Mixed bag shootout. Part 1

Saturday saw a pretty big party at my place. Pizza dough lovingly slaved over by myself and the culinarily gifted Ryan Buttigieg was baked into all sorts of weird and wonderful forms. The addition of some cool wines was a big surprise. There were a few old faithfuls and a couple of wildcards thrown in.

 Left to right

Les Arums De Lagrange 2009
The first wine the was opened was the always fruity and muscular White from Chateau Lagrange. Packed with Semillon Sauvignon Blanc flavour and subtle oak this wine was a real crowd pleaser. "It tastes like tuck shop sweets!" Exclaimed one guest, and I'm sure I agree. The degree of pear, goosebery crumble and candied lemon peel in this wine blows away the casual drinker and intrigues the more experienced. A good balance of ever so off dry structure and surprising length makes this one to seek out. A fantastic one-night-stand of a white Bordeaux.

Chateau DuPlessis 1988
25 yer old Moulis-es-Medoc? Don't mind if I do. Of course this wine was over the hill. A modest Cru Bourgeois when vinified, this wine had all the hallmarks of it's age, A litttle brown around the rim, hints of glycerine on the nose and all the fleshy stone fruit of the Merlot in the blend turned to prune. Not a weighty wine, even by Moulis standards, this lacked length to boot and couldn't really be considered good quality. I did, however, get it at a good price and it was enjoyed by everyone.

Le Blanc Du Chateau Prieure-Lichine 2010
A few of us chipped in some money for this interesting little white from Margaux. Upon opening, this wine disappointed against the more obvious charms of the Lagrange, but once it had opened up a bit things soon improved. There's a wonderful density in the flavour profile. Not only the expected citrus, grass and pear of a regular white Bordeaux blend, but also an interesting vegetal component of artichoke and mallow. Old fashioned sweet of the kind that are hawked at tourist attractions for atrocious prices or fancy salads at gastro-pubs can exhibit the rich herbal heft of mallow and it works well in this wine. Fine stuff, but at the price we paid I expected more intensity in the flavour and nose.
Marriage material white Bordeaux

Carmen Organic Grand Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
The first thing that strikes you about this wine is the noticeable bret funk on the nose. This can work well in a Rhone blend but in a mono-variatal cab it detracts somewhat. There's a lot of cassis in the flavour profile and the oak is well judged. The wine is quite weighty and the amount of residual sugar makes this a satisfying wine int he mouth. The biggest plus point for this wine is how well it went with the food. As the glasses went down peoples throats and the pizza recipes got more outlandish, the Carmen went down faster and faster.
I'm not mad on organic wines as it goes, but if that's your bag this may be worth a look.

I'll give you a peep at the other three wines we had a little later and remember, may the wine be with you. Always.