Category Archives: Capital Grille

Ron’s Italian Wines

at Capital Grille

July 27, 2019 at 6:00 pm

Italian!

The Wines

From Ron: I am not sure if we have ever had an Italian tasting before but I have picked out 5 groups of wines each having 3 decades. I think our group will like this!

Flight 1: Whites

1998 Gravner Breg Fermented 7 mths in buried clay Amphorae & then 35 mths in wooden casks

2005 Ed Kante Carso Vitovaka Galloni 95+

2012 Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo

Flight 2: Brunello di Montalcino

1995 Soldera Riserva ( Considered the greatest Brunello producer )

2001 Casonova di Neri Tenuta Nuova Wine Spectator WOTY

2010 Conti Costanti Galloni 97

Flight 3: Barolo & Barbaresco

1997 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo

2001 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Asili Galloni 96

2010 Vietti Rocche Barolo Galloni 99

Flight 4: Super Tuscan

1989 Solaia

1998 Ornellaia Wine Spectator WOTY

2006 Masseto Galloni 99

Flight 5: Bertani Amarone

1964 Bertani

1971 Bertani

1985 Bertani

Total cost $3480 The Soldera & Masseto was almost 50% of the total cost.

Favorites were the Soldera, Barbaresco, Ornellaia, and 64 Amarone.

Upcoming Events

Syndicate

November 2

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	$6,986.75
Dues Payable	+5500
Wines from Ron for this tasting	-3480
Dinner	-2265
Balance	$6741.75

Haut Brion vs. La Mission Haut Brion

at Capital Grille I-Drive

November 4, 2017 at 6pm

Five decades of Haut Brion vs. La Mission Haut Brion in a blind format. This should be very educational and may make a case that La Mission Haut Brion can rival Haut Brion in most vintages.

The Wines

Flight 1

1993 Haut Brion Blanc
2000 Laville Haut Brion Blanc

Flight 2

2001 Haut Brion
2001 La Mission Haut Brion

Flight 3

1986 Haut Brion
1986 La Mission Haut Brion

Flight 4

1978 Haut Brion
1978 La Mission Haut Brion

Flight 5

1964 Haut Brion
1964 La Mission Haut Brion
(1966 La Mission Haut Brion, gift from Ron)

Flight 6

1990 Haut Brion
1990 La Mission Haut Brion
( Both flirting with perfect scores.)

Cost of wines: $4950, which is below Ron’s cost.

Acquisitions

Wines from Ron for this tasting

$4950

Upcoming Events

Syndicate

Jan 13

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	$3558.13
Dues Payable	+5500
Purchases	-4950
Dinner	-1880
Balance	2228.13

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

2017-2 The Ultimate 1970 Bordeaux Comparative Tasting

at Capital Grille (I-Drive)

April 29, 2017 at 6pm

This event focuses on a horizontal tasting of 1970 Bordeaux. 1970 was the last good year for a while, as the 70s were hard on Bordeaux, which wouldn’t really recover its former glory until 1982.

These wines are from Ron’s cellar, and he’s given us very good prices. I have also donated seven from my cellar to round out each flight to 4 wines.

I can’t recall a tasting where we’ve had so much cork trouble! 17 out of 20 were complete disasters, either falling into the bootle, or breaking into pieces. Ron and I were really worried. And yet I also can’t recall another tasting with such consistently perfect wines! So the corks did their job.

I rated the first flight in the 80s, but all the other wines were solidly in the 90s. The group had a lot of trouble picking favorites, and in the end the ranking could have changed back and forth every few minutes. The top wines were: Latour, Mouton, La Mission Haut Brion, Haut Brion and Cheval Blanc. I suppose that was somewhat predictable in the end. Only the Lafite seemed a bit questionable, light in color and a bit thinner than the others, but still good.

It was very interesting to have the wines grouped by appellation, as we could clearly see the differences of each area expressed, with the aromatic St. Emilion, feminine Margaux, gravelly Graves and lead pencil Pauillac.

