Category Archives: Blind Tasting

2011-1 Bring Your Own Flight

Bring Your Own Flight

at Bull and Bear at the Waldorf

February 5, 2011 at 6:00 pm

Bring Your Own FlightThis was a pseduo Syndicate event, with wines provided by the attendees:

Ron & Bev
John & Debbie
Steve & Linda
Andres & Paula
Andy
Martin

Each couple was requested to bring two or three wines in bags for a mystery flight. As it turned out, they brought more! And what a great collection of wines they were:

1	2006 Tablas Creek White	Andy	Creamy, nutty chalk, vitamin soap (Viognier, Marsanne, Rousanne blend)	82
2	2007 Williamsburg Seyval Blanc	Andy	Clearly Seyval	86
3	1998 Alexis Seyval Blanc	Andy	Caramel, oily	84
4	1992 Haut Brion Blanc	Steve	Lemon, candle wax, tangerine rind	95
5	1992 Aubert Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay	Steve	Smoke, oak, ash, minerals	98
6	2009 Evans Ranch Chardonnay	Steve	Floral, pears	92
7	2009 Conundrum	Martin	spritzy, lanolin, cat box, cream, lichee, very sweet finish	90
8	1947 Chambolle-Musigny premier cru	Steve	Bacon, mushroom, iron, citrus	95
9	1993 Rex Hill Pinot Noir	Andy	Coffee, iron, meat, bacon, sweet	90
10	1995 Gevrey-Chambertin Dujac	Andy	Iron, polish, old pinot	88
11	2006 Foxen Sea Smoke Vineyard Pinot Noir	Andy	Big, ripe sweet	88
12	2008 K Syrah Northridge Vineyard	Andres	Vanilla, sweet cherries, cinammon	94
13	1997 Hermitage Les Bessards Delas Freres	Andres	Smoke, bacon, tart, seemed like Burgundy	91
14	2004 Syrah, South Africa	Andres	Lacquer, floral, geraniums	92
15	1985 Streblow Cabernet Sauvignon	John	Mint, vanilla, merlot	92
16	1985 Ritchie Creek Cabernet Sauvignon	John	Pencil lead	94
17	1985 Hop Kiln Primitivo	John	Mint, bacon asparagus, 25% Petite Sirah, shocking!	98
18	1992 Foppiano Sonoma Petite Sirah	Martin	Coffee, caramel, mint	90
19	1991 Conrad Petite Sirah	Martin	Corked, big vanilla	92
20	1988 Stags Leap Petite Sirah	Martin	Coffee, green pepper, black pepper, big, long	98
21	1992 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir	Ron	Burgundian, Rose petals, floral	92
22	2000 Ch, Rayas Rhone	Ron	Burgundian, vanilla, anise	95
23	1999 Clos de la Roche, Laurent	Ron	Young, smoke, big, bacon	96
24	1997 Martinelli Chardonnay	Ron	waxy, caramel, oxidized	86
25	1976 Ch. Montelena	Ron	Incredibly youthful	93
26	1976 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon	Ron	tired and a bit sour	91
27	1976 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon	Ron	fading, drink up	89
28	1986 Lafaurie Peyraguey Sauternes	Ron	medium amber, raisins, good acid	90

Also, chef outdid himself. Highlights for me were the Hamachi Salad, where every ingredient was an explosion of flavor; the corn and truffle soup, incredibly rich and creamy; the generous serving of huge scallops; the spinach that came with the duck; the very bacony mac & cheese; a great bone-in filet, so flavorful; all the passed desserts. Come to think of it, basically everything was my favorite!

Thanks for the wonderful wines, everyone!

Upcoming Events

March 7-9

Wine Syndicate Goes to Vegas!

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	3335
Dues Payable	0
Purchases	0
Dinner	Pay for your own
Balance	3335

No dues are due.

2010-5 Four Decades of Burgundy

Four Decades of Burgundy

at Capital Grille

December 11, 2010 at 6:00 pm

The Wines

Row	Col	Year	Wine	Price

3	25	1964	Pommard, Grand Epenots, Leroy	200
5	14	1966	Morey-Saint-Denis – Pierre Bouree Fils	90
8	27	1971	Volnay Clos de Chenes A. Guyon	75
5	16	1976	Clos de la Roche – Pierre Bouree Fils	90
5	10	1978	Chambolle Musigny	140
6	15	1978	Nuit Saint-Georges – Pierre Bouree Fils	90
8	21	1983	Pommard Rugiens Billard-Gonnet	30
7	10	1985	Bourgogne Leroy d’Auvenay Leroy	80
3	21	1993	La Romanee – Bouchard, Pere et Fils	190
7	23	1996	Clos Saint Denis Cuvee Unique Arlaud	55
				1040

Favorites were the ’71 and ’64. The La Romanee was a flawed bottle, but didn’t seem like a great wine. All the others were excellent.

