Mike Webb's House
April 17, 2008
We gathered at Mike's house in SW Portland for this month's tasting. Absent were members Brad Courtney (on some silly cruise with his wife without the kids) and current President Neal Bell (reportedly suffering from some dental issue). This was also the first month that the group used the new Riedel stemware with Bill Kimmer getting great kudos for washing all of the glasses ahead of time (and for labeling each box).
The pre-wines were paired with some smoked Steelhead, cheese and bread. They were served in two decanters labeled A and B. They turned out to be two lovely, and highly rated, wines from Vincent Girardin's offerings in 2000, a Meursault 1er Cru Le Poruzot-Dessus and a Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru.
We then headed to the dining room for the blind tasting, two flights of four reds. Mike had identified the wines with stickers and then had Howard number them so Mike could taste the wines single blind. Most had a very difficult time identifying the varietal or blend in the first flight. Members thought they might be Grenache, Shiraz, Cabernet blend, or a Right Bank Pomerol. Strike one (except for one member).
While surveying the first four reds, Brant Blodgett brought up for discussion how the group rates the wine. Some suggested that we rate before and after the blind tasting while others suggested that the group be advised of the varietal ahead of time prior to the tasting. The group agreed, after all was said and done, that our current system didn't need any modifications.
The second flight of reds came and, frankly, did not seem to bear any resemblance to the first flight. Strike two. Some thought these were either Bordeaux-style or Cabernet blends, or Washington Merlot's. Stike three.
As it turned out, it was the second Merlot tasting of the year, a Marilyn Merlot horizontal, along with Merlot from Italy and St. Emilion. The first flight contained two of the Marilyn Merlot bottlings, a wine that not one member had previously tasted, from the 2004 and 2005 vintages along with a Troplong-Mondot and a Spordoletti. The 2005 Marilyn Merlot was the highest scoring wine from the flight, but not by much. The second flight also contained two Marilyn Merlots, a 1996 and a 2003. These went against the Magrez Frombrauge and a Petrolo. The average scoring of all four were either 90 or 91 points. The members average ratings fell between a low of 88 and a high of 90, with five of the eight members rating the wines at 89 points.
Most ended the evening with Mike's home made Brown sugar Orange Custard with Canided Orange Rind (pictured below) along with a 1991 Niepoort, Colheita from Portugal. Sadly for a few, they woke the next morning with memories of staying up past midnight sharing a variety of Scotch.
For a summary of the wine and professional ratings, click here: Wine Summary