Wineflock - Wine with Lamb

A last minute impromptu gathering of just 5 or 6 guys because the wife was heading out of town. For lack of a better theme, I thought it would be fun to do a tasting where everyone brought a wine they thought would go the best with a simple preparation of grilled rack of lamb. Turned out to be a good group of guys with a nice diversity of wines. Only problem was that I was feeling it a bit the next am...

Everything was tasted blind as usual.

• 1996 Château Calon-Ségur 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

  Full crimson red color. Big forward nose of green pepper, spice, briar and red fruit - nice. Mmmn, nice smooth red black fruit with a green hint on the palate. One of the nicer pairings for the lamb.

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• 2001 Penfolds Shiraz RWT 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  Full deep red color. Medium forward nose of lanolin, black fruit, lavendar, and spice. Nice. Mmmn, yummy jammy black boysenberry fruit - very ripe. Very nice for what it is. Worked with the lamb better than I might have expected.

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• 2003 Pax Syrah Castelli-Knight Ranch 95 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Another stellar showing for this wine/vintage! Judged WOTN by both me and the group blind and one of the best matches with the lamb as well. Full opaque purple/black color. Super nose of coffee spicy black fruit with notes of sweet creosote, smoke, and black pepper. Mmmn, huge big black crosote asphalt fruit with a coffee hint. This is still a big fruity wine on it's own but it really balances out nicely with the food.

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• 2001 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage 91 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Sadly another uneven showing for this wine! I've had stellar examples of it, but the last couple times I've had it is has dramatically underwhelmed. Nothing overtly off about it (though this example did seem to have a whiff of sulfur), just isn't showing the fruit and spice it should. Perhaps a dumb stage? Medium soft red color. Medium nose of round red cherry with a note of lifted acidity. Juicy black cherry fruit on the palate with some structure and tannin on the finish. Only OK with the lamb even, where it really should have shined.

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• 2006 Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

  Full deep red color. Sweet candied purple fruit with a light sweet chocolate note. Wow, big chocolately black sweet fruit with plenty of new oak. Obvious in style, but it works. Blind I picked this as a Sloan (not too far off!). To its credit, it did go surprisingly well with the lamb - one of the nicer matches.

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• 1997 Jasper Hill Shiraz Georgia's Paddock 93 Points

  Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Heathcote

  This was a flyer for this tasting, but I had one recently and was impressed so I thought it would work well with the lamb. As it happened, it was better with the lamb than on its own. Full ruby red color. Lovely sweet eucalyptus and black fruit. Mmmn, nice bright acidic black fruit with a round mint note.

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• 2004 Clos du Mont-Olivet Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Cuvée du Papet 91 Points

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

  Medium full red color. Medium tight dusty red fruit with a hint of sweet spice. Tight cherry black fruit with a long finish. Thought it needed food to show better, but in fact it didn't work particularly well with the lamb. I was surprised this didn't show better.

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