London Offline with Nicos, Charles, and a bunch of North-Americans

St. John's Restaurant, London, United Kingdom
Tasted Thursday, August 11, 2005 by steffenpelz with 960 views

Introduction

Nicos had arranged an off-line for Thursday night and the players were:

Charles Morgan
Nicos Neocleos
Steve DiMatteo
Rasaahn Maxwell
Mike Grammer
Your humble scribe

The food and wines were excellent and it always amazes me how much wine knowledge flies across the table in any of these events. It's hard to beat the level of knowledge and hospitality of the Londoners that I am now familiar with. Nuf' said...let's go to the wines of this evening:

Flight 1 - White Wines (4 Notes)

Flight 2 - Light Red Wines (4 Notes)

  • 1995 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Le Domaine 90 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon

    Slightly cloudy cherry color. Captivating nose that reminded me of some of the California Cabs from the mid-80s I've had. Kirsch Liqueur, leather, and ample acidity, albeit with sweet tannins. Later in the evening, this wine seemed to lose fruit and become more vegetal, which Charles attributed to the classic Cab Franc attributes, whereas I thought the wine may have been corked. Either way, a nice wine right out of the bottle.

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  • 1995 Noël Verset Cornas 92 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

    Dark garnet red in the glass. Minor sediment. Wonderful nose of dark fruit and rustic aromas. Licorice, bacon, cherries, mesquite charcoal. Round wine with wonderful structure and a long finish. The wine over the 5 hours we were at the restaurant did not fall apart. On the contrary, I thought it kept getting better. My WOTN.

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  • 2002 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 90 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    I've had this wine many times and posted many notes, but I think this was the poorest showing yet, although still very good. Dark red color, with a decent nose tonight. Flavors were better than the nose IMO. Classic meaty, BBQ notes with tell-tale cola, spice, and cherry. Fruit was very prevalent. Silky texture and a red currant streak on the mid-palate I had never noticed. Like I said...this bottle did not show as well as the others I have drunk. This is the second bottle of Pinot I've traveled over her pond with that has shown worse than any preceding bottle at home. Clearly, travel shock must have something to do with this, as all the bigger reds I've travelled with have shown just fine and completely normal.

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  • 1996 Domaine Denis Mortet Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

    This is why I should be collecting Burgundy. Dark color with minimal browning at the rim. Awesome dark blackberry fruit and secondary flavors of garbed leather. Long finish and no sign of decline over the course of the evening. Still tight, but nevertheless a beautiful wine.

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Flight 3 - Big Red Wines (3 Notes)

  • 2000 BOND Matriarch 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Dark red to purple color. Massive extraction. Licorice, cassis, cedar, and a shot of eucalyptus and menthol. This wine was drinking well and I thought it made my taste buds tingle. Creamy, voluptuous texture and mouthfeel. Great 2000.

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  • 2001 Neal Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 90 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Very nice wine. The darkest in color from our assortment of big reds. Thick, fruity, blackberry, dark chocolate. Lower acidity than the Bond and super smooth texture. This wine has mellowed a lot since I last drank it and although fiercely tannic, I am a bit worried about the structure underneath right now as I didn't sense much structure especially compared to the Bond and La Jota that we consumed alongside the Neal.

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  • 2001 La Jota Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain Selection 91 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

    Dark color that verged on purple. Dark/bitter chocolate flavors and texture along with rich cassis and bing cherry on the palate. A bit of tobacco, gooseberry, bayleaf and leather is detectable, but the wine is still very fruit-driven and arguably too young. Nice, long finish. I keep saying that La Jota's newer vintages starting with 2001 are some of the best more old-school style cabs from California that are very affordably priced, especially when purchased on futures.

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Flight 4 - Dessert Wines (2 Notes)

We had one more dessert wine that should not be forgotten. The Maple Wine Mike brought was although seemingly nobody's favorite, still much appreciated by myself as I now know what Maple Wine tastes like. Having said that, I would not buy any of it myself...

  • 2001 Château Guiraud 89 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Controversial wine at the table it seemed like. I thought it was a perfectly pleasurable Sauternes that delivered the things I'm looking for...honey, flower blossoms, baked peach notes, gala melon, and a bit of cotton candy sensation. It wasn't a profound wine though, which is really what I had expected given the vintage and pedigree. Many at the table thought the wine was terribly and fatally flawed, which I just couldn't detect. However, maybe I'm not sensitive enough to pick up the flaws that were off-putting for the others.

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  • 2002 Royal DeMaria Riesling Icewine 91 Points

    Canada, Ontario, Niagara Peninsula, Niagara Peninsula VQA

    Very good IMO. Nice golden color and effusive nose. Sweet apple, honeydew melon, candycane, peach, vanilla ice cream, but enough acidity to give it a solid backbone.

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Closing

Thanks again to everyone in attendance. Especially Charles who provided stems for me (unlike the stumps at the establishment) and Nicos who not only organized the dinner, but also cancelled his Port tasting with Berry Brothers to host this tasting. Many thanks also to the rest of the crew who made the evening enjoyable with their presence and wines.

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