Cumin
Tasted Saturday, December 10, 2005 by AndrewSGHall with 1,306 views
A delightful group of wine lovers from OH and KY got together for a most enjoyable evening of wines and excellent Indian cuisine.
Dinner included tandoori mushroom, poori, shrimp balchau, duck, salmon, lamb chops, braised lamb shanks, quail.
As always, a eclectic and fascinating collection of wines. Real standouts were the Musar, the Donhoff (living up to the astounding rating given to it by Schildknecht) and the Cornas. Special thanks for Chef/Owner Yajan Upadhyaya for gracious hosting and orchesting a great parade of dishes in response to the words,"Cook for us."
NV Jean Milan Champagne Charles de la Milaniere
France, Champagne
Scary bright hue. Fruity nose. Cassis-y and soft, but a nice texture. Lots of fruit on the top. Low on acids and body though and the finish is a bit confected. Enjoyable elements, but only in a small dose.
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NV Mawby SEX Brut Rosé
USA, Michigan, Leelanau Peninsula
Pretty colour, light and clear. Very harsh and discordant with some chemical notes. Not enjoyable.
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1999 Poderi Aldo Conterno Langhe Chardonnay Printanie
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
Gunsmoke on the nose which was suprising for not being oaked. Very creamy and buttery which only increases over time. Soft and flabby, a yeasty feel as well. Thick fruit, reasonable acidity, apricot nectar notes. Has a certain compelling aspect to it which asks for another taste, expecting something new which is never quite unveiled.
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1997 Sandro Fay "Drei Es" Spumante Metodo Classico
Italy, Lombardia, Lombardia Spumante
Very pale, slightly gold colour. Soft nose with slight floral. Very nice body, supple and silky. Nice acids and an almost tannic grip. Very much a wine-like sparkling with a solid body. Slightly thick finish with some tarry residual was a small marring element. This even held to be enjoyable and have strong bubbles 4+ hrs and a car ride later.
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2003 Champalou Vouvray Cuvée des Fondraux
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
Organic, fleshy nose. Nice fruits integrated as well. Nice light sweetness, slight butterscotch element. Citrusy finish with Meyer lemons, a bit sticky. A bit awkward in the pieces fitting together, but very nice.
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1998 Domaine Weinbach Gewurztraminer Cuvée Laurence
France, Alsace
Lychee dominance on the nose. Nice body, rich texture, slightly fleshy elements. White pepper and papaya elements in the middle. Shorter on the finish than expected. Very nice and perfect accompaniment to the Indian fare.
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NV Ca' de' Medici Reggiano Cubista
Italy, Emilia-Romagna, Reggiano
Nice froth and blood ruby colour. Sweet nose with raspberry. Confected feeling on the palate and soda-elements made this unenjoyable for more than a few sips, though some different foods might have ameliorated this.
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1996 Chateau Musar Blanc
Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
Gorgeous nose with smoke, flowers, myrrh. Very flush and giving on the palate with typical Musar Blanc dustiness and fine minerality, entered into salinity. Just goes and goes with more notes being revealed - silk, pollen, quince. Gorgeous wine with great depth and complexity. (This was double-decanted earlier in the day and really took flight from this.) Outstanding with lamb shanks and lamb chops.
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1989 Weingut Baumann Oppenheimer Sackträger Riesling Auslese
Germany, Rheinhessen
Deep petrol nose. Nice honey quality with lemon peel and juice notes. Slight nuttiness. Moves into more pineapple and lanolin on the finish. Good finish, persistent.
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2004 Dönnhoff Norheimer Dellchen Riesling Spätlese
Germany, Nahe
Just wow. Intense nose with peach, herbals and jasmine. Ethereal on the palate - weighty and weightless at the same time. Very precise with concentrated notes of pear, pineapple and verveine. Long finish reveals more notes of the fruits as well as brazil nuts and penetrating mineral acids. Remainder 24 hrs later was equally compelling with the mineral and pineapple pushing to the fore, but continued precise and clarity. A beautiful wine.
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1994 Woodward Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon Artist Series
USA, Washington
Very lacquer on the nose. Good fruit and nice body. Well balanced with some good tarry elements on the finish held in check with still solid fruit. Mature and very nice.
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2003 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Yamhill Cuvée
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Nose with prickly wood elements and some bright fruit. Good fruit core, dark fruits and slight coffee notes. Woody elements intrude and irritate though and I found these to not play well with the Indian foods.
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2002 Bogle Vineyards Phantom
USA, California
(375 ml) Very much about fruit, very ripe fruit. Soft body, little grip or structure. Not terribly interesting. Broad on the finish though does well with the spice in the foods.
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1988 Noël Verset Cornas
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
Serious heavy funk on the nose - used saddles, loam and feral elements. Light colour. Pentrating acids and contrasting mushroom elements. Inner, small core of dried raspberries, but this wine is about earth and life and death below. Long finish with more mushroom, slight nam pla and Brie-rind. Really deep stuff on the dark side. Played very well in contrast with spiced duck, salmon and lamb dishes.
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1999 Domaine Bois de Boursan Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Low nose with crushed berries and tea notes. Lots of fruit, a bit on the jammy side. Very soft and yielding, nice elements of garrigue in the back. More ripe fruit on the finish. Not complex. Enjoyable and perhaps downgraded by its placement so late in the evening.
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1999 Château de Villeneuve Saumur Les Cormiers
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur
(Quick taste late in the evening probably did not do this justice.) Straight foward, nice lush peachy fruit. Simple and drinkable, true to type.
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2003 Pelee Island Winery Vidal Icewine
Canada, Ontario, Pelee Island VQA
Do these wines ever taste different from vintage to vintage? Typical profile of strong sweetness, Vidal-twang and mango notes. Cloying finish. Very nice with fig ice cream though.
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