Leo's Blind Wine Dinner at Txikito

J

Jay Miller

Jay Miller
2005 Huet Petillant
this is showing much better than the 2002 currently. Bright delicate fruit, soft, pleasant mousse, altogether a delight.

2011 Abbatucci Ajaccio Blanc Faustine - Vermentino, Granite
uninteresting, bordering on unpleasant at first, with air it became rather nice, though not in the same class as the next three wines

2010 Abbatucci Barbarossa (Barbarossa, Granite)
served too cold at first (my bad), after warming up it it was its usual beautiful spicy self. delicious

2010 Abbatucci Diplomate d'Empire Blanc - 37%Vermentinu, 20% Rossata bianca, 19% Biancu Gentile, 14% Genovese, 10% Brustiano, Granite
most people's favorite, supple, complex, excellent

2010 Abbatucci General de la Revolution Blanc - 25% Carcajolu Biancu; 25% Paga Debbiti; 20% Riminese; 15% Rossola Brandica, 10% Biancone and 5% Vermentinu, Granite
despite a double decant this wasn't showing much on first pour. by the end of the evening it had opened up dramatically. while perhaps still not as interesting as the Diplomat its weightless power was very attractive

1995 Scherrer OMV Zinfandel
lovely, pure, elegant zin. I'd drink this any day, though I'd also say there's no reason to hold the 1995 any longer.

1995 Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel
this on the other hand could stand another few years. earthy, tasty, good zin (I preferred the Scherrer)

1995 Turley Zinfandel Duarte
a hot, alcoholic confected mess. And when I tell you that was Jay Hack's opinion you can just imagine what I thought. When I saw this on winebid I couldn't resist adding it to the 1995 Zinfandel flight.

2004 Rhys Home Pinot
gorgeous complete wine. If my other Rhys pinots turn into something like this I'll be very, very happy. Everyone at the table except for Leo loved it. No worries about holding longer but there's also no worries about drinking now. A wow wine.

2004 Joseph Drouhin Chambolle Musigny Amoureuses
This was a very interesting wine to serve blind. Knowing what it was I noticed the green right away and expected lots of people to start saying "2004 Burgundy". But no one picked it out and almost everyone enjoyed it, with a few people preferring it to the Home. I liked it, elegant lithe, but found the green prominent enough to be distracting. I wonder what I would have thought of it blind?

2010 Rhys Bearwallow
Very good wine, I find the Bearwallow continues to improve each year.

2007 Scherrer Platt (Goldridge soils series - soils formed in material weathered from weakly consolidated sandstone)
Disappointing. I greatly preferred the 2006 of this.

2006 Copain Kiser En Haut
Surprisingly (as I have very fond memories of the last time I had this wine) this somewhat of a non-entitiy. The point of this flight was to have both the Bearwallow and the Kiser En Haut together as they have the same soil

2010 Abbatucci Ministre Rouge (22% Sciaccarellu, 18% Niellucciu, 15% Carcajolu-Neru, 15% Montanccia, 12% Morescono, 10% Morescola, 8% Aleatico, Granite)
Beautiful, gorgeous wine. Complex, loaded with flavor and complexity, rich without being heavy.

1998 Chateau Magdelaine
horribly, horriby corked

Equipo Navazos La Bota #12 PX
Rich, complex, loaded with dates and figs. Sweet but not cloying. Along with the #11 one of my 2 all time favorite PXs. Some more information available here: http://www.equiponavazos.com/en/12en.htm

A word must now be said about the food at Txikito. And that word is "Go!" Some wonderful, wonderful food.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Thanks, Jay; funny to see a Turley here. A tangent, but I'm beginning to wonder if it's time to drink up 2002 Huet Pet first release.
Click to expand...

My impression is that it will either be shut down and need more time or be premoxed and over the hill. So I'm not touching mine at the moment.
 
originally posted by Zachary Ross:
All those Abbatuccis!
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The impressive thing is that the table guessed them. After a lot of dithering they asked me the question: "is this wine from an island?". When I said yes, they asked "Corsica?" Then they zeroed in on Abbatucci.
 
Jay thanks for the interesting notes.

I wish I knew more about Abbatucci.
We visited Corsica a few years ago, and I remember Vermentino as the dominant white. It was very reflective of the terroir there. In the northern Cap Corse area, more minerally/acidic/citrusy, and from the warmer south bigger, more fruit and alcohol. From either side of the Island they made very aromatic wines.

