Solihull Fine Wine Society December tasting

Blind as always

Bolly Grand Annee 1996, bright with crushed biscuit nose, a definite hint of
oxidisation and an austere pa;lateand the mousse went in 20 minutes, a dodgy
bottle.

Maximim Grunhauser Abtsberg Spatlese 2003, bright green tinge, a classic
riesling nose and a full fat wine with complex palate and a good cut of
acidity, very nice

Leitz Rudesheimer Berg Roseneck Spatlese 2003, a fat wine again green
tinged, complex petrol and grease nose and a very fat entrance, a pleasant
sugary drink with long fruit. I liked it, but others thought it was bland a
? New World.

Cape Mentelle Sauvignon semillon Margaret River Oz, very pale, typical NZ SB
nose and echoes on palate of a simple SB, not exciting

Le Haut Lieu Vouvray Sec Huet 1993A strange greeny gold colour, a nose of
apples and burnt matches, short with some spice, liquid
gunpowder.....awful, heated argument as to duff bottle or house style.

Clos des Cordeliers Saumur Champigny 2003, brick red and bright, classic CF
nose of broken stones and flint, light entrance biscuit and cheese and
spice, short.

Cab Sauvignon Cape mentelle Margaret river, 2003.Portlike with huge extract,
thick red legs, what a wonderful nose of all things claret, spice, leather,
forest floor, huge soft entrance, hit the hard palate, huge fruit and
tannins all in balance, long. A wonderful wine and my WOTN

Chrysiea Douro, Prats and Symington, Douro Portugal 2005, purple edge with
depth, a restrained marshmallow simple nose, reflected on the palate, fruit
spice and tannins, but no clue to the grape or where. We knew what it
wasn't, and of course when told we all realised it smelt of
port........dumbos

CDP VT 1998, a rather cloudy with age apperance, had been decanted and the
host was a little concerned, he had a spare ready, no worry, on the nose
classic CDP, organic spice with this soft ethereal entrance that brought a
smile to us all, but then fell short and ?drying out, I thought it was a
Beaucastel from the 80's. We suspect it was a duff bottle

Hermitage La Chapelle, Jaboulet, 1997, huge wine opaque, hint of brown edge,
classic tinned tomatoes aniseed toothpaste spice, big spicy mouthful, big
tannins but ? enough fruit. I thought it was a Chave Hermitage.

JT wrote:
>
>
> Le Haut Lieu Vouvray Sec Huet 1993A strange greeny gold colour, a nose of
> apples and burnt matches, short with some spice, liquid
> gunpowder.....awful, heated argument as to duff bottle or house style.

Aged dry Chenin tends to be a polarizing wine. I know some who like,
but they are also fans of Vin Jaune and other "difficult" white wines.
FWIW, the greenish cast is very typical of older Chenin.

>
> CDP VT 1998, a rather cloudy with age apperance, had been decanted and the
> host was a little concerned, he had a spare ready, no worry, on the nose
> classic CDP, organic spice with this soft ethereal entrance that brought a
> smile to us all, but then fell short and ?drying out, I thought it was a
> Beaucastel from the 80's. We suspect it was a duff bottle

Yes, that doesn sound off for this producer. I'm still holding off on
my '98s, by and large, but all that I've read suggests that this wine is
just now entering its prime. Sub-threshold cork taint, maybe?

>
> Hermitage La Chapelle, Jaboulet, 1997, huge wine opaque, hint of brown edge,
> classic tinned tomatoes aniseed toothpaste spice, big spicy mouthful, big
> tannins but ? enough fruit. I thought it was a Chave Hermitage.

Actually, that's a pretty good showing for Jaboulet wines of that
period. La Chapelle has great starting materials, but most agree that
the mid-'90s weren't a good period for Jaboulet (basically, after the
untimely death of Gerard) and '97 wasn't the greatest year, either.

Thanks for the notes!
Mark Lipton


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