Monthly blind tasting lunch notes.

2009 Albarino Fefinanes – this was a bit of a revelation – possibly
the most interesting Albarino I’ve tasted. Tropical fruit (banana?)
nose, sweet entry that lead us to believe it might be a soft wine, but
then good acidity kicked in for the finish. Tasty.

2006 Chapoutier Chante Alouette Hermitage Blanc – a citrus and orange
peel nose, a fair bit of colour, and well balanced and long, this wine
was surprisingly advanced and we wondered if it would make the long
haul as these usually do.

1999 Chapoutier Cote Rotie Les Becasses – picked up at the winery by
one of our group. Intended to be a lighter lower priced wine than
their top cuvees (not hard at the price the ‘La Las go for these days)
we found that this was a very enjoyable wine and not in the least
light in character. Medium dark colour, with smoke and some rubber in
the nose (the floral element often found was sadly AWOL), and some
black olive. Nice structure with up front tannin, though not hard,
well balanced with excellent acidity. Nice.

1993 Ch. La Fleur Petrus – my logic for bringing this was that first,
our group is less familiar with right bank wines, and second, I
figured they’d never guess that anything this good came out of this
vintage, because of their ‘left bank’ thinking. It worked. The nose
was a give away as to what this was, and I had a couple of left bank
guesses. The slightly green (one person noted a pine element), quiet
aromatic, followed by a smooth balanced wine showing a little tannin
at the end was most agreeable. This was a vintage you could do fairly
well in by buying selectively.

2009 Tinhorn Creek 2Bench Red – a Bordeaux blend by a local BC winery
that has been getting good press, this was a sort of Parker fruit bomb
that seems to impress many (but not my own preference). It was well
made, with a ripe nose featuring vanilla, lush in the mouth with soft
acid, lots of fruit, and some soft tannin. A tad blowsy I thought,
but a wine that should have great appeal in the marketplace.

1993 Ch. Musar – we danced all around the houses with this one,
failing miserably in our attempt to narrow it down. Medium colour, a
light wooded and slightly metallic nose, soft entry, nice and juicy
(meaning good fruit with acidity) in the middle, but perhaps just a
touch candied? Decent length.

1995 Lopez Heredia Vina Tondonia Rioja Reserva – a warm nose with all
sorts of fruit – dried cherries, a bit of anise, and a notable amount
of coconut. Edges a bit pale, quiet sweet in the mouth and fairly
long.

1998 Kays Amery Vd. Shiraz – this McLaren Vale shiraz was not a modern
overly sweet travesty, it was more a balanced old style rendition.
Very dark and minty gave the show away, but having said that, it was a
balanced wine weighty, with a dry entry and a very dry finish,
something you don’t often experience with a 1998. Well done.

1994 Spring Mountain Miravalle Alba Chevalier – an estate wine naming
the vineyards from which it came, this showed immediate big fruit and
lots of American vanilla oak with a hint of mint thrown in. Bit of
spice and some cocoa as well. Sounds like I just sat there and sniffed
this, but I did also taste it! Very nice Napa cab blend (93% CS 3% M
4%CF) with balance and smoothness.

2997 Aylor Kupp Riesling Spatlese – this one was rather comical
because the person that brought it thought he’d pulled a Loire wine.
We kept saying “This nose HAS to be Riesling!” and he kept steering us
away. In fact it had a pleasant lightly petrol and lime nose, nice
light weight after the heavy wines, excellent acidity and very fresh.
I’d had a flash initially of possible sauvignon blanc in the noise,
but the grassiness passed quickly. Maybe we’ll get to taste the wine
he thought he’d brought one of these days (I kept telling him I’d
never had a sweet Savennieres before!)