HDH Fine and Rare Wines at Flair House

Flair House 219 W Erie Street, Chicago
Tasted Thursday, January 17, 2008 by Claudio161 with 622 views

Introduction

This was a wine tasting sponsored by Hart Davis Hart for East Bank Wine Storage customers.
A pleasant assortment of wines focused on France were presented. Overall, the event was very nice and I enjoyed meeting other East Bank Storage customers.

Flight 1 - General tasting at various points throughout flair house. (8 Notes)

2005 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets 94 Points

France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

Nose: Citurs and tree fruits accompanied by lemon zest. Nose is really amazing, wish I took more details as I was standing up in somewhat crowded conditions.
Taste: Some minor acidity on the finish that I expect will mellow with aging but presently the wine is showing that it will be shining down the road. Vanillins present themsselves in this delicate white wine - it's not a big wine in the style of california (IMO this is a good thing). A creamy sort of texture to this wine - not glycerol, but creamy (that's the best I could acertain). The finish is long, slightly tart and notes of slate and gravel appear on the finishing touches.

Overall: An excellent wine that will age wonderfully. 94- minus points.

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2004 Kistler Chardonnay Vine Hill Vineyard 92 Points

USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

Nose: Stonger than the Chassagne (no kidding, right?). Toasted butter. Soime light toasted oak notes. Picked up notes of Fuji apples and white flowers as well. Kistler usually has a great floral profile.
Taste: The taste was lighter than what was suggested by the nose. It threw me off a little. Excellent balance of acidity - probably due to malolactic fermentation. There was big grip, maybe some lemon or targt citrus notes came forward. Working my way through the wine a definite oaky character began to work its way forward.

Overall: Still a young wine - and it has room to improve as it will (based upon my experiences with Kistler) 92 points

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2005 Gros Frère et Sœur Vosne-Romanée 91 Points

France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée

Sight: An unfiltered slightly cloudy wine of medium to medium-dark color.
Nose: Slight chemical nose (acetone notes?). Some unripe strawberries made their way forward as well. Some early red fruits.... but with an element of "not yet ripe"
Taste: A young pinot with some unripe fruits. Tannins and acids were somewhat out of balance but one could tell that they would most likely be coming together soon.

Overall: An excellent wine, but opened too young. 91 points

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2004 Domaine de Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape 89 Points

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

Sight: Deep ruby color. Filtered/clarified wine.
Nose: Strong dark blueberry fruit. Raspberry and blackcurrant jam. Some minor notes of Fruit Juice and Grape Juice.
Taste: Lots of heat was evident. Some minor hints of vinegar (please note minor). The Tannins/Acid/Fruits were out of balance.

Overall: My assessment was that this still needs plenty of sideways time. 89 Points.

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2000 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato Flawed

Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

Bottle presented was corked.

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2004 Château Léoville Barton 92 Points

France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

Color: Dark purple ink.
Nose: Huge nose that was just hitting me a "beautiful". Plenty of Leather, Smoke, and Dark Red and Black bush fruits.
Taste: The taste struck me as more mild than the nose. Suggested to me that a great balanced and integrated wine is in the making. Loved the taste of leather. Chewy, ripe red dark fruits. Charred earth notes also made an appearance on the palate.

Overall: a really nice wine. 92 Points

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1988 Château Cos d'Estournel 91 Points

France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

Color: Dark garnet color. A clarified wine.
Nose: Bang! This is a "big boy". Very nice bouquet on the nose. Large amounts of dark red and black fruits wafting up the sides of the glass.
Taste: A big left banker. Good oak and vanillins. Great integration between tannins and acid. A touch dry on the finish - but the finish is very long. Some chocolately notes making as appearance as well.

Overall: Quite a nice wine, but I would like to revisit with some additional age. 91 Points.

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1995 Vieux Château Certan 95 Points

France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

Sight: Medium garnet color. Still no rimming on the edges.
Nose: Heavenly, well integrated notes of oak and flowers on the nose. Vanillins dancing in the background along with some roasted nuts.
Taste: Awesome. I clocked the finish at 15+ seconds. The balance between the tannins and the plum and red tree fruits was great. The amazing component was the taste of rose petals - yes, the taste of rose petals (as though rose water had been added to the wine - it was really sexy).

Overall: This was an amazing bottle of this wine. I was very impressed. My concern is that by reviewing the other tasting notes and the variance between this and the follow-on time that I had the same wine it appears that there is some variance between bottlings. 95- minus points.

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