Mark put on a charity wine tasting featuring Bandol yesterday, and since my non-profit was beneficiary I felt justified taking a half day in the city. 14 generous oenophiles gathered at Morini on the Upper East Side. I starte d with some fantastic eggplant/chicken meatballs with buffalo mozzarella, t omato and basil, I also tried Mark’s excellent tagliatelle with a b olognese. My roast chicken was good if not as exciting, and I enjoyed the c heese plate.
Mark started us with a taste of the 2012 Calluna Estate. Some found it sim ple, but I quite liked (though young)- firm, mid-full bodied, blackcurrant and black cherry, some coffee notes. B+
On to the Bandols Flight one
1993 Chateau la Rouviere Bandol- Sweaty,brimstone, cherry, short. C+1993 Mas Redonne Bandol- weird weird nose at first- bugspray meets VA meets green, mostly blows off and palate is much more approachable, but finish a bit short. B-/C+
1993 Tour du Bon Bandol Meaty, darker fruit, nice finish. B+Second flight
1995 Bastide Blanche Bandol Sweet and easy, redder fruit than I expect from Bandol, drinking well. B/B+1991 Le Galantin Bandol Sweet fruit, pleasant funk, bacon. B+
1990 Le Galantin Bandol Advanced, caramel on nose, sweet fruit on palate but clipped. C+(somewhere in here Mark had me sample a bottle of 78 Vannieres before pour ing, oxidized and dead)
Third flight
1990 Bastide Blanche Bandol Fresh, powerful, structured, young. B+/A-1988 Ch. Vannieres Bandol A little VA, ripe fruits, pleasant. B
1986 La Roque Bandol Meaty, black fruited, good finish. B+1985 Tempier Bandol (additional donation from Todd ) Perfumed, meaty, smoky. Elegant (not first word I think of with Bandol, bu t thought so here). A-
Fourth Flight
1983 Ch. Vannieres Bandol Sweet raspberry and strawberry fruit, earth, meat, espresso. Lovely. A-1979 Ch. Vannieres Bandol Good fruit, earthy, very good just overshadowed by flightmates. B/B+
1973 Vannieres “la Patience” Bandol This apparently was bottled with a little RS, but time has eaten any real s weetness. Just good ripe fruit, with leather, smoke and cocoa. Mark says it ’s Chave-like (and several agree) - to me it’s Rhonish but more like a great old CdP. Of course, he drinks more old Chave than me. Any way, a tremendous bottle, that got most people’s WOTD award I think (close for me). A-/B+Mark then served a blind wine. I had trouble getting past the massive VA at first, but sweet fruit with a touch of decay on the palate, quite drinkabl e once past the volatility. I think first guess was Banyuls, I was about to guess over the hill but interesting Amarone when David guessed old Late Ha rvest Zinfandel . Close! 1976 Sutter Home Zinfandel B-/C+ (but a B+/A- for fun blind to taste)
Fun day, longest lunch I’ve taken in 25 years, but charity did well . Many many thanks to Mark for organizing and contributing the wines.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine , B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectiv ity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.