Some wines for WVIZ - Public Television

WVIZ Studios
Tasted Monday, July 27, 2015 - Tuesday, July 28, 2015 by Loren Sonkin with 419 views

Introduction

Every spring, our local public television station has an auction. One night is devoted to wine and it is led by Dan G. Dan heads up one of the Ohio distributorships and is very generous with his time and money. He is also a very entertaining speaker. At the last auction, he donated a series of tastings divided into various price levels. My wife and I purchased tickets for the high end tasting. We had no idea of what the wines would be, but given Dan's reputation, I had no doubt it would be worth my $70 contribution. And it was.

This was a formal tasting, done with flights. Dan gave humorous and informative stories about the wines, properties and people involved in producing these wines. A variety of food was served to match the wines.

Flight 1 (1 Note)

Flight 2 (2 Notes)

  • 2012 Louis Latour Aloxe-Corton 87 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Aloxe-Corton

    (7/28/2015)

    Very pale ruby in color. The nose is perfumed with light cherries, cinnamon and slight earthiness. Light to medium bodied on the palate. Nice cherries. Fresh. Ready to drink now. This is nice and I would suspect a reasonable value.

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  • 2012 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

    (7/28/2015)

    Tried from two bottles and though similar, I found the second bottle to be much cleaner/fresher. I thought the first bottle might be slightly corked at first, but it did not change with air and I changed my mind. In any event, the second bottle was, for me, clearly better. Light golden in color. The nose has a bit of mustiness to it, but the second also showed grapefruit, lime, chalk and vanilla. On the palate, the two were more similar with nice tart grapefruit. Very tight and took copious swirling to open even a bit. Of course, this wine won't justify its price tag unless cellared for a while, but this appears to be the real deal.

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Flight 3 (1 Note)

  • 2006 Château Angélus 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    (7/28/2015)

    A real treat to drink a mature Bordeaux like this. Seems to be nearing peak although obviously has a decade or more left once there. Ruby/purple in color. The nose has black raspberries, coffee, dark cherries, cedar and some brown tobacco. Full bodied. On the palate, the cherry flavors lead but there is some cassis. Complex right off the bat. Some tobacco and earthiness. Nice finish. This is delicious, approachable and everyone drained their glasses quickly. Is it worth the lofty price tag? Sure, if the money is going to public television. ;-)

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Flight 4 (3 Notes)

  • 2009 Castelgiocondo (Marchesi de' Frescobaldi) Brunello di Montalcino 91 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    (7/28/2015)

    Despite being the least expensive in the flight, this seemed to be the crowd favorite among those I spoke with. Interesting. Ruby/cherry in color. The nose has cherries, tea leaves and spice. On the palate, this is tight but has some nice upfront fruit. More approachable than I might have expected. Nice acidity. Very nice wine.

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  • 2007 Pieve Santa Restituta (Gaja) Brunello di Montalcino 92 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    (7/28/2015)

    Purple in color. The nose is dark cherries, cedar and some tea. On the palate, this has juicy acidity. Plenty of tannins. Slightly jammy cherries with a bit of floral tones. Nice finish. This still drinks quite young and needs time/air. I think Dan said this was their top wine, but the bottle looked identical to the regular 2010 except a different shade of gold. I did not see Rennina or Sugarille on the bottle. So, I am unsure if this was just the regular bottle or not.

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  • 2010 Pieve Santa Restituta (Gaja) Brunello di Montalcino 92 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    (7/28/2015)

    Probably my favorite in the flight. Very young and needs to sleep for 5 to 10 minimum. The nose has cherries, cedar, spice and tea leaves. Even a hint of mint. On the palate, this is a wall of tannins. Spice, cherries and forest floor. Nice acidity makes it drinkable now, but it is very tight. Very modern take and very pretty as well.

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Flight 5 (1 Note)

  • 2011 Trivento Malbec Eolo 89 Points

    Argentina, Mendoza, Lujan de Cuyo

    (7/28/2015)

    For many people this was the WOTN. I am not sure if they just wanted a nice jammy, young, delicious wine or Dan's enthusiasm was contagious. Purple in color. The nose has black raspberries, blueberries, dark chocolate shavings and spice. Smooth. Easy to drink. Lush texture. Lacks depth or complexity but this is very tasty. There are some tannins but they yield to all the fruit. A crowd favorite who passed up some of the other bottling's to get a second glass of this one.

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Closing

Awlays a pleasure to help public television, especially drinking like these!

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