity, a touch volatile. Well evolved on the palate; a bit flat I felt though, and with a short/medium rather astringent finish. Maybe a decant would have helped?

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• 2018 Mount Mary Pinot Noir

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley

  {diam, 13.3%} [Geoffrey] Fragrant beautiful nose that I thought way older than it was; flowers and strawberries. The palate is fairly low-key but all about balance; medium acid, low/medium gently gritty tannins, medium length. Covered the tongue in flavour better than any other pinot tonight. Lovely balanced finish. Quite drinkable now; I suspect will blossom over a decade easily.

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• 2009 Hospices de Beaune Beaune 1er Cru Cuvée Rousseau Deslandes Pierre Naigeon

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru

  {screwcap, 13%} [Graeme] Developing nose; dirt and black cherries. The palate adds plenty of spice and soft warm earth; it has lots of acidity but tannins are quite soft. Medium weight, gets a bit malty in the glass. Medium length finish without much charm. It’s OK, but not special.

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• 2018 Domaine Rougeot Pommard Clos des Roses

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard

  {cork, 13%} [Gordon] Developing nose seemingly of brett and oak, less obvious fruit. Is that just Pommard terroir? I didn’t actually record a single fruit flavour in my note, but rather noted the structure; medium dusty tannins, medium acid. It’s not more than light/medium body, and the fairly evenly balanced palate seems less bretty than the nose, culminating in a medium length finish. Maybe too young, or give it a good decant perhaps?

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• 2015 Yarraloch Pinot Noir Stephanie's Dream

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley

  {screwcap, 13%} [DavidM] Mild nose of gentle old red grapes with a hint of oak. Inoffensive but a bit anonymous. A light/medium weight mature palate follows, again with a generic sort of leathery old flavours, medium acid, low furry tannins. Medium length finish, but simple. Fully mature.

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• 2019 Faiveley Pinot Noir Bourgogne

  France, Burgundy, Bourgogne

  {cork, 12.5%} [Greg] Muted blackberry nose, with an inky aspect. Soft. Light/medium weight, medium acid. But mild, seemingly high-yield flavours. Something of a youthful quaffer it would seem; possibly the hardest wine of the night to choose between old/new worlds.

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• 2013 Auntsfield Pinot Noir Single Vineyard

  New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

  {screwcap, 13%} [Stephen] Maturing, meaty and blackberry nose. Medium/full on palate initially, which is warm too, with low/medium acid, but little tannin evident. Tastes as the nose promised. But fades quickly to a short finish. At (or beyond) peak.

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• 2019 Novum Pinot Noir

  New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

  {screwcap, 12.5%} [DavidH] Bright red, youthful fruit. Fragrant; your classic ‘new world nose’. The palate is a bit ethereal, not concentrated, but still a bit disjointed at this age. Medium acid, low chalky tannins. Medium length finish. No crime here, just needs more time.

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• 2007 Maison de Grand Esprit Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru La Belle Voisine

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  {screwcap, 12.5%} [Graeme] A blend of vineyards from this Treasury Wines Estate operation, seemingly moribund since 2018, to judge by the website. Developing nose of earth, liquorice, some oak? The medium-weight palate is a bit muddy and thick, encouraged by low/medium acidity. Dark fruit flavour seems trapped between youth and age at the moment, but it finishes dryly astringent; tannins didn’t seem so evident on the palate beforehand. Just medium length finish. It may hold, and it’s not bad now, but greatness is beyond it, whatever instructions its Oz owners gave those who made the wine!

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• 2018 Colmar Estate Pinot Noir Reserve

  Australia, New South Wales, Central Ranges, Orange

  {screwcap, 13.5%} [Aaron] Bottle 0557 in case you needed to know. Smoky, steely and taut, with tobacco, oak and a touch of green frond. Youthful and raw on the light/medium-bodied palate. Bony initially, then the structure fades away a bit. Low powdery tannins, short/medium finish. Young grapes? Keep it, sure, no harm.

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• 2009 Château Guiraud

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  {375ml, cork, 13.5%} [Glenn] Maturing marzipan, vanilla bean, pineapple, and a dash of apricot. Wonderful. Pointed and polished palate with some honeycomb to add to the aromas. Medium weight, medium acid, medium-sweet palate with a long finish. No rush to drink on this showing, but this was just perfect now.

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Quite a range here but only a few standouts evident to me among the pinots – the two 2018 Yarras, (charitably) the NuitSG – and although nothing was dire there didn’t really seem much ambition expressed (or achieved) amongst the remainder. Certainly there were no mature expressions of great pinot. Sauternes and Champagne were excellent. Perhaps – being just three weeks post-COVID – my tasting abilities were more compromised than normal, so take it all with a grain of salt.