I also found the nuances between Latour’s first and second wine fascinating after 47 years. The Forts de Latour was actually both more tannic AND fruitier than the Latour, but somehow less integrated. The buy of the night was the Giscours, which was playing WAY out of its league. I’d look for more of this.

One of the most educational tastings ever!

1970 Bordeaux

My scores are shown below:

The Wines

Flight 1 (St. Estephe)
70 Calon Segur (88 pts)
70 Cos Estournel (84 pts)
70 Montrose (89 pts)
70 Beychevelle (Steve – St. Julien) (86 pts)

Flight 2 (St. Emilion)
70 Evangile (93 pts)
70 Ausone (95 pts)
70 Cheval Blanc (96 pts)
70 Pavie (Steve) (96 pts)

Flight 3 (Margaux)
70 Palmer (93 pts)
70 Margaux (95 pts)
70 Giscours (Steve) (94 pts)
70 Lascombes (Steve) (90 pts)

Flight 4 (Graves)
70 Pape Clement (95 pts)
70 Haut Brion (97 pts)
70 La Mission Haut Brion (98 pts)
70 Coufran (Steve – Haut Medoc – Magnum) (92 pts)

Flight 5 (Pauillac)
70 Mouton Rothschild (98 pts)
70 Lafite Rothschild (92 pts)
70 Latour (99 pts)
70 Les Forts de Latour (Steve) (94 pts)

Acquisitions

Sold remaining bottles of 1937 Vosne-Romanée at HDH	$774
Wines from Ron for this tasting	$2850

Upcoming Events

Syndicate

August 5

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	$1135
Dues Payable	+5500
Purchases	-2850
Sales (2 bottles of 1939 VR 375+399)	+774
Dinner	-2026
Balance	2533

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

2016-2 The Ultimate, Definitive, Comprehensive BVGDLTPR Event

at Capital Grille at Pointe Orlando

April 2, 2016 at 6pm

We’ve done many BV tastings over the years, and they’ve always contained some impressive wines, which were once unquestionably the group’s favorites. Now, with nothing very interesting made since the early 80s, some of them are, sadly, getting tired. So for one last hurrah, here is by far the deepest tasting we’ve ever done. This event includes many of the greatest vintages, and stretches back nearly to the beginning of the wine in 1936.

Over the years our impression was that they lost the formula in the 80s, and boy was this confirmed! We tasted the wines in reverse order of age, and the initial flights were absolutely awful—tight, unyielding, and often downright stinky. Despite all the wine being in perfect condition these were absolutely undrinkable.

Then, suddenly, we got to the 70s, and the flights became wonderful—Ron enthused that it was some of the best BV he ever tasted, and he would seek out the 70, 75, 76 and 77 in addition to the already popular 68.

Two wines out of the 27 were corked, which isn’t too bad for the era. But sadly they were both obviously great wines that couldn’t be fully appreciated even though some of the corkiness blew off for a while. One was the classic 68, and the other was the 52.

The most popular wines of the night were the 1975, 1970, and 1960, with victory going to the 1960.

The most controversial wine of the night was the 1942, which was completely unlike the wines of the 50s, 60s and 70s. It had bacon and wax in the nose, developed some herbs, and seemed very young. There was nothing fake about this bottle—it had an appropriate fill and a problematic and definitely 70-year-old cork. But clearly Andre Tchelistcheff put some different grapes into this fascinating wine!

