Solihull Fine Wine Soc October tasting

All blind as usual

My worst blind tasting ever as far as my tasting notes and recognition of
the grape variety, let alone, identify the wines.
Shall I cast my ISO glasses into the fire?, shall I be punished by having to
drink Gallo for a year?

Read on and have a laugh

Domaine St Amant La Tabardonne, Rhone Viognier and some Grenache 2005
Pale straw with good weight. Classic buttery Meaursalt nose, fat and balaced
with good fruit and balance.. good village Meaursalt !!!!

Lindemans Padthway Pinot Noir 1998
Pale red, a little dull, restrained spice with iron, good balance, simple
fruit and spice, could it be a Loire red!!!

Chorey Les Beaune Tollot-Beaut 1996,
hint of age and again a little dull, a stewed plums and chocolate nose with
a poor entry, no fruit and all acid, poor for a colonial merlot!!

Cape Mentelle, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005,
huge extract, a classic nose of tinned tomatoes and toothpaste, fat entry
and long spice, cinnamon, excellent, a good Northen Rhone ? St Joseph

Santa Rita Medalla Real Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Ide nical to the Cape Mentelle in the glass, but a really wierd nose of
menthol and cats pee, a red sauvignon blanc?, good weight and fruit, but the
menthol came in mid palate again, long unfortunatley. an Oz shiraz

Wynns Michael Shiraz 1994
pale mature brick robe, a strange nose of leather, gunpowder and cinnamon,
tomatoes, a dry short entry, but opened up to reveal soft tannins and spicy
fruit. Excellent, colonial Cabernet

Pignan, CDP 1990, ( second wine of Rayas),
Bright and a real looker, pale brick, a wonderful nose of pencils, sweaty
leather, so complex, layer after layer of farmyard and spice. Soft unctous
entry with wonderful balance, chewy and fat, long spice. I nailed this with
not being claret, therefore ? Ch Musar. By far the WOTN, and one of the
wines of the year. I wonder what Rayas is like but at GBP 600 a bottle, not
for us in difficult times.

Ch Lafite 1976
Dead...I remember when I first bought 1976 claret we were warned it was not
a long liver. The year of drought in Europe and an endless summer.

Ch Mouton Rothschild 1983.
Extract to the rim, hint of brown, classic farmyard, spice and cigar box,
complex, kept evolving, soft entry, all in balance, layers of spice and
blackcurrants. Long Wonderful and I got it right, well I thought it was
Margaux

Back to school JT, more drinking of wines needed.

On Oct 15, 6:40�am, "JT" > wrote:
> Solihull Fine Wine Soc October tasting
>
> All blind as usual
>
> My worst blind tasting ever as far as my tasting notes and recognition of
> the grape variety, let alone, identify the wines.
> Shall I cast my ISO glasses into the fire?, shall I be punished by having to
> drink Gallo for a year?
>
> Read on and have a laugh
>
> Domaine St Amant La Tabardonne, Rhone Viognier and some Grenache 2005
> Pale straw with good weight. Classic buttery Meaursalt nose, fat and balaced
> with good fruit and balance.. good village Meaursalt !!!!
>
> Lindemans Padthway Pinot Noir 1998
> Pale red, a little dull, restrained spice with iron, good balance, simple
> fruit and spice, could it be �a Loire red!!!
>
> Chorey Les Beaune Tollot-Beaut 1996,
> �hint of age and again a little dull, a stewed plums and chocolate nose with
> a poor entry, no fruit and all acid, poor for a colonial merlot!!
>
> Cape Mentelle, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005,
> �huge extract, a classic nose of tinned tomatoes and toothpaste, fat entry
> and long spice, cinnamon, excellent, a good Northen Rhone ? St Joseph
>
> Santa Rita Medalla Real Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
> Ide nical to the Cape Mentelle in the glass, but a really wierd nose of
> menthol and cats pee, a red sauvignon blanc?, good weight and fruit, but the
> menthol came in mid palate again, long unfortunatley. �an Oz shiraz
>
> Wynns Michael Shiraz 1994
> pale mature brick robe, a strange nose of leather, gunpowder and cinnamon,
> tomatoes, a dry short entry, but opened up to reveal soft tannins and spicy
> fruit. Excellent, colonial Cabernet
>
> Pignan, CDP 1990, ( second wine of Rayas),
> Bright and a real looker, pale brick, a wonderful nose of pencils, sweaty
> leather, so complex, layer after layer of farmyard and spice. Soft unctous
> entry with wonderful balance, chewy and fat, long spice. I nailed this with
> not being claret, therefore ? Ch Musar. By far the WOTN, and one of the
> wines of the year. I wonder what Rayas is like but at GBP 600 a bottle, not
> for us in difficult times.
>
> Ch Lafite 1976
> Dead...I remember when I first bought 1976 claret we were warned it was not
> a long liver. The year of drought in Europe and an endless summer.
>
> Ch Mouton Rothschild 1983.
> Extract to the rim, hint of brown, classic farmyard, spice and cigar box,
> complex, kept evolving, soft entry, all in balance, layers of spice and
> blackcurrants. Long Wonderful and I got it right, well I thought it was
> Margaux
>
> Back to school JT, more drinking of wines needed.

