ungrafted thursday blinds 6/19
1. ❌
Guess: Muscadet / Chenin
Actual: Pinot Grigio
- Went well: spotted gas (screwcap) and confirmed after it is screwcap. Placed color with green tinge. Placed med acid (not high). Placed old world (mineral driven)
- Didn't go well: aroma threw me off and I couldn't place it. Didn't get bitterness to guess Pinot Grigio but the main problem is I don't know what I'm looking for in Pinot Grigio
- Other thoughts: hated the smell, smelled like fermented chinese tofu cubes / comte rind, I couldn't get anything floral
Peter Zemmer, "La Lot" Pinot Grigio, Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT 2023 - ~$17 to $20 retail.
Note: Printed label reads "Alto Adige" but La Lot is bottled as Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT (entry-tier, broader appellation).
- Vitification: 100% Pinot Grigio.
- Vinification: Gentle pressing, juice clarified by natural settling of sediments (no fining), alcoholic fermentation with pure yeast strains at controlled 19°C; stainless, no oak. Yield 100 hl/ha.
- Source: peterzemmer.com, https://www.peterzemmer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Pinot-Grigio-LA-LOT.pdf
- Confidence: Medium-High. Official producer sheet, but it is the cuvée-level (not 2023-dated) sheet; exact 2023 alcohol/RS not published.
2. ✅ / ❌ (region)
Guess: White burg, cote de beaune
Actual: Chablis
- Went well: placed lemon on the nose. Placed mineral driven wine on nose + palette. Placed high acid.
- Didn't go well: Oak. I smelled and tasted oak but it was actually sur lie.
- Other thoughts: I liked it go figure! London (somm server) at Ungrafted said Cote de Beaune is very different
Domaine Christophe et Fils (Sébastien Christophe), Chablis AOC "Vieilles Vignes" 2023 - ~$30 to $33 retail
- Vitification: 100% Chardonnay.
- Vinification: Hand-harvested, spontaneous (indigenous-yeast) fermentation, full malolactic; aged principally in stainless on lees with under 10% in older oak (1, 2, 3-year barrels reserved mainly for crus); fined and filtered. Kimmeridgian right-bank parcels; organic conversion since 2021.
- Source: thesourceimports.com, https://thesourceimports.com/product/2023-chablis-vieilles-vignes/
- Confidence: High. US importer sheet with producer-level vinification; oak split skews to the crus, so VV is mostly steel.
3. ✅
Guess: Riesling Mosel
Actual: Riesling
- Went well: placed petrol + high acid (though acid became more pronounced when revisiting after the whole tasting). Placed color (very yellow / unusually yellow)
- Didn't go well:
- Other thoughts: Yellow maybe should have been a tell for the age
Weingut Meulenhof (Stefan Justen), Erdener Prälat Riesling "Großes Gewächs" trocken 2021 - ~$45 to $55 retail
Meulenhof is not a VDP member, so "Großes Gewächs" here is a producer/stylistic dry single-vineyard designation, not the VDP-trademarked GG.
- Vitification: 100% Riesling.
- Vinification: Dry (trocken) single-vineyard Riesling from the Erdener Prälat, a south-facing steep terrace (~55 to 65% gradient) of weathered red Devonian slate beside the Mosel. Hand-harvested; cool slow fermentation; estate-typical stainless and large-cask cellar work.
- Source: meulenhof.de, https://meulenhof.de/produkt/2021er-erdener-treppchen-grosses-gewaechs-riesling-trocken/ (site/range page); riesling.de, https://www.riesling.de/de/lage/erdener-pralat/53_23.html
- Confidence: Medium. Producer confirms wine, site, vintage; no dedicated 2021 spec sheet found, so exact alcohol/RS unconfirmed and vinification is estate-typical.
4. ❌
Guess: Zinfandel USA
Actual: Malbec Mendoza
- Went well:
- Didn't go well: alcohol was off (I got low but apparently 14.5%).
- Other thoughts: Not sure I know what the structure of Malbec is supposed to be like.
Viña Cobos (Paul Hobbs), "Felino" Malbec, Mendoza 2024 - ~$20 to $22 retail
- Vitification: 100% Malbec.
- Vinification: 2024 sourced 65% Valle de Uco / 35% Luján de Cuyo; hand-harvested; fermented with selected plus native yeasts in 8- and 17-ton closed-top stainless tanks; aged ~9 months in small French barriques, only 8% new. 14.5% ABV.
- Source: https://www.woodswholesalewine.com/products/2024-vina-cobos-felino-malbec-mendoza-argentina-750ml ; alliancewine.com, https://www.alliancewine.com/vina-cobos/malbec-2024-7825
- Confidence: High. Vintage-specific sourcing and élevage from importer data; ABV from retailer listing.
5. ❌
Guess: USA Cab
Actual: Bordeaux Merlot
- Went well: Placed the oak / chocolate. Placed the perception of not a lot of green / shouldn't be majority cab sauv?
- Didn't go well: Guessed USA. London (somm server) asked me what I thought about the alcohol. I said not super high alcohol and she said yes that is usually a sign of old world (ripeness)
- Other thoughts:
Château Duhart-Milon, Pauillac AOC "Moulin de Duhart" 2022 - $88 MSRP
Note: Technically a Pauillac (left bank) but majority Merlot; the second wine of Duhart-Milon (younger-vine selection). Blend confirmed by official importer sheet.
- Vitification: 87% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon.
- Vinification: Destemmed/crushed, fermented at ~25°C in concrete and stainless with ~10-day maceration; 12 months in 2-year-old French oak post-MLF. Winemaker Eric Kohler. ABV 13.5%, TA 3.35 g/l, pH 3.75.
- Source: palmbay.com (official importer), https://www.palmbay.com/wines/chateau-duhart-milon/moulin-de-duhart/ ; pbi.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com
- Confidence: High. Official importer tech sheet, vintage-specific (added ABV/TA/pH from Palm Bay).
6. ✅
Guess: Langhe Nebbiolo
Actual: Langhe Nebbiolo
- Went well: Connected what I saw with the structure I tasted. Placed the Langhe - did not feel integrated enough to be higher quality
- Didn't go well:
- Other thoughts: Super jammy fruit forward on the nose (not getting any roses / tar). I think I need to try Beaujolais nouveau to know what carbonic is really like
Giuseppe Nada (Nada Giuseppe), Langhe Nebbiolo DOC, Treiso 2024 - ~$30 to $32 retail
Declassified/younger-vine Nebbiolo from a Barbaresco estate in Treiso (highest-elevation village of the DOCG).
- Vitification: 100% Nebbiolo.
- Vinification: Fruit from ~0.8 ha across the Marcarini and Casot crus in Treiso (~350m; oldest vines 1980, youngest 2012); spontaneous (indigenous-yeast) fermentation per estate practice; raised in large neutral oak/stainless, shorter maceration than the Barbaresco bottlings. Organic-certified estate (since 2017).
- Source: bowlerwine.com (US importer), https://www.bowlerwine.com/wine-or-spirit/langhe-nebbiolo/2023 ; bowlerwine.com, https://www.bowlerwine.com/producer/nada-giuseppe
- Confidence: Medium. Vineyard/farming from importer (2023 listing, same parcels); no dedicated 2024 Langhe Nebbiolo spec sheet found, so maceration days/aging vessel for 2024 not confirmed.