My point scores are in the table below:

The Wines

Vintage	Wine	Points	Cost
1942	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	94 pts	565
1952	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	92? pts	500
1960	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	96 pts	225
1964	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	85 pts	135
1965	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	83 pts	191
1968	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	95? pts	254
1970	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	93 pts	150
1971	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	85 pts	68
1973	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	87 pts	100
1974	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	90 pts	104
1975	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	91 pts	81
1976	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	92 pts	131
1977	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	91 pts	92
1978	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	88 pts	John
1979	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	90 pts	53
1980	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	87 pts	54
1981	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	83 pts	60
1982	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	87 pts	49
1983	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	77 pts	45
1984	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	82 pts	78
1986	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	80 pts	53
1987	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	79 pts	63
1988	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	81 pts	60
1990	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	80 pts	48
1991	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	81 pts	76
2005	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	85 pts	Dick
2006	BV Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve	85 pts	64
			3300

Acquisitions

I’m going to sell the remaining three bottles of 1937 Vosne-Romanée, as we’ve had the wine a couple of times and it’s not that interesting.

1962 Ch. Margaux	414
1962 Ch. Lafita Rothschild	356
Total	770

Upcoming Events

Syndicate	July 16
Syndicate	November 12

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	-3711
Dues Payable	5000
Purchases	-770
Sales	?
Dinner	-1744
Balance	-1225

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

2014-3 Turbulent Times: The Sixties

at The Capital Grille Pointe Orlando

September 13, 2014 at 6 pm

The Wines

The 60s started off at the peak in Bordeaux, but from there it went downhill, as California began to pick up its game.

These wines showed much better than I was expecting. The clear loser was the Margaux (as usual) and the winners were the Mouton and Haut Brion. The California wines also had nothing to be embarrassed about, including a 68 BV Special Label Burgundy I slipped in.

With three magnums in the tasting, it was an interesting opportunity to see how much fresher the wines were from the larger bottles. I’d had the 66 Haut Brion before from a 750, but this magnum was a whole different wine. The group’s favorites were the Haut Brion and the 61 Mouton. It was nice that the star of the show was, indeed, the star.

1961	Ch Mouton Rothschild	France	Pauillac	98 puts	1,200
1961	Ch. La Pointe	France	Pomerol	94 puts	140
1962	Ch. Leoville Las Cases (magnum)	France	St. Julien	88 puts	340
1966	Ch. Leoville Las Cases	France	St. Julien	90 puts	140
1966	Ch. Margaux	France	Margaux	86 puts	140
1966	Ch. Haut Brion (magnum)	France	Graves	97 puts	340
1966	Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste (magnum)	France	Pauillac	85 puts	340
1964	Clos Vougeot – R. Engel	Red	Burgundy	92 puts	250
1964	BV Georges de La Tour	Cabernet	Napa	92 puts	90
1968	BV Georges de La Tour	Cabernet	Napa	(corked)	150
1945	Madeira, Bual, Cossart Gordon	Madeira	Madeira	99 pts	300

In addition to the 68 BV Special Label Burgundy (94 pts) I also brought an 82 Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace (97 puts) that shocked me (as it was from Joe Spinelli’s “cellar”) and was very popular.

Ron’s 2007 Spottswoode Cab (96 pts) and 2010 Greer Cab (99 pts) were also impressive

Thanks to everyone for the additional wines I haven’t listed, it was a great event!

Acquisitions

None

Upcoming Events

Syndicate	November 8
Syndicate	January 31

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	$1310
Dues Payable	5000
Purchases	0
Dinner	-1977
Balance	4333

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

2013-3 The Price is Right

The Capital Grille at The Mall at Millenia
4200 Conroy Road
Orlando, FL 32839
T: 407.351.2210

August 24, 2013 at 6:00 pm

The challenge here was to identify, blind, the wine with the “pedigree” in each set of three.

Well the results were mixed. The first flight wasn’t served blind, but we all agreed the 68 had the best pedigree, although all had their virtues. The second flight was by far the best. The recurring theme was that even though the Pierre Ponnelle vineyard represented weren’t prestigious, the his wines were fantastic. Two corked wines muddled the results a bit. The DRC, although the most popular wine of the last flight, was disappointing, given its pedigree.

None of the wines faded in the glass over several hours.