Acquisitions

None.

Upcoming Events

Feb 5, 2011	Bring Your Own Wine
March 7-9, 2011	Wine Syndicate goes to Vegas, Baby!

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	116
Dues Payable	5000
Purchases	0
Dinner	-1549
Balance	3335

Please bring your dues of $1000 per couple.

2010-4 Holy Crap! It’s 1961!

Holy Crap! It’s 1961!at Bull and Bear

September 25, 2010 at 6:00 pmWow, some great wines. The 1961 Haut Brion was the unanimous first place winner, with most people scoring it 100 points. That’s the first time that’s happened. Second place, with nine votes was the 1966 Haut Brion. A great tasting; thanks to all for bringing some magnificent wines.

The WinesPullin’ out all the stop for this one.

Year	Wine	From	Notes	Score	Price
1962	Ch Pichon Baron	WS	slight browning, caramel, hazlenut, vanilla, improved as it sat for about 30 minutes	88	140
1962	Ch Margaux	WS	light garnet, spices, violets, youthful, femenin, died quickly	92	225
1966	Ch Pichon Lalande	WS	somewhat brown, iron, sweet	84	140
1966	Ch Montrose	WS	garnet, mint, stil tannic, a bit short	88	140
1966	Ch Haut Brion	WS	dark garnet, classic haut brion nose, tannic, youthful, floral	95	210
1961	Ch Lynch Bages	WS	garnet, swamp water at first, then floral	94	380
1961	Ch Lafite (tenth)	WS	light garnet, sawdust, mint, acidic, great condition for a tenth	89	600
1961	Ch Mouton Rothschild	WS	very dark garnet, very young, early pours were turpentine nosed, sawdust, chewy	91	1700
1961	Ch Haut Brion	WS	one of the greatest wines I’ve had, dark garnet, classic haut brion nose, chewy, young, spectacular, a unanimous first place	100	1950
					5455
2006	Puligny-Montrachet, Les Referts, J.M. Boillot	Alcorn	butter, ash, fruit, caramel, long finish	96
2004	Evans Ranch Pinot Noir Lone Oak	Henline	cherry	93
2003	Ch. Carbonnieaux	Siegel	Citrus, floral	91
2005	Robert Young Chardonnay	Crockett	creamy, balanced	94
2006	Adobe Road Petite Sirah	Alcorn	jammy, chocolate, mint, spice, long	93
2008	Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel	Robinson	floral, spicy	92
2003	L’Aventure Optimus	Robinson	classic syrah blend	90
1984	Dominus	Siegel	tight, very Bordeaux like	93
1984	Ridge Montebello	Siegel	gravel, very Bordeaux like	96
1984	Robert Mondavi Reserve CS	Siegel	1970 Ch. Lafit nose	90
2005	Adobe Road CS	Henline	Floral, sweet, vanilla	89

Acquisitions

Qty	Year	Wine	Price
4	1986	Ch Mouton Rothschild (100 pts)	699
			2796

Upcoming Events

December 11

Wine Syndicate

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	-257
Dues Payable	5000
Purchases	-2796
Dinner	-1831
Balance	116

Please bring your dues of $1000 per couple.

2010-3 Bring Your Own Flight

Bring Your Own Flight

at Ocean Prime

directions

June 5, 2010 at 6:00 pm

Bring Your Own FlightThis is sort of a pseduo Syndicate event, with wines provided by the attendees.

Each couple was requested to bring two or three wines for a mystery flight. Good wines. Preferably really good wines. The wines should be related in some sense — year, vintner, grape, whatever — and should cause us to look brilliant or stupid, depending upon the quality of our guesses. In the end, the most important thing is that we end up really impressed by your good taste.

