Wonderful Charity Event

Arizona
Tasted Saturday, December 28, 2019 by LiteItOnFire with 206 views

Introduction

A charity event pairing great wines with an extraordinary tasting menu by an amazing chef.

No notes were taken as we were too busy with hosting activities which were of paramount importance. What a great night for an even better cause enriching the lives of people with disabilities through adaptive recreation focusing on educational efforts on children with cognitive and developmental disabilities in addition to disabled veterans.

Flight 1 - Bubbles Anyone? (2 Notes)

Side by side tasting with wonderful spoon Poke, Humus and grilled veggies for the Vegans (enjoyed by all) along with a tasty ocean trout flatbread. Excellent!

Flight 2 - The fight of Italians (3 Notes)

The three were paired with a very tasty short rib ragu over penne and the remaining flatbread and grilled veggies.

Flight 3 - Napa Royalty (we were goign to do the Rhone first but switched things up for fun) (2 Notes)

Both wines decanted for over two hours and served blind, before and after the Prime Tenderloin.

  • 2006 Opus One 93 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Blind flight with 2008 Insignia & 2006 Opus One. While these are not my typical wines of choice, they were great names to have at a charity function and a fun faceoff. The crowd was split on which they preferred better but were enjoyed by all. 2006 is in a perfect drinking window with a two hour decant (was a Mag) as well as the Insignia with a similar decant. The Opus showed more of a Bordeaux profile while the Insignia displayed a nice fruit vs spice compliment. The Opus is in a great spot for my palate with fruit, acid, tannins and secondary all well integrated and showing beautifully. black fruit with earth and minerals. If Opus is your wine, this should be well received.

    Insignia has a different profile than the Opus moving to more secondary components even though it is two years younger (although Mag vs 750s). Insignia had more peppery, cherry, cedar, rocks.

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  • 2008 Joseph Phelps Insignia 93 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Blind flight with 2008 Insignia & 2006 Opus One. While these are not my typical wines of choice, they were great names to have at a charity function and a fun faceoff. The crowd was split on which they preferred better but were enjoyed by all. 2006 is in a perfect drinking window with a two hour decant (was a Mag) as well as the Insignia with a similar decant. The Opus showed more of a Bordeaux profile while the Insignia displayed a nice fruit vs spice compliment. The Opus is in a great spot for my palate with fruit, acid, tannins and secondary all well integrated and showing beautifully. black fruit with earth and minerals. If Opus is your wine, this should be well received.

    Insignia has a different profile than the Opus moving to more secondary components even though it is two years younger (although Mag vs 750s). Insignia had more peppery, cherry, cedar, rocks.

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Flight 4 - Blind Napa Newbies (2 Notes)

Both wines decanted for over two hours and served blind, before and with the prime tenderloin.

  • 2017 La Pelle Cabernet Sauvignon 93 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Blind flight 2017 La Pelle and 2016 Mending Wall Tournahu. Both decanted for two hours. While these were both too young even with the decant, the La Pelle, as it has done each time, tells you it has real potential if given time (which apparently I have trouble doing- bought another case based on the potential). The MW was a nice wine but will not become anything special which is a shame for TRB in a great vintage but the 2017 La Pelle was the clear winner here. Great depth, dark fruit and even a peppery component which was a crowd favorite. Hold for at least a year but preferably 2-3. Nice effort at a great QPR.

    Mending Wall 91-92 with a bit of upside.

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  • 2016 Mending Wall Cabernet Sauvignon Tournahu Vineyard 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

    Blind flight 2017 La Pelle and 2016 Mending Wall Tournahu. Both decanted for two hours. While these were both too young even with the decant, the La Pelle, as it has done each time, tells you it has real potential if given time (which apparently I have trouble doing- bought another case based on the potential). The MW was a nice wine but will not become anything special which is a shame for TRB in a great vintage but the 2017 La Pelle was the clear winner here.

    La Pelle Great depth, dark fruit and even a peppery component which was a crowd favorite. Hold for at least a year but preferably 2-3. Nice effort at a great QPR.

    Mending Wall 91-92 with a bit of upside.

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Flight 5 - Rhone Old vs New (3 Notes)

The wines were decanted for over two hours and served with super tasty lambchops. Great pairing and fun flight.

  • 2015 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 93 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Fun tasting flight alongside the 2009 & 2015 Keplinger Lithic. the 2015 outshined the 2009 although lacked the secondary characteristics that shown bright with the 2009 (especially as it comes to the mourvedre). Great structure with a sense to hold onto the rest as long as you can... as these will become even better. Great wine already but a good sense of better things to come. 93 now.

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  • 2009 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 92 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    It was a fun flight comparing this to the 2015 as well as the 2015 Keplinger Lithic. all three are wonderful wines that would be a welcome treat for small and large groups alike. This wine showed more tobacco and touch of earth with prominent red fruits with a secondary flavor element I was unable to put my finger one. enjoyed by all.

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  • 2015 Keplinger Lithic 92 Points

    USA, California, Sierra Foothills, Amador County

    What a wonderful mouthfeel of luscious fruit enveloped in a dark purple GSM package. It was a fun flight to put this up against the old world Chateau de Beaucastel (2009 & 2015). A new world style fashioned against an old world backbone- and very well done version at that. Has the components of blackberry, meaty and pepper we look for. This has a ton of time left but is ready for primetime now. Well done. Yummy.

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Flight 6 (1 Note)

Flight 7 (1 Note)

  • 2016 Teeter-Totter Cabernet Sauvignon 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Not sure if this one is rated higher due to the placement in the flights but it was fun to drink, silky mouthfeel. Surprisingly enjoyed this more than I expected (was at the end of the night so not sure how much is due to timing vs wine itself). Will try it again.

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Closing

Look forward to hosting a larger event in 2020 with even better wines!Wonderful event- thank you to all those that joined.

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