My Notes:
1964 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa $130

light color, classic redwood nose, slightly maderized, thin caramel finish. Held up in the glass, though. 87 pts

1968 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa $150

Ruby color, redwood and wax in the nose, balanced with still fresh fruit. 92 pts.

1970 BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa $150

Garnet, coffee and cinnamon nose, caramel on the palate. I actually prefered this to the group’s favorite, the ’68. 93 pts.

1955 Corton, Naudin Red Burgundy $325

Outclassed by the lesser wines. Garnet, good color and clarity, coffee, vanilla, cherry, licorice, long vailla finish.

1964 Chassagne-Montrachet “Clos de la Boudriotte”, Pierre Ponnelle Red Burgundy $95

An overachiever for what it was. Garnet, barnyard, earth and coffee, fruity vanilla finish. Wow. 96 pts.

1966 Beaune 1er Cru Grèves Avery’s Bottling, Remoissenet Père et Fils Red Burgundy $95

Dark garnet, plastic and herbs in the nose, fruit, metal and mint on the palate, long. Impressive. 97 pts

1966 Mazis-Chambertin, Doudet-Naudin Red Burgundy $325

Great clarity, youthful, turpentine, pencil shavings, chewy. Not very complex, though. 88 pts.

1967 Fixin, Pierre Ponnelle Red Burgundy $95

Slightly corked. Youthful. Definitely outperforming for its class. The corkiness came and went many times, and finally blew off after close to an hour. 92 pts, more if not corked.

1978 Chambolle Musigny, A. Rodet Red Burgundy $70

Short, uninteresting. 86 pts.

1983 Vosne-Romanee Charles Moncaut Red Burgundy $35

Corked. 85 pts?

1985 Grand Echezeaux – Domaine de la Romanee Conti Red Burgundy $900

Bacon fat, soaped leather, mint, vanilla, coffee, cherry, lamb stew, mushrooms, floral. fairly long with spice and lamb in the finish. Certainly a good wine, but not a $900 wine. 91 pts.

1985 Morey-St-Denis Domaine des Lambrays Red Burgundy $80

Sour, overripe, metallic, cherry and vanilla. Fairly unpleasant. 83 pts.

The Wines

1964	BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve	Cabernet Sauvignon	Napa	130
1968	BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve	Cabernet Sauvignon	Napa	150
1970	BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve	Cabernet Sauvignon	Napa	150

1955	Corton, Naudin	Red	Burgundy	325
1964	Chassagne-Montrachet “Clos de la Boudriotte”, Pierre Ponnelle	Red	Burgundy	95
1966	Beaune 1er Cru Grèves Avery’s Bottling, Remoissenet Père et Fils	Red	Burgundy	95

1966	Mazis-Chambertin, Doudet-Naudin	Red	Burgundy	325
1967	Fixin, Pierre Ponnelle	Red	Burgundy	95
1978	Chambolle Musigny, A. Rodet	Red	Burgundy	70

1983	Vosne-Romanee Charles Moncaut	Red	Burgundy	35
1985	Grand Echezeaux – Domaine de la Romanee Conti	Red	Burgundy	900
1985	Morey-St-Denis Domaine des Lambrays	Red	Burgundy	80

				2450

Acquisitions

1945	Ch. Leoville Las Cases	France	Pauillac	486	Bonhams 5/2013
1949	Ch. Bouscaut	France	Pauillac	85	Bonhams 5/2013
1961	Ch. La Pointe	France	Pomerol	140	Bonhams 5/2013
1966	Ch. Carbonnieux	France	Pauillac	85	Bonhams 5/2013
1966	Ch. Carbonnieux	France	Pauillac	85	Bonhams 5/2013
1966	Ch. Leoville Las Cases	France	Pauillac	140	Bonhams 5/2013
1966	Ch. Leoville Las Cases	France	Pauillac	140	Bonhams 5/2013
1966	Ch. Leoville Las Cases	France	Pauillac	140	Bonhams 5/2013
1966	Ch. Leoville Las Cases	France	Pauillac	140	Bonhams 5/2013
1966	Ch. Leoville Las Cases	France	Pauillac	140	Bonhams 5/2013
1966	Ch. Margaux	France	Pauillac	140	Bonhams 5/2013
1970	Ch. Giscours	France	Pauillac	85	Bonhams 5/2013
1970	Les Forts de Latour	France	Pauillac	150	Bonhams 5/2013

