First of all, I need to thank Allen for hosting us all last night. He decided that Wednesday was as good a day to drink wine as any and invited us all over. Rico - It was great meeting you. Thanks for bringing such an array of great wines. Rob, great seeing you again. Should have guessed Spanish just from knowing you... Anyway, on to the wines. Some quick notes and thoughts
Allen opened a bottle of
2002 J.J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett to start the night.
2001 Weinbaudomane Marienthal Stiftsburg Spatburgunder Trocken 1999 Schwarz Zweigelt (Austria) - My #3 wine of the night.
2000 Domaine De La Janasse Vieilles Vignes - Corked. Even so, you could tell there had been good wine there at some point. The disappointment of the night. (It's okay Rico, the other two wines you brought made up for this!)
1994 Pesquera Janus - My second favorite of the night
1993 Gaja Sperss 1999 Gagliole IGT A great complex wine and my favorite of the night.
1997 San Leonardo Vallagarina Allen also opened a bottle of the
2001 Waterstone Cab Sauv from Cali at the end of the night. After all of these great Old World wines, it really tasted rather straightforward. Nonetheless, a nice wine (especially for $20) with notes of cooked cherries and vanilla. Strong fruit and upfront tannins and a nice finish. By this point, I was out of points to give.
A few last notes: The
Gagliole was the clear winner of the night. With five present and all voting for a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place wine, it received three 1st and two 2nd. The
Gaja came is second with a 1st and two 2nd and one 3rd vote. The
Pesquera was third with a 1st, one 2nd and one 3rd