The wines:

Chaney	2007	Chester Gap Viognier (made by Berndt)	92
Chaney	2007	Chester Gap Merlot (made by Berndt)	89
Chaney	2007	Chester Gap Cabernet Franc (made by Berndt)	85
Hoffman	1997	Eola Hills Pinot Noir	88
Crockett	1998	Rex Hill Reserve Pinot Noir	90
Crockett	2006	Rex Hill Jacob Pinot Noir	85
Hoffman	1993	Pepperwood Grove Pinot Noir	83
Henline	1993	Joseph Drouhin Clos Vougeot	93
Henline	1990	Louis Latour Montagny	88
Robinson	1970	Mirassou Cabernet Sauvignon	92
Robinson	1970	Simi Cabernet Sauvignon	91
Alcorn	1982	Ceretto Frochera Barolo	88
Alcorn	1982	Rodney Strong Alexander’s Crown Cabernet Sauvignon	93
Alcorn	1982	Chateau Bellegrave	92
Montoya	2004	Montestefano Barbaresco	92
Montoya	2003	Aldo Conterno Il Favot Barolo	97
Montoya	2004	Marcehsi di Grecy Camp Gros Martinenga Barbaresco	95
Siegel	1990	La Capelle Hermitage	95
Siegel	1994	Arrowood Syrah	96
Siegel	1982	Grange	99

Upcoming Events

September 25	Wine Syndicate
December 11	Wine Syndicate

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	-257
Dues Payable
Purchases
Dinner	Pay for your own
Balance	-257

No dues are due.

2009-6 1970 Bordeaux

1970 Bordeaux

at The Bull & Bear
at The Waldorf Astoria

directions

December 5, 2009 at 6:00 pm

The WinesIt’s been a long time since we did a horizontal. This is a fairly comprehensive tasting of Bordeaux from an interesting year, when some lesser growths produced better wines than the first growths.All of our scores were better than Parker’s. My lowest scored wine was an 84. However our scores tended to track Parker’s. Favorite wines were Palmer, La Mission Haut Brion and Latour. It’s interesting that these three wines included the two half bottles. There’s still plenty of life left in those, and I would definitely consider them good buys.

Year	Chateau	Region	Parker	Notes	Price
1970	Leoville Las Cases	St.-Julien	77	2nd growth, next to Latour	85
1970	Talbot	St.-Julien	78	4th growth	80
1970	Gruaud Larose	St.-Julien	87	2nd growth	85
1970	Margaux	Margaux	76	1st growth	Steve
1970	Palmer (tenth)	Margaux	95	3rd growth	135
1970	Figeac	St.-Emilion	90	2nd growth	145
1970	Cheval Blanc	St.-Emilion	85	1st growth	205
1970	La Mission Haut Brion	Pessac-Leognan (Graves)	94	Arguably a 1st growth	155
1970	Haut Brion	Pessac-Leognan (Graves)	84	1st growth	225
1970	Lafite Rothschild	Pauillac	79	1st growth	175
1970	Mouton Rothschild	Pauillac	92	1st growth	285
1970	Les Forts de Latour	Pauillac	84	Second wine of Ch. Latour, regarded as a 4th growth	109
1970	Latour (tenth)	Pauillac	99	1st growth	205

					1889

Acquisitions

Purchased from Bonhams & Butterfields 11/21/09:

1949 Corton-Bressandes C. Vienot $550

Upcoming Events

February 20	Wine Syndicate
April 17	Wine Syndicate

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	-757
Dues Payable	5000
Purchases	-550
Dinner	-1697
Balance	1996

Please bring your dues of $1000 per couple.

2009-5 BYOF (Bring Your Own Flight)

BYOF
(Bring Your Own Flight)

at Capital Grille

September 26, 2009 at 6:00 pm

The ThemeThis is sort of a pseduo Syndicate event, with wines provided by the attendees.

Attendees: Ron, Bev, Susan, Bruce, Gary, Trish, Dick, Priscilla, Martin, Steve, Linda

Thanks to everyone for the great wines! It was a fabulous event. Here are my ratings of the wines:

Year	Wine	Provider	Rating
1964	Santenay – Clavalier	Steve	93
1964	Ch. Leoville Las Cases	Steve	91
1964	BVGDLTPR (tenth)	Steve	87
2005	Fleur Cardinale St. Emilion	Dick	92
2005	L’Ecole No. 41 Apogee – Washington State	Dick	88
1971	Freemark Abbey CS	Martin	88
1975	Christian Brothers CS	Martin	95
1978	Gallo CS	Martin	91
2000	Domaine de la Solitude Chateauneuf du Pape	Gary	93
2005	Aquilon Bodegas Alto Moncayo Garnacha	Gary	99
2003	Ch. La Gonerie St. Emilion	Bruce	93
1999	Togni CS	Bruce	91
1999	Ch. Valandraud St. Emilion	Bruce	90
2003	Cuvee de mon Areul Chateauneuf du Pape	Ron	94
2003	Clos des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape	Ron	95
2003	Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape	Ron	96
1982	Meursault Louis Jadot	Steve	99
2002	Mont de Milieu Chablis Premiere Cru Billaud-Simon	Gary	93
2003	Chassagne Montrachet Michel Colin-Deleger & Fils Les Chaumees	Ron	95
1998	Barbaresco	Dick	86
1976	Corton Clos du Roi	Martin	93
2006	Sine Qua Non Raven Grenache No. 1	Ron	94

Acquisitions

none.

