Dinner with Ann Colgin

Crown Wine Cellars, 18 Deep Water Bay Drive, Shouson Hill, Hong Kong
Tasted Thursday, March 20, 2014 by Goldstone with 558 views

Introduction

A great evening at Crown to welcome Ann Colgin with a well-attended tasting followed by a smaller dinner in the Library.

Flight 1 - Aperitif (1 Note)

Flight 2 - Colgin Wine Tasting (1 Note)

There were around 8-10 Colgin wines for tasting but most were much too young to appreciate so I laser-beamed on the pick of the bunch.

  • 2001 Colgin Cariad 94 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Translucent, almost transparent purple/ruby colour. Nose is lovely....velvety and very rounded. The palate carries the 15% alcohol very elegantly. Lovely freshness combined with beautiful depth of berried fruit. Just a touch hot on the finish. My first Colgin wine and a great way to start.

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Flight 3 - Wine Dinner - Introductory Burgundies (6 Notes)

Greg D'eeb had asked us in advance to provide a good bottle of Burgundy as a prelude to Ann Colgin's wines and, as usual, many people over compensated. Some I could not capture the detail of- one that got away was a Coche Dury 2000 I scored 94 but I didn't identify the precise wine -but my other highlights were:

  • 2000 Domaine Ramonet Chevalier-Montrachet 91 Points

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

    Deep golden colour. Chiseled and crisp on the nose. Very rich on the palate: long, super butterscotch notes, mellows in the mouth with more time in the glass and the butterscotch tones down accordingly. Not much length or resonance. Surprisingly muted.

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  • 2004 Verget Bâtard-Montrachet 95 Points

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

    Bright gold colour. Petrolly nose with the slightest whiff of oxidisation. Hugely resonant even in the mouth..... incredibly deep on the palate and then with landslides of reverberance on the finish. Great length. In classic Batard-Montrachet style, this was the bruiser of the bunch amongst the white Burgundies we drank. My contribution.

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  • 1996 Emmanuel Rouget Echezeaux 96 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

    Deep transparent ruby colour. Nose is WOW!.....deep, rich, extremely rounded and concentrated. Palate has a similar depth but with a wonderful
    chiffonesque lightness, lenfth and reverberence inside the head. I could sniff and sip this forever. Awesome.

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  • 1999 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru

    Transparent Ox-blood red. Nose is very lightly perfumed elegance. Palate is very fresh, balanced and light with a nice dry finish.

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  • 2002 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Chambertin 89 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

    Light, elegant, brambly and with rounded rocks. Enjoyable........ but I was very surprised to find that it is a Grand Cru.

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  • 2002 Bernard Dugat-Py Chambertin Vieilles Vignes 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

    Lovely shitty nose..... real depth. Palate is very light and all beautufully balanced on its tiptoes. Gorgeous. 92+

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Flight 4 - Wine Dinner - Ann Colgin's Wines (7 Notes)

Which all came from the Estate except for an easily-identified 'ringer'.

  • 1992 Colgin Cabernet Sauvignon Herb Lamb 96 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Bottle provided by Ann Colgin. Her first vintage.....only 275 cases made. Very purple-hued and still opaque in the core. Nose is absolutely lovely elegance and depth of blackcurrants and with a blueberry freshness......and pencil lead. Palate is wonderful...... light, refreshing acidity, cool elegance, blackberries, very feminine..... sheer elegant pleasure. Very Cabernet (it is pure Cabernet). Wonderful lightness but with huge length and thunderous resonance. So pure and fresh and linearly precise. Brilliantly made. Beautiful. Touching on 97.

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  • 1995 Colgin Cabernet Sauvignon Herb Lamb 94 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Magnum provided by Ann Colgin (they don't sell the magnums). Purple-hued colour and still very opaque except at the rim. Nose is subdued and reticent - mainly graphite. Palate is pinpoint-perfect: fantastic, cassis and very fresh blackberry with a super dryish tannin finish of blackberry seeds. Less length or resonance than the preceding 1992 vintage but so elegant and fresh. 94+

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  • 2002 Colgin Cariad 90 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Deep opaque purple-maroon colour. Nose is very reticent pencil lead and pencil shavings..... you really have to chase it. Palate is young..... rich, alcoholic and with an afterburn in the stomach. But there is real quality there..... much too youg, even with a rare steak and red pepper coulis. Come back in 10 years' time. Probably shouldn't score it at this stage. This bottle was flown in from the winery by Ann Colgin.

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  • 2003 Colgin IX Estate 90 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Translucent ruby red colour. Nose has the classic Colgin restraint. Thick, mouthfiling palate - mouthcoating. A bit hot. Belly-filling. Young vines but you can taste the terroir. Juicy. Lots of structure. Reminds me of the 2003 Silver Oak but less evolved.

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  • 1994 Château Montrose 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Still very fresh colour and brightness....... very opaque except for transparency at the meniscus. Nose is....Bordeaux......complex and restrained. On the palate you can really taste that this is 12.5% alcohol old-fashioned Bordeaux. Light because of the vintage.... but super, especially as a counterpoint to all the Colgin wines we drank either side of it. I'd like to try this again on its own.

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  • 2005 Colgin Cariad 97 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Jeweled translucent ruby colour. Nose is classic restrained Colgin style....graphite and super linearity like a sketch by Leonardo Da Vinci. Palate is FANTASTIC.......stupendous linear, machine-tooled graphite purity. Amazing length and rolling, rolling resonance that just goes on and on and on. Brlilliant! My WOTN despite the fact I generally prefer my wines 10+ years older and despite the presence of an estate-provided bottle of 1992 Herb Lamb in the line-up.

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  • 2010 Colgin Syrah IX Estate 89 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Their rarest wine. Totally opaque ox-blood colour. Sweaty nose.... definitely Syrah- some burnt red earth and red rocks. More Australian Shiraz than Rhone Syrah. Palate is heavy and a bit leaden despite having a fresh acidic up kick. Nice burnt rubber and new cycle tyre inner tubes element. But too belly-filling for me. But I do like the burnt rubber element. I wouldn't fault anyone who scored it a lot higher than me.

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Flight 5 - After-Dinner Cellar Raid (1 Note)

Several of the Guys insisted on raiding their cellars for a few more wines, which were generally presented blind and few of which I recorded in sufficient detail. But the stand-out was clear...........

  • 1968 Inglenook Vineyards 95 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

    Drank at the end of a long tasting and dinner with Ann Colgin..... I only wish I had noted who provided it as I owe them a big 'thank you". Bright, jewelled, young, translucent colour verging towards transparent.... amazingly youthful and fresh-looking for its age. Nose is lovely high-toned nail varnish....super-high toned....with still a ton of fruit and a lot of leather. Palate is light, high-toned with gorgeous fresh figs and underlying layers of prunes.....wonderfully alive. Really quite tertiary... moist but drying autumn leaves, drying tea bags etc.....but still so fresh. Still some resonance on the finish and a delicate but lovely reverberance on the finale. This rings my bell. A thrilling treat. 95+

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Closing

I was really impressed by Ann Colgin's signature of freshness, elegance and restrained linearity in her winemaking and how she achieves this with wines that typically contain 15% alcohol.

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