Second Sunday Group: Panoplie vertical

The Sunday group gathered for our monthly double blind tasting. For this group, the host selects a theme and serves eight wines to the group, double blind, in a single flight. As a group we spend half an hour or so evaluating the wines and trying to figure out what they are and what the theme is. The group ranks the wines and the wines are revealed with last place having the most points against. Tasters cover the cost of the wines. The host provides a white or two as a double blind warm up. Following the tasting, the host provides dinner which is enjoyed with wines brought by the rest of the group. The dinner and dessert wines are nonblind.

The cost of today's tasting was $60 and we had eleven attendees.

Tasted double blind.

• 2012 Louis Latour Pouilly-Fuissé 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Mâconnais, Pouilly-Fuissé

  Double blind warm up. Notes of apple and citrus with a spicy overtone. The acidity is a bit sharp; flavors of citrus, orchard fruit and mineral. This has a waxy Rhonish texture as well.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Tasted double blind. As these were poured, they were very similar in color with a garnet core and some bricking. The lone exception was wine E, which appeared a little darker, but still had some minor bricking. These had been decanted by our host at least half an hour prior to the flight being served.

I like to start by smelling each wine in the flight before I taste any, checking for flawed wines but also trying to see if the bouquets lead me in a particular direction toward the identity of the wines. The bouquet of wine A, with its tobacco, iron and red fruit, first put Bordeaux in my mind, though as I moved on it became quite evident that these were not Bordeaux. After moving through and getting a glimpse of each wine's bouquet I go back to the first wine and begin tasting, noting any changes to the aromatics. The acid that showed on some had me thinking old world, and the color of each, with E being the only noticeable outlier, had me thinking we had a horizontal, or at the very least, a couple of very close, albeit older, vintages. The red fruit- some riper than others- along with the spice and herbal qualities, as well as the acid levels had me looking for old world wines that might fit the bill. When it came time to offer our thoughts on the theme, I guessed 2003 Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The age would be about right for the color, and I thought the warmer year would lead to some of the riper, jammy qualities in the fruit. I do not recall others' guesses other than one thinking we had some older Zinfandels.

In the end, I was most surprised by the fact that we had a vertical spanning eight years as the color on all but one of these was, to my eye, nearly identical. Prior to this I had only tasted the 2000 Panoplie on two separate occasions, one of those double blind. My notes and scores were similar on those two bottles. If one tasting plus a couple of bottles can serve to set the standard, then I suppose I would say that these are nice wines, but are not particularly good values ($95 list at the winery), and not worthy of the lofty scores bestowed on them by at least one of the major critics (my favorite of the flight, the 2007, was awarded 99 points). Still, many thanks to Jeff for putting this together and providing me the opportunity to taste these. Thank you, Jeff.

• 2002 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Panoplie 92 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Aromas of currants and tobacco, iron and vegetal qualities. The vegetal notes fade and it adds earth, herb and cherry notes. The palate shows spices, red fruit- currants and a bit of cherry- with good supporting acidity and a nice finish. Balanced and nicely integrated.
  
  My #2, Domino's #4
  Group #5, 48 pts

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2003 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Panoplie 89 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Opens with a vegetal aroma followed by red currants and pepper. With air it develops a burnt rubber note, along with tar and charred red fruit tones. This has some tannin to integrate and there's a good bit of acid as well. Flavors of toasted, oaky red fruit.
  
  My #7, Domino's #3
  Group #3, 44 pts

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2004 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Panoplie 91 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Notes of red berry, tobacco and ash/smoldering cinders, becoming slightly jammy- not a detriment here- and herbal. Medium tannins with heightened acidity and flavors of red fruit jam, herbs, pepper and Christmas spices. Very nice. 91+ pts.
  
  My #3, Domino's #1
  Group #1, 32 pts

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2005 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Panoplie 89 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Red currant, lavender and herb notes dominate, adding a ripe dark fruit/plum note as it sits. Spice, herb and red fruit qualities on the palate. Less acid than wines A - C, but it finishes with very good length. 89+ pts.
  
  My #6, Domino's #5
  Group #4, 48 pts

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2006 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Panoplie 91 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  The only wine in the flight that stands out for its darker color, this still shows some bricking at the meniscus. Aromas of black fruit, currants and peppery spice, adding red fruit, currant jam and herbal (sage?) notes with time in the glass. Jammy red currant fruit on the palate, along with herbs, candied cherry and white pepper. Has a nice finish, and shows less acid than the first few wines. Spice and raisin notes emerge later on. 91 pts.
  
  My #5, Domino's #6
  Group #7, 61 pts

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2007 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Panoplie 92 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Notes of red currants, holiday spices, cherry and white pepper with a nice earthy undertone. The fruit profile becomes more black than red and the earthy qualities become a more dominant overtone. Good acidity and medium tannins support cherry and red fruit flavors. Baking spice, pepper and earth notes underscore the fruit on the lingering finish. In my mind a more complex and complete wine than the others so far. 92-93 pts.
  
  My #1, Domino's #2
  Group #2, 36 pts

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2008 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Panoplie 91 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Aromas of cherry, candied red currants and evergreen/pine needles. Adds herb and clay notes as it opens in the glass. Good acidity and medium tannins with flavors of spice, cherry and red fruit. Balanced.
  
  My #4, Domino's #8
  Group #6, 60 pts

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2009 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Panoplie 88 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Notes of red fruit, currants and warm baking spices with raisin overtones. Flavors of cooked red fruit and spice with softened acidity and less obvious tannins. The fruit here definitely has a riper, more stewed/cooked quality which I do not find particularly enjoyable here (this is not to say the wine has been "cooked," i.e. mishandled). 88+ pts.
  
  My #8, Domino's #7
  Group #8, 67 pts

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No