Kelly and her boyfriend Ian were the lovely hosts of our third Decanter Banter meeting in June. To be honest, I didn’t think we’d make it past one or two of these meets, so well done to the group for showing such interest in wine! We’re really just a bunch of booze hounds!! :)
The theme for the night took us across the other side of the world to France where we tried a sparkling wine and a few red wines. In attendance were Kelly, Ian, Steph, Adam, Lim and Wayne.
Unfortunately for Kelly, she had an accident playing soccer the day before, and therefore could hardly walk, so what was going to be a wonderful French feast, turned into Thai take-out. I don’t think any of us minded, especially as the local Thai take-away was probably the best I’ve ever tasted!
To start the night, we cracked open, or should I saw popped open a bottle of Champagne (Leanne Hayward would be proud for teaching us the correct way to open a bottle with… non-other than a tea towel!!) The Champagne was a Piper Heidseicke Champagne Brut (non-vintage). As none of us were experts in tasting sparkling wine, some of the comments probably reflect this. “It smells like socks” – Ian, and “It’s kind of got a biscuity/dough smell” – Adam. We all agreed that the aroma was buttery with a crisp apple flavour. To taste, it was very acidic with up-front lime and citrus characteristics and good length. It contained a lot of bubbles – very typical of the Method Traditionelle. Overall we scored the wine 17 out of 20 (average score).
With no one bringing any French white wines, we moved straight into the first red wine of the night – Les Vignerons des L’enclave des Papes – 2009 (CÔtes du RhÔne region). The wine was still quite young, showing a light red colour around the rim. The aroma carried very fruity notes, in particular cherries and plums. Overall the wine had good length, was very light bodied and fruity with only slight tannins. Wayne described the wine as “a young, succulent red.” We scored the wine 16 out of 20 (average score).
The second red wine was a Château Poitevin – 2008 (Médoc region). The wine displayed the aromas of liquorice and black pepper and contained some spicy notes – similar to what we would pick-up in an Australian Cabernet Sauvignon. Adam described the wine as “not delivering on taste, and tasting too much like meat – beef ribs!” On taking a more detailed analysis, the wine had good tannins but lacked any residual sugars/fruity notes to give it a good balance. Overall we scored the wine 15 out of 20 (average score).
The last wine for the evening was a Christian Moueix Merlot – 2005 (Bordeaux region). It was interesting to compare the sight of this wine with the previous two, as it was much browner in colour – resembling its age. It also carried earthy aromas mixed with stone fruits like red currant and plums. On the palate, the wine had good tannins, with hints of chocolate. But it lacked the balance as you couldn’t really taste the fruitiness that was so apparent on the aroma. Overall we gave the wine a 16 out of 20 (average score).
And that concluded the wine tasting for the evening. Compared to our last two nights, it was probably a little more civilized than normal, but another very enjoyable evening. I guess it made us realise though just how little we know about French wines! Perhaps we should stick to the Australian wines next time…
