Swiss Pinot Noir Society, Friday 2nd December 2022

Happy new year to any readers still out there! I'm aware that I haven't been posting as much as usual, for a variety of reasons, but the blog limps on into 2023.

In fact there's a decent chance I may be writing a little more over the next few months, as I packed in my job just before Christmas and I've finally got all my remaining wine out of storage as it needs to be drunk before I (hopefully) move to the US later this year. To paraphrase the Fun Lovin' Criminals: drink it, drink it, drink it if you got it.

First, a quick look back at an SPNS dinner which was held in early December. There were only four of us on this occasion: me, G, T and D. It was a Friday night and somewhat lively downstairs, so we decided to move up to the dining room sharpish.

I opened the batting with this Iron Horse 2017 fizz which I'd brought back from the US. A friend of G's had mentioned some time ago that she rated wines from Russian River Valley so I was hoping this might be quite good. It was 70% pinot noir, 30% chardonnay. My impression was that it was quite light and biscuity but really not anything special. D kindly said "fresh and young, some citrus, clean and easy drinking". G noticed red apples, while T struggled to think of anything to say, and I don't blame him. It just wasn't very exciting. Oh well!

We moved rapidly on to T's contribution, this Tarrant Rose 2021 from Gimenez Mendez who are based in Uruguay. Everyone agreed this was pink, fresh and easily drinkable with a hint of strawberry, but once again, it did not particularly wow the assembled company.

G then produced a Bourgogne Blanc Vieilles Vignes 2009 from Nicolas Joly. Sadly this was maderised and had to be discarded. We weren't doing very well...

Fortunately, things rapidly improved. as G had also brought along this 1964 Gevrey Chambertin from an unknown producer - he deciphered the label as Jean ...... erre. It was part of a recent auction purchase. Well, this was more like it. It was lovely old school burg with a particularly wonderful sous bois nose. On the palate I detected plums and it was very smooth and integrated. It was really quite amazing that this was still drinking so well at the age of 58. We all enjoyed it very much, including T who said it reminded him of his favourite wines when he was an undergraduate.

And finally, D had brought along this Chateau Climens 1986. This was a beautiful golden colour with a lovely nose of apricots and nectarines. It was wonderfully balanced and not too sweet, and had an amazingly long finish. D thought it was still young, while G didn't care if it would improve or not as it was so lovely now. A real treat and thanks to D for sharing it with us. 

That brings me more or less up to date, but coming up soon: a 2021 Burgundy tasting, a report on wine recently out of storage, and later in the year, a trip to the International Pinot Noir Celebration which is a self-indulgent 50th birthday present to myself. This will be followed by another trip to the Finger Lakes in upstate New York, which even Decanter magazine is starting to take notice of. Hopefully we can get there before prices take off!

2020 almost over

And so we approach the end of the year, and thank god for that!

I have some good news to report - D made it over for a few days in early December at long last. We holed up in Cornwall in a little cottage in the middle of nowhere with a log fire, and generally had a lovely time. It was perfect timing between lockdowns and am currently back at AduV Towers where I have spent my first solitary Christmas. Fortunately G was around beforehand to assist with dispatching some items on our wine racks.   

This Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru Morgeot 2013 from Domaine de la Choupette was the platonic ideal of Chassagne. It was a beautiful pale straw colour and very well-balanced and harmonious with a lovely weight. G detected white stone fruit while for me it was citrussy all the way through. It had been carefully selected by G in a year that was "a little unfocused" for whites.

And it went very well with Bradenham ham and parmesan crisps!

I'd decided it was time to put this Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2011 from Domaine Odoul-Coquard out of its misery and we had high expectations. We weren't disappointed! It was wonderfully dark and glossy and initially we were reminded of black forest gateau but then amended it to sachertorte, although there was certainly some black cherry action. Rich and powerful with fabulous ripe fruit, it did the business and reminded us how much we loved the 2011s. 

I'd made it over to the Ginger Pig and La Fromagerie, and was quite proud of my cheeseboard consisting of Beaufort, Stitchelton and a crottin, to which G added some other evil goaty thing as he likes to do. (Still no sign of the Odyssey de Chevre companion blog...)

With it being the festive season, a half of Suduiraut 2001 seemed appropriate. There was some issue with a crumbly cork which led to G decanting it into a claret glass, which showed off its colour very nicely. It was absolutely lovely, with a massive amount of botrytis. I said something about apricot jam which G corrected to Elvas apricot jam, and it had wonderful glycerin and a peach note on the finish. It went much better with amaretti morbidi than it did with the cheese. We had a debate about whether it's on its plateau yet or not. G thinks it will improve so I mustn't rush to drink the rest.

We finished off with a Battle of the Elderly Spirits! 

