"Running" Club Nouveau et Ancien Monde
La Trompette
Tasted February 24, 2022 - February 25, 2022 by lozatron with 122 views
Introduction
Thoroughly glorious meal at La T with friends. The theme was "new vs old world" served as blind pairs.
Flight 1 - Fizz (2 notes)
Enjoyed with bread and lively banter. I was candidly surprised at how well the Under the Wire showed - the wine it most put me in mind of was the 04 Krug I was lucky enough to taste late last year.
White - Sparkling
2014 Under The Wire Sparkling Pinot Noir Wentzel Vineyard
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Pale colour. A little bit spiky on the nose - a hint of powdered parmesan. That blows off - depth and precision, and length. Really lovely stuff. Interestingly, conversation at that table suggested that some of the earliest plantings in Anderson Valley were done by Roederer, so there may be a stronger thematic link between the first two wines than we realised.
Rosé - Sparkling
2012 Louis Roederer Champagne Vintage Brut Rosé
France, Champagne
Pale pink. On the nose - a hint of apple. Thoroughly lovely - i'll hold onto the rest of my bottles for a little while but this is a top notch drink. We saved half of the mag to serve with the pudding and cheese - definitely seemed to have opened up (although my palate was ever so slightly tired by that stage...).
Flight 2 - Chardonnay (2 notes)
Served with the white onion soup. Perfectly balanced dish - the parmesan churros took this to eleven. The chardonnay gods blessed us and both wines showed really well.
White
2011 Kumeu River Chardonnay Maté's Vineyard
New Zealand, North Island, Auckland, Kumeu
So nice. Slightly green colour. On the nose - slightest hint of burnt rubber, a whiff of candied lemon. This seemed tighter and more composed than the last time I tasted it, certainly passing for "burgundian". A real treat.
Flight 3 - Pinot Noir (2 notes)
Served with Truffle Linguine. A perfect accompaniment to almost any wine, but especially this wine.
Red
2012 Henri Jouan Clos St. Denis
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos St. Denis Grand Cru
The word "delicious" always comes to mind when drinking jouan wines. Earthy on the nose, a bit of funk, but so expansive on the palate. A kind of coke float generosity. Gorgeous. Clearly divided the table between the majority, who preferred the cleanness of the Riverby, and those of us who find just a whiff of fun makes everything a little more exciting.
Flight 4 - Syrah (2 notes)
Had the chicken and hen of the woods mushrooms. Served to validate my hypothesis that one should always order the chicken in ambitious restaurants.
Red
2016 Arnot-Roberts Syrah
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Last bottle of three - and of course the best. Bought for a song too! Another wine with a slight whiff of the barnyard - I mistook this for the Cornas. A bracing acidic core but also body and heft - thoroughly lovely wine.
Red
2005 Robert Michel Cornas La Geynale
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
My written notes simply say "White Pepper. Oof." This is the real deal. Until the order of wines was revealed I thought that this was the 2016 Californian - that wonderful acidic core of really nervy syrah, but also clean and pure. I could drink this all day.
Closing
Superb meal, as always, at La T, and the wine showed up just as well as it could have.
This was not just fun though - it was a serious effort to objectively evaluate the wines. Each diner got to nominate their top three wines, and points were awarded accordingly. The final results are:
1st - 2005 Robert Michel Cornas La Geynale (11 pts)
2nd - 2015 Riverby Estate Pinot Noir Reserve (6 pts)
3rd - 2011 Kumeu River Chardonnay Maté's Vineyard (5 pts)
4th - 2018 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Cru La Chatenière Blanc (4 pts)
=4th - 2012 Henri Jouan Clos St. Denis (4 pts)
6th - 2014 Under The Wire Pinot Noir Sparkling Wentzel Vineyard (3 pts)
7th 2012 Louis Roederer Champagne Vintage Brut Rosé (2 pts)
8th 2016 Arnot-Roberts Syrah (1 pt)
Unusually for these events, every single wine received at least one point. This was really an embarrassment of riches.
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