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| Vintages Pre-Release |
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| Thursday, 28 September 2006 | |
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Reported by Bob Deskin Thirty-six guild members and guests met at the Chelsea Club with great expectations for a premium tasting of the Vintages Bordeaux release. Guild Director Joe Hatz, the VPR organizer (with assistance from "apprentice" Bob Deskin), had opened most of the reds early in the afternoon to give them a chance to breathe and to ensure that we wouldn’t be disappointed by any corked bottles. A tough job, but one that Joe jumped at with his usual enthusiasm. Joe also put another mark on the evening by stating early on that “the fruit is in the glass” and it certainly was. The first flight consisted of three whites from the 2005 vintage. The first two were Sémillon/Sauvignon Blanc blends from Bordeaux and the third was a new world Sauvignon Blanc that gave a good contrast. The Château Marjosse Blanc was the second favourite. It was the typical pale straw colour and was quite complex on the nose with lemon, grapefruit, mineral, honey, and yeasty and grassy notes. It was medium- to full-bodied with a slightly oily texture, crisp acidity, and a short to medium finish with lingering acidity and some residual bitterness. Typical Entré-Deux-Mers style. The Château Thieuley Blanc got mixed reviews. Pale straw, with grapefruit, gooseberry, and some floral notes, medium-bodied, and much less acid than the first wine. It had a medium finish, but a slightly bitter aftertaste. The Wither Hills Sauvignon Blanc was the definite favourite of the flight. While obviously a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, it was not overpowering. Many people thought the nose was “interesting” and more than one was heard to say “nice wine”. It was also a pale straw, but a bit more yellow than the others. There was grapefruit, gooseberry, asparagus, some mineral, and a touch of honey, which also showed up as sweetness on the mid-palate. It was medium- to full-bodied with some creaminess, excellent acidity, and a medium to long finish. The second flight consisted of three reds, none from Bordeaux, although we didn’t know it at the time. The Yalumba ‘Tricentenary Vines’ Grenache 2002 was misleading for some. While it was the second favourite of the flight, some felt it was not a good represenative of the varietal. Before the wine was revealed, one attendee was heard to say that they thought it was a “classic new world Pinot”. It certainly had some of those characteristics being translucent cherry red with a full nose of cherry, mushroom, earth tones, and smoke. It was medium- to full-bodied with good acidity and moderate integrated tannins. The medium to long finish was a bit hot for some. While the Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2003 was a nice wine, the other two overshadowed it. Described as “Easter ham in a glass” it was translucent ruby with a nose of cloves, pepper, raspberry, candied cherry, and some earth tones. It was medium bodied with good acidity, integrated medium tannins, and a long finish. The definite favourite of the flight, and for some, of the evening, was the Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva 2001. It was a deep youthful ruby with complex aromas of smoky sour cherry, cloves, vanilla, cocoa, and blueberry. On the palate, it had medium to high acidity, medium to high integrated tannins, and a long finish. On to Bordeaux for the third and fourth flights. Here we found wines that would definitely improve with age. Some were a bit closed at first. The first two wines of the third flight were from the left bank. The Château Brondelle ‘Cuvée Damien’ 2000 was ruby with aromas of smoke, blueberries and other dark fruit, earthy tones, chocolate, coffee, tobacco, leather, vanilla, and asparagus or bell pepper. It was medium-bodied with moderate acidity, mild tannins, and a medium finish that was slightly bitter for some. The second left bank wine, the Ségla 2001, is Vintages’ benchmark. Some thought it was more Merlot-like than the typical left bank Bordeaux while others opined that it was “uninteresting” and “innocuous”. Again it was ruby coloured with strawberry, raspberry, black cherry, vanilla, and caramel. It had good acidity with mild tannins and a longish finish. The third and fourth wines, both right bank, tied for flight favourite, and interestingly, one was twice the price of the other. The Château Gigault ‘Cuvée Viva’ 2003 at $29.95 was arguably the best value Bordeaux of the night. It was deep ruby with complex aromas of raspberry, strawberry, and cherry, smoke, spice, vanilla, mint, cedar, and chocolate. Nicely balanced even with 15% alcohol, it was medium- to full-bodied with almost