High Elevation Tasting In Park City

Damon & Tami's Abode
Tasted Saturday, June 13, 2009 by A&C with 618 views

Introduction

Damon and Tami invited a motely crew up to their house at Jeremy Ranch in Park City, Utah. The food was amazing and the wines were outstanding. Damon is an unbelievable chef, and knows his wine. Given the caliber of the food and wine, this event was worthy of a tasting event entry.

Flight 1 (1 Note)

  • 2002 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Champagne Premier Cru Brut Paradoxe 90 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

    The first flight consisted of this wonderful little gem of a Brut Champagne. This wine was paired with an appetizer of escolar sashimi, with roasted pears, with grated truffles. The wine was nice. It had a subtle yeasto dry, with just the right amount of fruit, with good balance.

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Flight 2 (1 Note)

  • 2005 E. Guigal Ermitage Blanc Ex-Voto 93 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    This was an amazing wine. On the nose, there was pear, macadamia nuts, and licorice. On the palate, there was initially some buttery oak, some vanilla, and pears. The wine has no bitterness. Initially, the wine was somewhat closed, but after some time in the glass and warming up, it truly began to sing. Rich, silky and wonderful. The consensus was that it was too young, however, and needs more time in the bottle.

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Flight 3 (1 Note)

  • 1991 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc De L'Orée 94 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    The color is yellow, amber, almost a cider color. The wine initially tasted of stones, rocks, was dry, and light on its feet. With time, the wine really opened up and there were elements of olive oil, mushrooms, tree bark, pumpkin, and orange oil. This wine really benefited from warming to room temperature, and I would recommend not keeping the wine too cold. It also grew huge in the glass, and was one of the best flights of the night. No signs whatsoever of getting old, and was fresh and wonderful.

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Flight 4 (1 Note)

  • 2002 Sine Qua Non Syrah Just For the Love of It 93 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast

    This was the 4th flight of the night. The wine has a wonderful nose -- cherries, fruit, currants, pencils, graphite, raw meat, earth, wood, raspberries and violets. On the palate, the wine is layered, with elements of brown sugar, pencils, spice box, raw meat, coffee, and chocolate covered raspberries. The wine has a touch of acid, and initially was a tad hot. It was probably too early to drink this wine, and it likely will improve with additional bottle aging. It did, however, pair wonderfully with the duck.

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Flight 5 (1 Note)

  • 1999 Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 99 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    This was a consensus wine of the night. An amazing nose -- barnyard, saddle leather, elephants, and iron. It is a freight train of a nose. Absolutely huge and wonderful to just sit and sniff. On the palate, this wine has everything -- cherry nibs, good & plenty flavors, Cali Cab fruit, cloves, spice box, candied plums, and dark chocolate. There is no need to wait on this wine. It is ready now, and was open for business. A wonderful treat that came as the 5th flight of the night, and really stood out among a very impressive crowd of wines. Simply spectacular.

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Flight 6 (1 Note)

  • 2005 Ovid Experiment K 1.5 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    What a fun wine. This wine was the 6th flight of the night, and broke up the progression quite well. On the nose, it is velvet, plush and rich. The Cab Franc in the wine really predominates. On the palate, it was plush, with plums, and velvet, but a tad dry. A wonderful experiment.

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Flight 7 (1 Note)

  • 1989 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 97 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Wow. What an unbelievable Bordeaux. This was the 7th flight of the evening, and the 2nd best wine of the night, coming close behind the 99 Bryant. This wine had a truly amazing nose -- barnyard, cheese fondue, and a basket of spring dried flowers. I could have sniffed all night. On the palate, the wine was silky, with an incredibly long, long, long finish. The wine had elements of pencil shavings, blonde raspberries, a little mold, chalk, and the flesh of apple next to the skin, all with an amazing and lingering finish. What really stood out for me was the perfect balance and harmony in the wine. It truly had all of the great Bordeaux characteristics in harmony. The wine to me is extremely memorable for the long finish, and the perfect balance in the wine. This was a wonderful treat in a night of stars.

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Flight 8 (1 Note)

  • 1996 Harlan Estate 94 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    This was the 8th flight of the evening, and for me, a slight disappointment compared to some other Harlans that I've had. The nose was cherry cola. On the palate, the flavors included bottle cap candies, deep cherries, concentrated fruit, and sherry-like characteristics. The wine was extremely concentrated, and substantially improved in the glass with time. The wine seemed -- believe it or not -- young, and I believe would benefit with good decanting. The wine, overall, was quite rich, with deep cherry fruit, and very, very nice. Coming on the heals of the 1999 Bryant and the 1989 Lalande, it was a notch below the earlier wines, and thus came up a little bit short.

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