Kensington Wine Tasting, Before and During Auction
The Pump Room - Chicago IL
Tasted Saturday, December 11, 2004 by Burgundy Al with 549 views
Introduction
Kensington had a wonderful tasting for their wine auction. I found some of my notes from the tasting, I wish I could find the rest given the incredible lineup from the day.
2001 Jermann Were Dreams, now it is just wine! 92 Points
Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Venezia Giulia IGT
Wine tasting. Very alluring aromas of white flowers and ripe fruit. White stone fruit flavors with good spice and acidity. Exciting stuff.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1995 Domaine Jacques Prieur Chambertin 84 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru
Wine tasting. Simple black fruit, slightly green, underripe flavors with tannins that diminish the fruit today.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1990 Mommessin Charmes-Chambertin 89 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
Wine tasting. Pale color, also slightly thin aromas to start. Red fruit on palate, more textured than powerful with some hidden structure in deep background today. Tough to assess, showing less ripeness than almost any other 1990 Grand Cru I can recall, but good elegance.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1996 Domaine Jacques Prieur Chambertin 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru
Wine tasting. Totally shut down when forst opened, this was then open several hours before trying. Floral nose with interesting rose elements. Intense black fruit flavors with perfumed character. Moderate grip, good length. Big contrast with 1995 vintage also served in the tasting.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1990 Château Cheval Blanc 98 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Tasting. Superbly concentrated fruit aromatics with great floral support. Ripe plum, black cherry and cocoa on nose, these flavors continue onto the palate. Finish shows a bit cherry liqueur character as well. Acidity and tannins are large but balanced and help provide more length and texture. Kept getting better and better with time.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
1988 Château Mouton Rothschild 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Wine tasting. Black currant and cassis on nose with some smoky character and plenty of leather and cedar elements. Light fruit with as much earthy flavors. Moderate length, good nuance. Drink up.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1996 Château Canon-la-Gaffelière 87 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Simple black fruit on nose with pale spice. good fruit on palate, good acidity has this working better with food than on its own. Less dense than I expected.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1999 Bodegas y Viñedos Alión Ribera del Duero 90 Points
Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero
Wine tasting. Nose of red cherry, espresso and some background notes of new oak spice. Tightly wound red fruit with lots of power coming through on finish. Strong potential, probably from 2009 forward.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1989 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único 95 Points
Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero
Wine tasting. Tasted three times over a couple of hours, this wine kept changing in interesting ways. Red cherry and boysenberry aromas with great floral, tobacco and cedar elements also coming through at various times on the nose. Dense, massive red and black fruit with great spice and minerality. Great length, this wine just demands your attention. Still years away from its peak, I'd like to revisit this wine every five years for the next three decades.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1994 Vineyard 29 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate 91 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
Wine tasting. Black cherry on nose with really good spice, same fruit on palate along with some plum and more intense spices, which really starting emerging after open for over two hours. Still very tight and a bit backward, this needs until 2007 or later.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1997 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard 89 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Wine tasting. Aromas of red and black fruit with some cedar and tobacco elements. Ripe cross-section of fruit flavors, everything balanced and integrated, but a bit one-dimensional and simple towards the finish.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1998 Dominus Estate 87 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Wine tasting. Ok fruit aromas, already showing some advanced earthy elements. Tannins seem too large for the fruit today, I'd hold this to 2006 or later.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1995 Dominus Estate Napanook Vineyard 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Wine tasting. Ripe and luxurious black fruit aromas, complemented well by oak spice. Powerful, ripe fruit flavors, powerful and balanced with some leather and spice on long finish.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1990 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
Wine tasting. Started with slightly rustic, earthy aromas, then far more interesting flavors of ripe and powerful black currant and black cherry, far more primary than I expected based on the nose. Very good structure, power and length. Plenty of life left.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1991 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Wine tasting. Quite youthful aromas with good cedar, chocolate and vanilla aromas. Black cherry, black plum flavors, also vibrant and youthful, with finish that evolves and shows a smoky, nutty character.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1992 Harlan Estate 94 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Wine tasting. Big, bold black fruit aromas with excellent spice from the fruit and new oak. Black berry and plum flavors, nicely structured and balanced. At a great place today, but with enough structure and raw materials to easily last another decade.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1998 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon 89 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
Wine tasting. Black cherry aromas and flavors. Hint of plum as well on palate. Bit of oak and smokiness come through in middle. Pleasant and enjoyable, but simple without much complexity.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1999 Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon Cinq Cépages 92 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County
Wine tasting. Powerful, dense black fruit on nose and palate. Lots of structure, close to balanced already today. Very long and powerful finish. Hold to 2007 or later.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2000 Reynolds Family Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Select 83 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Wine tasting. Aromas dominated by eucalyptus and little else. Simple blck fruit flavors with ok tannins and structure in balance today. Moderate length, drink up.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1999 Melka Métisse 87 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Wine tasting. Simple black fruit on nose. Lighter black cherry flavors, some background spice, well balanced, drinking well now.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2001 Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Tasting. All black fruit on nose, well complemented by new oak spice. Deep and rich black fruit flavors, modest finish and intensity for the 2001 vintage. Limited nuance today.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1986 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Wine tasting. Showing age well. Leather and dried cherry on nose with some smoky and mushroomy aromas. Flavors of cooked mushroom and elegantly mature fruit. Great length, not lots of power but very subtle, spicy and nuanced.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1987 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select 94 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District
Starts with leather and tobacco on nose, fruit and spice aromas are fairly mature. Fruit is more vibrant on the palate, good black fruit with lots of nuance and balance and very charming textures and acidity on finish. Clearly not a hugely ripe wine, this comes across with a great Old World character and elegance. At the same time, this is at its peak and should be consumed in the next few years.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1988 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection 88 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Tasting. Bright fruit on nose with some earthy hints. More advanced and evolved on palate, slightly faded fruit and a short finish.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1995 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Wine tasting. At its peak today. Aromas and flavors of plum, currant with good spice start-to-finish. Great fruit with good smoky elements on finish, easy to enjoy.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1997 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Tasting. Black and red cherry with licorice and cedar, also smoky elements in fruit and spice. Everything is very good, not yet in perfect balance, better after 2006 or 2007.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1997 Joseph Phelps Insignia 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Wine tasting. Lots of black cherry aromas with some cedar elements. Same black fruit on palate with good array of spice and fresh herbs, particularly coming through well on long, evolving finish. Probably better in a few more years.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1997 Del Dotto Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 86 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Tasting. Very easy to enjoy. Pleasant fruit, still fresh. Best to drink while fresh and vibrant in the next few years.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2000 d'Arenberg The Ironstone Pressings 86 Points
Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
Wine tasting. Good fruit, moderately ripe. Slightly harsh and coarse on finish.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1966 Château d'Yquem 88 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Wine tasting. Color was VERY dark brown, far more than I'd expect at under 40 years. Good sweetness and textures, flavors surprisingly simple and short.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue