Farr Vintners Logo

Oxford Blind Tasting Black Tie Dinner

Thursday, 7th July 2011 by Thomas Parker

Last Friday I travelled from Battersea up to Oxford to host the tasting for the Oxford University Blind Tasting Society’s black tie dinner. Farr Vintners had sponsored a case of the wine for this event, held by the society that I was a Committee member of this past year. We were in the picturesque surroundings of New College for the tasting and dinner, organised by James Flewellen and David Stewart. All wines were tasted blind.

The line-up of wines tasted at the black tie dinner

We started the ball rolling with Pol Roger 1996. The wine was medium-deep lemon in appearance, showing citrus aromas with yeasty undertones and hints of bottle age. On the palate there were hints of strawberry and ripe stone fruit with a yeasty mushroom note. The wine was still fresh given its age, with racy acidity yet quite a full body, 17/20. It was evident to almost all members that this was Champagne, though opinion was divided as to whether this was a Chardonnay or Pinot dominated blend (Pinot being correct), and vintage guesses varied from 1990 well into the 2000s. One person did however guess Pol Roger 1996, the society’s senior member and team coach Haneke Wilson.

The first white we tasted was Pichler FX V de Smaragd Riesling Loibner Steinertal 2000, decanted partly to avoid revealing the identity simply by bottle shape. The wine was lemon with a green tinge in the glass, compared to the golden colour shown in the decanter. An aromatic nose of sweet apple and honey leapt from the glass, combined with citrus and petrol notes. The palate was rich and verging on tropical fruit with the petrol notes indicating bottle age, 16.5/20. There was a nice minerality to the finish, but there was a heat to the wine that directed most of the Blind Tasters away from Germany. Guesses were mostly in two camps, Alsatian Riesling and Alsatian Gewürztraminer, though there were also calls of New World Riesling.

The decanted Riesling awaits the Blind Tasters

The second white tasted was Puligny Montrachet ‘Sous le Puits’ 2009 from Verget. The wine was noticeably paler than the Riesling in the glass, with tropical aromas and vanilla from oak treatment. The palate was one of fresh, ripe stone fruit and spiciness from the oak giving a full body, with a clean and medium length finish, 16.5/20. This was a rich and tropical style Burgundy that was already accessible despite its youth. Guesses were predominantly in Burgundy, though there were claims of the New World given the ripeness of the fruit. Many guesses gave this wine more age than it had, due to how well it was drinking.

Tasters discuss the Puligny Montrachet

The first red of the evening was a 1999 Roc de Cambes (made by Francois Mitjaville, producer of Tertre Roteboeuf). The wine was medium ruby with a brickening rim. The nose was spicy with smoky liquorice notes. Black fruit and some red cherry layered with spice and a meaty mushroom note coated the palate. The tannins were powdery but built in the mouth. The long finish was sumptuous black fruit and spice, layered with mushroom and tertiary flavours, 17.5+/20. For many, this was the winner of the tasting, and blind tasters were all in Bordeaux, either right or left bank. Most guessed the wine as roughly 10 years old. Many were very close with their guesses, but the blind tasters do love Claret!

Hard at work – the tasters compose their notes and formulate their guesses.

The last wine before dinner was Domaine de Trevallon 1989, a personal favourite. The wine was ruby in the glass with a steep gradient to rust at the rim. The nose was aromatic and flamboyant; barnyard, meat, mushrooms, graphite and still hints of black fruit. On the palate were layers of cedar, barnyard, cigar, leather and some fruit. The palate started softly but the tannins built to coat the mouth, though they were drying rather than chewy. The style of the wine split opinions but this was my wine of the night – 18.5/20. This Provençal wine divided people between left bank Bordeaux and Southern Rhone, impressive considering this wine has a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% Syrah, and had characteristics from both regions in the glass.

We then moved on to our dinner. We were served Sea bass with Cucumber and Wasabi Sauce paired with Alsatian Riesling and white Crozes-Hermitage, a beef wellington with summer vegetables paired with red Crozes-Hermitage and 2004 Cantemerle, and finally a passion fruit and chocolate tart. The food was excellent, and afterwards we were treated to a tour of New College cellars. My thanks are extended to the staff for putting on a great dinner and for the tour, but I must get back to the wine...

Exploring the New College cellars with President of the Oxford Wine Circle, Omar Farid

Our final wine of the evening was 2003 Suduiraut. Gold in the glass, there were aromas of honeycomb, old bookshelves and marzipan. The palate for me was one of candied peaches, sweet vanilla and a long honeyed finish balanced by some spiciness from the oak – 17.5/20.

The golden Suduiraut shines in the glass.
There was vibrant acidity on this wine, surprising given the vintage, and as such many guesses were of cooler vintages of sauternes. This wine was lapped up by the blind tasters. No sooner than I had offered the remaining wine than I was surrounded by hopeful empty glasses. James Flewellen (Top Taster an unprecedented two years running in the Blind Tasting Varsity Match), about whom some of you may have read in Jancis Robinson’s article on the Varsity Match, gave the last note of the year for the blind tasters to applause from the room. My thanks go out to him for organising the event and tirelessly running the Blind Tasting society this year, it was a pleasure to host the tasting for the black tie dinner. We finished the evening by drinking the remaining wine in the grounds of New College, perfect.

Those of you wishing to read James's take on the evening should read his excellent blog here.

Taking in the surroundings with President of the Oxford Blind Tasting Society, James Flewellen.
Latest Post | Recent Posts | Bloggers | Tags | Archive
Back