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Boerne wine club - Bordeaux vs Italy vs California

Tasted March 20, 2016 by cos65 with 486 views

Introduction

Blind tasting of Bordeaux paired up blind against Bordeaux blends from Tuscany and California

Flight 1 (2 notes)

Blind. Most obvious differentiating pair with the bright oaky caymus style blaring through.
Bel Air preferred 6-5

Red
2013 Conundrum Wines Red USA, California
sweet, oaky California goodness. easy to drink without a hard edge. Crowd pleaser.
Red
2012 Chateau Bel Air ( A de Luze & Fils) France, Bordeaux
Simple easy Red Bordeaux blend. A bit thin, but decent enough easy drinking without any hard edges

Flight 2 (2 notes)

Blind. Most thought the Gaja was from Bordeaux.
Ca Marcanda preferred 6-5

Red
2012 Ca' Marcanda (Gaja) Promis Toscana IGT Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
deep ruby black.
some bright black cherry aromas
Bright, tart dark berry flavors. nice balance. Hold.
Red
2012 Miner Family Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley USA, California, Napa Valley
Rich dark fruit with a hint of vanillin nose. Easy to like Cali Cab.

Flight 3 (2 notes)

Blind. Cherry Block was fairly restrained leaving the IDs tough for most.
Solaia preferred 6-5

Red
2004 Antinori Solaia Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
Gorgeous. tastes years younger. Full of sweet cherry and tobacco, rich yet nice balance. Years of life, but lovely now.
Red
2007 Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Cherryblock Sonoma Valley USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley
Very nice ripe red fruit, but in a very elegant style, seeming old world. very nice, and no rush

Flight 4 (2 notes)

Blind. The Paso Robles fruit was again a bit obvious.
Lagrange St. Julien preferred 6-5

Red
2005 Château Lagrange (St. Julien) France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
really lovely. Decanted for about an hour.
Light fresh, balanced dark fruit, but with the stuffing to last another 20+ years.
Red
2005 Justin Vineyards & Winery Isosceles Reserve USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Big red cherry fruit. Ripe, but nice brightness. I'd drink it now for the remaining fruit.

Flight 5 (2 notes)

Blind. The Du Tetre was lovely, but the bigger flavors from the Napa out did it this round. Rosson family is a new one for me with no other notes on cellar tracker, though a limited number bottles from 2003 - 2010 are listed in cellar tracker
Rosson preferred 8-3

Red
2003 The Napa Valley Reserve Rosson Family USA, California, Napa Valley
A totally new wine for me. No info and never before seen.

Rich ripe dark fruit, nice structure. Seemingly built to last, but this bottle is drinking nice right now.
Red
2000 Château du Tertre France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Lovely.
light elegant cedary maturing red fruit. Perfect now at 15 years, but with balance to hold very well.
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Flight 6 (2 notes)

Blind. The two oldest of the tasting. The Ornellaia tasted incredibly fresher, richer than the Pauillac which be starting to fade.
Ornellaia preferred 9-2

Red
1996 Château Haut-Batailley France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
mature garnet red, light tart, smoky cedar and red fruit. I'd drink now before this starts going over the edge.
Red
1998 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia Italy, Tuscany, Bolgheri, Bolgheri Superiore
This is flat out gorgeous. My WOTN
Mature dark fruit, no noticeable oak, impeccable balance. This is likely at its peak, but at this time seems like it could on and on and the drinking window only out to 2018 seems quite conservative

Closing

Overall a very nice group of wines. Ornellaia 1998 was my WOTN and for several others as well.

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