Another great offline with good company, food and wine was had this past Friday 10-02-2006 with the other members of the MWP and a few regulars who joined us. The restaurant "Christophe's" was great, the menu and the way they set up the table for us was perfect.
Eleven of us in all, with 11 Pinot Noirs and 2 dessert wines.

Wines were served blind.
Listed in numerical order, not the order served.

Here are my short notes of our wines... I will have to learn more about Pinot Noirs.. The nuances escape me or I just don't get it.

#1: 1999 Faiveley Chambole Musigny
Ruby red, ripe coing (SP?), black cherry's, slightly floral nose. Nice acidity with fresh fruits on the palate. Short to medium finish. JL89

#2: 2000 Domaine des Perdrix "Au Perdrix" Nuits St-Georges
This was the first wine served, I remembered because....
Light translucent ruby, barnyard nose, mildew, not corked but just not right, light fruits and a sharp acidity. No finish. JL84 and I was generous.

#3: 1999 Domaine des Perdrix "Les Terres Blanches" Nuits St-Georges
Dark ruby red, almost opaque, nose of ripe fruits and butter. Nice ripe fruits on the palate with a nice acidity but a bit to present. Nice medium finish. JL89

#4: 2003 Clos du Bois Reserve
Deep ruby red, also almost opaque, nose of fresh dark fruits, mostly plums, also butter and caramel and a touch floral. The fruits just melted in your mouth with a creamy finish and a well balanced acidity and medium plus length. JL92 Runner up WOTN.

#5: 2004 Ninth Island Tasmania
Light ruby red, nose of pomme grenate, grapefruits and flowers. Very light bodied wine and ok acidity. little short on the finish. An ok quaffer for a nice summer evening. JL86

#6: 2003 Ken Wright Guadalupe
Dark ruby, opaque for a pinot noir, nose of dark fruits, mostly prunes and also butter. A peppery palate that was just right, well balanced. Nice length JL92+ (Just edged the #4) My WOTN.

#7: 2002 Le Cadeau
Ruby red. Nose of oak , plums, butter and field berry's. Slightly acidic, a bit unbalanced but not to much. All the right stuff, but nothing seem to go together. JL89

#8: 1999 Chassagne Montrachet Bouchard Pere et Fils.
Well...... That it: Not rated.... Cooked would be my guess.

#9: 2002 Chassagne Montrachet "L'Estimee" Jean Noel Gagnard
Notes are lacking, one of the last wine served: Fresh fruits with a crisp acidity, nice balance, short to medium length JL86

#10: 2002 Gevrey-Chambertin Sérafin Père & Fils
Ruby red, almost opaque. Leather, barnyard with dark fruits. nice balance on the palate one of the wine that you were sure it was a burg. Short finish JL88

#11: 2002 Coldstream Hills
The last wine served: Leather, barn and fruits. Acidic. Regular plain wine, ok for the inlaws. Nothing to write home about. JL85

Some of us ordered the Seared Foie Gras with blueberry's and we had a bottle of Sauternes;

1997 Chateau de Fargues
Nice golden yellow, Pineapples, pears and honey. Beautiful balance. Mouth coating and just plain nice. I really love Sauternes. My other bottles will be sleeping for quite a few more years.

I'm going to have to try more Pinot Noirs to educate myself better and learn more descriptors and understand this type of grape.
The thing that stood out the most for me was the marked presence of acidity. I'm sure if I closed my eyes and tasted some of the lighter bodied wines, I probably would of thought it was a white wine.

We had a great time. It was fun once again to do this blind. It is quite humbling and a great learning experience. It takes the pressure off and lets us judge the wines for what they are.... Then the bags come off.

Thanks to everyone for the fun time and looking foward to the next one in a few weeks.

Thanks for starting this JL. Yesterday morning I realized I was missing a couple of vintages in my notes. I'll post in the order we drank them.

2000 Domaine des Perdrix Nuits St. Georges
A little strawberry and funk on the nose. A light bodied fruity wine a short finish. Too acidic. 84 pts and this wine pissed me off when the bag came off. Not even close to being worth the money I spent on it and an excellent example of why I hate to love Burgundy.

2004 Ninth Island Tasmania
Raspberry and pink grapefruit on the nose. Light bodied with a carbonated feel to it. Unbalanced acidity. 82 pts.

2003 Clos du Bois Reserve
Dark ruby colour. Nose was muted with some nutmeg (could use some air). Full-bodied, silky mouthfeel with raspberry and cream on a long finish. 93 pts, my WOTN as well as 4 other people. A little bit of a shocker. I thought it was one of the Oregon Pinots. And only CDN$25.

1999 Faiveley Chambolle Musigny
Dark ruby red colour. Barnyard on the nose. Medium-full bodied with good cherry flavours on medium length finish. Firm tannins. Needs some time. 88 pts.

2002 Le Cadeau
Beautiful ruby red colour with strawberries and vanilla on the nose. Medium-full bodied with some good cherry and mineral on the medium finish. 90 pts and my #3 WOTN.

1999 Domaine des Perdrix, Les Terres Blanches, NSG
Darkest wine of the bunch. This seemed closed with not much on the nose. Medium bodied with some wet earth and cherry on the delicious finish. Very well made wine. This needs time. 90 pts and I did identify it as a Burg.

2002 Coldstream Hills Australia
Very open fruity nose. Medium bodied with some good fruit on a decent finish. Easy drinking pinot that worked well with my salmon. 87 points.