G brought along this Vieux Calvados Domfrontais 1972.

While a few weeks ago, I procured this Caroni 1997 rum from BBR.

It was quite amusing to see how similar in colour they were, but on the nose there was no trouble telling which was which. The Calva was fragrant with notes of pear - G informed me that it's actually made from 2/3 pear and 1/3 apple, which either I never knew or had forgotten. I found it quite fiery and quite dry, and wouldn't have guessed that it was almost 50 years old. 

The Caroni is quite fascinating. At 60.4% alcohol it certainly needs to be cut with water, and on the nose it has some rubber tyre and a strong liquorice thing going on. I've been enjoying it but it was very pricey and not something I'll be rushing to buy again. Still have over half a bottle left, which is almost a whole bottle once water is added. And no regrets - this year has been so miserable that a few self-indulgences were in order.

Wishing everyone a happy New Year and hoping that all our lives get back to normal asap in 2021!

Picnic in the park, 2nd August

And so the summer continues... Still no light on the horizon as far as big life plans go, but I'm now resigned to things going on like this for some time. Meanwhile, as my wedding has been postponed and plans for a big (by my standards) celebration have flown out of the window, there is wine to be drunk! I was delighted to be joined by ACC, G and the Baron for a picnic in the local square yesterday. 

   

Proceedings commenced with a bottle of Delamotte 2002, which is a blanc de blancs and from an excellent vintage. G explained that he had brought it to my attention a few months ago, and then I'd gone and bought a whole case. Well, obvs. There was some debate about how long it will last but in my view there's no great rush so the odd bottle here and there over the next 2-3 years will go down very nicely. 

ACC pointed out this comet motif on the foil. We wondered if this was a reference to Hale-Bopp, but Google tells me that was in 1997. It seems there was a comet called Ikeya-Zhang in 2002, which completely passed me by at the time, but seems like a cheery thing to have on a bottle of champagne and one can only hope the stars will align again soon. 

I made some cheese straws to go with the fizz, which were somewhat lacking in appearance but still tasted pretty good, made with the Cornish Vintage Quartz cheddar from Waitrose. This cheese is rated strength 7 on a scale of 1-6, and in my experience under no circumstances should be eaten after 3 pm as it has a tendency to cause nightmares. Which is a shame, as it's very delicious.  

Next up was this bottle of Corton Charlemagne 2013 from Maison en Belles Lies. For me, this is absolutely wonderful stuff, the epitome of Chardonnay, drinking very well now. Apparently there is still some available from the Burgundy Portfolio - I highly recommend grabbing a bottle or two! We had it with a chicken, apricot and pistachio terrine which worked very well. 

Moving swiftly on, this red Corton Les Renardes 2008 from Domaine Parent was also exemplary. Normally I'd have decanted it, served in proper Riedel red burgundy glasses etc, but as this was a picnic, it had to be served as it came. I had chilled it, which possibly brought out higher acidity, and it was a wonderful example of pinot.

It was an absolutely beautiful colour too.

And then, dessert! I failed to take a photo of the meringues I made, which incorporated pistachios and chocolate chips, based on Nigella's "forgotten cookies" recipe, although Nigella sadly let me down by pretending these would cook properly in a switched-off oven.  

With these, we had two half bottles of Suduiraut 2001, apparently one of the best ever Sauternes vintages. The first half was wonderful, lots of citrus and marmalade, but the second half was even better! It was a slightly darker colour, more gloopy and ACC detected butterscotch. Interesting that there should be so much variation between bottles from the same case. I'm glad we drank them in that order. We finished off with a spot of Epoisses which happened to be hanging around in my fridge *innocent look*

It was very enjoyable to have this get-together after recent months of doom and gloom. Thanks to the boys for your company and giving me an excuse to drink these beauties!

Sunday lunch at mine, 16th Sept

Last Sunday, I was joined for lunch by G and D who was over on one of his trips from the US.

We started with a bottle of this Chablis 1er cru Montmains 2011 from La Maison Romane, which was sublime, with perhaps more tropical fruit flavours than in a classic Chablis. I had the 2010 in reserve, and it would be interesting to try them side by side some time.

It was very effective with the enormous piece of smoked trout which I procured for the occasion. There were some leftovers!

With the main course of slow-cooked chicken and braised lettuce, peas and mint, we had this 1982 Firestone Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon which G picked up recently. There was an element of risk as it could have been terrible but instead it was amazing. Hurrah! I was amused by the label which informed us that the wine was 12.3% alcohol, but D told me that in this case the precision probably indicated actual, rather than spurious, accuracy. As he is one of the world's foremost experts on antique measuring instruments, I suppose I must defer to his opinion in these matters. As for the wine itself, G described it as "entirely pleasurable to drink" - it was soft, smooth, rich and sweet with hints of cocoa, stewed plums, mint and maybe even pontefract cake, and went down very easily.

