TN: Oh what a night (HautBrion, Evangile, Rousseau, Gaja, etc)
DaleW
together and went through 10 wines (doubleblind). Quite a lineup,
thanks to our host John.
(note, due to great lineup, tougher grading than usual)
We started with a Champagne. Bready, rich, yeasty, with mature ripe
apple fruit. A little floral on nose. Fine mousse. I like but I'm
clueless (Champagne isn't an area I feel very confident about). Mark
and Sasha quickly decide it's a Blanc de Blancs, John confirms. Sasha
correctly guesses the 1990 Pol Roger. B/B+
First red flight:
Wine #1: Firm ripe black fruit, with earth and tobacco. Some tannic
structure remaining, I'm thinking through mid-eighties vintages,
eliminating '86 as too tannic. Mark announces Graves,and narrows it to
Haut-Brion. It's the 1978 Haut-Brion, still very youthful. A-
(left in the glass, it continues to evolve through the night, with damp
earth and shiitake mushroom aromas emerging and blending with the
blackcurrant fruit, which remains vibrant through entire evening.
Change that to an A).
Wine #2 : On first pour the horsey/barnyardy aromas are pretty intense
( but I like, not being very brett-averse), but no one else seems to
notice. Ripe blackcurrant fruit, with herby/minty notes. Resolved
tannins. B+/B. It's the 1974 Mondavi Reserve Cabernet
Second red flight:
Wine #3 :This initially seems rather ripe and friendly, develops more
structure as it airs. Spice, good acidity, with some meaty notes and
damp earth. A- 1988 Armand Rousseau Chambertin
Wine #4: Perfumed earthy nose, leather and sandalwood over a nice black
cherry fruit base. More attractive at first, but I eventually give the
edge to wine #3. B+ 1985 Mugneret-Gibourg Echezeaux
A white before dinner:
Ripe baked-apple fruit, distinct petrol. Not a lot of acidity, but not
in any way flabby. Minerally finish. Sasha seems confident it's
Grunhauser. I'm thinking 1997 Spatlese,but seems a little more
developed. 1989? Once again I'm off (vintage and pradikat)1985 Maximin
Grunhauser (von Schubert) Abstberg Auslese. B+
Nice roast beef and couscous for dinner, I enjoy it with some of the
Haut-Brion and the
Third Red Flight:
Wine #5: Structured, with cassis and black plum fruit. Cigarbox and
minerally earth, firm and young. I'm thinking '86 Medoc, wrong again,
it's the 1975 L'Evangile. A
Wine #6: Very ripe black cherry fruit. coffee and cocoa. Low acid and
lush. I prefer wine #5. This develops some more complexity in glass.
It's the 1979 Lafleur. B+
Fourth Red Flight
Wine #7 : First bottle is corked, but John has a backup. Floral/berry
nose, red cherry and raspberry fruit, very good. B/B+. 1982 Gaja Sori
Tilden Barbaresco (I think the corked bottle was the '82 San Lorenzo)
Wine #8: Lifted/VA nose at first, bright cherries, distinct
earthy/truffley notes. Violets and roses, excellent. A-/A. 1982 Bartolo
Mascarello Barolo
Fantastic lineup, where virtually any wine could have been WOTN
candidate at most offlines. The L'Evangile edged the Haut-Brion as my
favorite, but I probably would have voted for either - or either of the
Burgs or the Barolo if you asked me while I was sniffing or tasting
that wine!
Incredible generosity from John, and a good start to our group.
Disregard my usual disclaimer, or at least the part about being easy
grader. Tonight's wines were so uniformly good I had to be a tough
grader to differentiate. But I still no promises of objectivity,
accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.
Joe "Beppe"Rosenberg
teens-later today
"DaleW" <Dwm...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1147884766.2...@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
cwdjrxyz
DaleW wrote:
> Wine #2 : On first pour the horsey/barnyardy aromas are pretty intense
> ( but I like, not being very brett-averse), but no one else seems to
> notice. Ripe blackcurrant fruit, with herby/minty notes. Resolved
> tannins. B+/B. It's the 1974 Mondavi Reserve Cabernet
My 74 Mondavi Reserve CS still is holding well, and I likely would rate
it about the same as you. I can think of better 74s, but this one is
very good.
> Second red flight:
> Wine #3 :This initially seems rather ripe and friendly, develops more
> structure as it airs. Spice, good acidity, with some meaty notes and
> damp earth. A- 1988 Armand Rousseau Chambertin
I have the 88 Rousseau Chambertin, but have not opened any. Top 88 red
Burgundy tended to be rather tannic when young and was a classic wine
that seemed to need long aging. I have opened de Vogue's Musigny VV 88,
which was quite good now, but seemed to need several more years to
peak. From your notes, I am guessing that Rousseau's 88 Chambertin
likely needs several more years. In many cases, the 90s are much easier
to drink now. However some of the 88s could top the 90s in the long
term - if anyone has any left to taste. Of course wines of this sort
can sometimes just dry up with long age and still be rather tannic.