EDF Wine thread

[mmbt0ne]

When I was in Europe last week we went to a wine cellar outside of Brno, Czech Republic and got to a tasting of 7 wines they make there.

It was my first experience with anything like this and really good/a lot of fun.

I ended up picking up what the sommelier called a Cabernet Moravia (they are very proud of their region and will change wine names to fit that) and a Tramín (known elsewhere as Gewürztraminer).

I probably won't open them very soon, but when I do I'll let you know what I think.

I do know that whatever Hungarian variety of white wine they were making was unbelievable.

[sixfiftySNGchk]

KD, I would like to hear about your opinion on Argentinian and South American wines, specifically Malbecs. Great reads.

[Cancuk]

Originally Posted by mmbt0ne

I do know that whatever Hungarian variety of white wine they were making was unbelievable.

Tokaji?

[KDawg]

Originally Posted by sixfiftySNGchk

KD, I would like to hear about your opinion on Argentinian and South American wines, specifically Malbecs. Great reads.

I think that there's a lot of great wine comig out of argentina, to say otherwise is very short sighted. I just wish more stuff in the 25-50 range was imported as I've been told by distributors that there is a sea of great malbec in that price range. I've generally found when one is willing to spend between 18-25, they can find a lot of really good malbec. The stuff under 15 is forgetable alot IMO and I'd rather spend on southern italian wines, some spanish, southwest france, and Cotes Du RHones as one gets more value for the $$$

[mmbt0ne]

Originally Posted by Cancuk

Tokaji?

I don't believe so, but one of the girls there was Hungarian so I'll email her and see if she remembers.

[KDawg]

tone, was it a sweet desert wine? if it was it was probably tokaji, if it was a dry white wine, then it may have been a furmint, which are also very good.

What little hungarian wine I've had has generally been really damn good, just wish more of it would make it to the states

[Cancuk]

Originally Posted by KDawg

tone, was it a sweet desert wine? if it was it was probably tokaji, if it was a dry white wine, then it may have been a furmint, which are also very good.

What little hungarian wine I've had has generally been really damn good, just wish more of it would make it to the states

I agree. Most of the Eastern European wines I've tasted, especially the whites, have been good. Croatia, Hungry, Greek, Swiss, etc. Good stuff.

[KDawg]

I did a real fun tasting on saturday where we did a KO bracket of wines while watching the final four:

FINAL FOUR BLIND KNOCKOUT - matt's house, highland park IL (4/4/2009)

Several of us met up at Matt's house to watch the final four, and do a blind tasting knockout competition of our own. We had twelve wines initially and were bagged up and paired off in head to head flights. We'd taste two wines head to head, vote on the one that should move on, and then reveal the one that got knocked out. The initial plan was to have it be three rounds, but due to a tie in the vote on a matchup in the second round, we had a semi finals, and then the finals. We did our best to keep it to 1-1.5 oz pours as wines would be moving on

The wines were labeled as such:
A1: 2006 Beau Vigne Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
A2: 2004 Schild Estate Barossa Reserve Shiraz

B1: 2002 Shafer Relentless
B2: 2005 Auteur Sonoma Stage Pinot Noir

C1: 2004 Saxum Broken Stones
C2: 1992 Thackrey Sirius Petite Sirah

D1:2004 Pax Kobler Syrah
D2: 2004 Colonial Estate Emigre

E1: 2003 El Nido Clio
E2: 2001 Paloma merlot

F1: 2006 Saxum James Berry
F2: 2006 Switchback Ridge Cabernet Sauvigno
A1&A2

• 2006 Beau Vigne Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley
  nose: great big and rich nose filled with black berries, dark red cherries, dark raspberries, and a good amount of black currants and some hints of cedar. As it opens up more, it becomes a lot more expressive and balanced.
  
  taste: great medium/full feel with expressive, rich, and deep dark tones of black berries, dark red cherries, and black currants with tones of cedar on the back end. Surprising medium/low tannins
  
  overall: this is a beautiful wine at this young stage. Very expressive with excellent depth and very polished right now (94 pts.)
• 2004 Schild Estate Shiraz Barossa Valley - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  nose: very dark nose filled with berry tones, black cherries and dark red fruits. A bit of jammyness to it that isn't over the top, but its definitely a very ripe nose
  
  taste: good smooth medium feel with medium depth and ripe, but balanced tones of dark berries, currants, black cherries and a good helping of dark red fruits
  
  overall: an excellent wine, but isn't very expressive nor does it really kick into another gear. Good aromas and flavors with nice depth (90 pts.)

