I love blind tastings. I’m not particularly good at them- especially when they are done double blind (meaning you know have no idea what the bottles are at all – they could be any grape(s), from anywhere in the world). But they’re always fun to me, and a huge learning experience. I’m a member of two tasting groups that do blind tastings, so I do my fair share. But then, every now and then, you have a wine-drinking experience that completely resets your world, wine-wise. Last night was one of those nights for me.

In my last post, I wrote about a blind tasting that my friend Shaun and I did together. After
hearing about it, our mutual friend Chris in California surprised us with a gift/challenge: he was going to send us a box of wines that he wanted us to taste blind – the only condition was we had to make a guess at each wine and share our thoughts with him.

This immediately set Shaun and I into a frenzy of intrigue. Chris has got a dizzying amount of wine knowledge, so we knew the wines would be cleverly chosen, and a real challenge.

A date was set, and the players chosen: Shaun (a pro in the wine trade, also young like Chris with a similarly encyclopedic range of knowledge and impressively strong blind tasting skills, very much a mentor to me in my drive to learn more about wine every day), Val (another trade pro who used to work with the guys, with an excellent palate and WSET training), myself, my filmmaker friend and colleague Jen, Stephen and Rhoda (owners of the store that Shaun manages that hosted the tasting, Blue Streak Wines, located in a charming neighborhood of Long Island City), myself and my wife Plee, who’s not drinking tonight but is kind enough to film footage of the night, which I will post later when it’s edited. The offer to join is thrown out to a handful of other trade veterans and a community of wine geeks, but ultimately, no one else makes it to the tasting. Most importantly, Chris is in attendance, through videoconference on Skype.

Chris sent us 10 wines, blinded already, which are bagged and decanted by James, Shaun’s
capable assistant at Blue Streak. The wines are served in flights of two, and wine number 1a immediately has me scrambling – a deep golden color, but a subtle, slightly oxidative nose that is completely unfamiliar to me. The palate gives me mostly apricot stone-fruit flavors, but convinces me I’ve never had something like this wine. Chris has given us a point system in which we get points for guessing Old World or New World, Country, region, sub-region, varieties, approx. age, vineyard, producer etc., so based on color and just for the heck of it I guess: Old World, chenin blanc, 20 years old, Vouvray, by Huet. Val guesses Savennieres, so I’m not feeling so bad. Shaun thinks it’s young, and feels like it’s distinctive enough that he knows the producer: he makes a highly specific guess, but I don’t remember all of the details: young and Gravner is what I retain. It turns out to be: a 2002 Gravner Breg. Shaun has nailed it, and we all laugh, incredulous at the feat. The wine is a crazy blend, something like sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, chardonnay and riesling, for pete’s sakes.

My first whiff of wine 1b puts me more at ease: if this isn’t chardonnay, I need to be kicked out of the tasting. It has the toasty oak signature of a classic white Burg, but on the palate, I’m not getting any earth or minerality that I often find in white burgs. The wine is very, very good, with juicy acidity underpinning the fruit and oak. I have a hunch, though, that Chris is toying with us, so I make a less obvious guess: that it’s not a white burg, but California, and something expensive I’ve never had. I say Kistler, 2000-2005. Val is pretty sure it’s white burg – chablis or maybe Puligny. Shaun gets a devious look in his eye, and says he thinks he has had this wine, and knows it down to producer again. He states: white burgundy, (I can’t remember if he gives bottling specs), Henri Boillot, 2007. And he’s freaking right again! 2007 Henri Boillot, Batard-Montrachet. Kudos to Val too, she’s gotten impressively close.

Wine 2a is also a bit of comfort to me: funky mossy mud and earth and balanced fruit tell me that this is probably red burgundy. On the palate, this is really nice- elegant, balanced, very pure. Very pretty, but not complex to me. I examine the wine – it’s got something I perceive as a slight cloudiness that reminds me of a 1996 Dom. Laurent Chambolle that I had last year, so that’s my first thought, except younger. But, guessing Laurent Chambolle didn’t serve me well at another recent tasting, so I shy away from that. This has got a certain lightness, so I go Volnay, D’Angerville, 1999-2004. Val also says Volnay. I can’t remember what Shaun guesses; the other tasters are not making guesses tonight.

The reveal floors me: Chris really means business tonight. It’s Roumier Bonnes-Mares, 2006. Roumier is one of those producers that I assumed I may never have a chance to taste the grand cru bottlings of. This one is not yet showing its full stuff, but it makes sense that an 06 grand cru would be showing a little muted right now. This does clearly have some density, and it opens up a bit over the course of the night. My late notes read “so smooth”.

Wine 2b opens with cherry cough syrup on the nose, with a slight, particular kind of flintiness that I can’t recall getting before from a wine. It’s kind of simple on the palate, not that pleasing to me, with roasted dark notes. My first thought is beaujolais from the youthful primariness of the fruit. But it doesn’t quite taste like gamay, and it has some pinot characteristics. But I don’t recognize it as being straight up pinot either – could this be pinot from somewhere I don’t drink often, like South Africa? In the end, I decide to split the difference, and guess that it’s a passetoutgrains pinot/gamay blend, and it does show some purity and quality to the fruit, so I say Chevillon. Shaun says it’s domestic pinot, but I don’t recall if he ventures something more specific.

Once again, I’m blown away when I find out what it is – 2004 Marcassin Estate! Marcassin is probably the CA pinot I’ve been most curious to try, and now my curiosity has been relieved. The more I go back and drink this, the more I decide: I don’t like this. Shaun asks “how could you not like this” (and he later names it his wine of the night) but to me, it barely tastes like pinot, and typicity aside, I just don’t find it tasty. Many thanks to Chris for sharing another powerhouse with us; but, here’s one I don’t need to chase! It confirms to me that Helen Turley’s style doesn’t seem to fit my palate, whether it comes under the Turley, Martinelli, or Marcassin labels.

