Cellartracker in the flesh with Stefan, Mats, Tomas and Basil
La Rochelle, Tokyo
Tasted March 28, 2018 by chatters with 273 views
Introduction
Another day, another meal with spectacular wines. Same crowd (KC, Stefan, Mats, Tomas) and another guest (Basil) waded through another six flights of glory. Again Stefan specified blind, guessing region, vintage, varietal and providing points...safe in the knowledge that we had all provided some of the wines that we were tasting...where we knew it was ours we called it out.
Flight 1 - Bracket one - Fizz (1 note)
Hmm, less impressed with this one than yesterday's joypot
Flight 2 - Bracket two - Whites #1 (3 notes)
touch of embarrassment to get an Aussie Riesling sooooo wrong. I though the Condrieu was probably a little old and tired for what it was but was still an interesting wine - I think Stefan made an observation about the wine being interesting rather than just another floral/blousy Viognier...I understand what he means - I have an extremely oxidised 96 Hunter Sem that I tap to have with Eggs, Asparagus and Truffle oil. And the Vino Tondonia was probably my wine of the bracket.
White
1999 Leo Buring Riesling Maturation Reserve Clare Valley
Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley
Funky, slightly oxidised, honey, leather, almost toffee apple. Soft, honey, easy quaffable. Acid is present but diminished. Touch of warmth on the finish. I called 1996 Alsace Sylvaner, which is a little embarrassing as I brought it.
White
1999 Rene Rostaing Condrieu La Bonnette
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu
Candied peel, cream, mineral, caramel, sweet spice and plenty of bruised apple and nutty notes. In the mouth its soft and nutty with bruised apple, a little front of mouth grip. Hmm. Old? I called Jura Savignin 1998
White
2000 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Reserva Viña Tondonia
Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
medium minus aromas of almond meal, marzipan, sweet spice, citrus notes, slight cream. Juicy acidity, citrus notes, lemon especially with a little grapefruit. Bit of front of mouth grip. Tangy. Non-intrusive alcohol warmth. I called Bordeaux blanc 2005
Flight 3 - Bracket three - Whites #2 (3 notes)
Another bracket of wonderful wines - mind you, I would say that as a couple of them were mine…
White
2012 Shaw and Smith Chardonnay M3 Vineyard
Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Hills
Peach over lemon, sweet spice, biscuit, slight oak, slight butter. Juicy acidity, peach over lemon with slight butter and slight oak. Long, clean. Nice. Called this for what it was - I brought it.
Flight 4 - Bracket four - Reds #1 (3 notes)
I knew that we were going to have the Latour at some point so it was an easy call and this was probably my wine of the bracket. The Luce was my faceplant of the day...
Red
1966 Château Latour Grand Vin
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Leather, umami, red currant, earthy, spiced, autumn leaves. Juicy, fleshy, long, fine but persistent tannins. Excellent quality, fully mature. With time it begins to gain weight. I called this as Old Bordeaux
Red
2000 Luce della Vite Lucé
Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
blackcurrant, slight leather, sweet spice, cream, slight vanilla. In the mouth ripe blackcurrant, cassis, sweet spice. Juicy acidity, flour textured, persistent tannins. Ridiculously long but very young. I called this as left Bordeaux, probably Pauillac, 2009
Red
2007 Mas Martinet Priorat Clos Martinet
Spain, Catalunya, Priorat
Muted cherry, herbal, tobacco leaf, quite spicy with polished oak. Juicy and velvety on the palate with some strawberry, slight chalky, drying tannins. Quite rich. Young. Again a difficult call. Initially I went for Italy - the cherry made me think of Sangiovese - then Priorat; those herbaceous notes (Carignan) and strawberry (tempranillo or garnacha?) but I piked on those risky guesses (sigh) and went with safe old predictable right bank Bordeaux 2009
Flight 5 - Bracket five - Reds #2 (4 notes)
I really liked both of the wines that brought so they were my winners in this bracket.
Red
2009 Sheridan Vineyard Cabernet Franc
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
Cherry and berry, spice, cream, polished oak. On the palate it's rich with velvety tannins that are slightly grippy. Juicy, warm, long. I called this as right bank Bordeaux 2010
Red
2012 Domaine Anne Gros & Jean-Paul Tollot Minervois La Ciaude
France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Minervois
Soft red and black berries, slightly earthy with semi carbonic maceration. In the mouth soft berry fruit, sweet spice, warm climate - there is a slightly baked quality that is not off putting. I called this for what it was - I brought it.
Red
2013 Laboratorio Rupestre Escombro
Spain, Murcia, Vino de Mesa
Earthy, closed, young. Time required. Bit funky, spicy. Almost off dry in it's sweetness, positively jammy in fact, peppery spice, grippy, chalky tannins. Some people would call this a 'Somms' wine...I had no idea what this was, other than too young, and called it as US 2014
Flight 6 - Bracket six - Sweets #1 (2 notes)
Hmm, the Riesling was, for me, perhaps a little out of condition - but not in a bad way - perhaps there has been some mis-storage at some stage in it's illustrious life? But I would refer you to my (and Stefan's) comments about the Condrieu. I mean, I love Madeira so happy days! The Prum was gorgeous, though. Probably my favourite wine of the night.
White - Off-dry
2004 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Kerosene funkiness, quite diesel, time blows this away to reveal ripe apple, peaches, apricots and stone fruit. Still a touch of frizzante here and a soupcon of sulphur but this doesn’t detract from the clean, juicy, long, fruity joy drop this is. Glorious in every sense.
Closing
What a lovely dinner! Again, the company, the wines, & the food were excellent.
My reservations from the previous days lunch regarding scoring still apply, though that's just me all over. It's funny that it should make such a difference but I enjoyed some wines post knowing what they were than pre that moment in time. What a reinforcement of the old adage that critics really should be tasting double blind...and that wine tasting is so subjective...
Wines of the night? Both the Rieslings I brought along & the Latour 1966. the Luce was this visits Madiran for me...it was great to try one of those 'Super tuscans' with some age on it...and it will possibly help me to taste younger versions of those wines with a different perspective
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