Ferragosto in montagna

All wines were served single blind. Majority with lunch; 3 for dinner. Each one of the attendees took his /her bottles wrapped appropriately. No real organization of the order (besides white/red), just some common sense (e.g. the guy that was supposing to have younger wines opened his wines first). No wine was decanted but one (see below), some were opened in advance.
Consumed during a lunch oriented towards sea food, and a dinner with meat.

White wines were served with raw fish first, then a break with gazpacho, then roasted fish. Red wines were consumed without food.

• 2006 Louis Latour Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru La Truffière 91 Points

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

  First wine of the lunch, besides a Champagne that I didn't take notes about. Good introduction to the rest of the wines. Very good; obviously too young. Intense on the nose. Good - but not great.

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• 2000 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Bâtard-Montrachet 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Excellent freshness due to razor-like acidity. Indeed, Grand Cru intensity. Powerful, elegant, long, and you could drink a lot without being bored. Consensus was that this was the best white wine of the event.

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• 2002 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Charmes 93 Points

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

  Very, very elegant - more elegant than the Batard; also with a similar aromatic profile, but slightly less intense and long. Young. No premox at all.

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• 1986 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  We guessed France because of the intensity paired with freshness that is not really common in Italy. Then guessed Bordeaux because of the aromatic difference with the 3 Burgundies tasted immediately before. None went even close to the age of this wine; everyone was speechless when the bottle age was unveiled. Part of the cork slipped into the bottle, so the wine was decanted. The acidity and the complex aromas. paired perfectly.The wine per se could give satisfaction for more time, but now we think it is at its top.

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• 2000 Tenuta Greppo (Biondi-Santi) Brunello di Montalcino 90 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  All the attendees guessed it as a Barolo, besides the owner of the bottle of course. But it's not strange with Biondi Santi in my (too little) experience. I found it pretty much closed, and I'd say it is still far from being ready; to me, this wine in 15 years could give a completely different impression, and get a higher score. My opinion wasn't shared by all attendees, some judged it already quite open. Still tannic; the similarity with Barolo can give a lot of hints to the rreader.

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• 1992 Castello di Ama L'Apparita Toscana IGT 88 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  The nose was already warning that the wine was too green; in the mouth, very vegetal, and very tannic for a merlot. Good, but not up to the reputation of this wine. Other vintages in the past had performed much better. To me, while this wine is not going to fade anytime soon, it won't improve either.

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With a filetto di manzo con erbe, quickly cooked in a pan, and basically raw. Then, a soup with beans and pork meat.

• 2005 Louis Latour Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaumonts 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  An impressive elegance and a sure promise of a very interesting future - but also a waste of a bottle that was too young. So much better in the future, but you can see that the stuff is there. Latour hasn't a stellar reputation, but here they produced a very good wine, maybe because of the 2005. The primary aromes are close to perfect, the intensity and length impeccable.

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• 2001 Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Santa Caterina D'Oro Vigna di Pianrosso 93 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Very good wine overall; drinkable already, in its own way, because of a natural balance of this wine, but clearly so much better with more aging. A hint of reduction in the first moments, soon disappeared. Quite burgundian in its weightless. Modern, in a good way; no noticeable oak; if I can recall correctly, this one is produced in large barrels. This was my contribution - first attempt with 2001 Brunelli, and actually it's too soon for them. It could be the best red wine of the event, but then the Cascina Francia came out and stoled the show.

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• 1990 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia 95 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Fantastic. And also a humbling lesson. I already had this wine 3 or 4 years ago, and it was evoluted, with animal aromes, frankly quite uninspiring. Some of the other attendees had tried this one already as well, with results comparable to mine. This one had a spectacular nose and a wonderful mouth as well. No evolution towards animal aromes. A lot of YOUNG fruit still there. Clearly Langa, and clearly from a traditionalist: it had that kind of minerality and souplesse that only traditional Barolos can exhibit. Too often in the past some of the traditionalist producers shaped Barolos with slight defects and reductions etc. But when they make it right, it's really a wonderful experience. A backbone of acidity but in perfect check, tertiary notes not really developped yet; and not fat at all - the contrary, even meager. Supremely elegant, exactly because of this lack of fat. A cleaniness that was crystal-like for the nose and for the mouth. To me, it recalled a Monprivato from Mascarello - just better. I'd say. Like a Burgundy Grand Cru, plus some Langa. None guessed it as 21 years old - 10 looked more reasonable. This particular bottle was not in danger to fade, but given the previous experiences with this wine, I don't know what to recommend.

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The Batard (white) and the Cascina Francia (red) were the most appreciated wines of the event. We ended up being a little embarassed of the impressive list of the empty bottles - this is far beyond what we are accustomed to drink.