Friday Night "Emperors New Clothes" BBQ

At home in leafy West London
Tasted Saturday, July 27, 2024 by lozatron with 111 views

Flight 1 - Battle of the Bacchus (2 Notes)

The conceit here was to serve blind an expensive (~£35) and inexpensive (~£8) English Bacchus and see if we could guess which was more expensive, and if we would prefer the more expensive one.

  • 2020 Bewl Water Bacchus

    United Kingdom, England, Sussex, East Sussex

    Very pale colour. Elderflower on the nose - there's an intensity on the palate which isn't entirely vinous. Of the two I preferred this - less confected, more honest somehow.

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  • 2021 Castlewood Vineyard Bacchus Devon Minnow

    United Kingdom, England, South West, Devon

    Deeper colour. Elderflower here, but not quite as intense, and a kind of sauv blanc cats pee and gooseberry character. A kind of boiled sweet character I struggled to get on with. This was voted by the group as their favourite (3-2) and the one they thought was more expensive (4-1) of the English wines.

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Flight 2 - The rest (4 Notes)

  • 2021 Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Montlouis-sur-Loire Clos de Mosny

    France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Montlouis-sur-Loire

    Here we go. Lovely balance, that kind of candied lemon acid and intensity, there's just a hint of tropicality behind it. It's got lovely mouthfeel and persistence.

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  • 2021 Riverby Estate Chardonnay

    New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

    Just half a glass and tasted a little hurriedly - seemingly a little more poised, angular than previously - perhaps drinking outside? Jolly decent stuff - autosuggestion perhaps but just a hint of heaviness that the 14% abv implies, but there's not much better value in the world of Chardonnay I don't think.

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  • 2021 Pax Syrah Sonoma-Hillsides

    USA, California, Sonoma County

    Purple. I mean really purple. Already has thrown quite a bit of sediment, and yet, how purple it is. Fruit and a hint of earth on the nose, on the palate the fruit takes over, with a hint of white pepper. This is young, so young - tightly coiled. I have a sense that this is perhaps an even better wine than the 18 we had recently, but I'll wait a little while to open the next one. And such a civilised 12.5% abv.

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  • 2014 Pax Syrah Castelli-Knight Ranch

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

    Hmmm - after the infanticide of the Sonoma Hills, this seems fully ready for business. More "new world syrah" in style, perhaps, a bit of glossiness there, but really nicely put together. A whiff of pepper but it's in balance now. Not as good of a wine i don't think, but more enjoyable now. Went down well with the dinner crowd.

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