Upcoming Events

Syndicate

November 23

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	2863
Dues Payable	5000
Purchases	-1956
Dinner	-1470
Balance	4437

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

2013-2 Blind Pairs

Capital Grille

April 20, 2013 at 6:00 pm

I was very proud of our group at this even. Except for the BV flight, there was 100% consensus as to the best wine, and except for the Burgundy flight, there was almost 100% correct identification of the wines blind! Of course, the shocker of the night was the Jean Gros Richebourg, which beat the DRC, and was the Wine of the Night.

All the wines showed well, and it might have been our best set of wines ever. Favorites were:

69 Puligny Montrachet from Leflaive (96 pts). Amazingly youthful, with a huge char and ash componenet, and then lemon curd on the finish. The 2001 Haut Brion (93 pts) had the characteristic candele wax and later violets, but wasn’t a show stopper. Both wines lasted five hours in the glass.

55 Latour (94 pts). Again, really youthful even from a tenth, great depth. The companion 55 Cheval Blanc (91 pts) seemed slightly less young and more one dimensional in comparison.

70 Petrus (98 pts). Aromatically on of the most complex Bordeauxs I’ve had. The 61 Lynch Bages (96 pts) showed classic LB nose, and was drinking beautifully, iy just had steep competition.

87 Richebourg Jean Gros (99 pts). Young, earthy, extraordinarily complex. The 83 DRC Richebourg (92 pts) seemed tannic and simple in comparison, certainly not worth the current auction price of over $1K for this off year.

63 Taylor Port (99 pts) was the greatest port I’ve ever had, almost a claret style, light, not too sweet, tons of citrus, very complex. Not madierized at all, very fresh. The 99 Yquem (92 pts) was in perfect shape, but the port stole the show.

Other wines of note:

Nice Pommery Champagne from John, and an 87 BV cab we had no trouble picking out of the BV flight.

Excellent WIlliamsburg Winery Sauvignon Blanc (91 pts) from Andy that held its own against two huge whites.

Dick’s 87 Heitz Martha’s and 06 Beaucastel CDP both went well with the food courses, as did my 2010 Puligny Montrachet Les Combottes from Etiene Sauzet (94 pts) and Henry’s Drive CS (93 pts), which was very Bordeaux-like.

I loved all three of Ron’s wines. 2010 Kosta Brown One Sixteen Chardonnay (95 pts) was all about crushed lime, butter and caramel. I would like to buy some of this wine. @007 Aquilon Garnacha (96 pts) packed a chocolate nose followed by big fruit and a gamey finish, but wasn’t over the top at all. 1979 Clos de Vougeot from Drouhin (95 pts) came a bit too late for me to fully appreciate its wonderful iron, meat and sour cherry aromas. The wine is light, and should be drunk now, as it’s a perfect classic Burgundy.

I finished things off with the novelty of a St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram from the West Indies. The nose of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg is really quite fun.

A stellar collection of wines, and a great night. Service by Tim, his first time waiting on our group, was perfect.

