Recent drinking round-up - whites!

As promised, back with a report on some whites we've had over the past four months or so. We begin with this Rully 1er cru Gresigny 2014 from Domaine Vincent Dureuil-Janthial. I'm not entirely sure where it came from but G informed me that they are a top producer. It was a pale gold colour and reminded us of premier cru Chablis on the nose, with a lemony, chalky thing going on. It was serious, with good weight and breadth, but we gave it a high 8 indicating that it didn't quite reach the heights. G considered it a little short on the finish. Looking back, we had a bottle from the same producer about a year ago which had the same issue. That's still a decent score for a Rully.

I was delighted to get this Pouilly-Fume Les Pres Bessons 1986 from Seguin Pere et Fils at a most advantageous price in a random mixed lot at a recent auction. We were encouraged by the level and the wine itself turned out to be extraordinary. It had a wonderful aromatic nose and was bone dry on the palate, with interesting fruity notes of gooseberry and quince, and good minerality. A very successful combination of both richness and precision. G said it was the best Pouilly-Fume he's ever had. Sadly this was the only bottle, but I'm looking forward to trying other wines from the same lot in the near future!

About a month ago we had this Riesling 2016 from Herman J Wiemer which was one of our purchases in the Finger Lakes. This was very much in the Germanic trockenbeerenauslesen style, with an intense riesling nose and a juicy hit of lime down the middle. Other flavours of passionfruit and canteloupe were detected. It was concentrated, well balanced, accomplished and refreshing, and went very well with our salmon with chili, garlic and ginger. Looking back at our notes from the trip, I see it cost $19.50, which is an absolute steal. If I lived nearby I'd be tempted to buy it by the case... Need to get back to the Finger Lakes soon!

Finally, a few nights ago we drank my last bottle of Pernand-Vergelesses Les Belles Filles 2010 from Domaine Ludovic Belin, which I got out of storage last July. It was a nice, middleweight white wine and G described it as "completely harmonious". Given that it was nine years old and from a relatively minor village, I think we can say it was punching well above its weight. There's definitely a place for wines like this in my cellar as I suppose one can't drink Meursault all the time...

Sunday night at mine

D came round on Sunday night for another evening of fine wine.

We started with this Pouilly-Fume from Oroncio aka La Maison Romane. This benefited from half an hour in decanter beforehand and showed as well as ever. We had it with some smoked trout which G had got from Borough Market and the challenge was not to guzzle it all while G carried out a lengthy dissection in order to avoid any Queen Mother-style fishbone incidents.

Then, it was on to the reds...

In the blue corner was this Opus One 1985 brought by D.

In the red corner, this bottle of Chateau Latour 1979 provided by G.

The Opus One is on the left in the photo above, and the Latour is on the right. The OO was slightly paler in colour and was drinking very well. It had a lovely silky texture, ripe plummy fruit, and I got a hint of pontefract cake. It was relatively easy-going and approachable but possibly started to fade towards the end.

After the 1968 Latour which we had fairly recently, the 1979 was a return to form. It was far more typical: big, majestic stuff, with the classic cigar box nose and formidable intensity. Apparently 1979 was not well-received when it first came out and one can understand why - this must have been a monster difficult wine in its youth. At 36 it was drinking very nicely.

I wouldn't say there was necessarily a clear winner, but it was particularly exciting to drink the Opus One as we wouldn't be able to find that over here.

With the cheese, we moved on to this Harveys Oloroso, bottled in 1953. G got this (not to be confused with Harveys Bristol Cream) at a recent auction and we weren't sure if it would be all right; fortunately it turned to be fine. It was quite dry on the nose but opened up on the palate and was well-rounded with notes of walnut. It went down remarkably quickly, always a good sign. Thanks to D and G for a great evening!

Recent drinking round-up, 5th Sept

It has been a quiet August on the drinking front, as G was away for two weeks and I managed a record-breaking 11 days on the wagon in his absence, With our livers now squeaky clean and raring to process some alcohol, I arranged for some wine to come out of storage.

Last Saturday I took this bottle of Oroncio Pouilly-Fume Les Palefreniers 2008 over to ACC's for lunch. It went down well. It's quite unusual, a sauvignon blanc given the full Burgundy treatment, and is rich and grapefruity and generally rather wonderful and delicious. I ordered it nearly 3 years ago at the Maison Romane dinner (here) and am very happy with it!

Then, on Sunday evening, to celebrate G's successful trip away, we had this 2008 Vosne-Romanee Aux Reas from Alain Guyard. I bought a case of this some time ago and noticed it was in two six-packs so thought it was time to see how it was getting on, and indeed I think it's starting to drink now. It was perhaps on the light side for a Vosne but none the worse for that.

As it was a bank holiday Monday, I made a terrine and we pushed the boat out with a bottle of 2006 Meursault 1er cru Gouttes d'Or from Moret-Nomine. I snapped this up in a recent bin-end sale from the Burgundy Portfolio and had slightly wondered if it might be over the hill, but no, it was fabulous! Big, rich and nutty, all the things I like about Meursault. It's certainly drinking now but there is no particular rush and I'm sure getting through the other 5 bottles won't pose any sort of problem.

Then, on Thursday, a last-minute arrangement was made for ACC to join us for dinner with a selection of goodies which had been presented to a certain restaurant earlier in the day. Who were we to turn down such an invitation? This proved a fascinating tasting as it enabled us to see how certain things are getting on and generally congratulate ourselves on previous purchases.

Starting with the whites, we tried a 2014 Bourgogne Blanc from Domaine Celine & Frederic Gueguen, who are based in Chablis. Although this wasn't a Chablis, G and I both thought it shared a similarity in style. It was quite brisk, with good minerality, and made a refreshing aperitif. although perhaps on the young side. While on the subject of Chablis, it was terrible to hear about the hailstorm which hit many of the vineyards a few days ago, just before the harvest, and our thoughts go out to the growers affected.

We moved on to the 2010 Meursault from Vincent Perrin, which is always an enjoyable drop, with good typicity. G and I are more familiar with the 2008 vintage which we think may be slightly heftier, but then 2008 was a great vintage for white burgundy. Guess they can't be like that all the time.

Then came a real show-stopper, this 2011 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru En Remilly from Domaine Bouard-Bonnefoy. Comparisons were made to Batard-Montrachet. It had benefited from judicious use of oak and just generally came across as expensive and ambitious with a lovely weight and richness. I'm delighted to see that I have some of the 2012 in my cellar! We thought the 2011 was drinking now but might benefit from another year, which suggests that waiting five years is the way forward for these wines.

Of the reds, first we tried a 2011 Monthelie 1er cru Les Riottes from Florent Garaudet, which was very pure with juicy, clean fruit and showed that these wines need time to open up and reach their full potential. Then a 2010 Beaune 1er cru Les Reversees from Jean-Claude Rateau, which was a lovely, elegant expression of Beaune, but might be even better in a couple of years' time.

Finally, we tried this 2011 Morey-St-Denis from Domaine Audiffred. This was astonishing, with a nose of passionfruit, blackcurrant and possibly even mango. Normally I associate Morey with black forest gateau, but this was more like a tropical fruit pavlova. It was quite remarkable and we loved it.

Fascinating stuff and merci to ACC for sharing them with us!