Man is my morning starting out rough. Cheers to Grossie for helping that to happen. ThanX to everyone who showed, I had a blast! Here is a list of wines we enjoyed as I sit looking at the wall of glass in the kitchen:

Taltarni Brut Tache NV, Victoria, Tasmania x 2
2000 La Suite, Gramona, Grand Cava
Charles Ellner Brut Reserve NV, Epernay

2002 Dom. Didier Dagueneau Pur Sang mag
2003 X Winery Sauvignon Blanc, ES Vineyard, Lake Co
2000 E. Guigal Condrieu
2003 Rochioli River Block Chard
2003 Lewis Napa Valley Chard
2003 Razi Chard
1997 Clos du Papillon

2002 Freeman Akiko's Cuvee Pinot
2002 Monticelli Bros Mario Sangiovese
1999 Ojai Bien Nacido Syrah
1999 Spencer Roloson Sueno Vyd Syrah
2001 Stag's Leap Winery Syrah
2002 Esca Syrah
2002 Linne Calodo Amnesia
NV Monticelli Bros Rolando Rosso
2002 X Winery Merlot
2001 Pride Cab
2001 Pride Reserve Cab
2001 Neal Cab
2002 Amicus Cab
2002 Fountainhead Cab Borges-Morisoli Vyd
2001 Bressler Cab
2002 Esca Cab
1997 Del Dotto Cab
2002 Sequum Cab Four Soil Melange
1988 La Mission Haut Brion

95 Blind tasting listed in tasting order
1. Beringer PR
2. Dunn Howell
3. Simi Reserve
4. Venge Family Reserve
5. Lewelling
6. 1993 Clos Pegase Homage - found this out while cleaning up
7. Hess Collection Premiere Napa Valley Mt Veeder
8. Clos du Val Reserve Cab
9. Banfi Summus
10. Clos de L'Olive Chinon Couly-Dutheil

1990 Suduiraut

benchland,

Thank you very much for hosting the event. Jen did a wonderful job with the menu which I think everyone enjoyed very much.

My fault on the Clos Pegase, thought I grabbed the '95.

The two wines I like the most from the '95 blinds were the Beringer PR and Simi Reserve, which is not saying a whole lot. Very disappointing overall.

If I'm not mistaken, it looks like around 41 bottles of wine! How many people were there?
It sounds like an "ouch". I can only imagine how many more would have been consumed had my friend futronic been there! The tasting notes would have gone on forever.
Obviously, a great night. Looking forward to the notes, though from pyangs post, the wines were less than stellar.

Definatly an ouch. I think pyang was referring to the 95 blind which surprisingly did not show well. The Simi and Beringer were my favories as well, showing the most fruit and balance. My white wine of the night was the Rochioli. I really enjoyed the 88 La Mish and the 01 Pride reserve. Lot's of other wonderful wines but I was really too busy to take any notes.

Pyang, I hope you don't do that on our next offline.

Any notes, the Prides should have been excellent if given enough time.

Was there enough Advil and aqua to go around?

What a great night! I tried to take notes, really, I did.... But the food was stellar <did I say stellar, I think I meant lunar> , the wine was flowing like, well, wine... and the crowd was, let's just say... enthusiastic. What a fun evening.

Not a grouch in the house.

Let me re-reiterate, it was a terrific evening/night. I have a few notes on the blinds, I'll see if I can make sense of them:

1)Beringer PR- tightish, structured, minty. 92pts

2)Dunn Howell- I thought this was either closed or lacked fruit altogether.

3)Simi- burnt charcoal character, dark, and profound my WOTT 93pts.

4)Venge- I thought it was a Zin. It was oxidized and gone. One might call it compromised.

5)Lewelling- A little monolithic, but nice. 88pts.

6)Clos Pegase- great high tones in addition to being deep and dark. 92pts

7)Hess- Tons of fruit up front, still tannic on the back. 91pts

8)Clos de Val- Ok, rounded, but not great. 88pts.

9)Banfi Summus- a stinky wine, but I liked it. Tastebuddy and Pyang thought it may be off, but I think it was just the character of the Sangiovese component coming out. Probably a 92 pointer, but it needs a few more years.

10)Chinon- Hollow midpalate with a slightly vegetal streak. 87pts.

The 88 La Mish was showing about as well as it will, IMO. It's got a great nose and starts to open up on the palate with super barnyardy qualities, but doesn't quite get as far as it should. A solid wine, but not a great one. 90pts, IMO.

The 01 Pride reserve is a beast, but very tight right now. Thanks for opening this, Bench. Maybe you and I can have another bottle of this together in another 10-15 years or so.

I also enjoyed the 2 desert wines, the 90 Suduiraut and the Edie (is that right Bench?). The Suduiraut was quite restrained and nutty, not overly sweet. The edie was a little sweeter and more obvious but very enjoyable. I forgot to ask for ice cream, I was hoping we could pour some sauternes on it, just for the sheer decadence (I think I read about that on ebob).

Surprisingly there wasn't much left by the end of the night (about 1:30am). I can't believe we got through nearly 41 bottles! I have your sweatshirt, Bench. Either I'll ship it back to you or save it for your trip to Chicago (which I hope happens soon!)

1:30 ! Damn, I hate I missed the slumber party. Animals.

<pout>

quote:

The two wines I like the most from the '95 blinds were the Beringer PR and Simi Reserve, which is not saying a whole lot. Very disappointing overall.

Completely agree. In fact, these were the only two wines I enjoyed from the flight at all. The others I wanted to spit out -- and not because I was trying to stay sober!

On the other hand, the company was terrific -- there aren't too many groups of people in the world you can get together with in sandals, cargo pants, a t-shirt and having not shaved for 5 days, drink dozens of great wines, and have no one seem to think it odd. (Although it wasn't until after I got home that I looked in the mirror and realized I hadn't shaved for 5 days). It was great to meet Grossie, Grunhauser, and Mr. and Mrs. Benchalnd -- who were terrific and gratious hosts.

As for the non-blind wines, I was freaked out by the Parker review of '01 Bresller (and an e-mail a friend sent me) so I brought it to what the story with it is. I opened it 16 hours before the even but did not decant...I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I found the nose very nice with red and black berries, wild cherry, brown spice and cinnomin, and a little bit of cigar box. The wine was medium bodied and I can agree with Parker that the midpalate isn't quite as intense as the nose would let on, but it is still pretty good, and right as the midpalate turns to the finish the wine develops a really bloody sensation. Long finish. 91.5-92.

Other wines I enjoyed were:

2001 Pride Cab
2001 Pride Reserve Cab (WOTN)
2001 Neal Cab NV
1990 Suduiraut
???? Esca Syrah very rich and lush but too sweet.

Again, we had a great time!

a

Do any of you recall tasting the Sequum? I had this Friday and it was fabulous.