Category Archives: Hermitage

2017-1 Blind Pairs

at Eddie V’s

January 21, 2017 at 6pm

We had a great time in Chicago in November, featuring the very exciting World Series conclusion, a very comprehensive Bordeaux tasting, and some great dinners. A few blog entries on the subject:

Comprehensive Bordeaux Tasting: 1989/1990

When the Cubs Won the World Series

Oriole With Our Wine Group

This event cleans out the Syndicate cellar except for three Madeiras. The wines were poured in blind pairs. All showed well except the Vos Romanee, which was heavily sedimented. a group favorite was the Pape Clement. In most of the other flights the vote was evenly split. 2001 Yquem is indeed much more aromatic and balanced than the 2000 when tasted blind.

Other notable wines: John’s 2010 Domaine des Senechaux CDP Blanc, Dick’s 2004 L’Aventure Stephan Vineyards Syrah/Cab blend from Paso Robles, Martin’s 1973 AngeloPapgni Alicante Bouchet (which I sort of identified blind), Martin’s 2003 Integrity, and Ron’s 2007 Clos de Vougeot by Raphet.

The Wines

2005 Guigal Ex Voto Blanc White Rhone 110
2009 Ch Pape Clement White Bordeaux tenth 130
1962 Ch Margaux Red Bordeaux 414
1964 Ch Lafite Rothschild Red Bordeaux 356
1969 Antonin Rodet Echezeaux Red Burgundy 90
1969 Moillard Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts Red Burgundy 180
1983 Dominus Estate Blend Napa 130
1991 Dominus Estate Napanook Vineyard Blend Napa 270
2013 Dominus Estate Blend Napa 261
2013 Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Napa 170
2000 Ch d’Yquem Sauternes Bordeaux tenth 213
2001 Ch d’Yquem Sauternes Bordeaux tenth 300
2624

Acquisitions

Two remaining bottles of 1937 Vosne-Romanée are out on consignment, ?
Wines from Steve for this tasting $1341

Upcoming Events

Syndicate April 29

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance -870
Dues Payable 5500
Purchases -1341
Sales 0
Dinner -2154
Balance 1135

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

2011-3 The Price Is Right

The Price Is Rightat Capital Grille
June 4, 2011 at 6:00 pm
It’s time for a somewhat more challenging event.
Your assignment is:

  • Match the wine to the correct price (or feel stupid)
  • Figure out the type of wine, year or producer (for kudos)
  • Identify the wine exactly (for a prize)

So how did we do?

We failed.

Meeting at The Capital Grille, we poured six pairs of wine, completely blind except for knowing the wines’ prices, but not which price went with which wine. The results were eye opening. Here are the six flights, and how things turned out:

1988 Haut Brion Blanc ($490) vs. 2006 Ramey Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay ($50)

The group unanimously preferred the Ramey (ash, oak butter, opulent, 95 pts), and thought it was the better wine! After a couple of hours the Haut Brion became a lot more interesting (waxy, candy, minerals, gigs, nuts, vanilla, honey, 90 pts), but my scoring was unchanged. No one caught the almost 20 year spread between the wines, and everyone thought the Ramey was a white Burgundy.

1973 BV Special Label “Burgundy” ($75) vs. 1983 DRC Echezeaux ($680)

This was the only flight where the group was evenly split as far as popularity. Most identified the true Echezeaux (mint, delicate, 93 pts), and Debbie named the BV Special Label (redwood, sweet, 92 pts). Good job Debbie!

1979 Opus One ($357) vs. 1979 Inglenook Petite Sirah ($30)

The group unanimously preferred the Inglenook (paint thinner, wood, figs, 89 pts). This was the first vintage of Opus (mint, vanilla, pencil shavings, 87 pts), and it was the worst wine of the tasting.

2007 Jean Royer Chateauneuf Prestige ($40) vs. 1989 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle ($230)

The group almost unanimously preferred the Hermitage (meat, smoke, bacon fat, mint, 90 pts) which was correctly identified by Ron. Good job Ron! The Chateauneuf was odd (candy, berries, fruit wrap, jam, smoke, 88 pts).

1986 Chateau Mouton Rothschild ($900) vs. 1991 Dominus ($220)

The group unanimously preferred the Dominus (green pepper, gravel, lead pencil, mint, 97 pts) and thought it was old world and the more expensive wine! The Mouton (coffee, smoke, tar, green peppers, rubber, bacon, smoke, 95 pts) was a Parker 100 point wine that everyone thought was new world!

1963 Graham Port ($300) vs. 1992 Guenoc “Port” ($20)

A solid majority identified the real port (soft, delicate, complex, red-wine nose, 92 pts). The Guenoc (woody, 90 pts) was a fine product but was overshadowed by a great vintage of the real thing.

