Chateauneuf du Pape - September 2004

I took over our first CdP tasting, choosing all four wines. While my friends would say it was because I'm an obsessive wine geek, I really had two objectives: (1) to save some time for the less vinously endowed (i.e. cellar-less) individuals in the group, and (2) to compare wines from the same vintage (i.e. to let the producer, rather than the vintage, show through).

These were from the 1999 CdP vintage - a good vintage sandwiched between the 'extraordinary' 1998 and 2000 CdP vintages. The wines were terrific - here are the notes:

First Place: 1999 Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe 'La Crau'
This was everyone else's favourite by a wide margin. I was the lone dissenter on this wine - while my scores for the four wines were close, this was my least favourite. I described the nose as very smooth, with hints of berries, flowers and nuts. The taste was tannic and uncomplex, with a medium body and medium lenghth. To sum it up: "Easy, tannic, but nothing special". 'Nuff said. However, I would be remiss if I did not tell you this was the relative bargain - at C$39 it was the second cheapest CdP of the night. (RP-88)

Second Place: 1999 Mas de Boislauzon
I seem to be going in reverse order vs. my peers! This was my 2nd least favourite. I described the nose as bold, smooth, with blueberries and chocolate. The taste was elegant but uncomplex, with a medium body and medium to long finish. From my notes: "Very enjoyable, but not very special". This was another relative bargain at C$34 - the cheapest of the night. (RP-88)

Third Place: 1999 Bosquet des Papes "Cuvee Chantemerle"
Now to the good stuff! This was my favourite. I described the nose as "oakier", with scents of apples, leather and mushrooms. On the palate the wine was "very well balanced", with a medium body and medium to long finish. Yum. This was pricey - C$65. (RP-91)

Fourth Place: 1999 Chateau de la Gardine "Cuvee des Generations"
This cost an arm and a leg, and was supposed to be my 'ringer'. My peers were less positive on this wine, but it was my 2nd favourite. A very complex and "earthy" nose, with scents of blueberries, currants, vanilla, caramel and licorice. It was a bit disappointing on the palate (after that wonderful nose!) - I found the wine to be 'hot' (i.e. high, obtrusive alcohol), oaky, and a little less balanced (than the others) . Full bodied, with a long finish. A great wine, but not a great find at this price - C$94. (RP 90-93)

Comments:

You get what you pay for? While I gravitated to the more expensive wines, the ratings as a whole did not follow price. This concurs with other CdPs tastings - great CdP can be had for reasonable prices.

Tempranillo - July 2004

Of our early tastings, this was easily the most memorable. First, the prices started to creep upward vs. our previous tastings. Second, I think all of us did more homework to choose the wines. Third, you get a lot more wine for your money in Spain. The combination of these factors let to a spectacular night, and some wines that I buy over and over again. There were only three wines tasted, and all were from the same modest 1999 vintage.

First Place: (tie between the next two)
1999 San Vicente Crianza (Rioja)
Cosme's San Vicente had a powerful nose - citrus, vanilla, oak. On the palate it tasted of chocolate and coffee, it was earthy and very well balanced. Medium to full bodied, with a medium length and nice finish. According to my notes, this would probably be a better wine with food - a big, fat steak. Permanent part of my cellar,~C$55. (RP-92)
1999 Hacienda Monasterio Crianza (Ribera del Duero)
I cheated a bit with my Hacienda Monasterio - only 70% Tempranillo, with the balance Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. It had a much deeper purple colour, with beautiful scents of oak, vanilla, flowers, rum and "yummy chocolate". The taste was complex, well balanced, with tastes of dark fruit, earthy, tannic, spice and leather. It was full-bodied with a medium length and a very nice finish. "Bold, fruity, silky". My cellar is full of this stuff. Approx. C$38. (RP-92)

Third Place: 1999 Artadi 'Vinas de Gain' (Rioja)
I believe this wine had gone bad. Unfortunate, as this had a good Parker rating (90) and was reasonably priced. On the nose there were interesting smells, but the taste was awful. I will retry this if I ever find it again.

Summary: Do your homework and seek out some Spanish wines. The gems come at terrific prices.

Brunello Tasting - March 2004

Our first Brunello tasting required some changes to our usual tasting format. Obviously, it was not possible to stick with our C$40-ish objective and taste Brunello. With the hefty cost for decent Brunellos, the four tasters split the cost of the three wines. While this removed the 'competitive edge' of our tastings, it focused the group on comparing and contrasting some top Brunellos. To further control this experiment I bought three Brunellos from the same vintage. While 1998 was not a top vintage, this was perhaps a better strategy for separating the better winemakers from the pretenders.

The price range was dramatic, and the four of us had a good time with this. Unfortunately, I was not feeling well that day (stomach thing) and my nose was partially stuffed up. As result, my notes may not be fully reflective of the group, and I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have ... sigh.

First Place: 1998 Gaja 'Sugarille'
This was one of the most expensive Brunellos available at my shop. Not surprisingly, this wine was great, classy. This wine had a spectacular nose, with scents of vanilla, caramel, cherries - "beautiful, elegant". Given the price (C$157) and pedigree (Gaja), this was the crowd favourite by a WIDE margin. At that price I would never buy it, but I would love it if someone else bought it for me.

Second Place: 1998 Altesino Montsoli
Altesino is supposed to be an excellent Brunello house, and the single vineyard Montsoli is their premium wine. The wine displayed delicate floral aromas, with some cherry scents. On the palate it was spicy, oaky, with some acidity and light fruit, medium/light-bodied and medium in length. I was out of consensus, as I didn't like this one as much as the regular Altesino below. C$110.

