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Five Cabernet Sauvignon + Clos de Vougeot 1989 L. Jadot

A few days ago Dorit's colleagues at work staged a get-together evening with spouses. The theme of the evening was "wine", so I was asked to deliver some 'wine education' to the 12 other young, enthusiastic, but wine-innocent friends.
I talked a little(!) about terroir vs. varietal and then we all sat down for a delicious dinner centered around Fondue Bourguignon.
To put the 'variatel' idea to test, five different medium-low end Cabernet Sauvignon plus a bottle of 1989 L. Jadot Clos de Vougeot (which was opened and tasted last) were poured into six glasses that stood in front of each of the fourteen. OK, so I brought the Clos de Vougeot to put things in some perspective, so?... :)
14 people, 6 different wines, 84 glasses, a couple of fondue kits, plenty of good meat, lots of delicious sauces plus the necessary accompaniments - were all around this huge table for three-hours of fun & wine. The five Cabs were poured and drank in parallel, all thru the dinner.
These were: (listed in a descending order of mean-ness...)

1995 Castilio Moulina (Chile) - The meanest of the lot. Hard, harsh and ugly with nothing but oak chips to tell the world.

1995 Gamla (Israel) - The 2nd wine of Golan Wineries. A bit better than the previous wine. Some blackcurrents on the nose but again, no finesse, complexity or balance.

1994 Conche y Torro (Chile) - This one had some interesting and distinct bouquet and flavor. Still harsh and ungainly, but at least with a message.

1995 Emberton (Western Australia) - This was a pleasant surprise. Hardly a Cabernet in nature or constitute, but a soft, round, with a very pleasant nose and taste. Light but interesting! I think this was the most popular wine around the table.

1995 Robert Mondavi (California) - The best of the lot. Not a great wine by any means, but a decent, fairly complex, well-balanced wine that demonstrated all the good qualities of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape.


1989 Clos de Vougeot by Jadot (Bourgogne Grand Cru) - It is not an easy task for even the best of (B) to sing loudly after five young Cabs, six or so piquant sauces, boiling oil in the air and a crowd that was a bit tipsy by that time... Yet, this wine was manifestly of a different class altogether. Fairly enticing 'Bourgogne Nose', some sweetish fruit, delicate, complex yet low-keyed body. A 17+/20 wine I'd say.

The candid, no-nonsense, reaction of the young friends to the wines, the pleasant ambiance, the good food and yes, even the wines - all contributed to an extremely pleasurable evening.


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Jacob "Yak" Shaya.