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+--- Thread: 2006 California versus France in TheEngII's house (/thread-19862.html)
- TheEngineer - 02-12-2006
That I think was a great evening. So who won? It was a VERY VERY close call, but the US ecked out a narrow victory with great team play. Wine of the night, bit of a personal choice for all of us but the consensus was the 2000 Chateau Pontet Canet. Great food (and lots of it), and great friends, BTW, please allow me to offer my points scoring, but they only are used to show the relative terms of the night.
So lets start off with the “cooking winesâ€â€¦wines consumed during cooking...
(1) NV Mumm Napa Sparkling Pinot Noir, Napa California, vibrant fizz, bright garnet, purple, nose of pure pinot, dry with a bright berry nose and taste, but a flat mid palate and a short finish with a decent amount of acidity. 87 points $40.00 per bottle
(2) 2001 Les Cousins (A Robert Kacher Selection), Willamette Valley, Oregon. This was a was a chewy pinot noir, Rusty purple in color, full complex nose, gamey, some wood with a port like finish. Surprisingly only a mid-length finish but still impressive. Needed to be decanted for about 4 hours. 86, $41.99 per bottle.
So here are the blow by blow accounts. All wines were tasted double blind.
Battle 1 Sparkling wine versus Champagne
(Winner) 1995 Dom Perignon, Champagne, France. Okay,….so this one was a bit unfair…but to be fair,..this was by far not one of the best Dom’s. As such, it was a chance for the US to decimate an Icon, but the Icon, at least for me, stood up to the challenge. Pale golden hay in color, traditional biscuity nose with some berries. Very strong structure with berry and citrus ending with a rather sharp finish but lingering. 89 points $120 per bottle
(Contender) NV Roederer Estate, Sparkling wine, Anderson Valley. CA. This one has a salmon color ting in it with a nose of peach and some minerality. Broad flavors but a thinner mid-palate. Sharp and short finish. 85 points $30 per bottle.
Battle 2 Sauvignon Blanc versus the Loire. This battle ended up to be the bargain battle of the night with three bottles in the ring.
(Winner) 2004 Joel Gott Sauvignon Blanc, California. This was interesting. Slightly green ting to a pale straw color, Full SB nose (some cat pee), but loads of a good amount of grapefruit, pineapple and guava. Medium length finish and a well rounded texture. 87 points and $11.99
(Contender) 2004 Celestin Blondeau, Sancerre – Cuvee des Moulis Bates, Sancerre, France. Golden hay in color, typical SB nose, with pat pee/goose berry, nose, lots of citrus and grapefruit taste but a bit flat on the palate. Lost by a bit, 85 points and $21.
(Contender) Cuvee de Fie Gris, Touraine, France. Contender would be a strong word for this one, the weakest wine of the night. Thin, waterlike, nothing to go back for, but did have a flint like flavor. 75 points and $13.99
Battle 3 Chadonnay versus white Burgundy. Two atypical bottles produces the second US win.
(Winner) 2002 Ferrari Cararno, Alexander Valley, California. Dark hay in color with a bit of spicy, oaky, fresh tasting chardonnay. Very nice crisp body and a lingering finish. 89 points and $35.
(Contender) 2001 Paul Garadeut, Mersault., Burgundy France. Straw color woody nose, with some caramel, butter, smooth, rounded texture and decent balance. After we found out it was a Mersault, we were all surprised since it exhibited little of the Mersault characteristics (the mealiness that I look for). 85 points and 40 Euros (or about $50 USD).
Battle 4 Pinot Noir versus Burgundy. Again, two rather atypical bottles of CA PN and Red Burgundy, but in the end, a very close US win. US is now up 3 to 1 in a best out of 7.
(Winner) 2004 David Bruce, Central Coast, California, Light garnet/purple in color with an full but a bit oaky nose. A bit rustic with cherry fruit, mild toastiness, and notes of mushroom, earthiness and spice. Decent balance. 85 points, $25 per bottle
(Contender) 2001 Rene Bouvier Gevery Chambertin, Burgundy France, Jammy fruit forward nose, berries and wood on the palate with a bit of hotness at the end and it felt a bit discombobulated. Some earthiness to it. Finish is medium length. 85 points and $60 per bottle.
Battle 5 Merlot versus Right Bank Bordeaux. Two just beautiful ones, one better made but the other from a better vintage, both impressive in their own right, and in the end, the French are digging back to a 3-2 deficit.
(Winner) 2000 Chateau Destieux, St. Emilion, Bordeaux. Dark dark purple in color, almost opaque. Nose of dark fruits, leather, older woods and taste of the same but a wonderful fullness and richness and a bit of smokiness and earthiness. Very good structure but tannins are very reasonable. 91 points and $29.99 a bottle.
(Contender) 2002 Stag’s Leap SLWC Merlot, Stag’s Leap California. Dark garnet/brownish in color. Nose of black fruit, cedar, anise and tea. Very nicely complex. Taste of blackberry, cola, spiciness, and wood are nicely integrated with the structure of the wine. There was no weak spots here. A nice long lingering finish to boot. 90 points and $40 per bottle.
Battle 6 Cabernet Sauvignon versus Left Bank Bordeaux. The French pulled even 3-3 with this but again, it was very close.
(Winner) 2000 Chateau Pontet-Canet, Paulliac, Bordeaux. Dark, almost opaque purple. Very elegant and balanced nose, but a bit closed at the moment. Scent of pencil lead, coffee, elegant fruits, leather, and an earthiness. Taste to match but a very significant structure. Tannins are evident but receding. Medium long finish but great persistence. 93 points, $49.99 per bottle.
