ChTR vuosikokous 3.10.2008

Our annual celebration for the wine club Chevalier de Table Rouge, its 41st anniversary and the first time I participated. We were 7 and we started off in Ravintola Viinille tasting two interesting wines double blind. We then moved to Ravintola Aurora for dinner, where I had a nice selection of antipastas and roasted lamb.

• 1998 Viña Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon Casa Real Alto Santa Rita Old Vines Vineyard 91 Points

  Chile, Maipo Valley

  Tasted double-blind. Decanted for an hour. Appearance: A very nice garnet with a brownish edge (5/5). Nose: strong aromas of cassis and barnyard with a hint of licorice in the background. Very Bordeaux-like on the nose (12/15). Palate: lots of cassis, and lots of tannins still, but well-integrated, giving a nice round feel to the wine. Delicious! (15/20). Overall: wow, this was good. Very Bordeaux-like, indeed I guessed it was a Bordeaux. A pleasure to smell and taste, and it would appear this wine still has a future ahead of it (9/10).
  
  Click here if you have any questions, I'll be happy to discuss this wine on the CT Forum

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

• 2006 Glaetzer Shiraz Amon-Ra Barossa Valley 85 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  Tasted double-blind. Decanted for an hour. Appearance: a dark violet red, almost black at the core, looking very young (4/5). Nose: whoa, a huge nose of oak, toasted oak, with a side whiff of rubber and some sweet fruits. Maybe the oak will integrate with time, but now it is overpowering and not exactly pleasurable for me (10/15). Palate: very fruity, but only slightly on the sweet side. There are tannins there despite the wall of fruit, also a bit of a smokey background. This seems a bit disjointed now, too young to be fully integrated (14/20). Overall: an interesting wine, but not quite my style. Too much of a fruit bomb for me. I was at a loss as to where this was from, and when it was revealed as Amon-Ra, I was quite surprised. So this is what a cult wine is like! Nope, don't have to get it for myself, thanks! (7/10).
  
  Click here if you have any questions, I'll be happy to discuss this wine on the CT Forum

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

• 2007 Bava Gavi Cor de Chasse 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Gavi

  Popped and poured. A golden yellow with strong nose of lemon and tropical fruits like passionfruit and lychee. Very delicious on the nose and also on the palate! Buttery with a touch of oak, quite refreshing. This was a great wine to go with the antipastas, really good stuff.
  
  Click here if you have any questions, I'll be happy to discuss this wine on the CT Forum

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

• 1998 Bava Barbera d'Asti Superiore Nizza Pianoalto 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Barbera d'Asti Superiore Nizza

  Popped and poured. Two bottles, of which one had some leakage from the cork and the other had a good cork. We tasted the two side by side, as the one with the leakage was not oxidised. It was however, clearly more evolved and was also better now than the one without the leakage! Colour was the same for the two, a ruby red with a brown tinged edge to it. The nose was elegant and fruity, with the leakage bottle being more open with lots of red fruit like cherry. Some tannins on the palate with quite a bit of fruit there as well. Very nice! Once again, the leakage bottle was more open, while the other bottle was more restrained. I guess that means the wine still has a future ahead of it for some years at least! Was very good with roasted lamb and artichoke purée.
  
  Click here if you have any questions, I'll be happy to discuss this wine on the CT Forum

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

• 2006 Luigi Righetti Recioto della Valpolicella Classico Recioto

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Recioto della Valpolicella Classico

  The last wine of the night and my first recioto. Very nice and very sweet. Quite raisiny. Can't say much else, as I'd had quite a few wines before this and my palate was no longer very receptive. It did go very nicely with dessert, chocolate cake with black currant sorbet. No rating given.
  
  Click here if you have any questions, I'll be happy to discuss this wine on the CT Forum

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

All in all a very enjoyable evening with a bunch of good wines. I'm glad I have now had a chance to taste an Aussie cult wine, and particularly glad I don't have to worry about them for my own cellar!