Last night SOBER convened at Mike's house, we were greeted with the NV
Bernard Bremont "Cuvee Prestige" Brut Champagne and smoked salmon
canapes with goat cheese. The Champagne was absolutely lovely- full
bodied but with a fine and delicate (yet intense) mousse, beautiful
clean apple and citrus fruit, fresh baked brioche, and a little chalky
mineral edge to the finish. Absolutely lovely NV. A-

We proceeded to table, and the blind wines starting coming

First flight with tortellini in broth with garlic bread

1- Sweet ripe red cherries, light oak notes, a little leather. I think
I liked this better than the table. 1997 Fuligni Brunello di
Montalcino B

2- Oak, dense heavy fruit with a plodding finish, a little disjointed.
Big, tannins a bit drying. John decides this is a 97 Brunello, and
he's correct. 1997 Altesino Montosoli Brunello di Montalcino. B-/C+

3- Most divisive wine, some found too bretty, but to me the light
notes of horse sweat and manure were easily within my tolerance level.
Nice black cherry fruit, leather, finer tannins. 1997 Pertimali
(Sasseti) Brunello di Montalcino. B+

Now, I went to Italy, perhaps due to the food match, and Tuscany
because it didn't seem like Nebbiolo. Others were surer of Brunello, I
was thinking something like 1990 CCR. We varied in how much we liked
these, but even those of us who liked were I think surprised how
mature most of them seemed already

Second flight with pumpkin lunes with sausage and foccacia

4- Big, a bit tight, structured. Ripe fruit, mint and tar. John and
Mark both opine Nebbiolo, seems reasonable to me. I like, and it gets
better with air. 1996 G. Conterno "Cascina Francia" Barolo B+/A-

5- Ripe cherries and a little meat, a tarry note that makes me think
this might be Nebbiolo too. Short, not near as appealing. 1998 JL
Colombo "Les Ruchets" Cornas. B-

6- Kirsch, mint, and coffee. A little bit of VA, alcohol sticking out
a bit. Short finish. Not a fan. 2003 Clos de Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape
C+

Third flight with braised short ribs, broccoli, potatoes, and
cornbread

7- Meat, oak, ripe fruit with John says Northern Rhone, maybe a
modernista Cote Rotie. He's close, it's the 1990 Jaboulet "La
Chapelle" Hermitage B-

8- Cassis and black cherry, a bit of oak, still some tannins. I'm
guessing Bordeaux, though with a few hints we get Madiran, 1989
Chateau D'Aydie Madiran B/B+

9- Dan says Amarone early, I don't think it's long enough. Soft,
REALLY ripe, REALLY sweet, running a bit hot. 1999 Quintarelli
Valpolicella C

Wow, an eye opener. Couple people say they've had several less than
thrilling experiences with the 90 La Chapelle, so this isn't a one-
off. Of course, other people (not at this tasting!) still consider it
a 100 pointer, so who knows what's variation. I think I would have
regarded the Quintarelli a bit better if I had known what it was, it
was kind of out of context, but it's a hard wine to judge next to dry
table wines.

Fourth Flight with -cheese (fresh curd, 3 yr Maine Cheddar, Humbolt
Fog, Umbriacone)

OK, at last an easy flight, Dan and I agree in one minute all
Bordeaux.

10- Big structured ripe, Dan goes to St Julien. Young, black currants
and plums, some oak. 2000 Clos du Marquis (St Julien) B

11- Sweet cassis, integrated oak, young. Divisive wine, with some
finding it over manipulated, but I quite enjoy, and it's my #2 blind
WOTN. 2000 Leoville las Cases (St Julien) B+

12- Sweet dark fruit, coffee, oak. Somewhat exotuc nose is better than
the palate. Some others dislike. 2000 Pape Clement (Pessac-Leognan). B

1989 Lingenfelder Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese (not blind)
I didn't note if there was a vineyard designation to this. Dark color,
apricots and candied apples, citrus zest, medium acids. Not
compelling, but a nice dessert wine at a good price (recently
purchased at $60/half).

Fun and informative night. The high scorers weren't neccessarily my
favorites. Thanks Michael.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

