We are most fortunate in Vancouver to have many long standing wine tasting groups. One of the grandparents is the IWFS Vancouver Branch started around 1967. Another early one was Commanderie de Bordeaux Vancouver (CBV) ten years later in 1977 now coming up to our 45th anniversary. Recently enjoyed receiving from Scott Bailey their excellent Histories booklet on Commanderies de Bordeaux Miami & Greater Miami Florida (celebrating their 40th in 2022) that includes an Appendix with a wonderful tribute to Dr. Lou Skinner (1917-2005) including reminiscences on his amazing tastings of outstanding 1961 Bordeaux. Lou founded both the Miami Branch of the International Wine & Food Society in 1962 and the Commanderie de Bordeaux in 1982. On December 8, 2021 at Blue Water Cafe CBV held their first ever totally Blind Wine Tasting thanks to the orchestration and generosity of long-time member Ian Mottershead who kindly donated all 10 wines (4 bottles of each) for this memorable event. Unbelievable wine education at the highest level. There were four wine flights served with appropriately paired food courses. Studying the wines by your scribe was delightfully challenging and here follows some of my random thoughts during my analysis:

1. 2002 POL ROGER “CUVEE SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL” CHAMPAGNE BRUT
   This arrived in a flute showing an explosive powerful stream of continuous tiny bubbles in a rather pale solution. It looked & smelled youngish while fresh and vibrant with clean classy deep intense fruit. First impression taste was so rich and full with interesting lees aging notes all balanced by outstanding higher acidity. Thinking definitely Prestige Cuvee Champagne maybe 2008. Usually I have my Champagne in a tulip shaped glass for better access expression and this flute took longer to warm, air, and really open up to me. As it did much improvement showed more apples, ginger, candied lemon, and brioche than earlier on plus the palate was rounder with complexity of
   age starting to develop but still very alive. Lovely plateau of enjoyment now but no rush. Must be that marvelous 2002 vintage. Amazing weighty smooth texture and robust length reminds me of Pol Roger Grand Cru blend of full pinot noir fruit driven with chardonnay finesse. Lucky deduction but matched openly by insightful commentator
   member Drew Malcolm who nailed it with “green apple, peaches, nutty, not Blanc de Blancs, early 2000s – say 2002 PR Sir Winston”. Well done indeed.
   
2. 2001 CHATEAU MARGAUX (M)
3. 2001 CHATEAU HAUT-BRION (H-B)
4. 2001 CHATEAU LATOUR (L)
5. 2001 CHATEAU MOUTON ROTHSCHILD (MR)
6. 2001 CHATEAU LA MISSION HAUT-BRION (LMH-B)

Five red wines double blind. Talk about a difficult challenge. Likely a vertical of different years of a single property or a horizontal of the same vintage across five properties. Will all be Bordeaux? Any ringer? Same commune? Different communes? Could be a mixed bag but unlikely top wine collector Ian would do that. So many questions. Must be a theme here! Difficult to solve. Best initial strategy is to systematically go through all five and look for regional styles as well as similarities and differences.

#2 has a ruby red colour to the rim. Approachable lighter cabernet sauvignon style more tea-like red currant herbal floral in character from a cooler year. Almost like a Right Bank top wine with cab sauv (Figeac? – too much baggage knowing Ian is a big collector of it). 1999?

#3 Similar red look but darker right to the edge. Shy at first yet seems riper purer and creamier with more merlot with the cab sauv. Structured rich full sweeter palate with delicious flavours in an earthy Graves style. Perhaps the first two are both Right Bank or maybe Pessac-Leognan? 2001?

#4 Darker and deeper than the first two. Open plums, black olives and blackcurrants with phenomenal concentration seems possible St. Julien or Pauillac from an excellent year – could well be a First Growth.
Confusing since it is so different from the first two wines. Maybe a horizontal tasting as the wines are not that similar. Maybe not a horizontal tasting since so much more depth here. Impressive power but still a baby. What vintage? Seems a more outstanding year than #2. Is this 1995?

#5 Again, a very dark young look. Features cherries and graphite in a classic Bordeaux blend. Oak, acidity and quite tannic up front in a medium-weight slightly austere style.

#6 Seems darkest of all right to the rim but all five of these have really good bright deep colour. Bottle variation with host Ian getting a corked bottle initially (later substituted for a pristine one). Turned stones and earth are evident with a touch of mint in this sweet enticing softer nectar. Maybe it is a horizontal tasting from the late
nineties with such a variety of characteristics in these wines but this seems more like a 2000?

Hindsight is 20:20 but surprised it was five First Growths from 2001 at 20 years of age. Easy to go back and see confirmation of that with the wines. Higher cab sauv in M 82% & L 79% compared to H-B 52% merlot & LMH-B 62%. Selection for the Grand Vin was strict from only 35% for M to 50 & 53% for H-B & L. H-B had a higher yield of 52 hl/ha. Still the cooler Fall weather and late picking showed through in the acidity and tannins of these 2001s. Amazing education trying 5 First Growths yet not really singing at 20. Sometimes shoulder vintages can show the
terroirs of the properties to advantage. They were opened, decanted and immediately served. Usually use that procedure but IMHO these First Growths needed more aeration and showed their distinct personalities much better an hour or two later in the glass. Another factor to assess.