1999 Bouchard Pere & Fils Chassagne-Montrachet
Not much on the nose. Light to medium bodied. Acidic. Short. Where's the fruit? 85 points and probably generous. Another disappointment.

2003 Ken Wright Guadalupe
Ahhh. Another dark coloured wine and a big nose of dark fruit. Full bodied with chocolate and sweet cherries on the long finish. Modern in style, which led me to correctly identify it as Oregon. 92 points. My #2 WOTN, but was the first choice of 5/11 people.

2002 Jean Noel Gagnard L'Estimee
Getting to the end here so the notes are getting shorter. Light ruby colored with some raspberry on the nose. A little too much acidity, but a decent wine. 86 points. WOTN choice of 1 person and the only who didn't pick either the Clos du Bois or Ken Wright. I love her, but not sure about her palate sometimes.

2002 Serafin Pere & Fils Gevrey Chambertin
Another underwhelming Burgundy. Barnyard nose. Light bodied with some decent raspberry flavour. Easy to drink, but not easy to swallow considering the price. 86 points.


The food at Christophe was excellent again as was the service. They're great about letting us take our time and giving us the room upstairs, which is ideal for a larger group.

Ditto on the comments about the restaurant. i liked the service much better this time round and the idea of a private room to ourselves made the evening a lot more enjoyable. Thanks JL for setting thisall up.


In order of appearance:

2000 Domaine des Perdrix Nuits St. Georges
Pale Crimson red. Earthy(barnyard) and cherries on the nose. Sour cherry with some oak on the palate. Very tangy acidity which I didn't like. Decent finish but a little thin on the end. 84 pts.

2004 Ninth Island Tasmania
Pale Crimson. Nose of raspberries and strawberries with form citrus notes and hint of white chocolate. Palate of grapefruit and raspberrries Sweet finish but with a crisp acidic touch. I liked the fact that this wine had a nose and palate that were different(at least to me). 90-91 points.

2003 Clos du Bois Reserve
Dark ruby colour. Nose of strawberries and ripe cherries and cheesecake(buttery notes). More of the cherry and cheesecake notes on the palate with some chocolate hints and some sweet oak notes. Long finish. my WOTN 93 points(ps picked up 3 bottles today.)

1999 Faiveley Chambolle Musigny
Dark ruby red colour. Nose of leather, oak and tobacco and dark cheries. Sour cherries and tobacco on the palate. 85 points

2002 Le Cadeau
Light redish colour. Nose of cherries compote and strawberries. More strawberry cheesecake on the palate. Finely integrated acidity with long finish. 89 points.

1999 Domaine des Perdrix, Les Terres Blanches, NSG
Dark red. Nose of licorice, chocolate raspeberry and dark fruits. Acidic wine with cherries and raspberries on the palate. Mid-long finish. 84 points(was 86 at beginning of night.)

2002 Coldstream Hills Australia
Dark orange redish. Nose of sour cherries and earth. Sweet, not too acidic with sour cherries adn liqueur like savours.Low acidity but slightly astringent finish. 87-88 points.

1999 Bouchard Pere & Fils Chassagne-Montrachet
Rd crimson. Nose of oak and cassis and cherries. Cherries on the palate. Not much on the nose or palate. soft tannins, low acidity and short finish. 83 points.

2003 Ken Wright Guadalupe
Dark Red. Dark sweet fruits with floral nose, honeysuckle, mocha and tobacco notes. Palate of dark cherries, mocha, spices and roses. Decent length. #2 WOTN WITH 92 POINTS.

2002 Jean Noel Gagnard L'Estimee
Light Red. Nose of earth and sour cherries. palate of same with tangy acidity and some strawberries notes. Nice finish. 88 points

2002 Serafin Pere & Fils Gevrey Chambertin
Dark Red. Nose of raspberries and floral notes. Palate of raspberries with a lively acidity and chocolate notes. Long finish. Very interesting and intense taste. 90 points.

I have to admit that while I really like the wines, Pinot Noir is new to me and I felt envious for a full-throttle shiraz after the tasting as I didn't feel fully satisfied from the wines. THe company and food and service were great, though, don't get me wrong.

Cheers.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mimik,

Sounds like a great evening, folks. I will certainly have to keep an eye open for the Clos du Bois Reserve. Unfortunately, I was in Montreal on Thursday but couldn't stay until Friday to join you. In any event, hats off to you all for selecting such a great theme.

Steve8

Thanks for the heads-up on the Clos Du Bois. I had my father who lives in Montreal pick up a couple bottles for me. I look forward to trying it.

Al, I think we all left the restaurant that night with the intention of going to buy some. Pretty good QPR wine.

Looks like you all had an interesting night.

I'm also going to buy a few Clos du Bois even though I usually avoid California Pinot... Thanks for the heads-up.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Impulse,

Impulse, our next offline is going to be on Friday March 24. Same place, northern Rhone theme. Hope you can make it, but we'll be able to discuss in Ottawa.

quote:

Originally posted by steve8:
Al, I think we all left the restaurant that night with the intention of going to buy some. Pretty good QPR wine.

I couldn't see it on the BCLDB website. Have you (or anyone else) ever ordered wine between provinces?

quote:

Originally posted by Dixie:

quote:

Originally posted by steve8:
Al, I think we all left the restaurant that night with the intention of going to buy some. Pretty good QPR wine.

I couldn't see it on the BCLDB website. Have you (or anyone else) ever ordered wine between provinces?

I order wine from the LCBO, but they won't deliver it to Quebec. I have to go pick it up, which is a lot closer than what you're faced with in this case.