The theme of the dinner was 'Sosies Française' - 'wines that resembled French wines'.
I was going to call it 'French Ringers' but that reminded me of the two Frenchmen walking by Notre Dame when they were almost hit by the falling body of a bell-ringer who'd been struck by his bell. One said "I don't know who that is, but his face sure rings a bell". The other responded "Yes - he's a dead ringer for Quasimodo!"
In any case, it was a challenging theme, and provoked lots of thought about exactly what it was that typified a given style of French wine, and where else in the world something similar could be obtained. The wines were served blind so we could concentrate on what the characteristics were and how they were set apart from what we expect.
With smoked salmon and capers, we had 'Shampagne':
Anna de Codorniu Reserva Brut - there wasn't much yeast at all in the nose of this reserve cava. Decent mousse, but on palate it lacked the smoothness one expects from a Champagne. Finishes with lots of acidity.
With crab soufflé and mousseline sabayon (delicious!) a 'White Burgundy':
2002 Planeta Chardonnay (Sicily) - this wine showed quite a bit of colour, and ther nose was simple and a bit sweet with lemon. It lacks the complexity you'd expect from a chard from France at the age we thought this must be - 80s or early 90s. At $50 a bottle, it won't take the place of Meursault anytime soon, but interesting!
With squid ink farfale with green asparagus, prosciutto and proscuitinna, a 'Northern Rhone':
1995 Havens Syrah (Carneros) - I figured that a cooler climate Syrah from California might have a chance of emulating a Rhone. The nose was darned close, and not too sweet or hot as many California Syrahs can be. The wine also had good acidity that carried through to the end, which lacked the give-away sweetness of an Australian Shiraz. Some earthiness and after a bit of time even some pepper in the nose completed the impression that it could be a Rhone. Not a bad match.
With terrine de canard, a 'red Burgundy':
1995 St. Innocent Seven Springs Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley) - this small producer had fooled us before when we tasted the 1997, but this vintage strayed a bit further from the Burgundian style. It was dark with clear edges, pale but not browning at all, and had a slightly warm typical pinot fruit driven nose. On palate it was a bit lean with no tannins and decent acidity, and a bit of sweetness at the end. 946 cases from 2.5 acres isn't a lot of wine - worth keeping an eye out for.
With venison chops and huckleberry sauce, two 'Red Bordeaux':
1997 Frankland Estate 'Olmo's Reward' Cabernet - not an area you see very often, and in my opinion this cool area in the west is the only place in Australia that can produce a wine without the typical watermark of sweet and often blowsy fruit, lost of alcohol, and a sweet finish, none of which fit the Bordeaux pattern. A cocoa and fruit nose matched pretty well with Bordeaux expectations, only slightly hot and slightly sweet. Soft tannins and good length, it started out like a rich right bank wine, but as it warmed it got less and less Bordeaux-like and began to take on more of the qualities you'd expect from an Oz wine. Until it started to open up, none of us guessed that it might be Australian, and we were thinking of Chile, or maybe California.
1985 Dominus - now I've tasted this on several occasions, and once used this very wine to match against another more obvious Californian (1985 Insignia) hoping (vainly as it turned out) that the tasters would guess it was a French - California pair. I think it might have pulled it off this time, had this particular bottle not shown more acidity than any of the others I can remember tasting. It didn't have much on the nose, but excellent balance and length. The acidity ran right through it, not just appearing at the end, and there was nice touch of cocoa in the finish.
With tarte pommes frangipane, a 'Sauternes':
1999 Kracher Nummer 3 TBA - none of us were familiar with these wines, so this blend of chardonnay and Weschriesling was very interesting. Amber colour, a nose of caramel and lemon, excellent concentration and acidity. Very pleasurable wine!
Of the bunch, I'd vote for the Kracher and the Havens as wines that wouldn't necessarily stick out if you tasted them blind in a tasting of French wines, but I'm sure other participants may have had other favourites. An instructive and enjoyable exercise.