Upcoming Events

December 5	Wine Syndicate at The Bull & Bear at The Waldorf Astoria
February 20	Wine Syndicate

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	-757
Dues Payable	none
Purchases	0
Dinner	buy your own
Balance	-757

2009-4 Blind Pairs

Blind Pairs

at Luma

August 29, 2009 at 6:00 pm

The WinesThis time we return to a classic theme, with pairs of wines that might easily be confused when we taste them blind. Various members will add a ringer to each flight.

9	11	1998	Ch Haut Brion Blanc	290
9	9	2000	Ch ‘Y’	145

7	15	1967	Chambertin Clos de Beze P. Gelin	75
5	20	1969	Echezeaux Leroy	320

2	29	1970	BV Beaumont Pinot Noir	75
2	23	1973	BV Special Label Burgundy	50

3	9	1966	Ch Cos d’Estournel France St Estephe	200
3	10	1970	Ch Cos d’Estournel France St Estephe	100

4	20	1987	Berringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon	75
2	24	1992	BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon	70
				1400

Results:

The Chateau “Y” was significantly more popular than the Haut Brion Blanc. My Evans Ranch Las Brisas Chardonnay was obviously out of its league.

The Chambertin narrowly beat my ringer (a 1969 Mondavi Pinot Noir) that was very difficult to spot as new world in the flight.

Ron’s 1992 Williams Selyem Piniot Noir won the third flight, but all three of those wines were the best of the tasting.

Ron’s 1986 Laurel Glen Cabernet Sauvignon won the fourth flight. The two Cos d’Estournels were extremely similar.

The Berringer won the third flight, narrowly beating Andy’s ringer, a 1991 Gainey Cabernet Sauvignon. Opinioin was very divided on the gainey, with people loving it or hating it. I loved it. The worst wine of the tasting by far was the 1992 BV GDLTPR, scoring only 1/2 point.

Thanks also to Dick for a couple of excellent dinner wines including a 2000 Cos D’Estournel, and John for a great Shiraz and a really neat dessert wine from Fess Parker, that fell somwhere between Shiraz and port.

Acquisitions

Surprisingly, there were some good deals to be found at this month’s Bonhams auction…

1961	Ch Lynch Bages France Pauillac	380
1966	Ch Pichon Lalande France Pauillac	130
1962	Ch Pichon Baron France Pauillac	130
1966	Ch Haut Brion France Graves	130
1966	Ch Montrose France St. Estephe	210
2000	Montrachet, G. Amiot	260
2000	Montrachet, G. Amiot	260
2000	Montrachet, G. Amiot	260
1834	Madeira, Malvasia	555
1875	Madeira, Malvasia	555
1901	Madeira, Malvasia	260
1948	Madeira, Malvasia	260
1885	Madeira, Verdelho	320

		3710

I also put together an interesting horizontal from a cellar newly acquire by Cellaraiders…

1970	Les Forts de Latour	109
1970	Leoville Las Cases	85
1970	Lafite Rothschild	175
1970	La Mission Haut Brion	155
1970	Haut Brion	225
1970	Figeac	145
1970	Gruaud Larose	85
1970	Cheval Blanc	205
1970	Latour (tenth)	205
1970	Mouton Rothschild	285
1970	Palmer (tenth)	135
1970	Talbot	80

		1889

Upcoming Events

December 5

Wine Syndicate

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	2025
Dues Payable	5000
Purchases	-5599
Dinner	-2183
Balance	-757

Please bring your dues of $1000 per couple.

2009-2 Bring Your Own Flight

Bring Your Own Flight

at Capital Grille

May 9, 2009 at 6:00 pm

The Theme

Each couple is requested to bring two or three wines for a mystery flight. Good wines. Preferably really good wines. The wines should be related in some sense — year, vintner, grape, whatever — and should cause us to look brilliant or stupid, depending upon the quality of our guesses. In the end, the most important thing is that we end up really impressed by your good taste. Knock yourselves out!

Results

There were a lot of ties in the ratings, but the standout wine for me was Ron’s 1985 Chatea Latour.

