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Minneapolis Wine Club 3/06/10
Tasted March 6, 2010 by Mattshank with 527 views
Introduction
This time around it was the battle of the Merlots ~ New World vs. Old. Not surprisingly the old world won in my view (and in group consensus). As always the wines showed well and there were no corked bottles although the first bottle of Pavie John previewed early in the day was corked, returned, and replaced thus preventing disapointment. We all know corked bottles happen but that's why we preview our wines. The event was fun and an interesting view into the stylistic variations of Merlot.
Flight 1 (7 notes)
Red
2002 Hurricane Ridge Cabernet Franc
89 points
Served as a mystery starter wine. Nose: Dark and red fruits. Reminded me of a CA Cab. Palate: Soft styled with mature fruit, some dusty qualities and a fair amount of sediment. Drink up.
Red
2002 Columbia Crest Merlot Reserve
89 points
Nose: Black fruit aromas and some subtle spice. Palate: Good spice up front with dark fruits and a clean finish. Decent QPR.
Red
2005 Château de Sales
91 points
Nose: Fragrant stone fruit and traces of orchids. Palate: Good acid with dark and red fruits and a clean finish. Good minerality. While not quite as good as the last bottle tasted 12/24/09 this is still a beauty, but give it plenty of air.
Red
2003 Château Bourgneuf
91 points
Nose: Allspice with some chalky mineral and inky hints. Palate: Soft styled with the chalky mineral showing with plums. Nice and tied with the '05' De Sales Pomerol.
Red
2001 Northstar Merlot Walla Walla Valley
89 points
Nose: Coffee mocha with black fruits. Palate: Sweet black fruits with spice. Almost Zin like. A fun wine but very up front in style. Later in the evening this showed better but still merits an 89 for my palate preference.
Red
2003 Spring Valley Vineyard Uriah
89 points
Nose: Dark fruits and anise. Palate: Dark fruits show with major spice. Interesting wine but a fair amount of alcohol heat on the finish keeps this under 90 pts.
Red
2004 Château Pavie
93 points
Nose: Pepper and spice with black fruits and subtle perfume. Palate: Bacon and scorched earth with the black fruits and a solid wall of tannin. This was decanted for 6 hours and still is a closed monster. After John beat it up some more in the decanter we retried and it was a little more open. Either decant all day in a mag decater (at minimum) or wait at least 4-5 years before touching this wine. 94+ point potential with cellaring. My WOTN.