Third Place: 1998 Altesino
I thought this had a beautiful nose - delicate scents of chocolate, fruit, spice, oaky, nearly perfect. On the palate this also tasted of chocolate, oak and spice, but was a little off balance with high acidity and little fruit, medium bodied but with a longer finish than the Montsoli above. C$62

Comments:

• You get what you pay for? There was a clear linear relationship between price and quality. The regular Altesino was the closest to a 'value' in my mind.


• Vinuous infanticide! These wines were not ready - we should have waited at least another two years to taste these wines.

Pinot Noir Tasting - February 2004

Moving on to Pinot Noir. Our first Pinot tasting featured a variety of wines spanning the globe - three Burgundies, a Canadian wine and an Oregonian wine. As you can see below, this was the most divided panel to date - three wines tied for first place.

Probably the biggest surprise of the evening was the strong showing for the Canadian Pinot Noir in a group of highly regarded wines. I put this in as a filler - I thought my Oregon wine would win...In summary, the contest concluded as follows:

Winners (three-way tie):

1999 Domaine Jacques Prieur, Beaune premier cru, “Clos de la Féguine”, C$69
Votes: Two First place (Cam, Ash), two Third place (Joe, Cosme)
2001 Quails’ Gate Family Reserve Pinot Noir C$35
Votes: Four second place votes (everyone's 'runner-up')
1999 Louis Jadot, Santenay “Clos de Malte” C$39.75
Votes: Two First place (Joe, Cosme), two Third place (Cam, Ash)

And the runners-up:

2000 Olivier Santenay C$33.25
Votes: mixed.
2001 Adelsheim Oregon Pinot Noir US$34
Votes: last place by all. I recall the bottle was corked.

Overall, my personal favourite was the Jadot "Clos de Malte", and the Leflaive Santenay was also very nice (and a better value), in my opinion, but obviously not as interesting for my peers.

Shiraz Night - November 2003

Our second tasting is probably most notable for the best wine:taster ratio of all time - the three of us opened six bottles of Shiraz and finished just about all of them! Extreme caution should be exercised before relying too much on these ratings...

Note that we did not keep as meticulous notes in those early days (even if we were capable of tasting notes that evening), so here is the ranking of the wines with some short comments:

First: 1999 Delas Freres Crozes-Hermitage Cuvée Tour d'Albon
Second: 1998 Castello Banfi Syrah Sant'Antimo Colvecchio
Third: 1999 Domaine de la Terre Rouge Syrah Sierra Foothills
Fourth: 1999 Paul Jaboulet Aine Vieilles Vignes Crozes Hermitage
Fifth: 2000 Rosemount Shiraz Show Reserve
Sixth: 2000 Caves des Papes Crozes-Hermitage Oratorio

Overall, it is amazing that we held a Shiraz tasting with six wines and only one Australian - clearly an oversight, and demands a retaste. The spread between first and second place was very small, requiring a drunken tiebraker. I have retasted both wines since then and they are fantastic. One observation I would make is that the French wines took much more time to 'open up', something I have noticed on many occasions. I suggest decanting all Bordeaux, Rhone, Madiran, Cahors, and bigger wines from the south of France.

Note that while Parker liked the Delas, Spectator hated it. Spectator loved the Banfi, while Parker never rates the Banfi wines.

Cabernet Sauvignon Tasting - September 2003

I helped start our wine tasting group not because I was "into wine", but because I knew nothing about wine. Between work and family I never had time to go to formal classes, so I invited a few guys over on a Friday night to chat and taste wines. We started with a price range of up to C$40 - my thinking was that this way we would taste wines that we would not normally drink everyday, and make sure the wines were 'representative' of their respective regions/grapes. The objective in all of our tastings was to go 'blind', removing any bias.

Having no real idea what we were up to, we cobbled together a group of willing tasters, downloaded a score sheet off the internet, and started with Cabernet Sauvignon, naturally.

My early tasting notes are less complete, but the wines (and rankings) were as follows:

First: 1999 Stanley Brothers Thoroughbred Cab. Sauv.
My ranking was in line with the group. According to my notes this wine had a beautiful spicy nose and was very deep, complex, balanced, fruity. Cost was close to C$25

Second: 1998 Santa Rita Casa Real
My second place ranking was in line with the group. The wine had a woodsy, berry nose, and was slightly acidic. I described the taste as "complex, with decent length, well balanced but perhaps a touch acidic". The tannins were very noticeable/powerful, and in retrospect probably not yet ready. Cost nearly C$55.

Others:
1999 La ferme d'Angludet
2001 Francis Ford Coppola Diamond Series Cabernet
From my notes it appears that the Coppola scored better. I described it as enjoyable, spicy, balanced, but could use some more depth. The Ferme d'Angludet was my first (and last) mistake buying the 'second' wine of a Bordeaux producer when I thought I was buying the first wine. Perhaps not a fatal mistake with "Alter Ego de Palmer" or "Carruades de Lafite", but D'Angludet's "ferme" is NOT a second wine to seek out - especially at C$35. This wine was well balanced, but a lightweight and uncomplex.

A couple of observations as I reflect on this tasting long after it took place:

1. Since we didn't really know what we were doing, the outcomes/ratings are suspect.


2. For our first two tastings we blinded the wines using a brown paper bag. Not clever - the fine wines always throw off a ton of sediment, and picking the sludge out from between your teeth is bound to wreck your score. We have since switched to using unmarked decanters.