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Keith & Ken's Autumn Blind Challenge
The Square, London
Tasted November 4, 2011 by SimonG with 695 views
Flight 1 (20 notes)
White - Sparkling
2002 Chartogne-Taillet Champagne Brut Millésimé
Pale straw with almost a slightly peachy tinge. Quite ripe, floral and with some richness on the nose. A touch of sulphur. Lovely line. Quite tight across the middle. Pinot N/Chard blend. Vilmart 99 or equiv? ***
White
2009 Miani Friulano Buri
Pale straw. Slightly grassy, melony nose. Loire Sauvignon? It's opening up and showing more melony on the nose. Very clean and long. Elegant. ****
White
2009 Rall White
Slightly darker, riper, more melon on the nose. Very aromatic on the palate. Quite linear albeit with some fat. Hints of Viognier. A floral quality with some substance but retains elegance. Rhone Viognier or southern French blend? ***1/2
White
2004 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc
Far darker. A pale to mid gold in the decanter. Very waxy oxidative nose. Lanolin. A touch of vanilla on the palate. I think this is Rioja, but when abv revealed as 15% it must be Hermitage. 03 Chave? **(?*1/2)
White
2008 Equipo Navazos Vino de Mesa de Andalucía Navazos-Niepoort
Slightly paler. Again a Rioja nose. Slightly reminds ms of a young Viura barrel sample (Basilio) quite light and slightly lifted. Tangy and lovely. ****
Red
1994 Bass Phillip Pinot Noir
Quite cloudy in the decanter. Mid to full garnet. Burgundian nose though riper and less elegant on the attack. Finishes quite short. Lots upfront initially but it really does fall away. Early/mid 90s new world? **+
Red
2001 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Charmes-Chambertin
Mid ruby to garnet rim. Nicely fresh with decent acidity. Pinot very Burgundian. Nuits. Quite light, not quite etherial but very pretty. Roumier Chambolle? Oops! ***
Red
1995 Chateau Musar
Filler colour. A bit more alcohol and lift. Fresh but a little volatile. Reminds me of Ashbourne Pinotage. Hard to define. A little here and there. Decent but might be better with food. ***?
Red
1995 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano
Far darker. Very cheesy nose. It does blow off a bit. A touch of tannin, food acidity, some liquorice. Brunello, early 2000s? This is quite serious though it does need coaxing. ***(*)
Red
1982 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
Quite a full red. Slightly lactic nose. Quite fragrant. Reasonably linear. Very elegant. Seems younger than it turns out. Maybe 20 year old VCC? Lovely but for me not as top notch as the general consensus seems to make it. Not particularly rich. Very good rather than great. ****
Red
1975 Federico Paternina Rioja Conde de los Andes Gran Reserva
Looks older. Full garnet to a lighter rim. Quite fragrant. Sweet fruit . Not orange peel, but mature Rioja? 70/73? ****
Red
1995 Château Angélus
Very dark red, almost purple at rim still. Really quite tannic. Very full and quite alcoholic. Dense. Needs quite a while. Not sure about this. **(?*1/2)
Red
1996 Dominus Estate Napanook Vineyard
Again, quite full and young and a little lactic. Quite sweet fruited. A touch of liquorice. Classy new world claret blend. This is good. Just starting to round and soften at the edges. The demure side of sexy. Lovely. ****1/2
Red
2001 Craggy Range The Quarry
Very dark and dense and purpley. Tannic but rich and smooth. A bit too much of everything though. Really not my thing. Not convinced the fruit will last against the dry tannins. NZ apparently. Craggy's Sophia? After a couple more sips his is moving in to the 'Yuck' category. ** if you like unsubtle bruisers.
Red
1996 Cims de Porrera Priorat Classic
Again, very dark, dense red. Quite sweet, good fruit. Hard to pick. Mainly Carignan with some Grenache apparently, so southern France or more likely, Priorat. Nice wine. ***
Red
2005 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel
Dark and dense again. Sweet fruit coming through the more bretty nose. Very fragrant and quite interesting, but a tad hot. **1/2-***1/2 depending.
Red
1995 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Again, quite full and ripe. Sweet on the palate. Southern Rhone is the consensus, but this is the 'elegant' end of it - Clos des Papes? 2000? ***(*)
White - Sweet/Dessert
1971 Château Coutet Barsac
Mid gold. Quite sweet though this is starting to fade. Some acidity but not Tokaji level. Mid 70s Barsac? very pleasant indeed. ***
Red - Fortified
1977 Gould Campbell Porto Vintage
Fairly clearly port. Something minty on the nose. We rattle around a bit on maturity, but it seems a good mix of fruit, resolved spirit and early maturity. Vesuvio 94? Oops. Smooth, a tad chalky but tannins resolved nicely. Not a port drinker but ****
Closing
Another splendid blind challenge. Huge thanks to Keith for his generosity and energy in organising this and to Ken for some interesting wines and for leading us through the evening's guessing.
WOTN for me was the Dominus followed by the La Mission, Paternina, Miali and Navazos Niepoort. Company and food excellent as always. Apart from a couple that led us round the houses, overall I thought it was a very consistent and good standard of guesswork from the team.