B1&B2

• 2002 Shafer Relentless - USA, California, Napa Valley
  nose: massive nose filled with black cherries, dark berry tones, red and black currants, with hiints of spices and some minty tones. Very deep and primal with a whole lot of depth and is very expressive
  
  taste: massive tannins and feel with rich tones of black cherries, loads of black fruits, bits of oak, dark berries and black currant jam
  
  overall: big, bold, and rich, this gets right in your face and is no holds barred. Great depth with a rich medium/full feel with really big tannins (93 pts.)
• 2005 Auteur Pinot Noir Sonoma Stage Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  nose: real refined in a cool and laid back sort of way, but with some punch to it. Opens initially with cool red fruits, bits of anisey tones, spices, and mixed berries. On the second go around of it, more pronounced tart cherries and blue fruits. Pungent, on the first pass with this it almost had a Chateauneuf-like edge to it, but with more air, the cali pinot came to the forefront and worked very well in balance
  
  taste: Medium feel with great tones of red fruits, spices, mixed berries, bits of candy, and tart cherries and some blue fruits emerge on the second go around.
  
  Overall: this improved a lot as the night went on, and it ended up winning the Knockout competition. Easily the best California Pinot that I've had, it went from outstanding to amazing by the end of the night and when it knocked out teh Beau Vigne in a close race, it was the clear winner in the final. Great balance and feel with rich aromatics, this is definitely a bigger style pinot, but not super heavy, just has a great lushness and richness to it (95 pts.)

C1&C2

• 2004 Saxum Broken Stones - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
  nose: there is a bit of a chemical/paint thinner type smell with some heat too. After it blows off a slight bit in the glass, good tones of spices, dark red cherries, dried red fruits and some slight hints of vegetables
  
  taste: big, but a bit disjointed with tones of spices, dark red cherries, black currants, and dried red fruits. There is also a bit of heat that jumps on the back end
  
  overall: this note was during the blind knockout portion. It had been given a good decant, but was a bit on the disjointed side during the blind setting. When I revisited it later in the evening, it had really emerged and there wasn't any of the disjointed problems that plagued it earlier. I didn't take notes on the revisit, but what it showed was that this needs about 6 hours of air at this point. There wasn't any of the fizzy problems that have been reported, just a beast of a young syrah blend (88 pts.)
• 1992 Sean Thackrey Petite Sirah Sirius Marston Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District
  nose: very intriguing nose filled with loads of pepper, some bleu cheeses, dried black cherries, spice tones and hints of minty notes. This smelled a lot like a northern rhone and certainly threw several of us off
  
  taste: lovely and balanced medium feel that is more nuanced with good tannins and excellent tones of black pepper, bits of bleu cheese, dried black cherries, some black fruits and bits of spices
  
  overall: when this was finally revealed, it was a shock. This really felt like a northern rhone in almost every way. There was almost no bricking and this grew more and more as the evening went on and as it advanced in the knockout. Very intriguing and a real treat (92 pts.)

D1&D2

• 2004 Pax Syrah Kobler Family Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
  nose: wonderful depth and richness that is very balanced. Toes the line well between new world and old world with great tones of black pepper, spices, dark red cherries, bits of black fruits, and a touch of black berries
  
  taste: great rich and full feel with excellent depth. Plush and expressive tones of black pepper, Spices, Dark red cherries, tart red fruits, bits of black fruits, and a good helping of black berries
  
  overall: Rich and balanced with great fruit. Good tannins and a good life ahead of it as it really shows off what cool climate cali syrah can do. Great mixture of both worlds with excellent balance and a good richness to it that makes it very enjoyable (93 pts.)
• 2004 The Colonial Estate Emigré - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  something very wrong happened to this bottle. It smelled like mcdonalds ketchup with some V8 tones. Tried tasting it and quickly reached for the spit bucket NR (flawed)

E1&E2

• 2003 Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio - Spain, Murcia, Jumilla
  nose: a bit of paint thinner tones get this nose to be a slight bit off kilter. Good tones of black cherries, dark red fruits, and bits of spice. Not very expressive and decent depth
  
  taste: good medium feel with dark raspberries, cranberries, black cherries, spice tones, and some dark red fruits
  
  overall: This just doesn't have that next level going for it. Very close, but more depth on either the palate or nose would kick it up a notch (89 pts.)
• 2001 Paloma Merlot - USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District
  nose: intriguing nose filled with black pepper, spice tones, dark red cherries, dark berries, and slight hints of purple florals. Wonderful depth and expression on the nose and very different
  
  taste: great balance with a smooth medium feel backed up by well rounded tones of black pepper, spices, dark red cherries, dark berries and some currants underneath
  
  overall: a real surprise and treat when revealed. I've never had a merlot act like this before and it came across as an aged syrah (92 pts.)

