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My Classy Palate (or) Amanda Sniffs Out the Expensive Stuff

March 13th, 2010

This past Thursday, we had the great pleasure of attending a wine tasting put on by Hoyt Hill of Village Wines here in Nashville, TN at F. Scott’s Restaurant.  What I knew going into the tasting was that we would be tasting Chateau Reignac (a wine from Bordeaux, France) against some of the first growths (Margaux, Lafite and Mouton) but what I didn’t know was that it was a blind tasting. Exciting, non?

Evan and I are very into French wine, but we tend to gravitate toward Burgundy as our region of choice.  In fact, when Evan and I first started learning about wine, I hated Bordeaux. Too tannic, too heavy: the wines felt like a punch in the mouth where the Burgundy wines (and especially my beloved Gevrey Chambertin) were unctuous and sensual and fragrant.  Over time I’ve learned to love Bordeaux for the things that it is over the things it is not, but that preference sticks with me. This preference, however, helped me this night.

So off we went with 60 of our closest friends to taste the wines of Chateau Reignac against three of the best-known wines of the region. At each seat were placed seven glasses, three of which, we were told, contained Chateau Margaux, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild and Chateau Mouton-Rothschild (none of which retail for less that $800US). The other four contained different selections of Chateau Reignac.  Before we started tasting, we were treated to a video about how Chateau Reignac performed in a similar tasting a few years back, paired against other amazing vintages of high-end, gone-off grape juice.

As the tasting began, we were instructed to sniff the wines carefully and try to decide which ones seemed the lightest so as to not overload our palates immediately.  I tasted through the wines before me in the order that seemed best, based on my nose.  After several minutes of swirling, tasting and slurping, I settled on my ratings.  The table discussed and we assigned aggregate scores to each of the wines before us.

Before the official results were announced and the truth about the wines’ identities were revealed, Evan and I wrote down on our sheets what we guessed the wines to be, mostly trying to figure out which ones were Margaux, Lafite and Mouton.

The one thing I knew was that I liked wine #5 the best. There was something elegant about it: sumptuous and fragrant.  It reminded me of Burgundy.  For this reason I was convinced that this one was Margaux.  I had heard that Margaux was this way: the iron fist in the velvet glove, the more feminine of the first growths, the most fragrant of all of them.  I wrote this on my score card, confidently and pointedly, sure in my choice.

As it turned out, I was right!  I picked Chateaux Margaux out of the ranks as my favorite and called it by name.  In fact, my ratings spoke for themselves better than my guesses did across the board.  Here’s how I ranked my wines (along with my tasting notes).

1. 2006 Chateau Margaux
   Silky and beautifully fragrant: great fruit.
2. 2006 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild
   Leather and dirt in the nose. Finish is sharp and acidic but fresh.
3. 2006 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild
   Good fruit and oak, smooth lovely finish.
4. 2005 Chateau Reignac
   Tannic and beefy but not too heavy. Slightly smoky and very fruity. Opened up beautifully, amazing with food.
5. 2006 Chateau Reignac
   Very alcoholic and hot. Tannins are strong, finish is bready.
6. 2006 Chateau Reignac Balthus
   Crazy tannins: OW.
7. 2005 Chateau Reignac Balthus
   Eh. Strong tannins, not much fruit, flat and minerally.

Afterwards, Evan decided that I simply have a taste for the expensive. But there was just something about that Chateau Margaux: it spoke to me in a way that the others did not.  In the end, we bought three bottles of the 2005 Chateau Reignac, which, after it had a chance to open up (and after I tasted it with a little bit of a water cracker) had an amazing complexity that I think will present beautifully with food: rich black cherry flavor and a spicy, wonderful smoky quality that I really liked.

Of the ones that faired poorly with me, they seemed tannic and heavy, but that’s not to say they won’t age well.  Evan’s second-favorite (after the Margaux which he also favored) was my second to least favorite, the 2006 Reignac Balthus. His opinion is that the wine is built enough to have great aging potential.

I enjoyed the tasting (and the dinner afterwards at F.Scott’s bar, a topic for a food post at some point). Someday when I am fabulously wealthy, I hope that Chateau Margaux can be a staple in our cellar.  We had a blast: Hoyt and Yves Vatelot threw a great party.

Cheers!