San Diego WineSpectator.com Offline, 4/7/2012
Casa Red Guy, San Diego
Tasted Saturday, April 7, 2012 by Javachip with 839 views
Introduction
Many thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Red Guy in a Blue State, our warm and gracious hosts for this most excellent cellar diminishment party. All but two of the bottles tonight were provided by our hosts. After personally inspecting their cellar, I can attest that tonight's event scarcely made a dent in their holdings. All but three of the wines were tasted blind, offering a valuable opportunity to focus on the inside of each bottle rather than the outside. For dessert, we enjoyed generous servings of humble pie as the labels were revealed.
Flight 1 - Non-red wines (5 Notes)
Flight 2 - Red wines (10 Notes)
All of these were generously provided by Mr. & Mrs. Red Guy and carry impeccable provenance. They were properly decanted, and tasted blind. We could tell who among us were the cut-throats back in college, by how they begged Red Guy for hints, and attempted to deduce a wine's identity by its bottle shape.
Closing
The results were humbling but not humiliating. I correctly identified the major varietal in 67% of the wines, and my colleagues generally performed as well or better. Red Guy helped us by sticking with the most common varietals. But my ability to identify the country of origin was less accurate than a coin toss. From now on I will just say "international style" when asked to guess the origin. Once again, cheers to Mr. & Mrs. Red Guy for this splendid Easter Eve celebration.
2010 Foxen Sauvignon Blanc 7200 Vogelzang Vineyard 92 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
Non-blind. Clear light straw color. Notes of flinty lime, white grapefruit, tart apple, white peach, smoky oak, chalk, limestone. No detectable lawn clipping or vegetable component. Outstanding wine. Reminds me of Merry Edwards, which Red Guy says may be due to the same Musque clone used by both producers.
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1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon 94 Points
France, Champagne
Non-blind. Clear light yellow color with fine streams of tiny bubbles. Subdued bouquet of apples, pear, almonds, white grapefruit, chalk, limestone, croissant. Maybe even some white chocolate. Exceptionally refined, elegant, complex, magnificent. That said, I cannot justify the current price given the restrained nose on this wine. My one experience with Krug Grande Cuvee a few years ago impressed me more than this Dom. My #1 and group's FIRST PLACE in this flight of non-red wines.
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2003 Peter Michael Chardonnay La Carrière 88 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Knights Valley
Tasted blind. Clear light yellow. Notes of quince, golden raisins, and smoky buttery oak. Not getting much terroir or minerality here.
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NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé 93 Points
France, Champagne
Non-blind. Clear pale light copper-salmon with very fine bubbles. Notes of Macintosh apples, berries, flowers, and minerals. Fresh, crisp, tart, wonderful. My #2 and group's SECOND PLACE in this flight of non-red wines.
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2002 Domaine Morey-Coffinet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru En Cailleret 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
Tasted blind. Clear light yellow. Subtle, restrained bouquet of nougat, fresh white flowers, white peach, minerals. Fresh, pure and precise. I guessed "White Rhone."
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