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Informal evening @ Roel's

Netherlands

Tasted August 13, 2014 by jkoenen with 369 views

Introduction

Another lovely tasting @ Roel's.
Assignment: Bring one precious bottle to be served non-blinded and one recent discovery to serve blinded.
Which we did.

Flight 1 - welcome wine (1 note)

White - Sparkling
N.V. Jean Milan Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Millénaire France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
86 points
Yeast in the nose, fruit-forward, toast, lemon-peel and -juice. Chalky minerality, whiff of saline aromas like seashells, seabreeze. Well balanced and correct.

Flight 2 - flight 1 (3 notes)

served non-blinded

Red
1985 Château Palmer France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
91 points
Brownish red. Glorious nose of lavas, dried flowers, dried blackcurrants, prunes, smoke. Very floral, perfume-like. Good rusticity, asian spice, tomatoleaf. A sip: juicy, bright entree. Medium-to- slender bodied, attractive, charming, aophisticated in a feminine way.
Quite Burgundian in structure, freshness. Abundant acidity peaking through, which gets more and more prominant during aeration.. Although there are no rusty, metallic notes yet, and the acidity is too tart but not decrepit, I still consider this a shortcoming.
So, 94/100 for the nose, 88/100 for the palate.
Red
1986 Château Haut-Brion France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
95 points
Mature color, dark core of ruby/brownish purple. Smoke, cigars, schoolpaint, but also mixed spice, canned cherries, creme de cassis and the mesmerizing odour of old hogheads... The structure of this wine is masculine, sturdy, outdoorsy. Mid-palate is very dense, complex too. Earthy flavours, garrigue, dry wood. Strong tannic presence in the long finish, which I like. This is a very self-confident, slightly melancholic wine to savour and contemplate on now and in the following 5 years.
3 people found this helpful Comment
Red
1999 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
92 points
Intriguing nose of ink, musk, cinnamon, macerated red and black fruit, coffebeans, cigarbox and cedar. Not the most dense mid-palate, no, there's a lovely transparency and drinkability to this wine. Very generous and accessible. Just pull the cork and enjoy.

Flight 3 - flight 2 (3 notes)

served blinded

Red
2004 Domaine Guiberteau Saumur Les Arboises Brézé France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur
89 points
Vegetable soup, lavas, bellpepper. Farmyardy and rustic, hidden fruit. Fresh cut herbs, dash of poop. In the mouth the fruit is better, brighter red. Chalky finish, soft tannines. Feels kinda young. Needs a few more years to find more harmony and unity.
Red
2005 Clos St. Julien France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion
92 points
Shamelessly modern and extracted, but extremely well made and well defined. Crushed blueberries, mint, creme de cassis, stencil ink, banana, vanilla, coconut, licorice, new shoes, asian spice etc. etc.
You can really sink you teeth into this, lots of tannines, which are sweet and ripe. Great balance. A great wine for the future. Next bottle in 4 years?
Red
2003 Chateau Musar Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
88 points
Light color, Nebbiolo-like. Shy nose, closed for business. Difficult to describe. Sweetish entree, terracotta warmth, tomato, floral too. Sultry and generous on the palate, some alcoholic fizz in the back. Not my cuppa. Grenache?

Closing

Personal WOTN: Haut Brion 1986

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