Background

Speaking to a packed house of OWC members only – the evening was a sell-out – it was with obvious pleasure that Chairman Hans Sundin welcomed Jasper Morris back to the Club, noting that, after Club founder Michael Palij, Jasper has been the most frequent presenter at Club events over the years.  Jasper replied that due to his long association with the Club he could even remember ‘the young Charles Garrett’ (the Club’s original secretary – now a grandfather several times over)!

Jasper is one of the few MWs to have his own Wikipedia page. He became an MW in 1985 and was followed by his sister Arabella Woodrow in 1986. To date they are the only sibling MWs who are members of the Institute.

Beginning the serious business of the evening, Jasper sketched the background to ‘The Judgement of Oxford Part 1’, referring back to Steven Spurrier’s historic Judgement of Paris Tasting in 1976 (An innovator of considerable note, Steven Spurrier had, for example, the first wine bar in Paris and ran the Cave de la Madeleine wine shop, where he sold wines imported from California).  Steven thought that Californian wines showed great promise, and decided to stage an event to showcase them, alongside some of the finest French wines.  As he knew most of the most important wine critics in France, he invited them to be judges at this extraordinary blind tasting.

As we now know, the American wines triumphed – and the French took this with very bad grace.  It must be said that the wines were, at the time, all very young and had not reached their full potential.

It was therefore decided to hold two simultaneous ‘Judgement’ tastings some thirty years later, organised by Steven Spurrier in California and in London.  Jasper was one of the London judges, along with other leading wine experts including Jancis Robinson, Hugh Johnson and Michael Broadbent.  The same vintages of the same wines tasted 30 years before were tasted again, and once more Californian wines came out on top – by an even wider margin – thereby proving that American wines can age just as well as their Old World counterparts.

Jasper appeared on Radio 4’s Today programme on the morning following the 2006 ‘Judgement’ (at 7.10 am) to discuss the outcome with presenters James Naughtie and Sarah Montague.  He took a bottle into the studio with him, from which Jim Naughtie was very happy to accept a glass – and which Sarah Montague refused in horror!

The Judgement of Oxford Part 1

The wines were shown in 3 flights – the first comprising four wines made from the Pinot Noir grape, two each from France (Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits) and the US.  The second flight comprised two youngish Merlot-dominated Bordeaux blends (one French, one US), and the third of two mature Cabernet-dominated Bordeaux blends (again one French, one US).

Wines in each separate flight were broadly similar in age and price.

Members were invited to complete their score cards, assessing the origin of each wine and assigning a score out of 20 to each.

Flight One – Pinot Noir

Introducing the first flight of four Pinot Noir wines, Jasper reminded Club members that this is the lightest red grape variety in colour, with the thinnest skin and lowest tannins.  Even US winemakers use (more subtle) French oak for their Pinot Noir wines, which are generally grown in cooler areas with plenty of exposure to ocean influences.  The best regions in the US for growing Pinot Noir are generally considered to be Oregon, Carneros, Russian River, Sonoma and Central Coast.  Challenging those present to think hard about their choices, Jasper counselled that the US wines in the Tasting might come from any of these regions…..

After a suitable time for consideration, Jasper teased the Club by telling us the story of the intensive research that had been done into the decanting of wines – which revealed that 50% of people claimed to prefer decanted wines – but could only tell the difference 50% of the time.

Wine 1 – crisp and pure, not yet ready for drinking, and gaining an average Club score of 14 or 15, the wine was revealed as Beaune Cras, 1er Cru, 2010, Camille Giroud. Grown in a vineyard with little topsoil on top of limestone, the grapes are de-stemmed before fermentation and spend 18 months in barrel, of which a third is new oak. On the nose, fresh and spicy, with attractive red fruit flavours, delicate acidity and good persistence.