The Wines

6	28	1969	Puligny Montrachet, Clavoillon, Domaine Leflaive	White	Burgundy		180
6	24	2001	Ch Haut Brion Blanc	France	Graves		375

9	18	1955	Ch Latour	France	Paullac	tenth	320
9	17	1955	Ch Cheval Blanc	France	St Emilion	tenth	320

7	19	1970	Ch Petrus	France	Pomerol		1,287
6	16	1961	Ch Lynch Bages	France	Pauillac		600

5	25	1964	BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve	Cabernet Sauvignon	Napa		130
5	10	1970	BV Georges de La Tour Private Reserve	Cabernet Sauvignon	Napa		150

8	24	1987	Richebourg Jean Gros	Red	Burgundy		135
7	23	1983	Richebourg Domaine de la Romanee Conti	Red	Burgundy		300

9	21	1999	Ch d’Yquem	Sauternes	Bordeaux	tenth	85
6	31	1963	Taylor	Port	Portugal		150

							4032

Acquisitions

None	$

Upcoming Events

Syndicate	August 24
Syndicate	November 23

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	-419
Dues Payable	5000
Purchases	0
Dinner	-1718
Balance	2863

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

2012-4 Burgundy We Can No Longer Afford

Burgundy We Can No Longer Afford

at Capital Grille

November 17, 2012 at 6:00 pm

We’ve had a lot of these wines close to ten years, and some are now about three times this price! These will be tasted in the order shown.

8	20	1949	Corton Bressandes, Charles Vienot	Red	Burgundy	550
6	17	1955	Auxey Duresses, Pierre Ponnelle	Red	Burgundy	159
8	30	1964	Pommard, Grand Epenots, Leroy	France	Burgundy	200
7	29	1966	Beaune 1er Cru Grèves Avery’s Bottling, Remoissenet Père et Fils	Red	Burgundy	95
7	27	1967	Fixin, Pierre Ponnelle	Red	Burgundy	95
8	21	1969	Echezeaux Leroy	France	Burgundy	320
8	18	1970	Corton Diamond Jubilee, Remoissenet Père et Fils	Red	Burgundy	95
7	13	1978	Nuit Saint-Georges – Pierre Bouree Fils	Red	Burgundy	90
7	19	1983	Grands Echexeaux Domaine de la Romanee Conti	Red	Burgundy	300
8	15	1993	La Romanee – Bouchard, Pere et Fils	Red	Burgundy	190
8	8	1996	Echezeaux Reserve Bocquenet	Red	Burgundy	90
8	14	1996	La Romanee du Chateau de Vosne Romanee Comte Liger-Belair Bouchard	Red	Burgundy	55

Wine Notes

We started the tasting with a Riedel glassware comparison, and I think it’s safe to say that everyone now believes that even subtle differences in glasses have profound effects on the tast of the wine!

1949 – youthful, iron, mineral, leeather, sweet, long, chclate covered rasins, coffe, cooked meat, wood. The wine evolved for two hours. This is exactly what I’m looking for in Burgundy, and it was worth every penny. Wine of the night, and the group’s unanimous favorite. 97 pts.

1955 – slightly Madeirized, iron, fading fruit, stewed veggies, rhubarb, awkward. 88 pts.

1964 – tight, steely, minerals, metallic to the max, pot roast, coffee. 92 pts.

1966 – very ripe, vanilla metallic, cherry, quite weird. 86 pts.

1967 – balanced, good color and fruit, vanilla, a shocker given its year! 94 pts.

1969 – closed, plastic, short. 90 pts.

1970 – balanced, good fruit, caramel, slightly woodsy. 90 pts.

1978 – charred wood, toasted marshmallow, metal. 92 pts.

1983 – bug spray, mineral spirits, vanilla, candy, cherry, floral, asian spices. 94 pts.

1993 – closed, caramel, short, thin finish, high acid. 92 pts.

1996 Exhezeaux – smoked meat, good fruit, wood, black cherry, soy, mushroom. 93 pts.

1996 La Romanee – meaty, cotton candy, youthful. 91 pts.

Acquisitions

none

Upcoming Events

February 2	Syndicate
April 20	Syndicate

Treasurer’s Report

Previous Balance	-1756
Dues Payable	5000
Purchases	0
Dinner	-1790
Balance	1454

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.

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.