Some nice wines blind with dinner

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Some nice wines blind with dinner

champagne henri aberle

Had another wine dinner on Thursday night. Andrew Thomas hosted, with Will Willis and Stuart Bowman-Hood. Alas fellow regular with this group, Joe Wadsack, wasn’t able to make it. [Here’s the report of our last dinner together.] We did some wine blind. The best way to taste: start off blind, but before too long do a reveal. These are hybrid notes, started blind but then finished sighted.

Champagne Henri Abelé 2002 France
This is a really rich style of Champagne that’s quite rounded with stylish peachy fruit and some honeyed notes, as well as baked apples and pears. It’s a broad, showy style but there’s no bitterness. 90/100

Champagne Henri Abelé La Sourire de Reims 2007 France
Taut, fine and toast with nice lemony notes. Focused pear and citrus fruit. Very stylish and pure, with attractive freshness. 92/100

Oakridge Lusatia Park Vineyard Chardonnay 2011 Yarra Valley, Australia
Taut, linear, focused and fresh with subtle cream and toast notes. Has a lively core of lemony fruit, and it’s transparent and youthful with a lean personality. So very youthful still. 91/100

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Tissot Savagnin 2009 Arbois, Jura, France
Tangy yet rich with bold flavours of spice, herbs, lemons and ripe apples. There’s some cheesiness, to, and a bit of wax. Distinctive fino sherry edge, too. Bold, with a long finish. 93/100

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Lopez de Heredia Viña Tondonia Viña Gravonia Blanco 2001 Rioja
This is a superb older white Rioja made in a traditional style. Lively, focused and lemony with bright, spicy flavours and notes of herbs and wax. There’s citrus pith and nuts, too, adding to the complex mix. Bold and intense. 93/100

Alvaro Palacios Les Terrasses 1996 Priorat, Spain
This wasn’t a wine intended for ageing, but it has developed nicely. Ripe core of rich, sweet black fruits with some spice and earth as well as plums and tar. Dense and structured with a ripe, tarry finish, and a hint of balsamic vinegar. 92/100

La Clarence de Haut Brion 2007 Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux, France
Smooth, textural, ripe and sweet with lovely grainy, mineral notes as well as sweet black cherries. Warm spiciness here, too. This has developed really nicely, considering it’s from a relatively weak vintage. 92/100

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Ca’Momi Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 Napa Valley, California
Sweet, ripe, warm liqueur-like black fruits. Smooth and ripe. Pure blackberry fruits with nice definition, but it is very sweet, coupled with hints of ginger and pepper. Smooth, rich and warm. 90/100

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Château Lynch Moussas 2010 Pauillac, Bordeaux, France
Gravelly and sweet with lovely blackberry fruit, as well as ash and gravel notes. Fresh and detailed with lovely depth. Smooth with a nice grainy texture, and autumnal blackberry fruits. 93/100

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Pearl Morissette Cabernet Franc 2012 Niagara, Canada
Lifted nose with sweet cherries and just a hint of vinegar, which is a shame because the rest of the wine is beautifully solid. Sweet, spicy blackberry and black cherry fruit, with lovely focus and depth. 88/100

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Château Potensac 1997 Medoc, Bordeaux, France
Now mature, this is a lovely wine. Blackcurrant, gravel, blackberries and sweet plums, together with some spice. There’s a hint of earthiness and nice grip. Sweet but structured fruit with an appealing gravelly edge. Serious. 94/100

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