MNSC Dinner - Toscana

My turn to host an MNSC dinner, this time at Toscana.  The theme was 1992 horizontal around the world, with each flight being Old World vs. New World. 

1995 Tattinger Comte de Champagne - bought this from the restaurant so that they would waive the corkage. Pretty delicious but we only had half the bottle before moving onto the reds.

First flight:
1992 Philip Togni - this was drinking very nicely without too much aeration, with a big nose of fruit. Interesting the wine died fairly quickly in the glass, but each fresh pour from decanter brought out the incredible nose.

1992 Leoville Barton - I was expected this to be a dud with no fruit whatsoever. I was pleasantly surprised although I can't say this was the best wine of the evening. At one point we were talking about "sugar water" in the nose

Second flight:
1992 Mouton-Rothschild - this was almost the biggest surprise of the evening, that a wine from a famously weak vintage would be drinking as well as it did. Lots of coffee and classic pencil lead in the nose.

1992 Colgin Herb Lamb Vineyard - I always expected this to be the wine of the evening, and it did not disappoint. A huge nose, lots of sweet fruit, a blockbuster of a wine.

Third flight:
1992 Penfolds Grange - how could this wine be anything other than a Grange? It's got the classic knockout punch nose that you get from just about every bottle of Grange...tons of sweet red fruit, almost cotton candy...

1992 Guigal La Mouline - I think this was the biggest surprise for the night. No one expected the '92 La Mouline to drink this beautifully and everyone put high scores on it. For the price this is a very good La Mouline!

Full post on the dinner is here.

La Conseillante wine dinner

A dinner at Aberdeen Marina Club featuring the wines of Château La Conseillante, with both the owner as well as the winemaker in attendance.

2004 La Conseillante - actually very new world/Californian in style. Very fruit-forward and a departure from the classic Pomerol. Pretty enjoyable.

2001 La Conseillante - an underrated vintage and very classic Pomerol. Not as forward but I can see this drinking really well in a few years.

2000 La Conseillante - One of the stellar vintages in recent years, but this is still very tannic and closed. There is potential for this to develop beautifully but surprisingly not as accessible as the other 2000's.

1995 La Conseillante - very drinkable today...classic Pomerol and fantastic nose.

1989 La Conseillante en magnum - definitely wine fo the evening. This wine is soooo beautiful. The nose just hits you and very smooth on the palate. Most of us would prefer this over the celebrated '90.

1982 La Conseillante en magnum - a close second to the 1989. Needed more time to open up, but still very enjoyable and cannot complain.

Full post on dinner is here.

The wines of Kay Brothers

A dinner and tasting of Kay Brothers' wines, held at Classified and hosted by Colin Rayment, the General Manager of the winery.

2002 Kay Brothers Shiraz - fairly smooth and nice to drink, but nothing to write home about

2002 Kay Brothers Hillside Shiraz - this was much more interesting. Planted in 1982 using Block 6 cuttings to celebrate the centennary of the original Block 6, this was much more fruit-driven, vanilla and typical of Aussie shiraz

2003 Kay Brothers Cabernet - actually pretty smooth and drinking pretty well

2001 Kay Brothers Hillside Shiraz - again, very nice to drink although less interesting than the 2002


1998 Kay Brothers Hillside Shiraz - this was a wine from a top vintage, has aged a few years and is now drinking extremely well

2002 Kay Brothers Block 6 - it's easy to see why this is their top wine, made in fairly small quantities (1,000 cases in good years and 500 or so in poor years like 2007). This is much more powerful and concentrated, and the good to drink now

2003 Kay Brothers Block 6 - good but less interesting than the 2002

2004 Kay Brothers Block 6 - this was THE wine. It's just been released and obviously very young, and the alcohol is showing a little. Full of vanilla and red fruits, this powerful wine is actually approachable now with enough decanting time. Definitely should buy some and save for later.

2004 Kay Brothers Late Harvest Frontignac - a sweet wine to go with dessert. I felt that the nose was a bit too sharp and not exactly to my liking

Kay Brothers Liquer Muscat - other than the 04 Block 6, this was definitely the wine for me. It's got an amazing nose that I could smell from 3 feet away. It was very viscous and sweet, with a deep brown color and a nose of caramel and figs.

Full post on dinner is here.

Two white wines at Pierre

2004 Sigalas Santorini - drunk at Pierre.  With the taste of the scallops still on my tongue, a sip of the wine is first amazingly sweet on the palate (the wine is vinified dry) followed by a hint of bitter finish.

2003 Marc Morey Chassagne-Montrachet - absolutely beautiful...sweet, creamy butter mixed with toasty oak and minerals.

Full post on dinner is here.