Last night a nice group got together at Riverpark a blind tasting of wines from St. Julien. My train was late, so I scurried down to find myself the l ast to arrive. There was a blind white to start, some oak, pear fruit, good acids. II took a stab and got lucky with Jura Chardonnay. It's the 2012 Do maine du Pelican Arbois Chardonnay apparently a partnership including d'Ang erville, I like, but not appreciably better than the Tissot Empreinte at ha lf the price. B+/B Restaurant did a nice job, good service. I enjoyed the charcuterie, fish ta cos, and the rabbit (though when they said 1/2 a rabbit, I didn't expect 1/
2 a newborn) :)On to the blind St Julien
Wine #1 : Elegant, soft, mature. B+
Wine #2- Quite barnyardy at first, very full-fruited, gets cleaner, pretty classic ripe vintage Medoc. A-
Wine #3- a bit sharp and lean at first, lots of acid, I liked a lot more wi th some time in glass. B+/A-
Wine #4 - funky, we discussed whether it was corked or just musty, cork bec ame clearer. NR
Wine #5 - Herby/funky, good fruit, I thought the finish a bit drying, but l iked more later. B+
Wine #6 - Ripest so far, a bit California-y, plump. B/B+
Wine #7- Barnyard, fruit opens way up, goes from middle of pack to one of m y favorites on re-taste. A-
Wine #8 - weird, maderized, probably seen some heat. C-
Wine #9 - Brett/bandaid, a bit clipped, midbodied, better than #8 C+/B-
Wine #10- Ripe, soft without being flabby, very good A-/B+
Wine #11 Young, sweet, ripe. B+/A-
Before revealing we did 3/2/1 voting. I lost vote sheet, but #2 (first bott le of 90 LLC) won easily, with #10 ('99 Poyferre) edging #7 (82 Gruaud) for 2nd. Most non-flawed wines got some votes.
Wine #1 1970 Leoville Las Cases
Wine #2 1990 Leoville Las Cases (Winner)
Wine #3 1986 Gruaud Larose
Wine #4 1966 Ducru-Beaucaillou
Wine #5 1990 Leoville Las Cases (4th place)
Wine #6 - 1990 Gruaud Larose
Wine #7 1982 Gruaud Larose (3rd place)
Wine #8 1975 Leoville Las Cases
Wine #9 1981 Ducru-Beaucaillou
Wine #10 1999 Leoville Poyferre (2nd place)
Wine #11 1961 Beychevelle
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a pa rty where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivit y, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.