Ottawa Bordeaux Themed Offline
Bekta's in Ottawa
Tasted September 30, 2006 by mimik with 917 views
Introduction
A great evening was had at Bekta's in Ottawa with Bman graciously preparing and hosting the event. The food was excellent and properly prepared for an evening of some amazing wines. Thank you Bman and Mrs. Bman for organizing the offline. It made an Aussie lover like myself really appreciate even more the high calibre of Bordeaux wines.
All wines were tasted completely blind, wrapped in paper bags by the restaurant staff and served in 6 filights with the top 5 wines selected according to popularity at the end of the night. Here are my notes in order of appearance at the tasting and in flights..
The night started off with a Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne Rose (sorry forgot the vintage, others will chime in ) alongside a 2000 Pelarus sparkler from Cloudy Bay in New Zealand. No notes were taken.
Flight 1 - Flight 1 (0 notes)
Chateau Smith Haut Lafite 2001(Voted #1 WOTN)
My contribution for the night, this wine had a dark red colour with crimson edges. Nose of barnyard, earth and some fruity notes of cassis and cherries. Palate of more cassis and earth with a long smooth finish. Medium acidity. 91 pts.
Chateau Lanessan (Haut-Medoc) 1995
A nose of cherries, vanilla, pain grill and pencil shavings. with a oaky palate and cherries. Kinda oaky and some acidity on a tannic finish. 90 pts
Chateau Mazeris 1995
Dark red with a nose of clove, earth, and oak. Some raspberries and cherries on the palate with an acidic bite. I found this tannic and quite youthful and a nice long finish but I wasn't impressed by the taste. 88 pts.
Flight 2 - Flight 2 (0 notes)
Tresor Ferrari Corano 1998(I forget the name exactly) (Italy)(#2 WOTN)
WOW. Nose of coffee, mocha, cassis and cherrycheese cake with more cassis and vanilla on the crispy acidic palate on a long tannic finish. My WOTN and the groups #2 WOTN. 95 pts.
La Bahans Haut Brion 1995
Nose of cherries and oak. Medium bodied, with high acidity with cherry flavours. A good food wine but made in a slightly lighter style than the others.. 90 pts.
Chateau Leoville Polyferre 1998
An intoxicating nose of smoke, licorice, coffe and dark cherries and cassis with more of the same on the palate and some vanilla notes. Aciditc but well integrated with the medium long tannic finish. 91 points and my #5 WOTN.
Flight 3 - Flight 3 (0 notes)
Chateau Dufort Vivens 2003(Margaux)
Very aromatic nose of figs, mocha, chocolate and dark cherries. More dark cherries and vanilla with medium acidity and a long finish. A relatively controversial wine during the night as some liked it while other really disliked it. 91 pts.
Chateau St-Supery Meritage 1994 (USA-Calif.)
I liked this wine and was my #4 WOTN with its blackberry, cassis and chocolate nose. More of the same on the palate with lots of American oaky and vanilla notes. Medium acidity but fleshy(almost Australian) with a nice sweet finish. 92 pts
Chateau Haut Brion 2001
Light crimson colour with a very muted nose . Tannic with raspberries and cherries on a simple profile. This needs time and I least liked it of all the wines tasted, IMHO. 88 pts. After knowing it was a first growth, I retasted and got the same impression of the wine. Too young to be tried now. 88+
Flight 4 - Flight 4 (0 notes)
Chateau Margaux 2001
A nice nose of earth, smoke , and dark fruits with blackberry and cassis on the palate. Very tannic and mid-high acidity with a really long finish. Not showing all its stuff right and needs many more years. 92pts
Kanonkoop Paul Sauer 2001(South Africa)
Dark with violet hues and a sweet cherry and vanilla nose and flavour profile. High acidity, very extracted styled wine with a long long finish. Again, needs time 92 pts
Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2001
My #2 WOTN and my favourite of the 1st growths. Dark red with cherries, sweet oak and vanilla and cassis. Highly acidic but very well balanced and surprisingly approachable for a 1st growth. Long finish. I agree more with Suckling's appreciation of this wine over Parker's. 93 points
Flight 5 - Flight 5 (0 notes)
Chateau Latour 2001
I found this kinda new world in style. Nose of cassis and cherries with cigar box spiceness. Tannic with low acidity and kinda fleshy and a mid-long finish. 88 pts
Chateau Lafite Rothschild 2001
Typical nose of oak, paingrille and cherries and cassis. Slightly syropy palate with kirsch cherry notes and lively acidity followed by a long finish. Classic bordeaux. 92 points and my #3 WOTN
Chateau Gruaud Larose 1990
This was an offbottle or not a good wine. Vegetal aromas and tastes with astrigency and harsh tannins and very little fruit. 84 pts
Flight 6 - Flight 6 (0 notes)
Casa Lapostolle 1999
Dark red/black. Alcoholic nose of chocolate, blackberry and more of the same on the palate and dark cherris on the very tannic and well balanced and elegant smooth finish. 92 pts
Chateau St-Jean Cepage 1999
Vegetal or corked aromas and leather. Light raspberries on the palate. Acidic. Not rated as it was corked and a little off.
Excelsius Castello Banfi 1999
Dark red with flowery aromas and cassis scents and a mineral nose. More of teh same on the palate with some vanilla/oak nuances. Medium finish. 88 pts.
1977 Smith Woodhouse port
Very nice few detailed notes. I rated it a 90 pointer.
Closing
In the end, the group's WOTNs were
#1 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte 2001
#2 Tresor Ferrari Corano 1998(sp?)
#3 Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2001
#4 Chateau Latour 2001
#5 Kanonkoop Paul Sauer 2001
I am hoping that the next Eastern Canadian offline can be organized in Montreal with participation of the TWC who were sadly missed at this offline.
Cheers