Wine 3a is a bit of a stumper to me. It’s got a high-toned, almost VA (volatile acidity) thing going on on the nose. My first thought goes to italy, which would also make some sense to me, as i know that Chris loves Italy, especially nebbiolo. But it doesn’t quite seem like nebbiolo to me, nor like any other Italian grapes I’m familiar enough with to ID in a blind tasting. Because of the near-VA feel going on, I take a left turn and guess that it’s older (1988-1993) Chateau Musar from Lebanon. It turns out to be: 2005 Dettori Rosso cannonau from Sardinia, a WA 96 point wine. Really different and something I wanna try again for sure.

Wine 3b is an interesting, complex one. From the aroma, the first thing that hits me is that this is a new world Rhone varietal. It’s quite ripe, so I briefly consider Australia, but there isn’t as much oak as I would expect from that, and something about the nose makes me settle on California. In addition to the extreme ripeness, there’s also something high-toned feeling about this one too. Stupidly, I follow this to my final guess – Turley zin, figuring that has pepper like Rhone varieties, but could be extremely ripe with high tone too. (A guess that was actually made before the reveal of the Marcassin, so I didn’t know another Turley wine was already in the lineup yet). Shaun thinks it’s California, I think he says grenache, and he definitely says he thinks it’s culty, hard to get, and that it’s Sine Qua Non.

Which of course it is: 2006 Sine Qua Non Raven Grenache. Geez, Chris – what are you doing? Boillot Batard? And Roumier? Then Marcassin? And then SQN? Suffice it to say, I was SURE I would never have SQN, because it’s WAY beyond my price range, and who’s gonna just open SQN for you? After that lineup? Chris, that’s who. Dude is unreal.

Blind tasting is a great equalizer. I have to be honest… the SQN is quite good, and gets better over the course of the evening, but it’s not demonstrably better than other quality CA Rhone style wines I’ve had. Would love to have tasted it on day 2 to see if it hits a whole new level. I’m thrilled that I got to try this. I’m also ready to club Shaun over the head for nailing another wine.

The fourth flight was a test I really enjoyed. Two wines, that side by side, taste very similar. Lots of green pepper, tobacco leaf, etc. on the nose tells me that these are both cab or Bordeaux. Now to ID them…

4a has something on the nose that I recognize. Black olive of a certain type that comes from age, and aged California cab at that, which I only know thanks to the ’77 cabs that were brought to Berserkerfest NYC last year. But this tastes like it might be younger. I guess: 1977-1982 Ch. Montelena. Shaun thinks it’s 1990s Pauillac.

4b has the green pepper, tobacco, etc. but also a coffee caramel thing that I also recognize. It reminds me a heck of a lot of a 1990 Pichon Baron that my friend Mark brought to a tasting last year. Everything else checks out, it definitely smells like Pauillac to me. It’s clearly also got some age on it. I think 89 or 90, but Chris is letting us guess in five year spans, so I say 1990-1995 Pichon Baron. Shaun guesses domestic cab.

Wine 4a turns out to be: 1990 Grace Family cabernet sauvignon. I’m psyched that I worked this one out, for the most part.

Wine 4b is: 1989 Lynch-Bages, This is one of Chris’ all-time favorite wines, and this is a pristinely stored bottle, he tells us, and it certainly is true. A beautiful Bordeaux right in its prime for drinking. My WOTN.

I loved the choice to put these together in a flight; this was a tough one to suss out, these wines had so much in common. It makes my night that I was able to parse these two reasonably correctly. Yes!

Onto 5a: this again feels like a CA Rhone to me. A roast meat/roasted nut thing reminds me of some CDP, but it feels new world. I write down CA grenache on the first time through, before any reveals. When I state this guess, Chris makes fun of me for guessing this after we’ve already had the SQN grenache in the lineup. He’s got me there, but that’s what I had written, might as well stick to my true guess based only on the taste of the wine. It turns out to be 2005 PB Hein Trailblazer syrah, very solid – and an amazing deal considering Chris only paid $5 for it, on a Berzerker board closeout, I believe.

5b throws me for a loop – not because it’s a crazy wine, but because I’m not sure how it fits in to this lineup if I’m tasting what I think I’m tasting. I get a slight bretty thing, fruit is a shade raisiny, oxidative, but I can best sum it up as: Bordeaux-like qualities. But I’m sure 5a tastes Rhoney. Why would he do flight 4, go CA rhone, then back to a Bordeaux. I question my palate, maybe I’m tired. I consider if it might be cab-syrah blend, but that mostly happens in new world, and this feels old world. Given the slightly raisiny fruit, I think heat, so I venture that it’s Italy, Super Tuscan from Bordeaux grapes. Shaun says Malbec from Cahors. Which of course, it is. 2000 Chateau Lagrezette Le Pigeonnier.

In summary, a crazy night of unbelievable wines. Chris, God bless him, has lost his mind. But the best part is that Skype really makes it feel like he’s in the room – we banter about the wines, our lives, make silly jokes that has the whole room rocking all night. It’s the first time I’ve “met” Chris other than email and online text chats, and it’s a great reunion with Val and Shaun for all of them, and a night to make some new friends. Chris, you know how I feel, but I still can’t thank you enough for your unfathomable generosity – I know you are no Rockefeller but there is no one with a bigger heart than you. Trust me, payback is in the works. And Shaun, I already knew you were a talented blind taster, but tonight you are just SICK. I can’t wait til the next one.

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