The Bottom Line

Out of six flights, we were unanimously wrong half the time, identifying the cheaper wine as the more expensive! Spend those dollars wisely, folks!

 

Upcoming Events

August 20 Wine Syndicate

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance 2972
Dues Payable 5000
Purchases -813
Dinner -1600
Balance 5559

 

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

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.

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.

2007-2 Odd Man Out

 Odd Man Out

at Luma’s
April 14 , 2007 at 5:30 pm
Col Row Year Wine Type Price
1 13 1964 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 100
5 19 1964 Ch. Lafite Red 120
7 12 1964 Chambertin Clos de Beze Drouhin-Laroze Red 130
6 20 1989 Hermitage La Chapelle Jaboulet Red 273
7 29 1990 Echezeaux Clerget Red 90
7 21 1990 Charmes Chambertin Serafin Red 90
2 23 1991 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 70
4 14 1991 Penfold’s Rosemount Estate Show Reserve Syrah 40
4 15 1991 Penfold’s Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 65
3 14 1997 Pride Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 120
m2 21 2000 Turley Rattlesnake Petite Syrah 120
3 20 1996 Turley Zin Grist Zinfandel 120
1338

Top wines of the evening, in order:

Year Wine Notes Points
1998 Valendron St. Emilion
(brought by Ron)		 Coffee nose, tight, very French 99
1964 Chambertin Clos de Beze
Drouhin-Laroze		 Leather, minerals, smoke, fruit holding up well 96
1997 Pride Reserve Big, chewy, fruity, many of us mistook this for Petite Sirah 95

 

Acquisitions

1963 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 90
1963 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 90
1964 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 90
1966 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 90
1969 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 90
1977 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 90
1978 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 90
1978 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 90
1978 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 90
1979 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 90
1979 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 90
1979 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 90
1976 Clos de la Roche – Pierre Bouree Fils Red Burgundy 90
1976 Clos de la Roche – Pierre Bouree Fils Red Burgundy 90
1976 Clos de la Roche – Pierre Bouree Fils Red Burgundy 90
1976 Clos de la Roche – Pierre Bouree Fils Red Burgundy 90
1978 Nuit Saint-Georges – Pierre Bouree Fils Red Burgundy 90
1978 Nuit Saint-Georges – Pierre Bouree Fils Red Burgundy 90
1978 Nuit Saint-Georges – Pierre Bouree Fils Red Burgundy 90
1978 Nuit Saint-Georges – Pierre Bouree Fils Red Burgundy 90
1966 Morey-Saint-Denis – Pierre Bouree Fils Red Burgundy 90
1966 Morey-Saint-Denis – Pierre Bouree Fils Red Burgundy 90
1964 Charmes-Chambertin – Pierre Bouree Fils Red Burgundy magnum 180
1945 Ch. Margaux Red Margaux 1700
3860

 

Future Events

July 14

 

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance 3760.10
Dues Payable 5000.00
Purchases -3860.00
Dinner -2209.00
Balance 2681.10

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

2005-5 Pillage the List

Pillage the Listat Bern’s Steakhouse

Tampa
November 12, 2005

 

Notes from our November 12th dinner at Bern’s.

The theme of this event was Pillage the List. All wines had good color and clarity.

 

1953 $385 93 pts Bonnes Mare Ponnelle
Musty periodically. Good fruit, complex finish.
1961 * 90 Clos Vougeot Faively
classic burgundy nose, losing its fruit.
1964 275 95 Echezeaux Faively
complex dried roses nose, tight tannic, caramel finish.
1952 * 97 Clos de la Roche Morey St. Denis Pierre Ponnelle
tar, earthy, mineral nose, still good fruit, slightly sweet,
chocolate finish.
1955 254 92 Ch. Pichon Longueville Baron
dusty nose, bell and black peppers in the mouth.
1955 330 94 Ch. Pape Clement
graves soapy, mineral tobacco, candle wax nose, tight,
smokey finish.
1973 * 92 Ingelnook Cask C-14
bleu cheese, anise, mint nose, balanced, closed.
1964 65 96 Gatinerra
mint, sugar, long, complex.
1961 128 92 Hermitage Reserve (Debost)
smoke, tobacco, mint, tight.
1978 95 94 Chateaneuf Du Pape (Clos Des Papes)
sweet exotic berries, berry finish.
1962 799 90 Ch. la Mission Haut Brion (Magnum)
Graves nose, corked, soft, disappointing.
1953 * 96 Chambertin Pierre Ponnelle
cedar, roses, sweet chambertin classic finish.
1977 * 90 Barbosa Cojita Port
A sound, balanced port, similar to a tawny,
with slight wood nuances.

* Bern’s kindly did not charge us for the starred wines.

Coming Events

January 14

Auction Action

None.

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance

3000
Dues Payable

5000
Auction Purchases

0
Dinner & Wines -3867.22
Balance 4132.78