Solaia at K Restaurant

Keith Edwards organized this great vertical tasting at K on Edgewater in College Park.

Attending were Keith and Parlo; Ron and Bev; Steve and Linda; Niccolo’ Maltinti, the Antinori US Brand Manager; Tobias Fiebrandt of Leitz Wine; and Marc and Kai Frontario.

KeithEdwardsSoliaia

We began with a 1966 Moet & Chandon I’ve had in my cellar for twenty years. As with most really old Champagnes, the effervescence was gone, but great acidity made the wine quite an interesting old chardonnay, with a caramel and fig finish. An amazing accompaniment to the deviled eggs. 90 points.

Keith’s Jacques Selosse Initiale proved a great palate awakener after that, with a toasty nose, crisp fruit flavors and a lichee finish. Served with raw oysters I didn’t try. 92 points.

We then took our seats for the vertical tasting. As always, Keith was super organized, with beautiful tasting booklets for everyone. The tasting began with some introductory comments by Niccolo’.

Solaia is:

  • 75% Cabernet Sauvignon
  • 20% Sangiovese
  • 5% Cabernet Franc

We tasted the wines from youngest to oldest, in four flights. My notes:

Flight 4

1982        349.00  (Keith)
Easily the Soliaia of the night, by a wide margin. A dead ringer for Georges de la Tour. Mint, coffee, vanilla, wax, with a long, sweet coffee finish. 97

1985                     (Keith)
Slightly corked, thin. 87

1987        169.00  (Keith)
Intense peppers, tight, 88

1989        226.66  (Ron)
Dust, thin, short. 87

Flight 3

1990        226.66  (Ron)
Ripe unusual fruits, short. 88

1991        159.00  (Keith)
Mint, herbal, the favorite of this lackluster flight. 90

1993        189.00  (Keith)
Very ripe, with a short finish. 88

Flight 2

1994        189.00  (Keith)
Roasted nose, vanilla, mint, short. 87

1997        226.66  (Ron)
Tannic, thin, Wine Spectator Wine of the Year. 87

1998                     (Keith)
Tobacco, pleasant but somewhat dull. 89

1999        189.00  (Keith)
Ready to drink, sawdust, very smooth, opulent. The favorite of the flight. 93

Flight 1

2001        189.39  (Keith)
Still needs time. Dust, good tannic structure, tight. The favorite of the flight. 92

2002        159.00  (Keith)
Smoked peat nose, no structure, short. 88

2008                     (Niccolo’)
Chocolate mint, a hot weather wine, green pepper, cab franc, silky, sweet finish. 90

2009        214.39  (Keith)
Dust, charred meat, a bit gangly, acidic. 91

 

Overall thoughts: I was struck by the fact that the youngest wines were quite drinkable, which I wasn’t expecting, and that the oldest wines, even those completely ready for drinking, showed no signs of age. There were several stylistic shifts across the years, with the wines from the 2000s clearly better drinking, and the 1982 (one of the very first vintages) a completely different animal. Unfortunately that animal is what I’m looking for (as, apparently, was the rest of the group, since 9 out of 10 selected it as their favorite).

The value of the vertical was to show the consistency of the winemaking, which was high, and the product, which was moderate. Certainly as a group these wines could not be compared with French first or second growths, or the best cabernets from California. For Linda and I it reinforced why we don’t have Italian wines in our cellar, but of course for others the impression was different.

Dinner included a perhaps too subtle ceviche, a nice corn chowder, a lovely fish on a spectacularly flavorful bed of savory corn, an excellent duck dish on a risotto that even I (a risotto avoider) loved, and a superb wagu beef with truffle oil and mashed potatoes. This was far and away the best meal I’ve had at K. It ended with many passed desserts. Linda and I left after dessert, although more great wines came out, but she was tired, and the sugar had made it impossible to return to dry red wines.

