Blind Wines

Paprika
Tasted Tuesday, April 5, 2011 by Keith Levenberg with 835 views

Flight 1 (3 Notes)

  • 2004 Louis Jadot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Garenne Domaine du Duc de Magenta 91 Points

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

    Very nice. Pure and chalky but with a fleshy, creamy fullness at its core. This was served first and came across more simple than the other wines in the flight, which led me to think that we were dealing with an ascending hierarchy, but despite that this was my favorite of the flight for its cleansing purity and soft touch.

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  • 2004 Louis Jadot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Romanée 89 Points

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

    Served between the Puligny Clos de la Garenne and the Meursault Perriers. Certainly vis-a-vis the Puligny it managed to show the stereotypical communal differences in that this seemed thicker and deeper-toned. Aromatically it wasn't as expressive as the Puligny but a bit sharper.

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  • 2004 Louis Jadot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 90 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

    A major departure from the Chassagne and Puligny -- a bigger, fuller, creamier wine but also with a prickly, sparkling acidity to it. I preferred the purer and more open-knit Puligny but figured nevertheless this wine was probably higher on the hierarchy in some sense, which I guess is true if you're one of those people who considers Perrières a de facto grand cru.

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Flight 2 (2 Notes)

  • 2006 Louis Jadot Griotte-Chambertin 87 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru

    Ouch. Poured blind and this was a perfectly pleasant drink, but I was figuring it might be a Santenay or something like that. From a grand cru in general and Griotte in particular you definitely expect something more substantial. I have not been much of a fan of the 2006 red Burgundy vintage and this sort of demonstrates why; lighter vintages are useful when they have personality and early drinkability going for them, but this wine like many '06s has the lightness without much personality at all.

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  • 2006 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace 94 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Poured blind and really blew my mind when the label was revealed. I had not even considered for a moment that this might be anything other than a red Burgundy. The enticing maply scent, red-fruited palate, and evocative base of powdered white stones had me thinking Chambolle-Musigny and while it might have been a bit rich in body for that address I was willing to believe it was one of the vineyards on the Morey side. I can't believe how much more transparent this has gotten since release, when it was a huge bruiser of primary fruit.

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Flight 3 (2 Notes)

  • 2006 Bodega Chacra Pinot Noir Treinta y Dos 82 Points

    Argentina, Patagonia, Río Negro

    Well, what do you know, two and a half years later and once again my notes on this read, "Tastes like NZ pinot." Clearly pinot but slick and glossy and obviously New Worldy but without carrying any candied flavors. It's not bad, but this is a very ambitiously priced wine from bona fide old vines; you expect more grip and character from this kind of material. I kept some in my glass because I wanted to see if it revealed anything more with air but unfortunately it stayed pretty primary. I wish I could keep a few bottles of this in the cellar to see if age does anything for it, but at the price this sells for it's impossible to justify that kind of experiment.

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  • 2006 Bodega Chacra Pinot Noir Cincuenta y Cinco 84 Points

    Argentina, Patagonia

    Poured blind. This was a shocker not only because of how it tastes in isolation but how different it tastes from the Treinta y Dos from the same winery. I didn't sense any family resemblance whatsoever between the two and didn't consider for a second that this might even be pinot noir. I kept wavering between modernist Barolo and modernist Tuscan and I think that's where most people were on this. This had more oak and more grippy tannin than the Treinta y Dos and less fruit sweetness and gloss; the fruits were also redder while the Treinta y Dos was kind of blue-fruited. If you had asked me to guess which was the older-vine bottling I would have guessed this one unhesitatingly. Wrong. (These vines were planted in 1955, the other in 1932, hence the names.) But even though it tastes like a more serious wine it's a little unsettling how little it tastes like anything made from pinot noir.

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Flight 4 (1 Note)

  • 1996 Château Margaux

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Poured blind in a flight with 2000 Cos d'Estournel, a pair of Sassicaia's, and a California cabernet, all of which tasted kind of New Worldy to me. I had this down as my favorite but I can't say I loved any of them at least in terms of current drinking. This is very richly fruited stuff showing essentially no development whatsoever for its 12 years in the bottle. It's not bad and I had it down as my favorite of the flight mostly because it seemed a bit better proportioned than the rest, but it was still pretty much a one-note wine. If you're looking for a first-growth experience out of this it seems likely that if it's destined to happen at all it's at least two decades away.

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