Still a brilliant wine, this has mellowed out a little bit from what I remember. Less white grape and foxiness, and more classic chardonnay characteristics -- good crispness and a potent chalkiness on the back end.
Served double blind. The nose here is great -- there's a reductive element here that reminds me of Coche (basically that popcorn thing). The palate however, shows far too much green. It's way too lean and doesn't seem to have any ripeness to balance that crazy acidity. A little disappointing, really. Based on that acidity though, I was guessing young old world chardonnay (white Burgundy, really).
Served double blind. Pretty much got to chenin quickly, based on a bit of honey and golden fruit on the nose, and a fairly neutral acidity. Good fruit profile here; I thought this was something like a 2015 Huet sec.
This got better and better with air, but I didn't think that this was the most convincing bottle of LdH. Savory and meaty, with a nice salinity on the palate. The nose is a bit muted, though some of the American oak starts to poke out with some more time. The palate's fruit is present, and lurks underneath all the earthy elements.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Served double blind. I pegged this as an Oregon pinot, given its bright fruit profile featuring mostly strawberries. The palate has a bit of sweetness as well, and not much oak. There is however a slight hint of cola here (which drove me to the new world). The tannins are still a little young as well.
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Served double blind. Really high-toned and volatile on the nose -- Sharpie marker. The red fruit here is crunchy, but the palate shows really high alcohol and some red fruit, and absolutely nothing in the midpalate. In fact it feels a little watery. High alcohol. Fairly non-descript, but I managed to land myself in Tuscany anyway.
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Served double blind. Fairly reduced on the nose, with a slight faecal hint that blows off with vigorous swirling. Again, this is slightly non-descript, but there's a herbal note that had me in Tuscany again. Off of the underwhelming 2008 Stella di Campalto, this wine felt a little lighter (in terms of alcohol), even if the fruit came off a little darker.
Served double blind. Hugely tropical nose, with guavas and pineapples and that sort of stuff. The palate, too, is luscious and rich, but there's more than enough acidity to help balance it out. This did seem to have a bit of waxiness as well, but I didn't think it over the top. I ended up thinking this was an Austrian riesling with a slight bit of age on it; didn't really notice any green herbal tones here.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru
Served double blind. Even though this was obviously white Burgundy, I thought that this was a little younger than it was. The nose has some confected lime flavours (Pop Rocks?), as well as a nice touch of reduction. White fruit, good acidity, and crisp, with only a modest amount of fruit. I thought that this was 2013 chablis.
Served double blind. The green pepper here had me at Loire red immediately. There weren't many secondary notes, so I thought that this was something much younger -- perhaps around five years old. Not much funk and certainly no roasted qualities here. Some good fruit flavours, but this was hardly the most complex of wines either.
Served double blind. A touch of poop on the nose at first (perhaps it's reduction). Really dark fruit, and a slight carbonic quality here had some at the table thinking Beaujolais from a ripe year. I managed to pick up some light green pepper notes, and coupled with tannins that did not feel like gamay, I guessed Loire red.
Served double blind. Pizza wine was my initial reaction to this, and then I filled out the rest and guessed a 2010 Chianti. It had a fullness to the palate, along with little to no oak use, that made me choose Chianti over Brunello. On the other hand, there was ample acidity and structure here to hold the rest of the wine in check.
Served double blind. You know those red strawberry candies with the cellophane wrapper that is green at the top? That. Probably new world pinot, but I was more in California because of the amount of candied qualities here. Despite that odd candied sweetness, the palate here is a little hollow.
Served double blind. I had guessed modernist Barolo here, that's how little this smelled or tasted like syrah. Black and dense, with a little bit of oak tannin as well. But no matter what it was, it didn't show very many aromatics or fruit on the palate. It's just a fairly monolithic palate.
I had high hopes for this wine, but felt it wasn't as good as it could have been. Seems like there's some American oak here; it pokes out quite a bit. Any sort of pyrazine quality on this seems to be on vacation. I served this blind to a pretty experienced table, and guesses were all over the place. Perhaps I caught this at a dumb phase, or perhaps this isn't aging all that well.
Served double blind. "It's an imposing beverage." Immediately identifiable as Napa cabernet, though I thought it tasted a lot older than its meagre eight years. Very monolithic, with a good amount of black fruit. The tannins are quite coarse right now. Some serious winemaking went into this wine, but it's just showing a little brutish right now. Probably more interesting with some more time under its belt.
2006 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 93 Points
France, Champagne
Still a brilliant wine, this has mellowed out a little bit from what I remember. Less white grape and foxiness, and more classic chardonnay characteristics -- good crispness and a potent chalkiness on the back end.
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2013 Domaine Guiberteau Saumur Blanc Clos des Carmes Brézé 85 Points
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur
Served double blind. The nose here is great -- there's a reductive element here that reminds me of Coche (basically that popcorn thing). The palate however, shows far too much green. It's way too lean and doesn't seem to have any ripeness to balance that crazy acidity. A little disappointing, really. Based on that acidity though, I was guessing young old world chardonnay (white Burgundy, really).