crisp acidity, medium tannins, and a medium slightly bitter finish. The ‘La Fleur de Boüard’ 2003 at $63.95 was the other flight favourite. The description “Starbuck’s espresso in a wine glass” points to the main aroma of this deep ruby/purple wine. Besides coffee there was spice, cherry, and smoke with medium body and acidity, medium to high integrated tannins, and a medium to long finish. For the fourth flight and second group of Bordeaux reds, we started with the Château St. Georges 2001. Opinions varied on this wine. Some felt it was nicely balanced and elegant, while some thought it was harsh and off-balanced. It was deep ruby with sweet strawberry, raspberry, and cherry, some tobacco, and mint. It had medium body, medium to high acidity, medium tannins, and a medium, slightly warm finish. The second wine, the ‘Les Tourelles de Longueville’ 2002, was also deep ruby with aromas of strawberry, blueberry, smoke, tarragon, and coffee. It was medium bodied and had medium acidity and a medium warm finish but the tannins were somewhat harsh. This wine definitely needs some time. The favourite of the flight was the Château La Tour Carnet 2003 from Haut- Médoc. This one was deeper ruby to purple, with a complex ripe nose of anise, strawberry, raspberry, cherry, spice, vanilla, and cedar. Another medium-bodied Bordeaux with medium to high acidity with a medium to long warm finish. The tannins were integrated, but a bit rough. The consensus was that this one needs 3 to 5 years to deliver its best. The last of the flight, the Château Haut-Bergey 2002, reminded people of the produce section in the grocery store—lots of fruit and complex earthiness. It too was deep ruby to purple with smoke, cocoa, cedar, and vanilla to go along with the other aromas. Guess what? It had a medium body with good acidity, medium tannins, and a medium to long slightly bitter finish. The considered opinion was that this was a big balanced wine. The last flight consisted of two Sauternes and the vote was split 50-50 for favourite. The Château Haut-Mayne 2003 was pale yellow-gold with honey, apricot, and tangerine. It was sweet (of course) and almost syrupy, but also subtle with balanced acidity and just a slight bitterness followed by a medium finish. The Château de Rayne-Vigneau 1999 was pale gold and had an initial barnyard odour that some got as lanolin or wet sheep or dog. This gave way to lots of ripe fruit—peach, pear, pineapple, and apricot. There was also some honey and floral notes, and you could definitely smell the botrytis. This wine was not as subtle as it was also sweet and syrupy but had less acid to balance the sweetness. It had a medium to long finish which summed up the evening nicely as we were somewhat long ourselves. Were our expectations met? As usual there were some surprises and some disappointments, but listening to the post tasting discussions, everyone enjoyed themselves and found something to shop for. And that’s what we were there for. Thanks to Guild Director Joe Hatz for organizing another quality event. And my personal thanks to Joe for letting me share in the fun of putting together one of the Guild’s signature events. Flight 1: Whites Château Marjosse Blanc, 2005, AC Entré-Deux-Mers 002204 $17.95 Château Thieuley Blanc, 2005, AC Bordeaux 002170 $15.95 Wither Hills Sauvignon Blanc, 2005, Marlborough, New Zealand 919514 $19.95 Flight 2: International Reds Yalumba ‘Tricentenary Vines’ Grenache, 2002, Barossa, Australia 588186 $39.95 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape, 2003, AC, Rhône 951475 $55.95 Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva, 2001, DOCG, Tuscany 512384 $34.95 Flight 3: Bordeaux Reds Château Brondelle ‘Cuvée Damien’, 2000, AC Graves 902973 $28.95 Ségla, 2001, AC Margaux 713263 $49.95 Château Gigault ‘Cuvée Viva’, 2003, AC Premières Côtes de Blaye 579318 $29.95 ‘La Fleur de Boüard’, 2003, AC Lalande-de-Pomerol 590968 $63.95 Flight 4: Bordeaux Reds Château St. Georges, 2001, AC St-Georges-St-Émilion 960310 $38.95 ‘Les Tourelles de Longueville’, 2002, AC Pauillac 733055 $49.95 Château La Tour Carnet, 2003, AC Haut-Médoc 002352 $39.95 Château Haut-Bergey, 2002, AC Pessac-Léognan 002667 $54.95 Flight 5: Bordeaux Sauternes Château Haut-Mayne, 2003, AC Sauternes (375 ml) 592626 $22.95 Château de Rayne-Vigneau, 1999, AC Sauternes 002097 $54.95 |
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| Moderation |
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 The National Capital Sommelier Guild strongly supports moderate and responsible consumption of wine and spirits. Guild dinner events allow a designated driver to attend at a reduced price. The designated driver will not be served alcohol. Guild tasting events provide and encourage the use of spit buckets. |
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