QPR Smackdown

A few of us got together at my place and did a blind tasting for wines that we were from ~20 to ~12. The wines couldn't have been purchased on a sale or anything like that, as it was about their normal price for what they were bought for whether it be at retail or on winebid/winecommune. it was a double blind tasting to add to it and keep preconceived notions to a minimum

• 2001 Hyde De Villaine Chardonnay 92 Points

  USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros

  nose: wonderful and succulent nose filled with lemon custard, brioche, vanilla extract, and oily roasted nut tones in great balance
  
  taste: beautiful medium/full feel of lemon custard, brioche, apricots, creamy vanilla mousse tones, along with baking oils and some roasted nut tones
  
  overall: this grew in the glass and got richer in color as it got more air. In a wonderful place right now with a lot of complexity and the acidity is still in a very nice place to keep this ever evolving. Great smooth and creamy lemon custard attack that flows into a polished and long baking oil+roasted nut finish

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Originally there were going to be several blind flights, but with cancellations and taking our time, we just did this all in one flight

• 2005 Château Cap de Faugères 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux

  nose: nice depth on the nose with smoke tones, a good heaping of dark red fruits, black currants, along with some cedar tones. A bit forward on teh nose with a touch of ripeness that almost seems a bit more new world using french oak
  
  taste: sneaking tannins on the back end and mid palate with youthful tones of cranberries, dark red fruits, black currants, and cedary tones
  
  overall: medium acidity with a medium/full feel that doesn't really evoke merlot, but instead felt more like a malbec. A very good wine that needs a couple of years to round out, but right now posseses a really good dark red fruit attack and a cedary finish that does get hidden behind the tannins

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• 2006 Henry's Drive Pillar Box Red 89 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Padthaway

  nose: lush nose filled with red cherries, blackberries, exotic spices, coffee tones, with a core of purple fruits that provides the base
  
  taste: nice medium/light feel that is very smooth across the palate providing tones of purple fruits, plums, red cherries, and bits of spices
  
  overall: A very user friendly wine. Low Tannins and Low acidity make this a very approachable wine for many whohaven't liked red wines before. Very smooth with nice flavors and a bit of depth added in. WHen this was revealed I was pleasantly surprised as the last time I had this was over jammy and hot. The slight bit of time in the bottle has made this a easy wine to buy again and is more consistent with what I'd expect of a Pillar Box Red

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• 2005 Giuseppe Campagnola Valpolicella Classico Superiore Caterina Zardini 90 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Valpolicella Classico Superiore

  nose: very cab franc-esque with root vegetables, floral bits, red cherries, potting soil, some meaty tones, and even hints of blueberries. This bottle in the blind tasting just seemed to scream to me that it was cab franc, or a cab franc heavy bordeaux blend.
  
  taste: Sneaking tannins with root vegetables, red cherries, Blueberries, and some potting soil. The tannins aren't very pronounced, so it didn't seem like it would be a chinon, but there is a smooth and polished elegance to this
  
  overall: I was very surprised when this was revealed. Unlike any Corvina I've had before, but that's not a bad thing, it just made the wine very intriguiging and like lots of blind tastings can be humbling. The tannins just seem to sneak up on you as there is a very smooth medium body to the wine with solid acidity along with a tart red cherry attack and a interesting potting soil finish

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• 2005 Château Pesquié Ventoux Terrasses 84 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Ventoux

  nose: at first there were some intriguing notes of earthen tones, red cherries, and bits of dill, but with more time in the glass, it almost turned into a non-descript new worldish nose of various red fruits and some jolly rancher-esque tones. There just wasn't much going on with this that was interesting
  
  taste: simple candied fruit that was more surface then anything else with some red fruits and fake candied jolly rancher type fruits
  
  overall: a good wine, but there were no discernable tannins and little acidity and a semi fake aspect to this. Its put together well and there are nice qualities to it, but there wasn't much that showed off any real region of the world and it was just a good and non-descript win, and led to some dissapointment when revealed as more would've been expected

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• 2002 Château Bonnet Bordeaux Reserve 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux

  nose: lush and beautiful dark cherry nose with earthen tones, purple florals, mixed berries, perfumes, and some green pepper tones start to poke through. A good amount of depth on the nose with a touch of class too
  
  taste: very elegant and regal with dark cherries, purple florals, mixed berries, and some green pepperish tones. Very smooth on the palate and this is screaming merlot to me, and I'm having zero problem with it
  
  overall: A real shocker when the bag was taken off. This didn't have much of the herbal aspect that I've associated with the 02 vintage and this bottle was punching way above its weight. Smooth and lush attack with an amount of depth that belies the area that this is from. A startling revelation and hopefully future bottles of this will be this good, but this could be right in its perfect drinking zone right now

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• 2004 Artadi Viñas de Gain 86 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  nose: big aussie styled nose of black cherries, blackberries, camphor, and black currant jam. Bold fruit and forward that is a bit of a run away on the nose in its over the top ness
  
  taste: big fruit with firm tannins giving tones of black cherries, blacberries, and black currant jam. Very jammy on the palate and a bit out of whack
  
  overall: yet another surprise. This was miles different from the last bottle I had. Maybe this didn't get enough decant time, but then again, that wouldn't neccessarily get the structure back in the fold. The low acidity seemed like this was an aussie wine, though the tannins were a bit harder then an aussie shiraz. That said, almost everything about this screamed a good solid australian shiraz

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• 2005 Château Féret-Lambert 83 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur

  nose: very simple nose that is just surface flavors with some dark raspberry tones and light tones of cherries
  
  taste: very one dimensional with nothing but simple flavors of raspberries
  
  overall: a decent and drinkable wine. One dimensional, but in a way it works, though it doesn't really bring much that gives much excitement

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• 2006 Fabre Montmayou Cabernet Sauvignon 90 Points

  Argentina, Mendoza

  nose: really nice and deep nose of dark raspberries, dark cherries, black currants, smoke, and various red fruit tones. Nose grew in the glass and grew on me
  
  taste: excellent medium feel with velevty tannins providing tones of dark raspberries, dark cherries, black currants, and smokey tones
  
  overall: this wine grew on me a lot as it swirled and drank before it was revealed. It kept on gaining weight and complexity in a short amount of time and went from a very good wine to an excellent/outstanding wine

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A really fun night and the selection of wines was very good on the whole. Double blind tastings are always humbling, and that was certainly the case here. It was an interesting chance to try some cheaper wines then what I normally drink and maybe check out something new. Lots of great cheeses were had along with a ton of fun conversation. Chalk up another fun time to be had