A motley group of six assembled in Maroubra for a night of 17 wines showcasing the grapes of Burgundy (primarily chardonnay and pinot noir). All wines tasted double blind or "spot on", before moving on to options and/or trivia about the wine in question. Detailed and far more thorough TNs were taken by Adair and Attila (both of whom post here) and should be uploaded sometime soon, with reviews of the excellent food. I took very brief notes which follow in the order tasted. I cross checked my scores and rankings with Adair (who didn't seem too impressed with many of the "big" name wines), and we were in surprising agreement for nearly all the wines. Attila of course found nearly every wine stunning and fabulous!
1982 Pol Roger Rosé
Burnt orange onion skin colour. Very fine and persistent bead. Loud pop from excellent cork. Mushroomy, cognac/sherry-like and aldehydic bouquet, which cleaned up with time. Palate if very soft, balanced, fluffy with excellent length and acid backbone. After 30 minutes, some obvious sweetness germinated. Just holding together although one taster (hello DavidL) felt it fell apart soon after release (or maybe he did given Attila was talking about "hand jobs" (not sure in what capacity
). No one guessed rosé; all thought a champagne from 60s or 70s. Similarly no one guessed correct vintage from 80s. I liked it as did the majority. Good stuff, and the way I like champers.
91/100
1997 Domain Pinson Les Clos Chablis Grand Cru
Light straw yellow. Nose is youthful, lemony, stone fruits (rockmelon). Structurally very sound. Little hint of oak. Bit short on palate. All components in their right place. With time, alcohol occluded the finish, ruining the finish. Very good.
87/100
1988 Domaine Louis Carillon Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet
Light yellow. Complex characters on nose. Riper fruit that Pinson. Sweeter. Clear wood taste and quite oaky. Top quality fruit though and good structure. Length is the key - excellent. Top wine.
90/100
1976 Louis Latour Corton-Grancey
Brick red. Obvious VA on nose. Lots of coarse sediment. Not much fruit left. Over the hill.
<80/100
2000 Tyrrells Vat 6 Pinot Noir (Hunter Valley)
Light red with clear bricking. Cherries and sappy overtones on bouquet. Forward sweet fruit and very new world. Problem: Palate is dead and rough. My first wine made entirely from pips and stalks. Thank you. OTH.
<80/100
1982 Santenay (producer?)
Quickly swept aside. Only smelt nose - disgusting. This smelt like it hadbeen siphoned from the Parramatta River via the Duracell battery plant. Never made it to my lips. Clearly 20 years too late.
Not rated
2001 Curly Flat Pinot Noir (Macedon, Victoria)
Dark red with purple tinges. Lovely colour. Nose of plums, sweet cherries and spice. Brilliant so far. Palate is lush, very good length, finishes very dry. A promising and surprisingly good wine. Coincidentally, I was at East End Cellars in Adelaide two days before and picked this one up to read the back label as I'd heard good things. Delivers.
88/100
2003 Dalwhinnie Pinot Noir (Moonambel, Victoria)
Mid purple. Fishy nose. Weird tertiary and secondary characters (like stewed fruit, glace and H2SO4. Not my cup of tea. Others liked it much better.
84/100
2003 Shaky Bridge Pinot Noir (Central Otago, New Zealand)
Dark red/purple tinges. Slight green-ness on nose and obvious VA uplift. Palate is measured with good fruit integration, albeit slightly over-ripe. Not much acidity for support. Very restrained but needs backbone. Strange mix.
85/100
1988 Domaine Comte de Vogüé Musigny Vieilles Vignes
Brick red. Lots of sediment. Beautiful nose of cinnamon, spice, herbs, plummy fruit. Amazing fleshyness on palate, with sizzling bacon. Glad it showed well as my last bottle tasted on release was incredibly tannic. Fully mature and even elegant. Nice wine. Drink up. Wouldn't hold much longer. But should be much better!
89/100
1988 Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret Echezeaux
Brick red with orange hues. Richer and more expressive than the Musigny. Slight VA. Subtle but full. Mature and elegant and excellent length. Much better than my bottle of Grand Echezeaux from the same producer and year I had 4 months ago. Lovely wine.
90/100
1996 Domaine Harmand-Geoffroy Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru La Perriere
Mid red. More youthful than the Echezeaux. Palate is grippier and more tannic. Quite awkward and not really together. Slightly green and under-ripe and stemmy. Future uncertain. Not a fan.
85/100
2000 Lark Hill Exultation Pinot Noir (Canberra)
Medium red. Simple bouquet. Slightly under-ripe and capsicum tones. Lacks dimension. Palate is scattered and lost the plot. Very disappointing.
83/100
2000 Bass Phillip Reserve Pinot Noir (South Gippsland, Victoria)
Bass Phillip wines are produced according to the following principles: low cropping (less than 1.5 tonnes/acre), no irrigation, no residual pesticides, minimal additives, gravity feed, French oak maturation of 15-24 months, and unfiltered. I've brought a Reserve bottling to 5 blind tastings over the past 3 years and without fail it has always been mistaken for a Grand Cru Burgundy. This is one of winemaker Phillip Jones weakest vintages (certainly between 1992-2000) so was very interested to see how it would show in a comparative tasting. All thought the wine was French and Grand Cru. "Grand Echezeaux" and "Echezeaux" were bandied around (and did I hear "La Tache" from one of the very experienced Burgundy-philes?
). Cherry red colour. Beautiful nose: meaty, tobacco leaf, sappy and spice. Palate is very complex. Lovely drinking now and over next 1-3 years. Won't be a long haul wine. WOTN so far. Drink now, it won't improve further. A good effort. Pity the current A$225 price tag (and woeful customer service and refusal to replace corked bottles) now counts me out. Often criticised, but his wines time and time again stand up to the best in blind tastings with one-eyed red Burgundy lovers. This was no exception. Justifiably Australia's most consistent (if not only) Grand Cru-level Pinot.
91/100
1998 Domaine Vincent Girardin Clos-Saint-Denis
Cherry aromas and rich charry oak. Exceptional perfumed bouquet. Balanced. Lovely. Palate of spice, cherries, seamless black fruits and tobacco. A lovely Morey-Saint-Denis and everything red Burgundy should be. Subtlety is its key. This was my WOTN and the majority #1.
92/100
2000 Classic McLaren La Testa Shiraz Grenache Cabernet
The interloper (there's always at least one). Obviously an Aussie fruit bomb. Sweet liquorice. Very nice and not at all over-the-top. I really liked this wine. Beguiling texture. Well done but rather pricey for me at A$50.
88/100
1991 Declassified d'Yquem (Sauternes)
Didn't see label. Flashback to the 80s with Bananarama! Full on bananas, VA, oak and acid. Not pleasant. Deeply gold colour. Dusty and rough. DavidL broke my concentration when he started talking about hot 'n young Brazilian waitresses in short skirts and deep cleavage at the pub across the road! As a tactic, it worked well. I was all over the shop after this.
81/100
Top food and great hospitality. Thanks guys.