7. 1986 CHATEAU LEOVILLE-LAS-CASES (LLC)
8. 1986 CHATEAU MARGAUX (M86)
9. 1986 CHATEAU LAFITE ROTHSCHILD (LR)

We already enjoyed a horizontal so this must be a vertical. Yet these wines show even more powerfully and consistently similar as a great vintage and are requesting food accompaniment. Commentators were all over the map and tending to younger with opinions ranging from 2005, 2003, 2000, and back as far as 90 & 89 all popular. In fact 1986 is already 35 years old but these choice properties will go a long time. LLC was proprietor Michel Delon fav plus 100 point RMP classic as well as Ian’s fav tonight. Impressive big open intense vibrant cedar fruit. Group voted for LR best, which is another RMP 100 pointer with a bright future ahead of it. M86 is so atypically big and backward – even more so than the other two – but will open up at the end of this decade with the buckets of fruit still there. What a remarkable comparison of three treasures! All showed even more spectacularly
standing up to the truffled beef tenderloin with mushrooms. Patience.

10. 2007 CHATEAU D’YQUEM

This was easier. Most of us identified this as the superlative iconic Chateau d’Yquem but what year? Guesses were older all the way back to the trio of 1988, 1989, and 1990. Expert Bill Blatch describes 2007 as “very fine with a special pure zest”. Unmistakable fresh exotic youth of pineapple, orange marmalade, tropical. coconut, already somewhat creamy and developing some creme brulee notes. So rich, sweet, and complex. Your scribe got up speaking on the unsung long plateau of perfect enjoyment of d’Yquem. This Sauternes is so marvelous young at
only 14 years of age accentuating the freshness, acidity, vibrancy, opulence and sweetness. Yet it can age forever darkening in colour with caramel notes, peaches, apricot, honey, botrytis, and undescribable complexity of bouquet and flavours. Truly a special WOW wine whenever you open the bottle. Matched up here perfectly with the almond, quince, and apricot in the dessert.

Practice your blind tasting. Doesn’t have to be as here at the aged very highest priced wine level. Start anywhere. A lot of challenging fun is so educational in learning about the nuances of wine and your true impressions without seeing the label. Enjoy.

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Question: Is there a name for that wire structure around the cork on Sparkling wine?

Answer: Yes there is. A unique specially designed wire cage or metal clip secures the cork firmly in place against the higher pressure inside a bottle of sparkling wine (including Champagne). The correct name for it is AGRAFE pronounced “uh-graf”.

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Lots of our recent postings have lauded the pleasures to be enjoyed from drinking older wines. Last week your scribe was looking forward to experiencing another one with a bottle of that iconic red Burgundy vintage 1962 from Charmes-Chambertin by Joseph Drouhin. As is my normal practice, I placed this bottle upright a few days earlier to
settle the sediment into the punt for better decanting upon opening. Noticed at this time an unusual amount of swirling red clouds in the bottle. Days later when I checked the bottle again just before opening all of the thick colouring matter had settled to the bottom of the bottle from standing up and it looked like a white wine through the glass. The cork was stuck in the neck and difficult to extract even using the always dependable The Durand on older bottles. Obviously there had been some leakage earlier on resulting in mid-shoulder level ullage (gap between the cork and the wine) but the wine after all was nearly 60 years old. Nonetheless La Tache 1962 is legendary and Allen D. Meadows and Douglas E. Barzelay in Burgundy Vintages A History from 1845 says “62 reds are the best wines produced in Burgundy during the half century between ’49 and ’99. And have stayed the course far better than anyone predicted.” Naturally we were looking forward to this celebratory bottle with great anticipation.

It was decanted by me and immediately tried blind as is our usual routine by my wife Joan (a brilliant taster) who remarked at once “surprised you served an orange wine with my original Ottolenghi inspired vegetable stuffed baked Acorn squash dish”. On smelling and tasting it she changed her mind to “a strange oxidized Oloroso sherry with less alcohol or a top Jura wine Vin Jaune from 100% Savagnin”. Interesting but both of us were surprised that this was a red wine and a top red Burgundy as it sure didn’t show like one. Obviously the anthocyanins (the main colouring pigments in red wine) had completely dropped out from age and oxidation leaving something unique but
entirely different. Bottle variation. Lesson learned. Not always a good idea to leave wines aging too long but much safer and more dependable to enjoy them much earlier on!

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Question: Which grape variety is most planted for the production of wines in Ontario?

Answer: The most widely planted vitis vinifera grape in Ontario is Chardonnay. This also includes their Muscat Clone 77F used for Chardonnay Musque wine.  Check out their good website at www.grapegrowersofontario.com for lots more interesting details.

