Blind tasting lunch notes
2005 Pascal Cotet Sancerre Les MontsDamnes - very pale colour, excellent nose with fruit going in and on palate, a definite hit of white pepper at the end. Never recall that before on a Sancerre. Good body.2001 Pride Sonoma Viognier - waxy Semillon sort of nose, smooth and full on palate. Nice.
1997 Couly-Dutheil Chinon Clos de l'Echo - corked - what a shame!1999 Behrens & Hitchcock Petit Sirah Barcini Vd. - this one had us dancing all over theplace looking for the right varietal. Purple edges, sweet fruit nose, hint of green, good length. Big but friendly.
2000 La Frenz Merlot - made by an Australian winemaker in BC, I picked this out on release as having a lot of potential and slipped it into this tasting to see what people thought of it with some age. Fairly dark, toasty vanilla and fruit, pretty well integrated, spicy fruit on palate and at a nice point in development. One of the top ten BC reds I have tasted.2003 Quinta das Bageiras Garafeirra- made from the Baga grape this showed a dusty nose with good underlying fruit, lots or rustic tannins in the middle and a dry finish that narrowed down a bit. The nose became more elegant with air, which as ironic as the last descriptor you'd choose for this pricy Portuguese wine would be elegant!
1998 Les Cailloux CN du P - now at a lovely stage in development, this middleweight Rhone showed orange peel in the hot jammy nose, lightening colour and sweet on palate.2002 Beyerskloof Synergy - a Cape blend of cab sauv, merlot and pinotage, this showed little of the coarseness I always associate with pinotage. Dark intense wine sweet mid palate with some pepper (had us looking for syrah) and a fair bit of acidity.
1984 Phelps Bacchus Cabernet - a huge dust and mint nose sent your thoughts to Oz or California. Still has some tannin, but the fruit is a bit low, and I think it would have been better a few years ago.2001 Katnook Estate Odyssey - this cabernet had an excellent toasty fruit nose with initial cocoa that later became floral. Good body and good balance.
2003 Villa Toscana Jakes Vineyard Zinfandel Shenandoah Valley - picked up by a friend on his travels, this hot number showed stewed fruit and tea in the nose, sweet and simple in the mouth and seemed far older than it was. At 16.5% hot to boot. You start wondering when the best authority they can find to quote on the back label, speaking to the quality of the wine is ....Jake himself..... 9 thumbs down.1985 Grahams Port - I thought this was not only very good but also very drinkable. Not quite as sweet as Grahams so often is, it had a nice maturing Port nose and slid down very smoothly. If you have this, you may want to put the case out front of the 1983, for drinking while you wait for the latter vintage.