F1&F2

• 2006 Saxum James Berry Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
  nose: very rich and big nose filled with red cherries, mixed berries, loads of dark and red fruits with some black licorice tones. Very hedonistic and big, but not in the runaway fruit category. The fruit is massive and very primary, but not gloppy
  
  taste: a bit hot, but not too much. Massive fruit and massive feel with very rich tones of red cherries, mixed berries,melted black licorice with some dark and red fruits and a bit of sour berries
  
  overall: an outstanding young wine. This was a thrill ride of a wine and it didn't hold back. Certainly needs some time to calm down a slight bit, but this has some serious stuff going on and should be fun at the different phases of the wine. If I owned some of these I'd want to wait another 3-4 years, but one would not be faulted for opening one up right now if they wanted a hedonistic fun ride (93 pts.)
• 2006 Switchback Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Peterson Family Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley
  nose: lovely and intoxicating nose that just screams great california cabernet. Great balance with rich tones of cedar, dark red cherries, loads of red and black currants, bits of coffee beans and some sour cranberries. Very pure and wonderfully expressive with a good amount of richness and power behind it
  
  taste: great full feel with chewy tannins that are very present, but not overbearing. Well balanced and expressive tones of cedar, red currants, creme de cassis, dark red cherries and some fresh roasted coffee bean tones
  
  overall: this ended up placing second as it made it through a tough lower bracket. There is great balance to this and can easily be aged for a good 15-20 years as the tannins are there, but they are more on the sweeter side. Wonderful expression and purity, this isn't neccessarily mind blowing, as it just doesn't work like that. Its more of a sweet science type heavyweight boxer (95 pts.)

Opening and closing whites

• 1994 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
  nose: none of the oxidative tones that other have experienced, this has well balanced and mature tones of honeysuckle, beeswax, tropical citrus tones, and various hot oils with a touch of star fruit
  
  taste: great medium and fat feel with mangoes, beeswax, honeysuckle, hot oils and tropical citrus tones. really good weight that flows well on the palate
  
  overall: had a excellent medium gold color. I'm very glad that this wasn't on the bad side of the dart board. My first chave blanc and a very enjoyable experience (92 pts.)
• N.V. Michel Arnould & Fils Champagne Grand Cru Brut Réserve - France, Champagne, Verzenay, Champagne
  nose: this was like walking into a bakery. Loads of bread, dough, and yeast with lemon peels, minerals, and some bits of citrus'. Excellent depth that belies its NV labeling
  
  taste: excellent and refreshing medium+ acidity that is a bakery on the palate with bread, dough, and all sorts of yeasty tones
  
  overall: this has fast become a go to champagne for me. Excellent quality with great balance and acidity, this is perfect for an under 40 NV as it has a good amount of class and great aromas (91 pts.)
• 2006 Scholium Project Sauvignon Blanc La Severità di Bruto Farina - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Mountain
  nose: an off teh wall nose that is really interesting and filled with all sorts of grapefruits, smokey tones, roasted nuts, and citrus tones. While they sound somewhat like Suavignon Blanc tones, there's a very different take to them that I haven't smelled before, and it really intrigues me
  
  taste: great light feel with excellent acidity and zero detetction of the alcohol. Excellent tones of grape fruits, various citrus tones, and a whole lots of interesting smoke tones
  
  overall: one of the more interesting wines I've had in a while. I really need to try more of these wines as this was so interesting and fun to drink (91 pts.)

This was a whole lot of fun, and a great format that made things very interesting. There were some great wines that were knocked out early because they suffered a bad fate of randomly being put into a tough flight. The second round was very close and could've gone either way on all three of the flights, and we ended up in a 3-3 tie on one, so we just moved both of them on

The Beau Vigne, Auteur, Thackrey, Pax, Paloma, and Switchback won their first round matchups

The Auteur barely squeaked past the Beau Vigne, the Thackrey and Pax tied, and the Switchback won in the second round

Semis: Auteur beat the Thackrey pretty easily and the Switchback beat the Pax pretty well at that point

Finals: The Auteur won

It says a lot for the Auteur to have won the competition as these types of competitions don't normally lead towards a pinot winning, especially as when the night moves on like that the pours get more generous, lol. The Auteur was showing amazingly by the end of the night as was the Beau Vigne and Switchback. The Auteur is in a perfect place right now and the Beau Vigne and Switchback have a great life ahead of them

A great night and a whole lot of great wine
Posted from CellarTracker

[Cancuk]

I just enjoyed one of the finest rieslings i've ever had and easily the best outside of Alsace and Germany.

Gosset 'Polish Hill' Riesling 2002

Minerals, apples, pears, and 'toasty' on the nose. Ridiculously intense with a lot of citrus (especially lime), pears, green apples all balanced out by a backbone of beautiful acidity. Finish goes on forever and will last for decades? Has the acidity for it. Will be picking up the 2008 as I hear it's awesome as well.