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Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou (D-B) is a long-time favourite of this scribe. A top Second Growth St. Julien in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification they celebrated via Zoom on October 24, 2020 their 300th anniversary over six families from 1720-2019 featuring present proprietor Bruno Borie toasting with vintages 2016, 1996, & glorious 1982. The property has a really fantastic terroir right on the Gironde River with those “beautiful stones” of the name an important contribution to the quality and long aging ability of the wines. My first visit was over 50 years ago back in 1970 which initially impressed me. Early exposure to their wines continued intensely over the next decades starting at the 4th International IWFS Convention held in 1974 in California where location was split first in LA followed by San Francisco. At Dining Out night in LA at Scandia on October 1, 1974 your scribe was in charge of tasting before serving each bottle from a case of both 1961s from Pontet-Canet & Ducru-Beaucaillou. An outstanding vintage as shown by the P-C but disappointingly all twelve of the D-B bottles suffered from “cooked hot storage”. A good experience learned about storage even from wines that were only 13 years old at the time. Subsequently many great bottles including on March 25, 1976 a marvellous aged subtle toffee 1934 from the Heublein auction held on May 23, 1972 in New York of the Delor collection. Later on several vertical tastings in the eighties confirmed the magical fruit character with amazing harmony this site can produce which usually improves with longer aging. On May 23, 1987 D-B blind from 1982 to 1966 included a lovely very St Julien 1978 and tannic backward 1975 but the stars were the older bottles of rich 1970 and elegant 1966. A year later on April 5, 1988 another blind vertical of 13 D-B from 1983 to 1959. Fourteen years after 1974 poor showing this well stored 1961 this time was all complex spices and concentration. 1959 was a tad musty but 1962 was beautifully balanced and also outstanding yet younger stars still in development were 1982 & 1970. At this tasting 1978 was more herbaceous and 1975 with a hard tannic finish.

Last week your scribe carrying all this baggage looked forward to studying aged bottles of 1978 D-B with braised duck leg and 1975 D-B with freshly home-made pasta for lasagna. Recently on this Blog we have referenced how exciting old D-B have shown from 1970 on November 1, 2021 here, 1966 on June 18, 2018 here, and vertical on May 8, 2017 here where the 1975 was creamier than the current one. Nonetheless continue to be impressed with how these older D-B have changed and improved for drinking with what might be too much bottle age. The 1975 now has lost those hard tannins and though finishing a tad too dry is excellent with food. Neal Martin in Vinous awarded 93 points to 1975 back in May 2018 with these comments:

The 1975 Ducru Beaucaillou is a vintage that I had not encountered for 15 years but my God, what a wonderful wine! Surely the best between 1970 and 1982, the 1975 is beautifully balanced with ample fruit on the quite precocious nose that is more akin to a 1982 or 1985. Certainly unlike some of its more esteemed counterparts, this
1975 shows no signs of drying out or hard tannins, one of the best I have encountered for some time. (NM)

The 1978 was truly sensational with still a lot of fruit left and combining the inherent herbaceousness of that year from the foreground into the background as a freshness. It is now integrated beautifully into the more prominent defined terroir of cedar, cigar-box, minerals and undergrowth. A treasure.

Confirming earlier comments on 1978 D-B by Neal Martin and John Gilman:

Neal Martin’s Wine Journal in 2010: “Served at the Ducru offline in London. One of the highlights of this vertical, this is a classic 1970s Saint Julien that is aged much better than one would presuppose. The nose is leafy, unashamedly austere with cedar, cigar box and a touch of peppermint, yet there is still agreeable clarity and
precision. The palate is medium-bodied, very well balanced with sturdy but fine tannins, an “unbending”, conservative Ducru Beaucaillou that has great focus and vigour. Lively dark cherry finish with hints of tomato and even some toffee/creme-brulee notes lingering on the aftertaste. Very elegant and poised, this is the kind of mature claret I adore. Lovely. Drink now-2020.” 92 points

John Gilman in May 2012:

The 1978 Ducru is one of the unequivocal successes from this vintage. The wine shows just a bit of the overt bell pepper tones of this year, which was “saved” by a brilliant Indian Summer that brought late-arriving ripeness to the grapes in what had looked for a long time like a vintage that was not going to be successful. I have drunk more than a case of the ’78 Ducru over the years and have enjoyed each and every bottle, but have noticed that the slightly “weedy” nature of the vintage has increased a bit in the last few years. The bouquet is deep and complex, offering up a tertiary blend of cassis, bell pepper, tobacco leaf, gravelly soil tones, a touch of coffee, fresh herb
tones, cigar smoke and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nicely balanced, with a good core, lovely complexity, melting tannins and a long, tangy and beautifully focused finish. The wine these days has a “cooler vintage” profile that I very much enjoy, as the slight weediness from the not quite ideal physiological
ripeness of the ’78 vintage provides a character that is very much in keeping with claret from this and earlier epochs. Today, some palates may find this lovely wine just a touch “green”, but I find it absolutely enjoyable and it is a great success in the context of the vintage. (Drink between 2009-2030) 90 Points.

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