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2012 Vincent Carême Vouvray Le Peu Morier 90 Points
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
Served double blind. Pretty much got to chenin quickly, based on a bit of honey and golden fruit on the nose, and a fairly neutral acidity. Good fruit profile here; I thought this was something like a 2015 Huet sec.
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1961 R. López de Heredia Rioja Viña Tondonia 88 Points
Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
This got better and better with air, but I didn't think that this was the most convincing bottle of LdH. Savory and meaty, with a nice salinity on the palate. The nose is a bit muted, though some of the American oak starts to poke out with some more time. The palate's fruit is present, and lurks underneath all the earthy elements.
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2009 Frédéric Magnien Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers 88 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Served double blind. I pegged this as an Oregon pinot, given its bright fruit profile featuring mostly strawberries. The palate has a bit of sweetness as well, and not much oak. There is however a slight hint of cola here (which drove me to the new world). The tannins are still a little young as well.
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2008 Azienda Agricola San Giuseppe Brunello di Montalcino Stella di Campalto 85 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Served double blind. Really high-toned and volatile on the nose -- Sharpie marker. The red fruit here is crunchy, but the palate shows really high alcohol and some red fruit, and absolutely nothing in the midpalate. In fact it feels a little watery. High alcohol. Fairly non-descript, but I managed to land myself in Tuscany anyway.
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2011 Altesino Brunello di Montalcino 88 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Served double blind. Fairly reduced on the nose, with a slight faecal hint that blows off with vigorous swirling. Again, this is slightly non-descript, but there's a herbal note that had me in Tuscany again. Off of the underwhelming 2008 Stella di Campalto, this wine felt a little lighter (in terms of alcohol), even if the fruit came off a little darker.
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2010 Freie Weingärtner Wachau / Domäne Wachau Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Achleiten 88 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Served double blind. Hugely tropical nose, with guavas and pineapples and that sort of stuff. The palate, too, is luscious and rich, but there's more than enough acidity to help balance it out. This did seem to have a bit of waxiness as well, but I didn't think it over the top. I ended up thinking this was an Austrian riesling with a slight bit of age on it; didn't really notice any green herbal tones here.
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2008 Deux Montille Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Sous Frétille Blanc 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru
Served double blind. Even though this was obviously white Burgundy, I thought that this was a little younger than it was. The nose has some confected lime flavours (Pop Rocks?), as well as a nice touch of reduction. White fruit, good acidity, and crisp, with only a modest amount of fruit. I thought that this was 2013 chablis.
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2003 Charles Joguet Chinon Clos de la Dioterie 88 Points
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
Served double blind. The green pepper here had me at Loire red immediately. There weren't many secondary notes, so I thought that this was something much younger -- perhaps around five years old. Not much funk and certainly no roasted qualities here. Some good fruit flavours, but this was hardly the most complex of wines either.
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2015 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Granges 85 Points
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
Served double blind. A touch of poop on the nose at first (perhaps it's reduction). Really dark fruit, and a slight carbonic quality here had some at the table thinking Beaujolais from a ripe year. I managed to pick up some light green pepper notes, and coupled with tannins that did not feel like gamay, I guessed Loire red.
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2014 Istine Chianti Classico 90 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG
Served double blind. Pizza wine was my initial reaction to this, and then I filled out the rest and guessed a 2010 Chianti. It had a fullness to the palate, along with little to no oak use, that made me choose Chianti over Brunello. On the other hand, there was ample acidity and structure here to hold the rest of the wine in check.
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2011 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Evenstad Reserve 85 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Served double blind. You know those red strawberry candies with the cellophane wrapper that is green at the top? That. Probably new world pinot, but I was more in California because of the amount of candied qualities here. Despite that odd candied sweetness, the palate here is a little hollow.
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2007 Delas Frères St. Joseph Sainte-Epine 85 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph
Served double blind. I had guessed modernist Barolo here, that's how little this smelled or tasted like syrah. Black and dense, with a little bit of oak tannin as well. But no matter what it was, it didn't show very many aromatics or fruit on the palate. It's just a fairly monolithic palate.
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2008 Gramercy Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 85 Points
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
I had high hopes for this wine, but felt it wasn't as good as it could have been. Seems like there's some American oak here; it pokes out quite a bit. Any sort of pyrazine quality on this seems to be on vacation. I served this blind to a pretty experienced table, and guesses were all over the place. Perhaps I caught this at a dumb phase, or perhaps this isn't aging all that well.
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2010 Opus One 88 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Served double blind. "It's an imposing beverage." Immediately identifiable as Napa cabernet, though I thought it tasted a lot older than its meagre eight years. Very monolithic, with a good amount of black fruit. The tannins are quite coarse right now. Some serious winemaking went into this wine, but it's just showing a little brutish right now. Probably more interesting with some more time under its belt.
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