2001 with its silky cherry notes, sweet vanilla, and delicious balance along with flavors of mocha and casis; - 2003 with its notes of Prince Edward Cherry Tobacco, vanilla, and ripe fruit; - 2005 with the flavors described above along with more ripe red integrated and concentrated fruits, much more extracted too …. Collecting the Grapes.

Burrowing Owl Estate Winery 2005. Closson Chase Vineyards Beamsville Bench 2005. Mission Hill Family Estate Winery Select Lot Collection 2005. Pelee Island Winery Barrique 2005. Tawse Winery Beamsville Bench Reserve 2002. Burrowing Owl Estate Winery 2005. Closson Chase Vineyards Beamsville Bench 2005.

Collecting the Grapes. very much liked the 2002, and found a curious note of a caraway seed along with saffron and East Indian spices. 2000 (white peach) and 2002. “A French insurance company owns a Chateau?&# the woman’s voice says, incredulous. Sunday: Dinner in a Chateau. The Control Room. The Cellar. The Tasting.

We then enjoyed two wines from the 2005 vintage with my fish soup. 2005 is thought to be a great vintage because, as in most of France, conditions were essentially perfect. I'm not sure yet where I stand on 2005, as I've had some wines that are more about ripeness and grape character than they are about terroir. But close.

Another participant brought in a wine from Hungary, the Tibor Gál Egri Bikavér 2002 ( find this wine ), a traditional wine from Eger known as “Bull’s blood&# (mmm! Sadly, Tibor Gal died too young in a car accident in 2005. The most recent session of my six-week introductory wine class at NYU wrapped up last week.

Before getting into the specifics, here are a few things that jump out at me when looking at our notes as a whole: 9 out of the 14 reds tasted were from the 2005 vintage, a ripe and glorious year. Lyle Fass of Rockss and Fruit also participates for the first time, writing about a Tres Vieille Vignes 2005 Mâcon Bussieres by Eric Texier.

I, however, collected the following bottles, most of which I have not yet touched, and for which I am supplying whatever tasting notes I can find, if any (e.g. JS Score: 93, Oct 2005, Release Price: $78 Piero Busso Barbaresco Borgese 1999 x 3 WS: Refined red. JS , Score: 90, Nov 2002, Release Price: $52 Guido Porro Barolo Vigna S.