Brant Blodgett's House
October 16, 2008
This year's final tasting took place on October 16, 2008 at the home of Brant Blodgett. The guests arrived and were greeted with the food table full of freshly-caught Tillamook Bay Chinook salmon (courtesy of Brant), grilled Flank Steak with horseradish sauce, Caprese salad ala Karen, fresh bread and cantaloupe. Members Greg Bunnell, Bill Kimmer and Paul Bonar were unable to attend. Loren Bunnell did not score this month's tasting. Our alternate, Jim Shaw, was also in attendance.
The group blind tasted two white wines during the early part of the evening. The first wine served was a 2004 Marcel Deiss Bergheim Pinot Blanc from Alsace. The second was a 2006 Eyrie Vineyards Pinot Gris with a toast to David Lett who passed away last week. He was responsible for putting Oregon on the national and world wine map by planting and founding his winery in the Willamette Valley in the late 1960’s. He will be sorely missed.
Following the white wine, Brant served the following wine flights:
2002 Neyers Hudson Vineyards Napa Valley Grenache
2003 Yalumba Barossa M/G/S blend from Australia
2006 Laurel Priorat Red Wine (Grenache blend) from Spain
2004 Gourt De Mautens from Jerome Bressy GSM from Rasteau, France
2003 Gourt De Mautens from Jerome Bressy GSM from Rasteau, France
2006 R Wines Chateau Chateau Magic Window Barossa Grenache from Australia
2001 Gourt De Mautens from Jerome Bressy GSM from Rasteau, France
2000 Gourt De Mautens from Jerome Bressy GSM from Rasteau, France
Unfortunately, the 2004 Gourt De Mautens was flawed with TCA present. And sadly, so was the 2001 Gourt De Mautens with an off-putting aroma for some.
Early in the tasting discussions, Loren Bunnell correctly blurted out “Grenache from Spain” based on his expert skill of sniffing. Mike Webb also mentioned Grenache, but only in passing. Most tasters believed the wines to be a menagerie of differing varietals as most were getting many mixed signals from the Menthol, Mint, Tobacco, and other perceptions not usually associated with Grenache.
In the first flight, there was a clear favorite, the 2006 Laurel Priorat from Spain. It garnered an average rating by the group of 93 points. And, as it turned out, it was the highest overall rated wine for the evening. Not too far behind, in the second flight, was the 2000 Domaine Gourt De Mautens with an average rating of 91 points. Overall, even with at least one corked bottle (and possibly two), the G/S/M blends showed very well with an average overall score of 87 points. Surprisingly, Neal was the evening's highest scorer.
Brant served the wines with a wonderful cheese selection from City Market: they included a Florette Crème from France, Humboldt Fog (Goat) from USA, a Dolaner 18-month aged Gouda, and a Manchego aged 6 months. Brant also served prepared meats that included a Toscano Piccante Molinari form Italy and a Jamon Serrano proscuitto from Spain.
After the main tasting, we enjoyed a 2005 Jorge Ordonez Seleccion Especial Moscatel from Spain - a light, white dessert wine, brimming with brix. Also served and a perfect compliment to the dessert was a 2004 Gourt De Mautens Vin Doux Naturel from Rasteau, from the same maker of wines served earlier, but this time in a dessert wine. Mmmmm!! This wine was served with a delicious Raspberry Chocolate Tort made by our Brant's lovely bride, Karen.
Brant decided against opening any Cayuse wines and this caused a great exodus of the tasters. Our next monthly tasting will be held at Howard Johnson’s home in January 2009, but we're all looking forward to our Holiday Dinner in December at Carlyle.
For Scoring Results, click here: October 2008
Wine Summary and Information - Click Here