Some slight stone fruit and a bit of funk on the nose. There's a floral aroma that tells you this is going to be slightly sweet. And indeed, it is slightly sweet on the palate, but there's also a subtle hint of wet fur (well, it is chenin blanc after all). Not as much of an acidic or mineral cut as I'm used to in sparkling wine, but this was quite delicious nonetheless. A little hint of green apple on the finish.

Served blind. Based on the more intense spice notes, I guessed this to be an aromatic varietal. Wrong already. Plush, relatively low acid, and neutral oak treatment had me thinking some sort of Northern Rhone, but the texture of the palate wasn't right for that. Someone suggested Chablis, but this completely lacked the acidity and minerality for that. For lack of a better option, I guessed a sauvignon blanc of some sort.

Served blind. Advanced, slightly sherried. Animale, mushroom, oxidized "style". There's a good amount of acidity here, with some of the same funk and baked fruit on the palate. Ouille Jura white? Not sure if this is overly oxidized or if it's supposed to be this way.

Served blind (though I could see that this was magenta in colour in the glass). Red fruit, surprisingly spicy, this had me guessing syrah initially. But the bubbly happy fruit made me change my mind. Surprisingly astringent tannins, and based on the lovely acidity here, I guessed old world. Beaujolais from a less ripe vintage?

Initially, this was restrained on the nose, red-fruited and moderately floral. The palate is quite drying with just a tad too much oak, though there is still a fair bit of red fruit and mineral. Moderate acidity. This doesn't have the earthiness that I'm used to in a Burgundy. However, based on the state of the palate, this did seem a little advanced for its age.

Served blind. The earth and mushrooms on the nose of this had me guessing pinot noir right away. Tasting it though, I had to second-guess myself a little bit. Too much sweet fruit on the palate. New world jamminess... this wasn't Burgundy...

Served blind. Herbal, minty, and high-toned nose. You get a whiff of alcohol as well (more so than the 77 Taylor I was drinking yesterday!). Weird green note as well. Old Rioja? Cabernet franc? Slightly medicinal, which led me to the old world. A real enigmatic wine of which I couldn't make heads or tails. Weird stuff.

Served blind. New world fruit. Red and quite plush in texture. A little bit of horse? Heavy oak with medium acidity and fruit. Based on the ripeness and the weirdness of this one, I'm pegging this as southern European, but don't have the experience to get any more specific than that. I found this to be a bit unintegrated.

Served blind. Very bright red cherries on the nose. Slightly astringent, despite this being very light and red-fruited on the palate, with the same fresh cherry tones again. Quite young, and the chewy tannins, coupled with the red fruit, and obvious acidity had me calling this as young nebbiolo.

Served blind. The brown/green stemmy quality on the nose had me thinking that this was 2011 red Burgundy (well it wasn't). A fair bit of stems on the palate, with surprisingly coarse tannins. Good restraint and acidity -- all hallmarks of what I had been experiencing in 2011 red Burgundy.

Served blind. It was immediately called as Northern Rhone. Hits every single one of the checkboxes. I could write more, but it'd just be boilerplate.

The pop and pour of this was extremely purple, and showing a lot of primary fruit and a bit of smoke and meat on the nose. There's clearly some stem influence as well. The palate is lush and silky, but initially, this was much too grapey for me. A little bit of air blew that quality away, leaving a wine that had a fair bit of meat elements, a lovely velvety texture, decent acidity and density. When this was served blind to the others, the consensus was Burgundy. And I'm almost inclined to agree...

Served blind. Really funky nose. I think there's some mild TCA going on here, though the palate doesn't seem to show it at all. Really barnyardy. Cabernet-based for sure, from the green pepper tones. Very earthy as well, I called this as a Bordeaux from the mid 80s. Very austere, with some flavours of leather and tobacco as well. Drying up, drink these sooner rather than later.

In comparison to the lighter-styled Dirty and Rowdy mourvedres, this is surprisingly big. A very aromatic nose, featuring some sweet citrus. The palate is very rounded, with just a little bit of oily texture that enables this to sit on the palate. Broadly proportioned and big, with some sweet citrus flavours. This got substantially better the more air it got.