(Contender) 2001 Turbull Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa, California What a great complex nose, very fruit forward, chocolate, black berry, and others. There is a lot going on here. On the palate, much of the same, but super smooth and lush. Almost a port like consistency and a LONG finish. Just a bit our of balance for this very large wine. 91 points and $40 per bottle.
Battle 7 Sweet wine versus Sauternes. The US wins on this one with perhaps a bit of a flawed French bottle.
(Winner) 2004 Robert Mondavi Moscat D’Oro, California. Very light pale straw in color with a great light nose of white peach. Super fresh and not one or aging but serve chilled on a hot summer day and it is perfect. 90 points and $17.99 per half bottle.
(Contender) 2001 Chateau Clos Haut-Peynaguey Sauternes, France. Golden straw in color. Strange nose devoid of the typical honeyed sauternes nose (especially for a 2001), Thick and sweet but nothing there. It may have been a rather flawed bottle. Regardless, 80 points and $22 per bottle.
Sample bottles
2001 Inniskillin Vidal Sparkling Icewine, Niagara, Canada. Not part of the competition but pulled out to look at the current state of Canadian dessert wines. Not my favorite style of icewine but still worth a look. Dark golden color. Lots of honey and citrus going on in the nose, Super thick, lush, sweet, but a great balance with an almost tart finish, cleaning off the palate nicely. Super long finish and persistence though. 90 points and $79.99 per bottle.
[This message has been edited by TheEngII (edited 02-12-2006).]
- Innkeeper - 02-12-2006
Sounds like a fab time!!!
- robr - 02-12-2006
Golly! Wish I had been there. I'm gettin' thirsty after reading all those TN's.
- Kcwhippet - 02-12-2006
.....and it's only about 20 miles from Shrewsbury to Wellesley.
- hotwine - 02-12-2006
Fine notes there, TEng. Good cross-section of wines and styles, a worthy competition.
- winoweenie - 02-12-2006
Solid wines from the competitors. The 00 Ponet is a suave, solid, suberb bottle of juice. Needs a little more competition frum the USofAs' 2nd tier to compete. Funzie note Enger. WW
- dananne - 02-12-2006
Sounds like a fun night! If I can ask, what were the years on the Les Cousins and the Bruce PN?
Thanks in advance!
- TheEngineer - 02-12-2006
Oops...sorry but that.
Les Cousin was a 2001 and the David Bruce was a 2004.
It was a fun night. I think that the double blind tasting was a great way to take both Cali and French supporters off their feet for a while. The wines were all decent and the fact that we were all novices showed in the bottles that were brought over. However, that also ended up being fun. Definitely not the best of the best versus the best of the best but still a decent match (kinda like a street pickup hockey game). And both sides ended up the night impressed with the other side. Respect!
[This message has been edited by TheEngII (edited 02-12-2006).]
- dananne - 02-12-2006
Thanks, Eng. I posted on the Les Cousins in May of '05. Agree that it needs decanting (we decanted for 30 minutes before 1st pour and throughout evening). Another few years of bottle age would probably be wise. Have not had the Bruce. Thanks for all the notes!
- WileECoyote - 02-13-2006
Now this is something I hope to do in the future. Sounds like a great time. I just have to find the right wine crowd. Was everyone at the party pretty familiar with wines. Might be a lame question. The notes are great. Sounds like the Dom P 1995 was a bit diappointing. I have a bottle of 1996 chilling for V-Day. That is my first "real" bottle. Hope it is great.
- wondersofwine - 02-13-2006
Thanks for the notes. I too have enjoyed the Joel Gott Sauvignon Blanc but can't speak directly about most of the others you had.
- TheEngineer - 02-13-2006
WEC, most people that came were novices like myself that know some to very little about wine. So they were all told to do a bit of research and they were asked to pick the wine that they wanted to defend. This put some personal stake in the contest. The 95 Dom was still very nice but there have been better. I have been told that the 96's are very nice but have no personal experience to back that up with.
- WileECoyote - 02-13-2006
I guess I will have to take notes and post them in the bubbly section about the 96 DP. Thanks for the response. I too have novice friends like myslelf so we can all take that adventure together. Sounds like I have some planning to do.
Dave
- HuckSawyer - 02-15-2006
Several things here, but first and foremost - Thank you very, very much for sharing a magnificient occasion with all of us, and me in particular (selfish, selfish me)as my studies in wine are only beginning. I am largely limiting my exposure during this phase to the $12-25 range simply to introduce and maintain continuity as I learn. Our resources allow an increase but for now I am . . . still much the apprentice.
And I should add that the very "trigger finger" involved in hosting such an event is praise-worthy in itself! If any percentage of the readers/tasters contained herein are like me, we "dream & talk" with honest intention of doing such things, and never pull the trigger. We've got several thousand square feet of flooring in this house and I've never once used ANY of it to do a single, solitary push-up! So much for at-home fitness . . . and that one push-up is nothing compared to the resolve and implementation you've shown in your DB Wine Dinner. (For all the author may know, there are hundreds of these events and corresponding notes contained in this board, but he is yet to see any other)
As a chess player I spout the usual concerns when speaking of hosting a chess club or similar event . . . "There aren't enough chess players, or they don't have time between job & family, or there aren't enough usable boards, etc" when in simple fact there are two dozen people within a two-mile radius of our home who would probably respond favorably to the entre. So the very drive you exhibited in "making it happen" is even more motivating to me than the results of the event itself!
Here's to the Event Horizon, and the experiences shared . . .
(Tom was a talker, Huck was a doer)
Cheers!
- Moushegh - 02-20-2006
Excellent review!
Thanks, and i tappears that you made it through the 'battle' in good shape. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/cool.gif[/img]