On Mar 3, 9:59�am, DaleW > wrote:
> Last night SOBER convened at Mike's house, we were greeted with the NV
> Bernard Bremont "Cuvee Prestige" Brut Champagne and smoked salmon
> canapes with goat cheese. The Champagne was absolutely lovely- full
> bodied but with a fine and delicate (yet intense) mousse, beautiful
> clean apple and citrus fruit, fresh baked brioche, and a little chalky
> mineral edge to the finish. Absolutely lovely NV. A-
>
> We proceeded to table, and the blind wines starting coming
>
> First flight with tortellini in broth with garlic bread
>
> 1- � � �Sweet ripe red cherries, light oak notes, a little leather. I think
> I liked this better than the table. 1997 Fuligni Brunello di
> Montalcino B
>
> 2- � � �Oak, dense heavy fruit with a plodding finish, a little disjointed.
> Big, tannins a bit drying. John decides this is a 97 Brunello, and
> he's correct. 1997 Altesino Montosoli Brunello di Montalcino. B-/C+
>
> 3- � � �Most divisive wine, some found too bretty, but to me the light
> notes of horse sweat and manure were easily within my tolerance level.
> Nice black cherry fruit, leather, finer tannins. 1997 Pertimali
> (Sasseti) Brunello di Montalcino. B+
>
> Now, I went to Italy, perhaps due to the food match, and Tuscany
> because it didn't seem like Nebbiolo. Others were surer of Brunello, I
> was thinking something like 1990 CCR. We varied in how much we liked
> these, but even those of us who liked were I think surprised how
> mature most of them seemed already
>
> Second flight with pumpkin lunes with sausage and foccacia
>
> 4- � � �Big, a bit tight, structured. Ripe fruit, mint and tar. John and
> Mark both opine Nebbiolo, seems reasonable to me. I like, and it gets
> better with air. 1996 G. Conterno "Cascina Francia" Barolo B+/A-
>
> 5- � � �Ripe cherries and a little meat, a tarry note that makes me think
> this might be Nebbiolo too. Short, not near as appealing. 1998 JL
> Colombo "Les Ruchets" Cornas. B-
>
> 6- � � �Kirsch, mint, and coffee. A little bit of VA, alcohol sticking out
> a bit. Short finish. Not a fan. 2003 Clos de Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape
> C+
>
> Third flight with braised short ribs, broccoli, potatoes, and
> cornbread
>
> 7- � � �Meat, oak, ripe fruit with John says Northern Rhone, maybe a
> modernista Cote Rotie. He's close, it's the 1990 Jaboulet "La
> Chapelle" Hermitage B-
>
> 8- � � �Cassis and black cherry, a bit of oak, still some tannins. I'm
> guessing Bordeaux, though with a few hints we get Madiran, 1989
> Chateau D'Aydie Madiran B/B+
>
> 9- � � �Dan says Amarone early, I don't think it's long enough. Soft,
> REALLY ripe, REALLY sweet, running a bit hot. 1999 Quintarelli
> Valpolicella C
>
> Wow, an eye opener. Couple people say they've had several less than
> thrilling experiences with the 90 La Chapelle, so this isn't a one-
> off. Of course, other people (not at this tasting!) still consider it
> a 100 pointer, so who knows what's variation. I think I would have
> regarded the Quintarelli a bit better if I had known what it was, it
> was kind of out of context, but it's a hard wine to judge next to dry
> table wines.
>
> Fourth Flight with -cheese (fresh curd, 3 yr Maine Cheddar, Humbolt
> Fog, Umbriacone)
>
> OK, at last an easy flight, Dan and I agree in one minute all
> Bordeaux.
>
> 10- � � Big structured ripe, Dan goes to St Julien. Young, black currants
> and plums, some oak. 2000 Clos du Marquis (St Julien) B
>
> 11- � � Sweet cassis, integrated oak, young. Divisive wine, with some
> finding it over manipulated, but I quite enjoy, and it's my #2 blind
> WOTN. 2000 Leoville las Cases (St Julien) B+
>
> 12- Sweet dark fruit, coffee, oak. Somewhat exotuc nose is better than
> the palate. Some others dislike. 2000 Pape Clement (Pessac-Leognan). B
>
> 1989 Lingenfelder Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese (not blind)
> I didn't note if there was a vineyard designation to this. Dark color,
> apricots and candied apples, citrus zest, medium acids. Not
> compelling, but a nice dessert wine at a good price (recently
> purchased at $60/half).
>
> Fun and informative night. The high scorers weren't neccessarily my
> favorites. Thanks Michael.
>
> Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
> wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
> drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
> promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

Thanks for the notes. I've had the three '97 Brunellos and tend to
agree with your notes. I just had a bottle of the Fuligni Riserva and
it "wowwed" me. The 90 La Chapelle has always puzzled me....I've had
great bottles and fair bottles but lately more fair than great.
Finally I really enjoyed the 2000 LLC that I opened over the holiday
season. WOnderful structure with opulent fruit all in balance. Yum!

On Mar 3, 10:59*am, "Bi!!" > wrote:
>*The 90 La Chapelle has always puzzled me....I've had
> great bottles and fair bottles but lately more fair than great.

I gave one member (who works at a big auction house) a ride to train
after, he said that he's had the 90 La Chappelle 3 times in last 18
months with no wows. Plus we discussed auction prices at dinner- he
said that the prices for the 90 La Chapelle have come down lately even
as other prices rose. I think there's a lot of "fair" bottles out
there, and people are getting tuned in. Jaboulet has a rep for batch
bottling, I understand there's more than one lot of this.

DaleW wrote:

> 9- Dan says Amarone early, I don't think it's long enough. Soft,
> REALLY ripe, REALLY sweet, running a bit hot. 1999 Quintarelli
> Valpolicella C

Interesting tasting, Dale. Did you guys know in advance that the theme
would be "100 pt" wines? Regarding the above note, it was my impression
that to receive Valpo DOC the wine had to be a dry red. Was this
possibly a Recioto della Valpolicella? Sad to hear about that '90 La
Chapelle, but they've been priced outta my league for a while now, so no
personal tragedy.

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

On Mar 3, 8:35*pm, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> DaleW wrote:
> > 9- Dan says Amarone early, I don't think it's long enough. Soft,
> > REALLY ripe, REALLY sweet, running a bit hot. 1999 Quintarelli
> > Valpolicella C
>
> Interesting tasting, Dale. *Did you guys know in advance that the theme
> would be "100 pt" wines? *Regarding the above note, it was my impression
> that to receive Valpo DOC the wine had to be a dry red. *Was this
> possibly a Recioto della Valpolicella? *Sad to hear about that '90 La
> Chapelle, but they've been priced outta my league for a while now, so no
> personal tragedy.
>
> Mark Lipton
>
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: *http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

We knew no theme (and Mike didn't actually realize he had included 2
100 pointers). Towards the end of meal he said his theme was "Short on
Time – thematic nihlism." I just mentioned the 100 pointers because no
one liked the La Chapelle, and a couple who own it said they will
sell. The LLC was better recieved, though not universally, and I may
have rated low.

The Quintarelli was the Valpo, and it wasn't dessert wine as such. I'd
guess there is some RS< but it qualifies as dry. I just meant that
next to two traditionally dry wines the contrast was heightened.