“Vintage Pairs” Blind Tasting

In this blind tasting session, we select five wines, serve them blind and, as a group, work deductively through the tasting process to uncover the wine. The trick here is we actually serve ten wines – two wines with something in common, served in pairs.

1st Pair: 2020 Domaine Paul Pernot – Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru 'Les Pucelles'& Alvina Pernot – Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru 'Les Pucelles' 

Domaine Paul Pernot owns 20 hectares under vine and is the largest owner of Puligny-Montrachet vines. Paul Pernot is now in his eighties but still very much present on the estate working closely with his two sons (Michel and Paul Jr.). Michel and Paul are now the legal owners of the property and are responsible for all the decisions made.

The grapes are crushed, pressed gently, given a light setting, then fermented in barrel, using cultured yeast, with 10% new oak for village, 20-25% for 1er Cru, 1/3 for grand cru. Ageing for 11 months in barrel before racking and bottling. This is all done to preserve the maximum typicity of their different soils. The majority of the wines are sold to extremely fortunate négociants in Beaune. The domaine keeps for itself their best wines that they will bottle under their own name.

Alvina Pernot is the granddaughter of Paul Pernot, and have decided to start her own winery (négoce) along with the help of her husband Philippe Abadie. She purchases fruits from her grandfather’s vineyards, and get to do 1st pick therefore she gets the best berries. At the moment, the whites are bottled before the next harvest. Her aim is to make wines with a bit more tension, so she will pick from plots with highest altitude. She produces 16 appellations for 2020 vintage, a production no more than 10,000 in total. The wines are aged in oak barrels (not too heavily toasted) for only eleven months. Wines are aged on their lees until bottling, to enrich the wine but without lees-stirring, to avoid making the wines heavy.

2^nd Pair: 2012 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm - Graacher Himmelreich Auslese & Graacher Himmelreich Auslese Goldkapsel Auktion

Joh. Jos. (“J.J.”) Prüm estate was founded in 1911 and is situated in the Middle Mosel valley, one of the most northern winegrowing areas of the world. For centuries the Prüm family were living in or near the area as early as the year 1156. The Prüm estate already enjoyed a high reputation in the 19th century and it was also a family member, Jodocus Prüm, who constructed both of the famous Wehlener and Zeltinger Sonnenuhren. Nowadays, Dr. Manfred Prüm is leading the estate together with his daughter Dr. Katharina Prüm.

Graacher Himmelreich (meaning "Kingdom of Heaven") is a large 87 hectare vineyard of steep, weathered clay and blue slate (The Prüm family owns 5 hectares). This terroir makes it possible to produce wines that show excellent structure, show beautiful, ripe aromas and flavours, a fine minerality and great depth and length, with long ageing potential.

A gold capsule usually means the wines are made from stronger selected grapes containing higher concentrated juice, usually affected by a certain amount of botrytis / noble rot, capable of aging even remarkably longer than “basic” Auslese, lasting for many decades. In the course of time, they lose some of their sweetness, gain more and more elegance and harmony and the complex profile and depth come to the forefront. They are produced in small quantities from the best Auslese of a vintage.

In Germany, there is an annual VDP auction organized each September since 1910. These auction wines are quite special as they represent the very best, most interesting wines from each participating estate. And they are made in tiny quantities (sometimes only a few bottles for the world). Very rare, they are only available on the open market if a buyer resells his bottles.

3^rd Pair: 1986 & 1996 Château Margaux

A legendary estate, Château Margaux’s roots can be traced back to the 15th century. Nowadays with a holding of 82 hectares, 20 hectares in the walled enclos are used for producing the estate’s first wine planted with 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. The Château produces around 10,000 cases of its Grand Vin every year. Every grape is handpicked, and the wine is aged for 18-24 months in new oak barrels, and fined with egg white. 1986 and 1996 are among the Château’s best vintages.

4^th Pair: 2001 Domaine J.L. Chave - Hermitage & Maison Paul Jaboulet Aine - Hermitage 'La Chapelle'

J-L Chave is one of the world’s most iconic estates producing the finest wines in Northern Rhône. Based in the village of Mauves, this estate has a rich history as it has been producing wines since 1841. The estate is now managed by Jean-Louis Chave, the 16th generation of the family. Their holdings are spread across 9 of the 18 sites on Hermitage hill which includes some significant vineyards like Les Béssards, Le Méal, Les Roucoles, L’Hermite and Peléat. They are all planted with 100% Syrah for its red from vines averaging 50 years on soil composed of granite, limestone, schist, clay and sand which contribute to its great and unique complexity. Across many generations, they never ceased to produce wines with impeccable quality with expressive style. Grapes are manually harvested and partially destemmed (ratio depends on vintage). Each parcel is vinified and aged separately in oak barrel for about 18 months (depending on vintage) before blending these wines together to create the perfect balance.

Antoine Jaboulet founded the family’s wine business in 1834, and it was passed down for six generations before being purchased by the Frey family in 2006 which is currently known as Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné. They own one of the most iconic Northern Rhône wines which is the famous ‘La Chapelle’ Hermitage in Tain. Located on the hill of Hermitage in the heart of Rhône valley, the ‘La Chapelle’ name refers to the St. Christopher chapel that was built in 13th century overlooking the terraced vineyards. The current chapel has been in Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné's ownership since 1919. The grapes are entirely destemmed. The wine’s uniqueness comes from the blend of Syrah from different “lieux-dits” parcels, reflecting the complexity of the terroir making up Hermitage: ‘les Bessards’, ‘les Greffieux’, ‘le Méal’ and ‘les Rocoules’ which are vinified separately. The final wine is a blend of Syrahs from each of these old vine (50 – 60 years) sites.Wine G:

5^th Pair: 2008 & 2010 Puriri Hills - Reserve

Puriri Hills is founded in 1996 by Judy Fowler and it’s located in Clavedon, southeast of Auckland, New Zealand. They make Bordeaux-style wines inspired by the grand crus of Pomerol and St.-Émilion. One of the varieties “Carmenère” is a Bordeaux grape, but it is found more often in Chile today than Bordeaux, and Malbec, also from Bordeaux, is found more today in Argentina than Bordeaux. So maybe we can call this a “Right Bank – Latin America” blend. The ‘Reserve’ label changed to ‘Harmonie du Soir’ from the 2012 vintage. About 5,200 bottles were produced for the Vintage 2008 Reserve composed of 51% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 13% Carmenère, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7%  Malbec. For 2010, about 4,100 bottles were produced and the blend ratio was 51% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 13% Carmenère, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Malbec.