Blind tasting 28 Sept 2009

Last few days of September and we are down below 10c during the day. Sun is absent, something that can not be said about the rain. Time to enjoy some serious wines from warmer climates:

Wine # 1

Medium red colour with a brown rim. Nice discrete smell of figues, dried fruit and dried dark berries. Good well balanced taste with soft tannins and some acidity in the aftertaste. The acidity leads the panel to Piemonte, but the wine is a mix of 10 different grapes grown in Chateauneuf du Pape.

Ch. Beaucastel 1995 , Chateauneuf du Pape 16,9 score

A bit disappointing wine. Recent vintages are sold for €45, this cost around 25€ and in NOK it would set you back between 500 and 600 NOK! Not worth it I am afraid.

Wine # 2

Medium dark red coulour and brown rim again. Solid complex bouquet of sunberries, muck and ceder. The taste is also full bodied, complex , long with nice balance acidity and tannins. Quite a lovely wine. The wine was believed to be a Bordeaux, but was :

Ch Beaucastel 1994 (just one year older!) Score 18,1

A big surprise that the wines were the same , although so different (except for the colour). This one has more body and complexity.

Wine # 3

Burgundy red colour with purple rim. Loveley seductive smell of mint, chocolate, blackberries, a bit like After Eight (and it was after 8 pm). Beautiful long silky taste with a slightly sweet aftertaste. Panel went to a warmer district and all agreed upon Shiraz. Well done:

Lynx Shiraz 2007, Franschhoek, South Africa ca 14€ (imported to Europe)

Score 18,1

This is a bargain, it is such a seductive wine, but be aware it carries 14,5% with style. Its a masculine wine with a feminine touch at 20 to 30% of the price of Beaucastel.

Lynx wines South Africa wine winery estate

Wine # 4

Deep dark red colour. Fresh dark fruit on the nose, dark berries, "Bordeaux look a like", complex and more refined than the Lynx. the taste is long firm but oh so smooth with soft oft tannins and lovely acidity. A great wine from Bordeaux! :

Fairview Eenzaamheid 2006 Paarl, South Africa 21€ (Europe)

Score 18,55 (like the Bordeaux classification)

Everyone are seduced by the Lynx Shiraz, but this single vineyard wine prepared by Fairview takes you another step up the ladder. This is wine poetry (!) that will cost you a fortune to find in the Rhone valley. South Africa is showing the way on quality and price!!!

Comments

Leoville Lascases 1988

Last week was a special week for me as I received my last pay check from my previous employer. An event that required some sort of celebration with some good friends. Of the many bottles opened during that evening was a Leoville Lascases 1988. This Bordeaux wine from St. Julien is second Grand cru classee but it has the quality of a first growth. This chateau was also the wine that made me change from beer to wine as I had the pleasure of tasting a Leoville Lascases 1945 back in 88. The 1945 just knocked me off my guard and I remember thinking what a fantastic wine it was and what an experience to drink this wine from the year when world war 2 ended. I was in shock and I then just decided to enter into the world of wine. I have always had a soft spot for this chateau ever since. And to my pleasure it has been performing well at much more reasonable prices than the much more expensive first growths in the 1855 classification. Nowadays a bottle of this wine costs around ...

Condrieu 2014 by Cuilleron

In the steep hills north in the Rhone valley there is a small appelation which is called Condrieu. Here the rare grape of Viognier is grown. A grape not well known to many people but which gives a fantastic wine when grown here. It is a full bodied white with a very pronounced and overwhelming smell of flower, peach, apricot, tropical fruit etc. The taste is dominated by ripe fruit, medium acidity and a long finish. Very good to outstanding quality. This is not a white for the fainthearted as the style is rather opulent. But with 2 year old Comte it is the perfect match. Cuilleron (manager) has many different styles. The wine is pricy and rare to get hold of. Condrieu 2014 "La Petite Cote" Yves Cuilleron ca 30€ or 400 nok

Chianti Riserva 2016

Castello de Farnatello has a basic Chianti and a Riserva on the market. Both of them are good value for money. We tried the Riserva the other day, in two different glasses; Riedel Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. The Syrah glass is more closed at the top (to the right). The colour of the wine is medium red and the nose discrete smell of cherries, leather and nuts. Attractive acidity with a firm well balanced taste. This is perfect with lamb for ex. 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot has been added to the wine as well and that gives it more body than the pure Sangiovese. And which glass works best? The Syrah glass enhances the smell much more than the CS glass in which the wine seems much more closed. Chianti Riserva 2016, Castello de Farnatello Ca 230 kr or 13euro

Life is too short to drink bad wine

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