Cellar Night at Binnys South Loop
Chicago, IL
Tasted October 17, 2019 by peeks13 with 570 views
Introduction
Binnys big tasting of the year. All wines were very good so the baseline, except where noted, should be they all showed very well. Tough to taste all 50 wines in only 2 hours and ponder and write great notes so I've tiered the wines in descending order as to how they were showing with virtually no decant and without regard to QPR. Can't really score these based on the small pours and lack of food pairing. The four nebbiolos weren't properly decanted and were closed...what a shame to waste some great bottles. I missed out on the 2014 d'Yquem as it was gobbled up early.
Flight 1 - The Best (8 notes)
These would score in the mid/high 90s.
Flight 2 - The Best, Part 2 (9 notes)
Also showed excellent. Splitting hairs from 1st flight and to each his own.
Red
2016 Dominus Estate
USA, California, Napa Valley
Open just enough to know it will be great, but it's not yet. Good length.
Red
2015 Château Pape Clément
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Smells like shit. Literally. Luckily the taste is excellent. '15 was great in Pessac.
Flight 3 - The Next (6 notes)
Wines 18-23 for me but many would put these in their top 10.
Red
2016 Quintessa
USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford
A bit lighter in style but very nice perfume and middle.
Red
2016 Quilceda Creek CVR Columbia Valley
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
Cab/Merl/CF/Malb. $70 and on sale it would be worth searching out. One of my gripes with Columbia Valley reds is too much oak but this doesn't have that problem.
Flight 4 - The Last of the Best (8 notes)
These I would characterize as in the 91-93 range but with potential to evolve much better with time. I mean, how are you going to know what a '12 BdM Riserva and '09 Pauillac will taste like at their peak?
Red
2009 Château Duhart-Milon
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
My Belgian friend said in Europe they described this nose as "waste water". Very appropriate. Long finish and clearly better than the '10 poured next to it.
Flight 5 - The B Tier (14 notes)
Many of these could have been in a higher Tier (and still may) but something held them back. Sometimes you can't pinpoint exactly what but your gut tells you so.
Red
2010 Château Duhart-Milon
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Would be better in isolation but at a larger tasting with better BdX - including the '09 Duhart - it's no better than totally fine and good.
Red
2016 Château Pavie Macquin
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Tasted after some fleshier wines so it probably suffered from that. Restrained style.
Red - Fortified
2017 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage
Portugal, Douro, Porto
I struggle to rate/rank Ports vs premium reds but this was very tasty and a great way to end the night. Slightly better than the Fonseca '16. How can you not like a well made port? It's like a great cheese or chocolate.
Flight 6 - The Not Fab 5 (5 notes)
Nothing wrong with these but they didn't measure up tonight.
Red
2016 Château Rauzan-Ségla
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Currently, lighter style and it tastes like a 2nd wine. I know the potential but today it isn't showing like it might in 10-20 years. If you have experience with the Chateau you'll know what to do and please let me know if this will be great.
Flight 7 - A Waste of Nebbiolo (4 notes)
The staff didn't decant any of these four bottles beyond popping the cork an hour early. What a waste of $570 worth of Piedmont that I was looking forward to enjoying. I'm sure they have 4 decanters laying around they could have put to good use.
Red
2015 Gaja Barbaresco
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Still a bit closed even after 2 hours but you can taste the length on the finish just enough. If blind tasted you would agree it's nothing special but knowing what it is your mind makes excuses for it's blah showing. Just decant the damn wine, please.
Red
2014 Vietti Barolo Lazzarito
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Closed, and only moderate fruit sneaking out. Next day the rep told me how few of these cases are made and imported into the US so it only magnifies the crime of not showing it the best way possible. I would never buy the wines in this flight based on this tasting and selling wine is the retailer's goal.
Closing
A fantastic tasting that had me and my friend grinning all night. Trying to rank these was very tough to do and it gives me a new appreciation for those who do this for a living. I can't imagine how you get an accurate profile from spitting at these tastings and on top of that, sampling 100, 200+ at one sitting. It also illuminates the small difference there may be for a 92 wine vs a 94 wine, both possibly fantastic, but blindly choosing the higher rated would be a disservice to the other.
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