Here are my notes on the wines that accompanied dinner:

1986 Gruaud Larose (Ron)
Restrained fruit, simple 88

1986 Lynch Bages (Steve)
Very similar to Gruaud, slightly less fruit, coffee 87

1969 Clos Vougeot Domaine Gros Freres (Steve)
Fruity, good acid, tobacco, bacon, mint, vanilla 94

1961 Chambolle Musigny Les Beaux Bruns Greveley (Ron)
Dried flowers, fat, Carmel, burnt log, forest floor 95

2005 Corton Clos du Roi Prince Florent de Merrode (Mark)
Now owned by DRC. Pleasant fruit, simple 90

1990 Gevrey Chambertin Nadeef (Keith)
Candy, mint, dried fruits 90

1993 Mersault-Perrieres Les Champeaux Ampeau (Ron)
Floral, good acid, fresh, drinking 20 years younger 94

1999 Rinaldo Barolo (Keith)
High acid, red berries 89

1991 Dominus (Keith)
This wine was presented blind as a first growth, but there was little doubt in my mind what it was. Green pepper, great tannin structure, coffee, graphite, spice, jalapeño, very young, talcum powder. Easily Wine of the Night! 99

 

Thanks to Keith for putting together a great event. These vertical tasting can be hard work, because they require lots of attention and careful discussion, but I find them the most educational of all wine events.

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2011 Bordeaux

Last year we attended the 2010 Bordeaux tasting at the Rosen Shingle Creek, and it was a terrific event, so we were looking forward to this year’s version. Quite a few of our friends also attended, so there were 15 of us in all. That was actually a fairly large percentage of the total attendance of 150-200, which seemed to be down from last year, perhaps because ABC provided no way to buy the tickets online.

The event was held in one of the large conference spaces at the Rosen. We’d planned to have some sushi before hand, but a large sales convention had taken over nearly all the restaurants. We ended up at the bar of A Land Remembered for a tuna appetizer.

At the event we quickly learned why 2011 is not regarded as a great year in Bordeaux. The wines were mostly tannic but green, short, off balance, and thin. Certainly nothing like the 2009s and 2010s. Interestingly, though, the better producers managed to make significantly better wines than the lesser ones. While this isn’t surprising, the stratification was noteworthy, with almost no wines in the middle. Each wine seemed to be either completely unappealing or very good, with almost none falling in between.

It only took about an hour to try most of the promising wines, although we skipped a few whites and the Sauternes. As was the case last year, the obscure Château St. Pierre was probably the best buy.

The food last year was plentiful, but this year is seemed either more limited or simply delayed, and the attendees fell on it like hungry wolves. With long lines for the hot food we decided to leave and go to Calla Bella, the hotel’s Italian restaurant. We had a fairly uninspired meal there last year, but this year, sitting at the presentation bar that faces the kitchen we had excellent food and service. The Marguerita flatbread was authentically Italian, the Chilean sea bass was done with a deft touch, and the mushroom side was great.

If they do the event again next year I will definitely go, but I suspect similar results for the 2012 vintage.

Here are my notes on the wines:

 

Château d’Aiguilhe

Tight 88

 

Château Branaire Ducru

Tannic, some potential 89

 

Château Brane Cantenac

Really tannic 88

 

Brane Baron

Balanced 90

 

Château Camensac

Drinkable vanilla 88

 

Château Canon La Gaffelière

Green 89

 

Château Cantemerle

Very green 86

 

Château Cantenac Brown

Tannic 88

 

Château Carbonnieux

White: SB nose, astringent 85

Red: balanced 88

 

Château Chasse Spleen

Very rough 86

 

Château Clinet

Great structure 95

 

Daugay

Smooth but short 89

 

Clos de L’Oratoire

Tight, thin 87

 

Ferriere

Short 86

 

Fombrauge

Tannic 87

 

Château Gloria

Great coffee nose 91

 

Château Grand Puy Lacoste

Balanced 90

 

Lacoste Borie

Tannin mint 87

 

Château Haut Batailley

Very drinkable 92

 

Château Haut Bages Libéral

Green bitter 84

 

Château Lafon Rochet

Tannic green 85

 

Château LaPointe

Varietal balanced 94

 

De LaPointe

Merlot 89

 

La Tour Carnet

Good structure 90

 

Château Langoa Barton

Rough 85

 

Château Léoville Barton

Smooth 87

 

Château Léoville Poyferré

Mint, nice balance 95

 

Château Lynch Bages

Tannic 89

 

Echo de Lynch Bages

Drinkable 85

 

Clos Marsalette

Smooth 89

 

Phelan Segur

Awkward 87

 

Château Pichon Longueville Baron

Good structure 94

 

Château Suduiraut

 

Pape Clement

Great structure 95

 

Pibran

Dense, chocolate, coffee, Pauillac 93

 

Château Smith Haut Lafitte

Coffee gravel smooth 95

 

Château St. Pierre

Beautiful coffee nose, great structure 94

 

Château Talbot

Great balance 95