Blind tasting notes

2003 Ch. Carbonnieux – some colour, a noise we figured for chardonnay,
with a lot of mineral, OK in the middle, but a strange metallic note
in the finish, acidic, but also with a pleasant apricot element. Over
all I can’t recommend this one. I’ve had better bottles.

2003 Bruno Clair Savigny les Beaunes ‘La Dominode’ – this old vines
wine was pretty darned good. Pale colour, a good fruit based
(berries?) pinot nose, with a little bit of funk developing with time,
smooth and sweet.

1988 Pichon Lalande – lovely claret nose with dark fruit and a hint of
thyme, well structured with some soft tannin, elegant and long.
Excellent.

1978 Ch. Batailley - corked

1989 Nederberg Private Bin R115 – this is a 50/50% syrah cab sauv
blend, but the cabernet was definitely in the driver’s seat as far as
nose, showing as a slightly warm typical cab nose with a definite
cherry element, and a slight mint element that crept in with time in
the glass. Mellow and sweet in the mouth – good stuffing in this wine
and it is still in fine shape.

2000 Fox Creek JSM – this is named after the owner’s kids, not the
varietal blend, which is in fact shiraz, cab franc and cab sauv. A
sweet oatmeal porridge nose, again with a little mint (it was becoming
a bit of a theme that night) and sweet vanilla oak. Well balanced, not
over the top. No rush.

1998 Torres Mas la Plana – this cabernet from Penedes was a huge dark
sweet wine that seemed still too young to easily assess. Needs time,
although many would happily slaughter it now.

1996 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet – fairly dark, good and not
overly sweet cabernet nose, tasty middle of the road Napa cab. Always
a reliable winery.

1999 Bacio Divino – I have always enjoyed this wine, a blend of
cabernet, sangiovese and petit sirah, but have never thought it
warranted the asking price. Tar and mint with good weight in the
mouth, but not much complexity, although tasty and sweet. It is a
Californian producer trying to ape a Tuscan wine that I wouldn’t buy
from either place of origin.

1999 Coudoulet de Beaucastel – rfipe blackberry nose, and a hint of
Rhone funkiness, medium to full body, decent balance and soft tannin,
but I felt it tapered off at the end a bit fast.

2001 Mercatus Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos – bronze colour, lots of
botrytis but not much acidity, and a somewhat odd sort of figgy taste
at the end.