Mike Webb's House - April 19, 2007 It seemed like it had been months since we all got together, but it was only five weeks. Far too long for many, if not all. Mike started the group off with two whites in decanters. Most agreed that Decanter A was more complex and had a longer and better finish. It turned out to be a very nice Premier Cru White Burgundy from Jean Marc Boillot. Decanter B was a Mt. Eden Chardonnay from Wolff Vineyard. And the group welcomed Bill Kimmer to the tasting for his first tasting as an official alternate. Mike, with some help, re-organized the eight decanters that held the evening's red wine offering. The first flight surprise turned out to be the least expensive wine of the night, a gorgeous 2006 offering from the South Island of New Zealand from Greenstone Point - it tied for wine of the night with an average score of 90 points. And it seems like a steal at only $8.00 per bottle. The only disappointment from the first flight turned out to be a Gevry-Chambertin from Louis Jadot that was off. The second blind flight were, by scoring, very similar. Some thought that the highest scoring wine, the 2002 Williams Selyem, was akin to a late harvest Zin. The average scoring for the second flight ranged between 88 and 90 points. All seemed to agree that both flights were Pinot Noir, but no one was able to identify them as being from Oregon, California, France and New Zealand. With the exception of the Louis Jadot, the average scoring was very tight, with only a spread of five points. The highest scoring wine of the night was the Greenstone Point at 95 points per Mike, and were closely followed by the Ata Rangi courtesy of Howard and the J. Christopher according to Mike, both rated at 94 points. Mike served all wine with a nice selection of cheese, meat, bread and crackers. The dessert wine went especially well with a dense chocolate cookie and vanilla ice cream. |