Chicago, IL
Tasted Sunday, March 22, 2015 by acyso with 461 views
A few of us gathered at Phil's (thanks for hosting!) for a fun-filled night of decent champagnes, great fried chicken, and some blinded wines.
But before that, some Beausoleil and smoked salmon to work our way in.
Served blind. Advanced golden colour. Slightly oxidized. Smoky, funky, with some beeswax and stone fruit. The fruit on it is a bit stewed. Very funky and weird, and based on my very insufficient previous knowledge, I guessed savagnin.
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Served blind. Red fruited and some black spice on the nose. Moderate acidity, light tannins, and a somewhat short, clipped finish. There's a nice bit of fruitiness to it, as well as some advanced brown spice that I've associated with 2004 red Burgundies (though not the green). For whatever reason, I was thinking touriga (this had a certain ripe port-like quality to it, albeit missing the 18%+ abv). It wasn't jammy nor overoaked, so I figured old world.
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Served blind. Based on the purplish colour, I thought that I wouldn't like this. Well, that teaches you to judge a wine by its colour. The nose had a juicy young-wine smell, with maybe a hint of carbonic, so I figured it was something made in the last 1-2 years (i.e. current release or one before). Despite that high-toned fruit, the palate is very austere: new world fruit, old world restraint. There were some guesses that this was northern Rhone based on the pepper on the nose, but I felt that it was missing more oomph for that.
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Served blind. A slight whiff of funk, followed by American oak and menthol cigarettes. There's a very nice floral touch to it. Red fruited, and medium bodied, with some pretty light tannins -- this has definitely got at least five years on it. Vanilla on the palate, and despite all the overt oak, this is not harsh or offensive in anyway. I guessed Rioja, though got the age wrong.
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Served blind. Spinach, arugula, some green vegetable on the nose. Weird, huh. Maybe it's that tobacco thing that people keep talking about. Spicy, with moderate acidity. Quite earthy, and a bit of sur-maturite in the vein of 1997 red Burgundy: think stewed more than jammy. Really weird stuff. Couldn't make heads or tails of it.
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Served blind. I correctly identified this as corked.
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Served blind. Sulphur for days. Super reductive. I thought it was in the vein of 2004 Leflaive, though others were not so keen on that call. Clearly identifiable as chardonnay. Good racy acidity and mineral led me to chablis. The fat fruit on the palate made me think 2009, as this wasn't old or poxed enough to be 2005 or 2002, and had more acidity than I'd expect for 2003.
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Served blind. It tends to be a bad sign when a wine is magenta in colour. Notes of black pepper and lots of young overexcited black fruit. Trouble brewing? The palate was nowhere as bad as what the nose led me to believe. I did think that it could be syrah, but if it was northern Rhone, it definitely was a low-end cuvee. The thin palate, showing some moderate fruit, but mostly acid before turning into water made it clear it was old world. A weird mix of juicy fruit and austerity -- the balance just doesn't work here.
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Served blind from half bottle. Sweet balsamic vinegar on the nose, as well as some juicy black fruit. The palate had dates and figs, and was obviously quite ripe, though the tannins seemed to have decided to hang out by encrusting the bottle rather than stay in the wine itself. Moderately sweet, this brought to mind a thinner version of the red SQN straw wines, but really, I couldn't pick out any more than that. 80% zinfandel, 20% petite syrah.
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2002 Maurice Vesselle Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé 90 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Super ripe and rich on the nose, with a lot of yeasty, bready notes. The palate is dense, and similarly ripe and rich. Quite funky, but still doing fine, though to be honest, I think this is quite ready now.
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2002 H. Billiot Fils Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé 93 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Lovely white florals on the nose. Again, quite ripe and rich with just a bit of baked apple on the palate. Good density; chalky texture and very intense. Some sweet marzipan on the mid-palate, and fruit as well. Excellent.
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2002 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Champagne Special Club Millesimé de Collection 93 Points
France, Champagne
This was much riper and rounder than the 2005 I had alongside. Very sweet. A bit more funk, with a lot of density. Rounder and riper; some tart peachy fruit on the palate.
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2005 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Champagne Special Club Grands Terroirs de Chardonnay 88 Points
France, Champagne
Super citrus and tons of acidity. Lemony, fresh, if a bit angular and gangling. Mineral, with laser precision, this has very good cut. Maybe a bit too far over the edge, I'm not sure if this has it to make old bones.
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1998 Henriot Champagne Cuvée des Enchanteleurs Brut Flawed
France, Champagne
L1404021112. 50/50 pinot noir and chardonnay. The nose was funky and leesy, with a very nice mushroom tone. The palate is similarly funky, but with good density and cut. I was initially very much enthralled by this wine, but as Keith insisted, there was something wrong with the bottle. I wasn't sure, but the TCA started rearing its ugly head in the last sips I had in my glass.
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2004 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier d'Or 93 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
"Blowtorched pears," Phil said. He's not wrong. Very big, opulent, and powerful. A bit toasty on the oak, but it's very well integrated. Deep and very complex, with good racy acidity. A real candidate for wine of the night.
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2005 Gaston Chiquet Champagne Special Club Brut 90 Points
France, Champagne
A super racy bottle of Champagne, with tons of lively acidity. A green apple complexion, with a strong dose of mineral, though it does tend towards the austere side.
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