Acquisitions

1968 BV Special Label Burgundy Pinot Noir Napa 50
1973 BV Special Label Burgundy Pinot Noir Napa 50
1973 BV Special Label Burgundy Pinot Noir Napa 50
1973 BV Special Label Burgundy Pinot Noir Napa 50
1958 BV Beaumont Pinot Noir Pinot Noir Napa 130
1959 BV Beaumont Pinot Noir Pinot Noir Napa 130
1960 BV Burgundy Pinot Noir Napa 50
1967 BV Burgundy Pinot Noir Napa 50
1970 BV Beaumont Pinot Noir Pinot Noir Napa 75
1970 BV Beaumont Pinot Noir Pinot Noir Napa 75

Upcoming Events

June 20

Next regular Syndicate (at Luma)

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	-835
Dues Payable	none
Purchases	-610
Dinner	pay for your own
Balance	-1445

No dues are due.

2009-1 Young and Old

Young and Old

at Capital Grille

March 14, 2009 at 6:00 pm

Young and old vintages of the same wine. How do they age?(Of course, young is a relative term! My scores are in blue, group favorites are starred.)

98	1978	Ch Haut Brion Blanc*	295
96	1998	Ch Haut Brion Blanc	290
94	1998	Laville-Haut Brion Blanc (provided by Ron)

92	1969	Echezeaux Leroy*	320
95	1996	Echezeaux Bocquenet	90

93	1937	Ch Margaux*	240
92	1962	Ch Margaux	225
89	2004	Pavillon Rouge (Ch Margaux 2nd wine) (provided by Linda)

79	1963	BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve	90
89	1964	BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve* (provided by Dick)
87	1978	BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve	90

100	1834	Madeira Malvasia Barbieto*	505
			2145

Acquisitions

1993	La Romanee – Bouchard, Pere et Fils	190
1993	La Romanee – Bouchard, Pere et Fils	190
1993	La Romanee – Bouchard, Pere et Fils	190
1993	La Romanee – Bouchard, Pere et Fils	190
1964	Clos Vougeot – R. Engel	250
1966	Bonnes Mares – Comte de Vogue	490

1945	Chateau Latour	985
1947	Volnay, H. Boillot	151
1949	Charmes-Chambertin, Liger-Belair	317
1949	Charmes-Chambertin, Liger-Belair	317
1949	Charmes-Chambertin, Liger-Belair	317
		3587

We really got a deal on that Bonnes Mares, which is worth twice that.

Upcoming Events

May 9	Bring your own Flight
June 20	Next regular Syndicate

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	-354
Dues Payable	5000
Purchases	-3587
Dinner	-1894
Balance	-835

Please bring your dues of $1000 per couple to the event.

2008-5 Odd Man Out

Odd Man Out

at Rocco’s Italian Grill

400 S Orlando Ave. (just north off of Fairbanks Ave.)
Winter Park, FL 32789
(407) 644-7770

December 6, 2008 at 6:00 pm

The ThemeIt should have been easy to figure out which wine was different in each of these blind flights… right? And indeed, the second flight was easy — and superb. But the first flight proved a challenge, especially when Andy added a Williamsburg Winery Seyval Blanc that turned out to be the best wine in the flight!An asterisk denotes the most popular wines.

5	23	2002	Corton-Charlemagne Remoissenet*	White Burgundy	80
9	13	1998	Ch Haut Brion Blanc	White Bordeaux	290
9	8	2000	Ch ‘Y’	White Bordeaux	145

6	13	1961	Ch Lynch Bages*	Red Bordeaux	478
3	11	1962	Ch Margaux	Red Bordeaux	225
7	13	1961	Musigny – Hudelot*	Red Burgundy	550

3	16	2002	Dominus*	Meritage	99
3	17	2002	Joseph Phelps Insignia*	Cabernet Sauvignon	199
3	14	2000	Philip Togni	Cabernet Sauvignon	80

6	22	1990	Hermitage La Chapelle Jaboulet*	Red Rhone	224
3	21	1997	Turley Zin Dogtown	Zinfandel	120
3	22	1998	Turley Zin Black-Sears	Zinfandel	120

					2610

Acquisitions

Because of the terrible economy, 18 pages of wine went unsold at the latest Morrell & Company auction. The wines were put up for sale at the reserve prices, and Ron was abl to steal these two for us:

1947	Volnay, H. Boillot	Red Burgundy	$150
1945	Ch. Latour	Red Bordeaux	$1035

Upcoming Events

March 14

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	-1955
Dues Payable	5000
Purchases	-1185
Dinner	-2214
Balance	-354

Please bring your dues of $1000 per couple to the event.