Last Friday some of our members got together for a grand blind tasting in a Show Me show down white wine edition. With no regional limitations and no varietal restrictions, our beloved members brought in some of their finest white wines from the deepest parts of their cellar. We had eleven stunning wines in the lineup but there can only be one winner and not all showed to the top of their game.
The flight was large so I broke it down in three’s for an easier tasting and comparison. From the first three wines, my favorite was wine #2: rich flavors, gorgeous minerals, beautifully complex with a stunning finish. Caramelized pear, golden apples, sharp cheese, wax, honey comb, dried wild herbs, yellow flowers and preserved Meyer lemon.
The next set of three, wine #5 stood out to me the most being the least offensive of the set. #4 was overly oxidized to the point it was taken out of the lineup and #6 just wasn’t my personal style. #5 showed a lot more elegance, cleaner minerality and brighter fruit.
I thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed the last leg of the lineup: wines #7-11. Wines #8 and #9 showed very well. #8 was the hidden gem in the flight. The wine was one of our favorite grower Champagnes decanted until the bubbles settled out. But that didn’t fool our members, some of our best blind tasters had notes that depicted a top notch Champagne or Sparkling wine claiming it tasted like an aged Nyetimber that’s been in the glass a little too long. Wine #9 was one of my favorites in the entire lineup with beautiful notes of honeysuckle, white cherry pith, ripe apricots, peach, lime and flint. Powerful white wine that has the capability to shine for a lifetime.
Wines #10 and #11 were also my favorites of the lineup. Perhaps it was the shear power and refreshing minerality or the electrifying intensity and every in these last two wines that were not nearly as present in the wines before them. In these last two glasses, there was lime galore from lime blossoms and lime zest to lime candy and everything in between. Chalk was the mineral backbone that gave these wines its amazing structure and life. What a fantastic evening with great wines and even better company. We couldn’t have hosted such a wonderful tasting without our valued members’ enthusiasm for fine wines like these.
Can you guess which wine is what?
Show Me Blanc Lineup in the Order of Which It Was Poured
#1. 2007 Bergstrom Dr. Bergstrom Riesling
#2. 1987 JL Chave Hermitage Blanc
#3. 2009 Sine Qua Non On the Lam White Blend
#4. 2007 Bonneau du Martray Grand Cru Corton Charlemagne- Flawed
#5. 2012 Cameron Clos Electrique Chardonnay, OR- Winning Bottle
#6. 2007 Clos de Papes Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc
#7. 2011 Leroy Puligny Montrachet Premier Cru Sous le Puits
#8. NV Chartogne Taillet Fiacre
#9. 2002 Trimbach Clos St. Hune, Riesling, Alsace
#10. 2013 Keller G-Max Riesling, GE
#11. 2009 Dauvissat Chablis
2009 Dauvissat Chablis not pictured.
Two of the Greatest Rieslings in the World side by side!