The first tasting for 08 and farewell to Grasshopper

This is the first tasting of 2008 and also farewell tasting for Grasshopper. Grasshopper will remain as a member and hope he can stop by often. We tasted 5 interesting wines blindly. Present were Uncle-N and -E, Piroca, Winepath, Grasshopper and Jimmy. None of the wines are extraordinary but all quite drinkable in different ways. The below are in the order of as we tasted them.

1. Selvapiana Bucerchiale Chianti Rufina Riserva 2003, Score=2 or 2+

A surprise winner. Nose is very nice with floral scent without any "funk". Complex back fruits on the palate and mouth drying tannin. Long finish with sweet spices. Among Tuscan wines we tasted in the past tasting, this is one of the better one. We really liked the nose. As usual, tannin is rather strong and drys your mouth but with some food (good cheese, bread with olive oil etc), this will be just fine. It could also benefit from bottle aging. Uncle-N has couple more bottles but "aging" is usually not a good option for this group. The tasters thought this to be Italian, Cali Cab, Rioja in the blind stage. Some thought to give this score of 3.

2. Thorn-Clarke Terra Barossa Shiraz 2006, Score=2

What a contrast to the Chianti. Everybody thought this is Australian Shiraz immediately. The nose is characteristic with plum and black pepper with meat juice. The palate is heavy on black fruits and plum but tasted bit "sugarfied" or"fake". Black pepper on the finish. Classic young Australian over-the-top Shiraz. This style became so pervasive in popular Shiraz from Australia. It is better than many wines in the similar price range from California, though.


3. Cruz Alta Malbec Reserve 2005, Score=2

The nose , we thought, was similar to the previous wine and assumed that this is also Shiraz but we were wrong. This is 100% Malbec. No obvious "purple" fringe in the color.The taste is plum, black fruits and bit "grapey" and finishes with some spices. Fruits are more controlled and do not taste "fake" or "sugarfied". This wine lacks in complicity but good everyday wine.





4. Trapiche Malbec Vina Victorio Coletto 2004, Score=2+

We tasted this several times before and some of us really liked this one but we could not identify it (as usual). Mint, black cherry and hint of chemical (rubber tire) on the nose. Smooth mouth feel with lots of black fruits. Really taste like a new world wine such as high-end Cab Sauv from California (but we, or at least one of us, were wrong, again). Nice structure tannin with decent lasting finish. Some may give this 3 but consensus was 2 or 2+. Among the two Malbecs, we preferred Trapiche.

5. Chateau Charmail Haut-Medoc 2000, Score=2

Everybody thought this is Bordeaux or possibly California Bordeaux-blends but the unmistakable wet-basement smell gave it away. Perfectly decent Bordeaux with 50% Melrot, 30% Cab Sauv and 20% Cab Frank. Behind the wet basemen smell, there are black cherry and some vegetal notes. The taste is classic as well with rather austere but complex tastes with black fruits and good nice balanced tannin and acid. Some of us would have given 2+ or 3. At least, the nose is not overwhelming to detract from enjoying the taste of the wine.