Minneapolis Wine Club
The Groups wine of the night was the 2007 Ridge followed by the Andrew Will and the Chateau Brane-Cantenac. Another great event and a lot harder to match up the wines than one would think as the Italians had similar character even though totally different regions.
Thanks to Kevin and Vicki for hosting!
2005 Nicolas Potel Savigny-lès-Beaune - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune
Nice intro wine to Burgundy. Light in color with a nose of cranberry, spice, minerals and clay. Body of this wine is medium and shows good acidity. (89 pts.)
2000 Château Brane-Cantenac - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Nice wine with gravel, funk, raspberry, cherry and earth. Classic Bordeaux flavors and medium finish. Drinking well right now but has another decade of fine drinking. (92 pts.)
2005 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Decanted 2 hours and drinking the best of 2 previous samples. Dirty color with garrique, raspberry, spice and floral notes. Clean wine overall and I got mild funk which blew off quick. Should age for a decade. (92 pts.)
2003 Mitolo Shiraz G.A.M. - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
Good but not a great Aussie Shiraz. Dark purple in color with Eucalyptus, blackberries, spice and pepper. Not a deep wine and I don't see this evolving and getting any better. (90 pts.)
2007 Andrew Will Sorella - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills
A bit tight even after a 3 hour decant. Dark in color and the nose shows cherry, oak, vanilla, spice and pepper. The palate reveals fruit, pepper and oak. This wine at this moment is not the 96 pointer but closer to a low 90s score. Maybe over time it will improve and I would advise to cellar for 5 plus years. (90 pts.)
2001 Avignonesi Cortona Desiderio - Italy, Tuscany, Cortona
Drinking well right now with cedar, raspberry, licorice, some funk and earth. Tannins have soften and the wine should be consumed sooner than later. (92 pts.)
2007 Ridge Cabernet-Merlot Santa Cruz Mountains Estate - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
A sleeper wine and now a top ten of the year for me. It was interesting that in a blind tasting of eight wines this was the lowest pro rated wine by quite a bit. Blind it was the group's favorite wine of the night. Firm tannins but the wine shows cherry, blackberries, coffee and spice on the nose and palate. The finish is medium and has a nice earthy quality. I was surprised how expressive the wine was and it dominated the 2007 Andrew Will Sorella in quality at this stage of the game. (94 pts.)
2004 Elio Altare Barolo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
A bit unusual as it was tasted blind and I would have never guess Barolo as it had many Bordeaux qualities. Raspberries, funk, gravel and spices on the nose. The palate had a Bordeaux like gravel quality and finish. Some of the character overlapped but hard to tell for sure the region. In any case a nice wine overall. (92 pts.)