Hello;
The Mickey Mouse splinter group of the Tastevin Society met Saturday for
tasting and socializing.

All the wines were presented blind - up to a point.
Magnus, who is the doyen of the tasting group, presented us with a
pre-tasting wine
[c] slightly pale, no brick
[n] mineral, maturity? bret? slightly animal
[p] cherry pits, slight acidity, dry tannines, cries for food

Many heads were wagged and sighs were sighed, although Magnus pointed out
that we already had the central points: animal nose, cherry pits -
so Jan-Olof named it Pinot Nor from Alsace.
Fritz Schmitt Ottrott pinot noir 2002
This was, more or less, to be taken as a friendly noseburner [colloquial
Swedish] for a certain white wine, made from Pinot Noir, that self and Xina
had perpetrated on Good Magnus at our previous gathering.

Came the first, and only, white, served with braised salmon in a shellfish
sauce

[c] rather pale
[n] grapefruit, toast, vanilla, oak, mirabelle and other yellow/green plums,
melon
[p] buttery, creamy, slight acidity, good length

Caused heated discussions, or would have been heated if we had been into
that kind of thing: Magnus claimed that it was very obviously an overseas
Chard, possibly, and most likely from California, too much oak, too much
toast for a Bourg, while self [assumes expression of totally false modesty,
trying to hide notes of smugness] saw a very clear likeness to a
chassagne-montrachet. Lo and behold!
Roux P&F St Aubin 1er cru La Chatenière 2001
Besides being in the right, I definitely liked this wine and will try to
find the producer next time the little Volvo lands in Cote d´Or (and may it
be soon, please!)

Entered into a flight of three reds, very similar, except the first was
considerably darker - served with a daube of elk (it being that season in
Scandinavia).

[c] very dark, almost black
[n] rich, exuberant, generous, full of animality, maturity, whiff of stable
[p] fine tannic structure, very concentrated, black pepper, after some time
a fruity sweetness, but not jammy.
We long maintained that this was a mourvedre. Tell the truth, noone got even
close - noone identified it as a Syrah, but it was:
Renaissance 1997 Syrah North Yuba
The best US wine I have tasted so far. It may be because it also has a
distinctly European style[1] - it would have slipped into a flight of
Rhodanian wines without causeing any comments, except for being less than
typically Syrah.
Even knowing that it was a Syrah, I could not identify any notes that would
serve to identify it as Syrah (or Shiraz, for that matter) except the black
pepper, and I think that was brought up by Magnus (who also brought the
wine).


[c] slightly paler than previous.
[n] very reminiscent of previous, but less generous, still, much animality,
maturity, warm wood, spices
[p] violets, higher acidity than previous, no sweetness.
Tour du Bon 1997 Bandol
This was our bottle - one we had not tasted - we have had several from the
same producer, but this is the first of that vintage. Xina continues to
claim that Ste Anne is better. I think this is the third red Bandol I detect
notes of violet in.

Chateauneuf du Pape Grande Cuvee 1995 Cave St Pierre
Very fudgey, melted sugar, nose, as the previous two lots of animality and
maturity, clean nose with fruit, mostly red berries (raspberries).

In all, a highly enjoyable tasting with some surprises, and a recognition of
similarities in taste (namely, taht we all like reds with a bit of
maturity).

Cheers!

Nils Gustaf


[1]Prejudice on my part, mea culpa.

--
Respond to nils dot lindgren at drchips dot se