I Never heard so much laughing in one evening! As you can see, not an unhappy person in the bunch! So it goes, another year and another exciting line-up for this year's edition of OTBN on Saturday evening. The group, unable to identify the particular bottle, used the person to identify the wine. I must say that the group as a whole was showed that they knew a thing or two about wine even if they didn't know what they were buying when they purchased their wine a "long, long time ago" as one song put it. The levy certainly wasn't dry on this evening! So, to make things simple, I list the wines with the presenter.
Don - Barton & Guestier Beaujolais 2007
Garnet red, medium intensity. Pleasant nose with intense strawberry and raspberry aromas and slight spicy notes. Supple and well-balanced wine, with pleasant fruity mouth flavors and a crisp finish.
David - Demarest Hill Winery Black Pearl NY State
Marechal Foch is used to make a variety of styles of wine, ranging from a light red wine similar to Beaujolais, to more extracted wines with intense dark "inky" purple colour and unique varietal character, to sweet, fortified, port-style wines. Wines made from Marechal Foch tend to have strong acidity, aromas of black fruits and, in some cases, toasted wheat, mocha, fresh coffee, bitter chocolate, vanilla bean, and musk. In the darker variants of the wine a strong gamey nose is also often described.
Tara - 1989 Château Chasse-Spleen (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Moulis en Médoc)
High fill, cork in excellent condition; decanted for 1 hr. second bottle from a case purchased en primeur and left untouched, since delivery, in the cellar. fine mature colour. beautiful classic Haut-Medoc expression, lead pencil, gravel, red fruit. medium body, low in acidity, continued to improve as we enjoyed it with "coq au vin" , seasons vegetables and fried potatoes. very good and much better than expected; at peak but there doesn't seem to be a need for finishing your bottle's if well stored
Evan - Dominus Napa Valley 1996
Complex, with mature herb, currant, anise and sage notes that are reminiscent of an aged Bordeaux. Ends with a supple texture, fine-grained tannins and good length.--1996 California Cabernet retrospective. Drink now.
Roger - 1991 Philip Togni
rated 95 points: Spectacular. Needed 30 minutes to open up, then it exploded with fruit, chocolate, decent acidity, and an unbelievably long finish. Great value to this day. Maybe their best vintage, at least that I have had.
John - Bahans Haut-Brion 2000, Graves, Bordeaux
Berry, tobacco and coffee aromas. Medium- to full-bodied, with lots of flavor and a silky and luscious finish. A tasty second wine from Château Haut-Brion. Best after 2007."
Eric - Argiano Rosso Toscano 2007
Offers an interesting combination of currant, raspberry and meat on the nose. Full-bodied, with chewy tannins and a spicy dried fruit aftertaste. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese and Syrah.
Lori - Turchard Syrah 2001
"The dense ruby/purple-tinged 2001 Syrah offers up big, smoky, bacon-infused, blackberry aromas, deep, rich, concentrated fruit, medium to full body, supple tannin, and heady finish."
Sabrina - Tezza Vigneto La Ca 1998 Amarone
Italian dry red wine made from the partially dried grapes of the Corvina (40.0% – 70.0%), Rondinella (20.0% – 40.0%) and Molinara (5.0% – 25.0%) varieties. The final result is a very ripe, raisiny, big-bodied wine with very little acid. Alcohol content easily surpasses 15% (the legal minimum is 14%) and the resulting wine is rarely released until five years after the vintage.
Winner of the night as follows! As one drinker noted after a few glasses - "All in my top 10!"
1. 1989 Château Chasse-Spleen
2. 1991 Philip Togni
3. 2001 Turchard Syrah
Voting was becoming skewed as we went with vote trading.
Now to my assessments. Since I do the blog, my opinion probably is most important. The awards are as follows.
Best story - Sabrina - The Fizz Factor
Best Dramatic Presentation - John - He Brought a Box
Best History Lesson - Don for making the connection between Switzerland and Beaujolais
Most Unusual - David for a NY State wine made from Marechal Foch
Best cooking - Me, of course, every time!
Much to the disappointment of Sabrina, no prizes were awarded. They got dinner and didn't have to clean-up. That should be a prize for anyone!
Wines -
"The Spleen" was simply stunning for a wine of that age. I know 89 was one of the vintages of the century but that wine didn't look or smell a day over five. A beautiful wine in every way.
The Togni was much the same but not quite the depth.
The Bahans Haut-Brion was reminiscent of its bigger sibling. I can see the family resemblance. A wine that clearly had not met its time and will only gain complexity over time.
The Turchard Syrah was the surprise for me. Is was smooth and smoky. More than a match for the more expensive Cabernet blends.
The Dominus was disappointing consider the cost to some of the others. I have learned that it is a wine that really doesn't need significant aging. Seven years out seems to be about right.
The Demarest Hill and its grape Marechal Foch was a new one. Some remarked it reminded them of grappa. Could be. The sweetness is what got me.
For Dessert:
Alvear Soera 1927 - Just too sweet for me.
The 1989 Tokaji Aszu 6 puttehyos was magnificent. Thank you Government of Hungary!
Now the food!
David and Sabrina brought some excellent anti-pasto snacks.
First Course - Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup with Basil and Orange
Main - Braised Pork Loin with Yukon Gold Potatoes and Apples in a beef broth with honey, balsamic vinegar and sage.
Dessert - Sticky Toffee Pudding,