[BretWeir]

Originally Posted by Cancuk

I just enjoyed one of the finest rieslings i've ever had and easily the best outside of Alsace and Germany.

Gosset 'Polish Hill' Riesling 2002

Minerals, apples, pears, and 'toasty' on the nose. Ridiculously intense with a lot of citrus (especially lime), pears, green apples all balanced out by a backbone of beautiful acidity. Finish goes on forever and will last for decades? Has the acidity for it. Will be picking up the 2008 as I hear it's awesome as well.

I am a huge fan of the Gosset rieslings. The Watervale is a little less toasty but also great.

[KDawg]

I really need to try out more clare valley and new zealand rieslings. I've heard really good things about them

[Cancuk]

Ya, they do do their rieslings well. Well priced too.

Starting to get into Hunter Valley Semillion's, anybody have any suggestions? Even cheap examples are supposed to age quite nicely.

[Don Melchor]

I really like Don Melchor, concha y toro

[KDawg]

speaking of rieslings, I met up with a few friends on tuesday night to have

DONNHOFFS AND THAI - Sticky Rice, Chicago IL (4/21/2009)

Several of us had a yearning for some Donnhoff and what better to have Donnhoff then with Thai food. It's begining to fully get into the riesling season(of course, anytime is a good time to drink riesling) so why not kick it off with a bunch of great riesling

• 2003 Dönnhoff Norheimer Dellchen Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Nahe
  nose: very tropical nose that is jam packed with tropical fruits, limes, mangoes, bits of petrol, and some pineapple and bits of apples. Excellent nose that is very fruited like one would expect from donnhoff, but lacking a slight bit of depth
  
  taste: really good upfront attack of tropical fruits, mangoes, pineapples, and some apple cores. Excellent attack and finish, but lacking a bit on the mid palate that would really drive this wine and is lacking a bit in acidity
  
  overall: the nose was the main story on this one. Great tropical flavors that hold well together. Could use a bit more acidity to really drive it and lacks a slight bit of depth, but very enjoyable (90 pts.)
• 2003 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Nahe
  nose: good and crisp nose with nice fat tones of minerals, green apples, tropical citrus', bits of ginger, and peach tones. Good depth and expression with very pure flavors
  
  taste: bits of petrol start right off with wonderful fat and round tones of minerals, green apples, peaches, and a good helping of tropical citrus tones
  
  overall: showing off much better then the norheimer dellechen. More depth and expression on both the nose and palate that is drinking well at this time. Good crisp acidity that provides great balance with excellent round flavors (92 pts.)
• 2005 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Nahe
  nose: focused and bright(though fairly tight) nose of tropical citrus', apples, limes, bits of petrol and lemon peels. Very pure, though hard to get a full read on right now, and this had been decanted for a couple of hours
  
  taste: excellent feel with good medium+ acidity. Tart tones of tropical citrus', apples, limes and lemon peels with some bits of white fruits. Very focused and almost laser-like on the palate with the flavors
  
  overall: as expected, this is very young. This should be a beautiful wine in about 5 years. A terrific buy for around 35 and should have a good life ahead of it (92 pts.)
• 2002 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Nahe
  nose: on another level from the other donnhoffs that we had. Excellent depth filled with lemon cream tones, minerals, bits of oils, tropical fruits, hints of papaya and nice round cherry tones. A bit tight and on the primary side of things
  
  taste: very classy and elegant feel with beautiful and expressive tones of lemon creams, minerals, some oil tones, loads of tropical citrus' and nice round tones of cherries. Excellent medium+ acidity adds to it
  
  overall: a wonderful and classy wine. Obviously young and seems in a bit of a changing phase as there was good weight to it and the tones were a bit more round, but still came across as primary. A wine that I'd love to have in the future to see how different it is, but it is damn good right now (93 pts.)
• 2002 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel - Germany, Nahe
  nose: this was a completely different ball game from all of the other donnhoffs. Very rich, deep, and expressive with a touch of RS, but not in a cloying way, its just there to add an extra facet. Deep tones of apricots, pears, green apples, tropical citrus' and some bits of mangoes
  
  taste: very primary with rich tones of pears, green apples, tropical citrus' and loads of mangoes. Great depth and excellent acidity with a wonderful and rich feel that is light on the palate
  
  overall: this has a long way to go. This came across as extremely young and not completely ready to drink, of course, it is extremely delicious (94 pts.)

A real fun night. While the wines were on the younger side, they went great with the food, and sticky rice is a great place to eat at a great price. Very authentic food and it hit the right spot.
Posted from CellarTracker

[Cancuk]

I love Donnhoff.