Tasted Wednesday, November 9, 2022 by Quinn05 with 391 views
Organised for the people who couldn't make the dinner with the winemaker. Everyone was asked to bring a bottle, so it turned into quite a special evening.
A nice Chardonnay to start. Non-blind.
Then the other whites. For two of them the surprise was spoiled, so only one was blind.
Far too much oak for this to be recognisable as a Sauvignon Blanc. Not a very good wine. And when you start factoring in the cost of this wine, even worse.
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Blind. Perfumed and expressive. Nice and tight, good enough balance but a little too much oak in my opinion. Not bad though.
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Rather elegant for a napa chardonnay, a bit of a burgundian style. Was a bit shy in the beginning, it needs around 5 more years I think.
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Some Pegau samples. Non-blind.
Barrel sample. To be bottled next week. This is not the definitive assemblage.
Very elegant, a "gourmand year" as another taster said. Distinct Kirsch-liquer on the nose. Gritty tannins. Something medicinal on the nose. A bit rough and unpolished as well, but that is more often than not the case with barrel samples.
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Barrel sample. To be bottled next week. This is not the definitive assemblage. Very, very similar to the Cuvée Reserve, but sooo much more concentrated. This is truly exceptional stuff.
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Barrel sample. 50% Grenache, 50% Cinsault. 15.5% alcohol. First on Guigal La Turque barrels, which destroyed the wine, then on Burgundy (I forget which domaine) barrels in an attempt to restore the damage done by the Guigal barrels. The idea was to make something elegant, which has clearly failed. This is like a "Port-light", as one of the tasters remarked. It's all over the place too. I'm not convinced...
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Then onto the Napa's, starting off with some amazing older examples. Blind.
Blind. Wow, beautiful fruit that seems so very young. Very light and elegant, beautiful balance. This is a very good example of classic Napa.
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Blind. Some paprika in the nose, with some people calling a high percentage of Cabernet Franc. Very young and fresh, obviously mountain fruit with beautiful tension. This bottle was aged at the winery for 20 years, so provenance was excellent.
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Blind. Vibrant with lots of fruit. Young fruit too, with most tasters calling 2001. Beautiful focus of the fruit. "Aristocratic", as one of us remarked. Round and smooth. Much more Californian than the Togni. And there is definitely still potential, I'm very curious how this will be in 5 years.
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Blind.
Blind. This is a huge Napa blockbuster. Almost Aussie Shiraz-like in its thickness. Big, (over)extracted red fruit, cherry specifically. On the nose the seems older than the La Jota before it. There's also a slight hint of brett.
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Blind. Slightly malolactic on the nose. The weird label choices are what I remember best, some odd mix between classic and modern. Like the wine itself.
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Blind. My own bottle. Amazing fruit, rough tannins but soft enough to drink. Very complex. Almost Paulliac-like. Needs some time though, revisit in 3 - 5 years.
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Blind.
Blind. This definitely wasn't Cabernet. Very funky nose. Meaty and smokey. I'm not a fan of the funky nose, not the type of Syrah I like to drink. Someone said the vineyard is called En Chamberlin because it's supposed to be similair to Gevrey-Chambertin. I hope that was a joke.
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Blind. Dark red with some purple and a delicate watery edge. I was truly convinced that our host had put a Premier or Deuxième GCC Bordeaux in the line-up to fool us. Beautifully complex, black fruit, cassis, pine needles, some herbacious notes. And so very balanced and elegant. I have fallen in love with this wine and was truly amazed when it was revealed as a Californian wine. I have no experience with other Ridge Monte Bello wines, but I think I can safely assume the 2013 vintage lives up to the hype it gets. I think this has so much more potential, drink from 2030, if you have to willpower to wait that long.
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Blind. You can clearly notice this is an amazing wine, and it is definitely worthy of 100 points in the future. But today, it just wasn't giving anything. It started of very shy already and then shut down completely after 15 minutes or so. Kept the glass around for 2 more hours and it didn't change anymore. This is a wine that at this point really just needs time, not air. Don't touch this until at least 2035.
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Hedonistic for any other category, but rather elegant for a Napa. Big red fruit, lots of cherry, the fruit is very precise, which is in this case what I mean with elegant. Clearly from a warm year though. Not as badly affected by the wildfires as other Bond wines, the smoke taint here is barely noticeable.
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Then after 17 wines as a warming up, the Hundred Acre wines for which we were initially invited. Non-blind.
This was okay, I think it mostly suffered from the comparison to the other Hundred Acre wines. Surprisingly decent value though.
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Older vines. And noticably higher quality. Much more balanced. At thrice the price of The Dreamer though, I don't know...
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More structure than Morgans Way. Polished tannins, very soft and sensual.
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More fruit-forward than the Ark, which makes it, in my opinion, a little less interesting.
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Back to other Napa's, two Schafers and a Colgin, and back to blind tasting. Blind.
Blind. Very big, fruit forward Napa Cab. Drinking amazingly well right now.
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Blind. I don't remember a whole lot about this wine. All I know is that I liked it, and it had suprisingly high acidity, giving it a rather fresh feel.
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Blind. Wow, what a difference 5 years can make. Compared to the 2005, I can safely conclude this is absolutely not ready. Wait 7 more years (because this one I think will need a little more time). And while you're waiting, if you're craving a SHS, crack open a bottle of 2005. That will surely provide you with much more pleasure.
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Two very good wines, against one mediocre wine, not a very fair flight. Blind.
Blind. The nose promises a lot, then you take a sip and boom, ridiculous sweetness. This almost certainly has too much RS, it's not just overripe fruit. It was barely drinkable.
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Blind. Very good wine, but I think this is on the way down. Drink up.
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Blind. Nose is very closed, taste is beautiful, very complex. Insane aftertaste, truly legendary lenght. This is an amazing wine and I'm very grateful I got to taste it. But oh, what a shame, it was truly a crime to have opened it this young.
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Same vineyard, different winemakers. Blind.
Blind. Both myself and my palate were pretty tired at this point, so no extensive notes. All I have to say is that the fact that this wine is almost 2.5 times as expensive as the DuMOL version (which is much better) is absolutely beyond me.
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Blind. Still quite tight and young. Needs some time. This is a much more talented winemaker making a much better wine. If the Meteor Vineyard is a terroir you enjoy, this is the wine to buy!
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Port to end the evening, which turned out to be another Hundred Acre wine. Non-blind.
Absolutely loved this port-style wine. Near perfect, amazing stuff. If you can get it for the current listed auction value (~225), definitely pick it up, I know I would.
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If anyone who attended reads this. Thank you for your insights, your great company and of course bringing such amazing wines!
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2020 Hudson Vineyards Chardonnay 90 Points
USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros
Creamy Napa Chardonnay with lots of vanilla, and a little minerality. Well made and a good wine if you like the style.
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