Wineterfest 2011

3rd annual Wineterfest dinner party. Delicious menu accompanied by a great assortment of wines. Next year, the final course to be added will be a lipitor so we can see a 5th Wineterfest.

Served with assorted Crudite. Two very good sparklers that contrasted each other very well to show differences in styles in Champagne. Great way to kick off the meal. Popped and poured ... no decant and limited air time.

• NV Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne Brut

  France, Champagne

  Champagne 2: This was a hit with the group. very subtle, polished lighter wine and a great contrast to the Veuve. Bubbles were very subtle. Beautiful richness. flavors of apricot. Crisp acidity. ended up being the runaway winner of the champagne flight.

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• NV Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut

  France, Champagne

  Veuve was very good and consistent with other tastings. Definite notes of apple and nice acidity. Interesting contrast with Feuillatte NV ... Veuve was delicious and a bit larger than the Feuillatte, which was more subtle and nuanced. Both were delicious

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Served with black truffled Angelhair pasta. Delicious first course (menu from Emerill) and the wines went very well with it. Wines were interesting and served blind (for most, double blind). Interesting parallel from Alexis that the SQN reminded her of Scholium Project. Kistler was the wine of the flight with 5 first place and 3 second place votes. Jordan was a close second, and the SQN seemed a bit tight and perhaps would do well with some more bottle age.

• 2005 Jordan Vineyard & Winery Chardonnay Russian River Valley

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Wine "A" of the white flight. Clear, straw colored wine. Nose of butter, grass, caramel, apple and some smoke. Mouth - lemon, some buttery nuances. Enjoyable. 4 firsts, 2 seconds

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• 2005 Kistler Chardonnay Vine Hill Vineyard

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Wine "B" of the white flight ... slightly darker in color than the 05 Jordan. Nose of Oak, lemon, grapefruit with some sweat aromatics as well. On the mouth, lemon, citrus, tropical fruits, honey. some tartness. nice, long finish. 5 1st place votes, 3 2nds

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• 2008 Sine Qua Non Kolibri

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County

  Wine "C" of the white flight. Added to contrast with the chards of the flight. More golden color than the others. Nose of butterscotch, honey, maple, and some smokiness. Mouth echoed the nose - butterscotch, smokiness, honey, hint of citrus and banana. Also some chalkiness / minerality. Delicious. 3 1sts, 3 seconds.

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Accompanied a Bacon wrapped fillet with a delicious red wine sauce, and sides of potatoes gratin, turnip puree, grilled asparagus. Delicious!

Wines carried over to the cheese course ... delicious honeycomb, more to come on this ...

Wines served blind (for most attendees). Cos and Montebello were opened and allowed to breath in bottle for 90 min. Palmer and Bond were decanted to allow to open up.

Wine of the flight was the '00 Palmer, which showed very well. Bond edged out the 90 Cos, though i think the Cos kept changing and was at its best late in the night after the voting was done. Ridge Montebello came through very well -- would certainly be on the look out for it -- but the subtlety and finesse of the wine was tough to match with the others in the flight.

• 1982 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Opened about 2 hours before serving, no decant. Enjoyed over the course of 90 minutes. Garnet / claret color showed the most age - lightest color of the flight, and faded towards the edge. Wonderful nose with lots of secondary flavors that you look for in an aged cabernet. Saddle leather, muskiness, vanilla, cranberry, cassis on the nose. Flavors were of leather, red fruits (cranberry), oak (not overdone), mushroom, terroir. Wine had a light body. Very good.
  
  3 seconds, 1 3rd place vote.

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• 2001 BOND Matriarch

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Dark ruby in color. Nose of Cassis, blackberry, black pepper, meat. Very young nose. Mouth: Blackfruits, still lots of tannins, spice, chocolate. There is a sweetness to this wine - rice krispies?. Very good, and definitely a california cab. One other thought ... of the 4 wines, this was young, but definitely open for business. It didn't change much over the 90 minutes or so of tasting though.
  
  3 Firsts, 5 Seconds, 1 3rd.

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• 1990 Château Cos d'Estournel

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

  Dark ruby in color. Nose was a touch musty, with terroir, chocolate, leather. Mouth -nicely layered wine - huge cassis (for me), cherry, leather, terroir, soil, spiciness. Wine kept evolving through the night. Towards the end, flavors of peat / smoke and licorice and fennel.
  
  2 first, 4 seconds, 4 3rds.

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• 2000 Château Palmer

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Wine of the night. This is definitely still a baby though. decanted for about 2 hours before serving, and it evolved tremendously through the 90 minutes we were drinking it. Dark purple / garnet in color. nose was quite tight at the outset, with cassis. Flavors of cassis, chocolate, touch of burnt wood and a hint of saddle leather. Beautiful structure and lots of tannins at this point. This wine opened up throughout the night and kept changing. This seems to be one that has another 10-15 years +, during which it will continue to evolve and pick up secondary flavors.
  
  5 firsts, 1 second, 1 third.

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Served with a delicious cheese course: Cheeses, delicious honey, fruit and chocolates

Wine also accompanied the chocolate - expresso creme brulee.

• 2003 Fonseca Porto Late Bottled Vintage

  Portugal, Douro, Porto

  didn't capture detailed tasting notes on this one. classic port flavors. Definitely still a baby. Group was divided in choosing between this and the Alcyone ...

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• NV Viñedo de los Vientos Tannat Alcyone

  Uruguay, Coastal Region, Atlàntida

  First time we tried this wine. Strong aromatics of caramel, vanilla (and perhaps mulling spices as well?). Flavors of caramel, vanilla, cinnamon. Very good and some. Group was fairly evenly divided on this vs the LBV Port.

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Wine of the night votes:
2000 Palmer - 5 votes
1990 Cos D'Estournel - 2 votes
Votes also cast for SQN Kolibri, Alcyone, Jordan (and Heineken)