Tasting Group Dinner - Post-Election Grab Bag

Heidi's, Minneapolis
Tasted Wednesday, November 5, 2008 by Siggy with 608 views

Introduction

Dave Dalluge, Craig Vanderah, Chris Larson and I met for a mid-week, post election dinner at Heidi's. We had originally envisioned a 1966 Bordeaux tasting, but it turned into a grab-bag event because two of our three 1966s were off. My WOTN on this fun evening was Craig's 2000 Raveneau Montee de Tonnerre.

Flight 1 - Starters (2 Notes)

Paired with Chef Stewart Woodman's pork wontons, mini goat burgers with spicy aioli, and smoked scallops.

  • NV Tarlant Champagne Cuvée Louis 86 Points

    France, Champagne

    Disgorged December 2003. Heavily oxidative, with flavors of apple cider, mushrooms, and blue cheese. Good bubbles and balanced supporting acidity. Interesting. This smelled and tasted much older than a 5 year old NV. Stylistically, Tarlant tends toward the oxidative side of the spectrum, and although this bottle was more extreme than others I've tasted, it didn't seem obviously flawed.

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  • 2000 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

    Tight, steely, and minerally, with a pronounced and tasty flavor signature of lemon curd and sea water/sea shells. Round, saline mouthfeel. Showing very well. Not surprisingly given the vintage, this shows a bit less flavor concentration and length than other Raveneaus I've tasted. Delicious and drinking very well now.

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Flight 2 - 1966 Bordeaux (4 Notes)

Paired with filet mignon, roasted broccolini, and truffled roasted potatoes.

  • 1966 Château Haut-Bailly 89 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    A recent Winebid acquisition. Mid-neck fill; excellent cork. Terrific earthy, dark cherry nose. The palate is soft and supple. A low-acid, ripe, moderately concentrated wine that shows some classic scorched earth Graves character. Mature fruit that is still lively; fully resolved tannins. Started to fade and picked up some brown sugar flavors after about an hour. Not especially complex, but tasty and still kicking.

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  • 1966 Château Pape Clément Flawed

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Corked.

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  • 1966 Château Canon-la-Gaffelière Flawed

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Riddled with VA/paint thinner flavors. Heinous. DOA.

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  • 2000 Château La Fleur de Boüard 88 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Lalande de Pomerol

    Popped and slow oxygenated for ~3 hours. The palate shows concentrated, youthful dark fruit, green pepper, herbs, and meat juice. I'm guessing there is a fair amount of Cabernet Franc in the blend here. Still tannic. Improved significantly with food.

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Flight 3 - New World Pinot (2 Notes)

We finished the evening with a dessert course of... more pork wontons.

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