Recap of Saturday Night

The Saint Louis Wine Therapy group met on Saturday night for a double blind (meaning, not only were the wines covered up, but we didn't know whose wine we were trying) tasting. Here are the wines, and my brief impressions:

The Whites:

2006 Xarmant Txakolina- really cool, bright, refreshing wine from the Basque area of Spain

2001 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Goldert Muscat- Stunning. My favorite white wine of the night.

2007 Bastianich Fruilano- this wine threw everyone for a loop- pretty delicious, and funky- nice herb note in it.

2001 Mebmer Gewurtztramier Spatlese- the petrol on this one made everyone think "Riesling". Really good wine.

2008 Guigal St. Joseph Blanc- the first time I had ever tried a St. Joseph Blanc. Cool, a touch of oaky spice, delicious- not sure if it's worth the $$ though. I had it pegged for white Burgandy

2008 Fetish "V Spot" Viognier- decent new world style viognier- drank a bit hot

The Reds (All Grenache based wines)

2006 Yalumba Bushvine Grenache- decent everyday style drinker. More elegant than I thought it would be

2003 Willow Creek Cuvee- I had never heard of this winery before. It opened up into a silky smooth, wonderful wine

2003 Doix Priorat- Good, but not worth the $$

2005 Yangarra High Sands- Wow, this was a Rocket Fuel type of wine- absolutely massive. Some really liked it, it's just not my style

2007 El Burro "Kickass Garnacha"- This wine sucked. Terrible.

2006 Mas Doix Salanques Priorat- my second fave red of the night. Really nice little wine- balanced between old world earthiness and new world fruit.

2005 La Pialade CDR- From the town of Chateauneuf du Pape (and uses declassified vines). This was my favorite red of the night- easy to drink, yet had complexity to it. Wonderful example of what can be done with quality grapes in the Rhone.

2004 Le Vieux Donjon CdP- For some reason, I just can't make myself be a fan of their wines. They tend to drink to hot for CdP- it's like they try to add some new world flashiness to a traditional concept, and it just doesn't work.

Overall, it was another really fun night with a great group of people. A thousand thanks to Jeff at 33 for letting us host there, and for having his guys Dylan and Mike take great care of us.

Cheers!