Funny. Thanks for posting an honest report.
Tasting in double blind situations can be humbling. I think those that
claim to always get it right just don't report on some nights or
wines.
I find that I do a lot better in a more narrow format, where I know
the category and am just trying to guess the wines. Sometimes the
endless possibilities in the double-blnd can be overwhelming. Still,
some good guesses in there, I'd almost count Musar guess for a Rhone
as being a hit, despite geography.

Two points:
1 The nose goes through a cycle, with differing organoleptic sensitivity.
So, if you hit the wrong part of the cycle ... ouch. Best time is circa
10.00 AM, BTW, and not just after breakfast, as sensitivity rises with a
certain hunger. Not too hungry, then you lose concentration.
2 Let's put in a rant about how typicity in wines is going out the window
and everything tastes the same, shall we? I don't think we've had a really
good rant since ... oh, that discussion about terroir a month or so ago ...
Consider me as having ranted.

Cheers

Nils

On Oct 15, 8:55�am, Mike Tommasi > wrote:
> Yeah, typicity in wines is going out the window and everything tastes
> the same. I repeat. Typicity in wines is going out the window and
> everything tastes the same.

Yesterday I mistook a Petite Sirah for Viognier!

.... and now, all together, a-one, a-two, and-a-three: "Typicity in wines is
....!!!"

On Oct 15, 9:52�am, "Nils Gustaf Lindgren"
> wrote:
> ... and now, all together, a-one, a-two, and-a-three: "Typicity in wines is
> ...!!!"

You're so right. They all start to taste the same after a
while.....;-) I feel your pain.

On Wed, 15 Oct 2008 05:07:06 -0700 (PDT), DaleW >
wrote:

>On Oct 15, 6:40?am, "JT" > wrote:
>> Solihull Fine Wine Soc October tasting
>>
>> All blind as usual

>> Wynns Michael Shiraz 1994
>> pale mature brick robe, a strange nose of leather, gunpowder and cinnamon,
>> tomatoes, a dry short entry, but opened up to reveal soft tannins and spicy
>> fruit. Excellent, colonial Cabernet
>>

That's a typical one. In fact I know a few people (self included) who
having worked out that something is probably Australian and tastes
like Cab immediately say Shiraz and vice versa. Even mint isn't a good
guide these days.

However in such situations I'm always heartened by a quote from the
late Harry Waugh, of Harveys and Latour.

Cyril Ray reported that, on being asked if he'd ever mistaken burgundy
for claret Waugh replied rather dispondently.

"not since luncheon"

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/ob...gh-729581.html

James
James Dempster

You know you've had a good night
when you wake up
and someone's outlining you in chalk.

I enjoy tasting blind - find it humbling, but a lot of fun (especially
with company who don't take themselves and their opinions too
seriously).
Nice lineup of wines. Some of those sound really stunning
(particularly the Pignan and Mouton).

"Salil" > wrote in message
...
>I enjoy tasting blind - find it humbling, but a lot of fun (especially
> with company who don't take themselves and their opinions too
> seriously).
> Nice lineup of wines. Some of those sound really stunning
> (particularly the Pignan and Mouton).

salil
we are fortunate not to take ourselves seriously and always have a bit of a
laugh. However, it was still a shock to find how bad most of us were at the
tasting. We have tasted wines blind every month for 29 years, at 9 wines a
tasting, 12 times year, gives you 3132 bottles and I still get it wrong.

I do agree with some previous remarks about wines tending to become almost
homogeneous, especially when you have aged and new wines from the New World
and all these strange encepages.

Had a bottle of Pinot Noir from Simonnet-Febvre, from deep south of France,
last night with a Tortilla and salad, got it straight away as a simple
Pinot, because thats what it said on the label....(sigh)

JT

I find highly varied results when we do our monthly blind tasting
lunch. I think my best was nailing what 3 wines were (not necessarily
vintage) and many times my first thought may be wrong on all.

Consider that you may just be entering a 'dumb' stage and will arise
like a Phoenix at the next lunch! Or if you feel the need, come out
to the Colonies for an intensive refresher course!

Hi John

On Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:40:21 +0100, "JT" >
wrote:
>My worst blind tasting ever as far as my tasting notes and recognition of
>the grape variety, let alone, identify the wines.

Tsk!! Do what I do, John. I've not got a wine wrong in 10 years. I
never try to guess. That way I avoid reminding myself how bad I am.

But I do agree with you in your excellent prescription. "Drink more
wines". Clearly the therapy that you've been undergoing has been
becoming less effective with increasing years and you need to double
the dose. You see, as one gets older, one loses one's memory.
--
All the best
Fatty from Forges

I do believe it is good to remember that a tasting, done blind by a group of
professionals in Denmark, to separate Pinot Noir from Bourgogne, on the one
hand, from Pinot Noir from the rest of the world, on the other, ended in a
result that could have been achieved tossing a coin. One thing only - if
they really liked the wine, they thought it was Bourgogne.

Cheers

Nils