Clos St Jacques Tasting 2009 and 2010

Clos St Jacques Tasting 2009 and 2010
Organised by Mark St Clair

The tasting was held in Wellington on Wednesday 12 February. Mark St Clair had been gathering the wines for quite a while as well as received contributions from some of the tasters’ cellars. Having all of the 5 CSJ producers over two vintages is not a straight forward proposition in New Zealand as these are very difficult to source from here. This was very much a labor of passion on Mark’s part and a very well organized tasting with extensive notes and a great setup (thanks to the good doctor).

Helen Master (Ata Rangi) chaired the tasting and in attendance were several other winemakers from Martinborough: Larry McKenna and Huw Kinch (Escarpment), Paul Mason (Martinborough Vineyards), Guy McMaster (Urlar), Chris Reid (Ata Rangi) and John Kavanagh (Foley Family Wines). There were some serious wine professionals too (Raymond Chan http://www.raymondchanwinereviews.co.nz) and connoisseurs and a some of the usual Wellington bunch (Mikey D. Number 7 and the good doctor).

The wines were served blind and all at the same time, had been decanted into another bottle 2 hours before, and all we know is that they were grouped per vintage. I wrote the notes as we tasted and before knowing what the wines were.

Nine of the sixteen he tasters agreed to communicate their rankings at the end. I’ve indicated those as well as my ranking.