Closing out July at Bin 75

Catching up on entries, next up is a recap of another Friday night at Bin 75 in Alpharetta, this one from July 31. We were back with a group of 8-10 and tasting all the wines blind.

The first wine of the night was mine - a 1997 Luigi Einaudi Barolo. The wine was a bit advanced in age, but still with nice flavors. I did come back to it at the very end of the night though and it was fading fast, so it was good to drink it when we did. The next wine had me pretty stumped other than ID'ing some Cab in the blend, and it turned out to be the 2001 Clos les Lunelles Cotes de Castillon. The third wine also had me stumped (along with most everyone else) and turned out to be the 2005 Pibarnon Bandol.

Our fourth wine was decent, but again had me stumped on what it was, and it turned out to be the 2005 St. Cosme Chateauneuf du Pape. I didn't taste any grenache on it at all. The tough night continued next with the 2005 Mendel Mendoza Malbec, another one that most everyone failed to identify.

Next up was a wine I did not like at all (nor did I ID it correctly, though Keith nailed it) which turned out to be the 2006 Clos St. Jean Vieilles Vignes Chateauneuf du Pape. I found it too sweet and not too enjoyable at all. We followed with what might have been my wine of the night, the 2005 Chateau d'Aiguilhe Cotes de Castillon. I thought it may be a Supertuscan, and was surprised how much I liked it.

We then had a 2003 St. Clement Howell Mountain Cab, which was a rare occasion on the night most everyone could at least ID the region and grape. The next wine was also showing some rare typicity for the night, and was our lone Chateauneuf to really scream that - the 2006 Domaine la Barroche Chateauneuf du Pape.

Interestingly, we then had another Chateau d'Aiguilhe, this time the 1999. It was also very good, with more age softening it up. We concluded the main portion of the tasting with a South African wine - the 2001 Morgenstern Lourens River Valley. Being a true novice with South African wines, I had no idea what it was, though Keith knew it was from South Africa.

There were a few more wines after that, but also a taste of Creme de Cassis that killed off what remained of my palate at that point, so I won't go into those wines as I really couldn't taste much of anything else at that point. Overall, it was another fun evening, though I struggled much more than previously in my attempts to ID wines. The next week ended up being a great one as well, and I'll have that report coming soon.