Wine 2 – again with a youthful taste profile, the Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir, Knox Alexander 2010 is the product of two separate vineyards with a higher than usual elevation and is matured in 75% new French oak.  From the Santa Maria Valley on California’s Central Coast, there is little variation in vintages due to the consistency of the climate.  The wine is named after the maker’s son (another wine is similarly named after his daughter Isabelle.)  The spicy oak was more prominent on the nose, with red (raspberry) fruits and fresh herbal aromas. The average Club score? 16

Wine 3 – with a characteristic dry somewhat herbal (rosemary) palate, the Domaine Drouhin Oregon, Cuvée Laurène 2010 is produced on the red soil of the Dundee Hills and is named after the winemaker’s older daughter, Laurène.  The wine is hand-picked, matured in up to 20% new French oak and indigenous yeasts are used. 2010 was a late vintage as growers waited for optimal ripeness in the grapes, and it is considered it will keep for 10-15 years.  Gaining the same Club score as Wine 2 (16) most Club members guessed this as a French wine from the Côte de Nuits – unsurprisingly given its maker.

Wine 4 – The Vosne Romanée Quartiers de Nuits 2009, Roche de Bellene is the only one of this flight in which stems are used.  Made by Nicolas Potel, whose production is largely organic.  Deep in colour and with rich red fruits (brambles) on the palate, fine tannins and defined structure, the wine is the product of a generally sunny vintage, producing richness and subtlety in the glass.  There was an unclear majority vote for any area and again the average score was 16.

Flight Two – Merlot, California versus Bordeaux

Wine 5 – More herbaceous than Wine 6 on the nose, and showing more age on the rim, most Club members preferred Wine 5 to its pair, felt it was French, and the older of the two.  Club average score was 15.5.  It was revealed to be the Frog’s Leap Rutherford Merlot 2011.  Grown on alluvial silt on flat land by the river in the Napa Valley, the production of the wine is biodynamic, which the grower claims has given protection against phylloxera and Pierce’s Disease, both of which are present in the area.  The blend is 88% merlot, 10% cabernet sauvignon and 2% cabernet franc, 12.7% ABV, and the wine is matured in a mix of French and American oak by producer John Williams, whose ‘zen of winemaking’ is the direct opposite of Robert Parker’s approach.

Wine 6 – With a smooth almost creamy nose and somewhat brighter in colour, the Château Moulin St Georges, St Emilion 2009 is under the same ownership (Vauthier family) as the hallowed Château Ausone and is grown on 7 hectares near the Ausone vineyards, just outside the village of St Emilion on clay over limestone soil.  70% merlot, 20% cabernet sauvignon and 10% cabernet franc, the wine spends up to 18 months in French oak and is 14% ABV.  Average Club score was 15.

Flight Three – More mature Cabernet Sauvignon based wines from the same vintage

Wine 7 – The Club was equally divided over the final two wines, with 50% preferring each wine and a 50/50 divide over each wine’s provenance.  With more brick colour on the rim and a somewhat cooked nose, Wine 6 was revealed as Les Forts de Latour, Pauillac 1996.  The second wine of Chateau Latour and judged by Robert Parker to be ‘Bordeaux’s best second wine’, each block is separately vinified.  The vintage was defined by a north-east wind that gave the wines a crisp fresh acidity.

Wine 8 – Although the cabernet sauvignon is grown separately, unusually the other Bordeaux varieties in the Ridge Monte Bello, Santa Cruz Mountains 1996 are planted together.  The climate of the Santa Cruz Mountains benefits from altitude, giving cool nights and preserving the freshness of the grapes.  The vineyards are at about 1500 ft above sea level and the tasting house is built directly over the San Andreas Fault!  Matured in all American oak, and 80% cabernet sauvignon, the wine is made by Paul Draper and his team – Paul is a philosopher who was converted to wine (in preference to drugs) at a Haut Brion tasting and once worked for the Peace Corps in South America, where he was mistaken for Che Guevara!  The Revue des Vins de France voted Ridge Monte Bello as their favourite non-French wine – unanimously – and Monte Bello 1971 was the top wine in the 2006 Judgement of Paris tasting in both San Francisco and London.

HRE/CB March 2014