EWS -- Wild game and wilder wines dinner

Tasted Monday, November 3, 2014 by swapdoc with 437 views

Introduction

Just a fantastic evening of great wines matched with imaginative and expertly prepared dishes.

Flight 1 (3 Notes)

Flight 2 - Both cabs did not really belong in this flight -- they were added to test the food pairing. Stylistically, these cabs should have been in Flight 4. (5 Notes)

  • 1995 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots

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

    Lovely nose of cedar, earth and sweetness of a vanilla rum raisin ice cream. Color of aged bordeaux. Seamless on the palate, with notes of wood and dark cherry. Somewhat linear mouth feel of an aged but absolutely balanced wine. Enjoyed it better by itself rather than with food pairing.

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  • 2005 Domaine Robert Groffier Bonnes Mares

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

    Maturing and perhaps still primary wine. More typical nose of sour cherry, hint of clove. Young and lively, this wine best complimented stuffed quail -- there is plenty of acidity to accent complex dishes.

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  • 2009 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Vaucrains

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

    Just a wonderful nose or dark meaty fruit. Young but complex, this wine is well integrated already, with softening tannins adding to the complexity and feel. Wild blackberry and dark fruit taste adds to the overall balance by combining complex mineral aromas with natural sweetness. Drinking well now.

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  • 2008 Bodega Catena Zapata Nicolás Catena Zapata

    Argentina, Mendoza

    Viscous wine, consistency of an unfiltered cranberry/raspberry compote. Taste of vanilla and raspberry -- 60% cabernet, 30% malbec, petit verdot, cab franc -- the wine has an open, expansive feel, but finishes short, with some unresolved oak. Not enough minerality for my palate.

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  • 2009 Château Léoville Poyferré

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Aromas of coffee, currents and blackberry jam. Classy, lusheous and rich body, with plenty of well extracted fruit, but oddly the fruit lacked the natural sweetness. I was begging for a taste of that sweet blackberry. Built to last and has all the right stuffing -- well, almost all. 60% cabernet, 30% merlot.

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Flight 3 (3 Notes)

  • 2005 E. Guigal Ermitage Ex-Voto

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Nose of dark raspberry and menthol, with a pronounced dollop of oak. A very complex mouth feel, with ripe fruit and mineral, long body. Sparkles with different flavors -- plumbs, sour and sweet dark fruits, vanilla. Very young and powerful, reminiscent of an Aussie style wine making. Liked the taste quite a bit; has a hard time getting past the oak on the nose.

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  • 1990 Château La Mission Haut-Brion

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Aromas of pencil shavings and aged cedar. Brownish in color, the wine tastes of a classy mature bordeaux, with notes of earth, mushrooms, dark cherry and wine cask, long in the body with a great underlying balance. The ragout sauce accented the sweetness of cherries in this wine -- a nice pairing overall. A wine for bordeaux lovers.

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  • 2009 Domaine du Coulet (Matthieu Barret) Cornas Billes Noires

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

    Viscous body, velvety smooth on the palate. Wild dark berries in the mouth -- combination of sweetness and an offsetting tartness or sour berry skins. The wine is silky smooth -- actually wished for a little more structure. No detectable oak. Very supple and unlike what I was expecting from a young Cornas.

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Flight 4 (4 Notes)

  • 2000 Château Pavie

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    A delicious nose of leather, plums and fruit jam. Cab franc added to the aromatic complexity. A great balance and power on the palate -- a combination of rich fruit and underlying length. Beginning to consolidate now, needs time still. A polarizing wine for the group, with the Bordeaux purists denouncing the generic nature of the wine. Liked the wine for what it showed tonight. 60% merlot, cab franc, petit verdot.

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  • 1995 Château Cos d'Estournel

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Bit sour and lean now, this '95 is sweeter and fuller than '96, though both wines failed to impress. Lacking fruit and presence.

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  • 1996 Château Cos d'Estournel

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    The nose had a hint of a green bell pepper, slightly astringent. Not enough fruit in the body. Lean and lack luster, though some people preferred '96 with food to the '95.

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  • 2004 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia

    Italy, Tuscany, Bolgheri, Bolgheri Superiore

    Very young still. A great nose of dark forest fruits. The wine is still somewhat closed, showing good potential. Impressive combination of ripeness and texture, but more subtle than screaming. Needs time to develop the structure -- mostly fruit now. 60% cab, merlot, etc.

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