Weber's Blind Tasting Competition

Primehouse
Tasted Monday, April 28, 2008 by winefool with 799 views

Introduction

A group of eight Chicago guys (mostly LdC) got together for a little friendly competition on Monday to see who deserved bragging rights for the acuity of their palate and their knowledge of wine. Ground rules were only that all the wines had to have a value of at least $100 (with some flexibility on exact number and method of measurement since a few of the wines might not have quite met the rigorous threshold). There were sixteen wines total and each had a maximum point total of 13pts (2 for country, 2 for region/state, 2 for subregion/commune, 1 for producer, 5 for varietal, and 1 for vintage) for 208 total possible points if you nailed every single wine. Winner got his dinner comped by the rest of the group and Gary brought bottle prizes for whomever brought the WOTN (me, it turns out) and a consolation prize for the lowest scorer - a nice bottle of beer!

Having done these kind of tastings a number of times in the past, I had a healthy appreciation for how difficult and humbling they are. I expected a score in the 60-70 point range to take the prize. As it turned out, I was shocked at how well several of us scored. Jim took the honors with 108 pts, Ken second with 107pts, and I was third with 106 pts. Doh! If I had put that Torbreck in Australia where it belonged, I would have won walking away!

Anyway, it was surprisngly fun with great food (though getting pricier for these) and lots of discussion and friendly ribbing. I will say that the serious focus I and other were putting on actual identification of the wines over the more usual rating and enjoyment really changed the character of the experience - not necessarily better or worse but certainly different. Discussion was less about the quality of the wines and more about the attributes and speculation (after pencils were down). Overall we had a nice diversity of wines and aside from a couple of corked examples which we still had to try to identify (how Ken nailed the 2000 Ygrec based on a corked sample is one of the great feats of the evening!) they showed very well.

Flight 1 - Welcome (1 Note)

Flight 2 - Pan roastedhalibut (2 Notes)

  • 2005 Didier Dagueneau Pur Sang 92 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé

    Pale white color with a hint of green. Grassy mineral nose with a note of acidity. Rich concentrated white fruit palate with mineral and wet rock notes. Very nice 92-93 pts.

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  • 2000 Lur-Saluces "Y" Flawed

    France, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur

    Corked. Thick rich mouthfeel with notes of botrytis even though it was dry. Very difficult to evaluate given it's corkiness.

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Flight 3 - Butter poached lobster in celery root puree and truffle lobster jus (2 Notes)

  • 2002 Verget Bâtard-Montrachet 94 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

    Full yellow color. Big nose of oaky white fruit with a hint of lemon. Thick rich vibrant yellow fruit with oak notes and a hint of sweet. While there is the telltale Verget oak here (which I'm not normally a fan of), this was much more pleasant than I expected and pretty well balanced and integrated. 94+ pts.

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  • 1994 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Montrachet 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

    Full golden yellow color. Medium full caramel butterscotch with lanolin notes. Big forward evolved yello wapple fruit with a butterscotch noe and a hint of bitter. Clear mineral note as well. Nice but pretty evolved.

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Flight 4 - Seared Hudson Valley foie gras on brioche with pear chutney (1 Note)

  • 1989 Hugel Gewurztraminer Sélection de Grains Nobles 93 Points

    France, Alsace

    Full golden color. Full nose of caramel with orange rinds on the nose. Big full rich unctuous caramel botrytis notes on the palate. Some sweetness but not cloying. I didn't get the Gewurtz character here as much - thought it might be an older Quartz du Chaume. Nice with the foie dish.

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Flight 5 - Pork rillette under porcini mac and cheese (delicious!) (4 Notes)

  • 1983 Pierre Ponnelle Bonnes Mares 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

    Pale garnet orange color. Lovely floral rose nose with sweet red cherry notes. Big round red cherry on the palate with an undertone of tannins and structure. Thought the rough/rustic edges might put it in Corton, but should have recognized the BM...

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  • 1982 Vietti Barolo Riserva Villero 91 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Slightly cloudy garnet orange color. Forward nose of dusty sour black fruit. Super sour big acidic black fruit and licorice - bordering on VA? This was easy to pick as Barolo, but I clearly did not enjoy it as much as others who voted it #2 WOTN. I just didn't see it. 90-91 pts.

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  • 1990 M. Chapoutier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Barbe Rac 93 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Full ruby crimson color. Full bright black cherry nose with good perception of acidity. Nice big rich sweet black fruit with good tannin remaining and some spice. Better than the last bottle I remember. 93-94 pts.

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  • 2000 Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Célestins 94 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Ruby crimson color. Lovely red fruit, spice, and meat notes on the nose. Mmmn, lovely spicy rich red fruit wiht a nice tannic frame. Picked this out as CdP, but thought it might be older and more red fruit-driven than the last bottle I had. This was even a bit more enjoyable though! 94-95 pts. Group WOTN.

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Flight 6 - Duck torelloni with trumpet mushrooms (2 Notes)

Flight 7 - Grilled beef tenderloin with blue cheese spoonbread (2 Notes)

  • 2003 Torbreck Grenache Les Amis 94 Points

    Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

    Full ruby red color. Supperripe red cherry cassis nose - electric and purpley? Supperripe jammy black raspberry on the palate with nice sweetness and smoke hints. I nailed this as grenache and should have easily placed it in Australia, but context got the better of me on this one - who would bring an Aussie grenache to this tasting and is there even one out there with a value over $100? I went to Priorat instead. Oh well!

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  • 2002 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select 94 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

    Full opaque purple color. Huge nose o fbright black fruit - clean and bright. Big rich chocolate covered raspberries on the palate. This was pretty easy to nail as a Cali cab. I've had this wine 5-6 times over the past couple years and while this was still a GREAT wine, it may have dropped off a point and could be starting to close down a bit from its sweet exhuberant youth... 94+ pts.

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Flight 8 - Cheese / Dessert (2 Notes)

Closing

At the end of the day, with a group that mostly focuses on Burgundy, only a single Pinot (and a single red bordeaux) were poured!

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