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HUB Tasting
Custom House
Tasted November 20, 2008 by winefool with 598 views
Introduction
This was a tasting and dinner put on by Hub International, my insurance broker. Sandy Leon organized it with Custom House and Hart Davis Hart and as these bus dev / customer appreciation things go, this one was absolutlely first rate! A shockingly nice lineup of wines for what was essentially a non wine-geek event. Took Janet and sat next to Jim C. and Chris K. Manlin was on the panel as an expert presenter on the wines and he pulled together the last flight, which was served blind for us to guess the theme. Though the Alban threw me, I was able to pick it out.
The idea here was to pair a new world and old world example of similar varietal compositions and age with each course of the meal. An interesting concept. We started with a nice champagne which now escapes me...
Overall a really fun evening.
Flight 1 - Pacific Hamachi with mushroom vinaigrette and winter radishes (2 notes)
White
1997 Kistler Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard
91 points
Full golden color. Big forward oaky yellow fruit nose. Big oaky yellow smoky fruit on the palate. Holding up OK, but never going to absorb all this oak and balance out.
White
1995 Albert Morey Bâtard-Montrachet
94 points
Full golden color. Lovely mineral fruit nose - very dense. Mmmn, nice round rich honeyed white/yellow fruit with plenty of mineral and a long finish. Good balance and acidity - much better with the food than the Kistler.
Flight 2 - Blue Cheese Ravioli iwth brown butter and belgian endive (2 notes)
Red
2002 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir Beaux Frères Vineyard
93 points
Bright red/pink color. Big rich briar red fruit with some spice and a hitn of heat. nice balanced red fruit on the palate with spicy black notes. Still a bit warm, but nice with the food.
Red
2003 Frédéric Magnien Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles Vignes
93 points
Medium red color. Full dusty earthy black cherry nose with a hint of briar. Nice round ripe black cherry fruit on the palate with nice balance. Very good for a villages-leve wine.
Flight 3 - Braised Veal Cheeks with bone marrow and roasted root vegetables (2 notes)
Red
1991 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection
93 points
Full red color with almost no lightening! Big forward red frui nose with huge green notes. Nice juicy round black cherry/currant fruit on the palate with integrated green notes. A lovely mature Caymus that is holding up better than I would have expected.
Red
1990 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
94 points
Full deep red color. Lovely full briar black cherry nose showing cedar and pencil notes with just a hint of green and barnyard. Nice rich red/black fruit iwth round ripe tannic structure remaining. A nice mature bordeaux that probably still has some upside.
Flight 4 - American Wagyu Ribeye Filet with smoked eggplant and oven dried tomato (2 notes)
Red
2001 Kongsgaard Syrah Hudson Vineyard
93 points
Full opaque deep purple/red color. Huge nose of boysenberry with coffee notes. Big jammy coffee/tar fruit on the palate with a nice black spiciness. Did I mention big? 93-94 pts.
Red
1990 M. Chapoutier Côte-Rôtie La Mordorée
93 points
Pale crimson red color. Wow, suprisingly nice nose of brown sugar spice and red cherry. Mmmn, nice red fruit with lighter concentration and a spicy finish. Nice for a Chapoutier (which are typically not my favorites). 93+ pts.
Flight 5 - Assorted Cheeses (3 notes)
Red
1997 Alban Vineyards Grenache Alban Estate Vineyard
94 points
Blind. Soft round red color. Very ripe bing cherry nose with some red spices. Very spicy ripe black/red sweet fruit on the palate with a medium finish. Good acidity. I guess old world grenache as this did not have any of that superconcentrated tarry alban note at all. It was a shock to unveil, but a pleasant surprise - delicious.
Red
1998 M. Chapoutier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Barbe Rac
93 points
Blind. Soft round red color. Full spicy red briar fruit nose - bright. Big tighter red/black puckering fruit with spice on the palate and some black coffee on the bright finish. 93-94 pts.
Red
2003 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape
93 points
Blind. Full red color. Forward nose of red fruit and barnyard with a hint of heat. Big spicy black fruit with hints of tar and black spice.