Monthly Lunch - Dunn, Dow, Ramonet,.....

[bills]

The usual wide range of wines at my monthly blind tasting lunch.

2005 Ch. Guiot Costieres de Nimes Rosé – sweet strawberry nose, pretty decent body, a bit darker than many pink wines, dry with clean acidity. Where was this little Grenache bundle of joy in the hot summer when I needed it?

1997 Tyrells Vat 1 Huinter Valley Semillon – some colour, oak predominant in the nose, a sense of sour apples in the mouth. Lots of (too much?) acidity. Maybe not a good bottle.

2002 Golden Beaver Late Harvest Chardonnay – picked up by me last week on my annual wine buying tour of the BC interior, it wasn’t that bad – warm strange nose, full body and dry finish. Presented mostly for the rather odd marketing strategy that would choose a name like that. Several tasters said that if they produce T shirts that said “There’s Nothing Like a Taste of the Beaver” they’d buy them. Yes, but would they really wear them?

1972 Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1 cru Clos de la Boudriotte – a taste of "Ramonet-Conti”! Yes, they do make very good ageworthy wines in this predominantly white wine area, and yes this one was standing up beautifully, at peak but with no rush to drink it. I thought it was a Madeira based on the colour in the glass, but then I smelled it and it had that lovely mellow old Burgundian nose with a whiff of caramel at the end. Perfect balance and amazing fruit at this age.

1998 Groffier Bonnes Mares Grand Cru – a sweet cherry nose from a quite dark wine, with thick legs. Lovely fruit and quite smooth on palate. This one didn’t immediately cry out either Pinot or Burgundy and we had to work our way to both conclusions..

1997 Albert Morot Beaune Teurons 1 cru – 3 Burgs in a row – we seldom get that sort of coincidence. There was a bit of low tide about this nose, although the pinot fruit was there as well. With time the nose changed to cucumber (really). Lots of colour, soft tannin and only medium fruit.

1987 Dunn Napa Cab – dark wine with big fruity nose, still lots of tannins and great length. It seemed like a wine 10 years younger, as Dunns often do.

2001 Montes Alpha ‘M’ – their top end cabernet, this showed a warm cab fruit nose, with some cedar, and was smooth with good length. Could use a bit more time.

1998 Clos Pegase Cab – warm cocoa nose, sweet an mellow on palate with definite bitter chocolate. Showing well.

1999 Carpineto Vino Nobile Riserva – didn’t jump out at us as Sangiovese. More cocao and spice, and in the mouth, vanilla and caramel. Sweet but tannic. Needs time.

2002 Van Loveren Limited Release Shiraz – a small production wine from the Cape, with an unusual nose of leather, something metallic, and a hint of orange, with smoky oak. Hot at the end, this one has time left.

1993 Lindemans Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cabernet – 84% shiraz, 16% cab. Another smoky vanilla nose, smooth fruit and a nice acidic lift at the end. Now ready to start drinking.

1977 Dow Port – we thought there might have been a slight corkiness, but as it seemed to disappear, decided it was just a mustiness. Hot wine with excellent colour, the sweetness seeming to kick in only near the end. Drinking surprisingly well now.

Another very enjoyable lunch.