I have been humbled, yet again. You’d think since I know what the wines are, I’d be able to pick them out in a blind tasting. Or even get close. Nope. Our ‘B’ of the night was lovable and genius to me right out of the gates, and stayed that way throughout. I want it again. And what was it? A very tasty Bordeaux. Nuts. Who knew. That’s two blind tastings in a row where I choose a bordeaux over a burgundy.
‘A’ was extremely light, drinkable, but boring and flabby. Later, it showed obvious yet light notes of raisin. It was ranked as the least favorite wine of the night for the group, although it got one first place. It was Savigny les Beaune 1er Cru old-world pinot noir. Wow.
maurice ecard et fils savigny-les-beaune ‘les jarrons’, 1er cru 2003
‘B’, as mentioned above was the Bordeaux. It was the group favorite by a small margin. Spicy, lots of fruit, delicious, and instantly lovable. Genius, in my books.
chateau puygeraud cotes de francs 2003
‘C’ started with shoes melted on a fire pit. Sulpher, gunpowder, and fake floral. I dubbed it ‘Guns N Roses’, as that’s what it smelled like. Very bizarre, and right out of the gates the guessing was on that this was the new world wine of the night. And right many people were. A Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley in Washington.
elk cove vineyards, willamette valley, pinot noir, 2005
‘D’ was widely appealing, following closely behind ‘B’ in the group rankings. Very light, roses, red fruit, velvety mouth feel. Supple. It was a Rosso di Montalcino from tuscany.
ciacci piccolomini d’aragona rosso di montalcino 2004
So could we ‘taste’ the price points as before? Nope. Admitedly the prices were a lot more tightly grouped. But still, the most expensive bottle was the group’s least favorite.
Could we taste out the New World wine? Last time, it was unanimous. This time, people second guessed themselves, but generally as a group, I’d say the new world pinot was called out right out of the gates – the nose alone gave it away.
Did the french wines dominate, as before? Yes and no. The bordeaux won, and the burgundy lost.
Knowing the wines, I tried to guess based on what I know prior to the reveal. I was wrong, 4 out of 4. Terrible. The 2 I thought were pinot noir – weren’t. The one I thought was Italian? American. Goes to show, that I know jack.
Good times though, and it looks like Burgundy Night in July will be followed by a ‘White Night’ in August.