Monthly blind tasting lunch notes.

Back from 3 weeks in the Rhone and recovering from a cold, but the
usual crew wanted a lunch this month rather than miss a month, so…..

1999 Dom. Weinbach Riesling Schlossberg – an interesting wine that
showed a lot of colour, a waxy sort of nose that revealed the Riesling
base but had some interesting grace notes, and mature flavour, good
length, and a finish you’d swear heralded a late harvest wine. Now
nearing the end of it’s life, this one put on a good show.

1999 Brusset Les Hauts de Montmirail Gigondas – while I had thought
about bringing anything but Rhones, it seemed that several of us had
the opposite view. Deep colour, lightening at the edges, a sort of
meaty nose, soft tannin and decent fruit, ready to roll.

1997 St. Cosme Gigondas – my wine, so I was guilty of stereotyping
too. Also good colour, showing a little browning at the rim, and a
really nice nose with dark fruit, something woodsy/mushroom perhaps,
lots of stuffing, good fruit, and long finish. I liked this enough
when it was released to buy a couple of cases and it has now hit prime
time so I will be visiting this one frequently over the next few
years.

2003 Ch. de Ferrand Chateauneuf du Pape – forward fruity nose, perhaps
a tad simple but with a hint of anise and some herbs, reasonable
amounts of tannin, medium weight wine, smooth finish. Drinks well now
and may develop.

2007 Painted Rock Syrah – this relatively new BC winery has a fairly
aggressive pricing policy (this wine was $40 a bottle), but there is a
fair bit of quality for the money. Very dark colour, with purple
edges, it had a really good nose of plum and pepper and perhaps a
slight green tinge. Sweet entry, surprisingly light tannins and medium
length. Good drinking at this young age – I do not think they were
trying for a wine that needed aging.

1999 Carruades de Lafite – a slight mustiness in the nose quickly blew
off to leave some pleasant fruit and some nice cedar, medium body,
fairly smooth on palate and medium length. Drinking well now.

2007 Meuller Diamond Mt. District Cabernet – after all the French
wine, a readjustment to Napa. Made by a doctor from a 1.1 acre plot,
I rather liked this as it wasn’t the sort of in-your-face, you-better-
admire-my-flavour-intensity sort of wine that Napa so tediously
produces. It was a balanced wine with a sweet nose with cherry and
coffee notes, smooth entry, sweet and a bit spicy in the mouth, very
pleasant and perhaps a tad hot, although I didn’t note the alcohol
level. Very decent and a good match for the cheese.