The reds were primarily Niellucciu which seemed to make a sturdy, sometimes tannic/rustic wine that could age, and the Sciaccarellu which seemed mainly used in some lithe and pretty rose wines.

I never saw or tasted many of the grapes you listed for the Abbatucci.

I looked them up, and for me the prices of the high end stuff make them a rare splurge type wine.

What do you think of their lower end wines? I'm particularly curious about the rose and the red blends. Sounds like you are impressed by them.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:

2006 Copain Kiser En Haut
Surprisingly (as I have very fond memories of the last time I had this wine) this somewhat of a non-entitiy. The point of this flight was to have both the Bearwallow and the Kiser En Haut together as they have the same soil
Click to expand...

That is surprising, Jay. I've had good experiences with Copain's '06s and I know the love you have for that vineyard. Dumb phase possibly?

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by Jay Miller:

2006 Copain Kiser En Haut
Surprisingly (as I have very fond memories of the last time I had this wine) this somewhat of a non-entitiy. The point of this flight was to have both the Bearwallow and the Kiser En Haut together as they have the same soil
Click to expand...

That is surprising, Jay. I've had good experiences with Copain's '06s and I know the love you have for that vineyard. Dumb phase possibly?

Mark Lipton
Click to expand...

That's my guess. I loved this wine a few years ago so I'm guessing it's just shut down.
 
originally posted by Marc D:
Jay thanks for the interesting notes.

I wish I knew more about Abbatucci.
We visited Corsica a few years ago, and I remember Vermentino as the dominant white. It was very reflective of the terroir there. In the northern Cap Corse area, more minerally/acidic/citrusy, and from the warmer south bigger, more fruit and alcohol. From either side of the Island they made very aromatic wines.

The reds were primarily Niellucciu which seemed to make a sturdy, sometimes tannic/rustic wine that could age, and the Sciaccarellu which seemed mainly used in some lithe and pretty rose wines.

I never saw or tasted many of the grapes you listed for the Abbatucci.

I looked them up, and for me the prices of the high end stuff make them a rare splurge type wine.

What do you think of their lower end wines? I'm particularly curious about the rose and the red blends. Sounds like you are impressed by them.
Click to expand...

Of the lower end wines I'd say my favorite (I've only been investigating the wines over the last 6 months? or so) so far is the Rouge Frais. At $20 it's a steal.
 
originally posted by Zachary Ross:
All those Abbatuccis!
Click to expand...

As a blind taster in this group it was, IMHO, unfair. I wonder if an MW could identify them.
When if it was from an island was asked I immediately knew it was Corsica and not St Maarten.

disappointed Jay only opened one Drouhin
 
originally posted by Suzanne Camhi:
originally posted by Zachary Ross:
All those Abbatuccis!
Click to expand...

As a blind taster in this group it was, IMHO, unfair. I wonder if an MW could identify them.
When if it was from an island was asked I immediately knew it was Corsica and not St Maarten.

disappointed Jay only opened one Drouhin
Click to expand...

If I ever manage to reorganize my cage more will be moved to the front...

Anyway, I thought most of the wines were softballs. The Abbatuccis were my only "they'll never get this" flight.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
originally posted by Marc D:
Jay thanks for the interesting notes.

I looked them up, and for me the prices of the high end stuff make them a rare splurge type wine.

What do you think of their lower end wines? I'm particularly curious about the rose and the red blends. Sounds like you are impressed by them.
Click to expand...

Of the lower end wines I'd say my favorite (I've only been investigating the wines over the last 6 months? or so) so far is the Rouge Frais. At $20 it's a steal.
Click to expand...

I had the chance to try the new vintage of the Rouge Frais this week. I liked it very much, thanks!
It tasted and looked like it had a good amount of Sciaccarellu in there. Red fruits/strawberry mixed with the Corsican garrigue. Nice light body but some depth too.

It was a perfect transition from the white wine (a fascinating wine called Schellmann Gumpoldskirchen by Fred Loimer made with Rotgipfler and Zierfandler) to the bigger red, 1999 Gros Nore Bandol that seems to have hit a plateau in its aging curve. I did end up going back to the Abbatucci Rouge Frais with the food as it was more refreshing and a good contrast to the Bandol.

So any recommendations if I wanted to splurge on a higher priced bottle from Abbatucci?
 
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