With the cheese course, we had this Syrah-Cabernet Franc 2001 from Red Newt which was 13.2%. We established that it had been in D's cellar for the past 15 years. My notes include the word LOVELY but on closer inspection I see that was just me trying to make my handwriting legible. The wine was succulent and well-balanced, with the syrah to the fore, and G compared it to Chateauneuf. We agreed that some American wines are lacking in acidity but that criticism did not apply in this case. I enjoyed it very much.

Getting ready to attack the cheeseboard

Finally, G contributed his last half of Rieussec 1983. Avid readers may recall this was drunk in magnum at our birthday celebration in July, and was so successful that G rushed out and bought three halves - one for dinner at the Savile with VIP guest, one for the waitress who did such a good job of looking after us in July, and this remaining bottle. This time I actually managed to make notes, although I think it's quite a different wine in half from the magnum, and D, who has bottles of it, says his is different again. It was a lovely dark amber colour, and very aromatic on the nose - G mentioned lemon thyme and garigue. It was almost like a glass of herbaceous honey, and very complex. Wonderful stuff.

We finished off with a glass of marc or was it fine de bourgogne, or possibly both, and perused the pages of an old catalogue which had some fascinating adverts. If anyone has been searching for a patent "Roy" glass bottle stopper, you now know where to send your telegraph!

Dinner of decadence, 8th August

It's been a fun couple of weeks!

Not wine-related, but can hardly go unmentioned - D visited from Pennsylvania at the end of July! It was her first visit to London and we had a delightful six days doing touristy things, meeting friends, eating fish and chips etc. Good times.

J and her family arrived a few days later and we met up a couple of times this week. A particular highlight was dinner at the Savile which G kindly hosted for me, J and J's wife. This will mainly be a photographic record, as conversation was flowing and notes were not made!

The Billecart-Salmon 2002 Cuvee Nicolas Billecart arrived in the nick of time and made an excellent aperitif. I seem to be acquiring rather a taste for it...

Upstairs in the dining room, we had my last bottle of 2008 Corton from Anne Parent, the white this time. I was slightly anxious that it might not have survived its time in the wardrobe during the recent heatwave but it was absolutely singing. Those who had sea trout for their main course reported that it made a great accompaniment. The label had slipped a little in the ice bucket!

Trademark blurry photo of this 2011 Vosne-Romanee Aux Champs Perdrix from Domaine Audiffred, which was a lovely, elegant Vosne.

It was perhaps overshadowed by the Hermitage La Sizeranne from Chapoutier, provided by G, which was rich and powerful and was something of a crowd-pleaser, although one possibly wouldn't want to drink a whole bottle of it by oneself.

My tiramisu was a work of art!

And finally, a half bottle of Rieussec 1983 was the perfect size for four and gave great pleasure to all concerned. Festivities continued into the small hours. I'm very much looking forward to going to Grand Rapids in September to investigate J's cellar, but thank god she has a Coravin because I'm going backpacking with D two days later! Just as well I have seven weeks to get ready...

Birthday dinner at the Savile, 20th July

On Friday evening, G and I had a joint dinner party at the Savile Club as we have both recently celebrated a moderately significant birthday. We held this in the Elgar Room upstairs, which was a very nice size for ten, and a random selection of ne'er-do-wells and miscreants were in attendance, otherwise known as family and friends.

On arrival we had a glass of this Champagne Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Nicolas Billecart 2002, which we tried in bottle earlier in the year. On that occasion, it went down in the blink of an eyelid, and I think it's fair to say that the same thing happened again. It was perhaps more austere in magnum than in bottle and with plenty of life to come, but had the same lovely floral notes. ‎I hope to drink some more in due course!

With the first course, we had this magnum of Chablis 1er cru Fourchaume-Vaulorent 2008 from Domaine Nathalie et Gilles Fevre. An old favourite from a great vintage, it had never been better. It was crisp and lemony, but with a breadth on the mid-palate that wasn't there when it was younger. it went really well with the sea trout. Sadly this was G's last bottle!

With our main course, a lamb tagine for the carnivores and a vegetarian one for the veggies, we had two reds. First, a magnum of Beaune 1er cru les Greves 2005 from Yves Darviot. This prompted much reminiscence about how we used to stay at Yves' house in Beaune back in the day etc.etc. The 2005s have taken a long time to come round but are getting there now. This had the classic violets on the nose and was very elegant. We have two magnums left and I would still not be in a rush to drink them!

The second red was a magnum of Chateauneuf du Pape Clos des Papes 1998 from Domaine Paul Avril. For me, this was richer and sweeter compared to the Beaune but was still not heavy. An impeccable mid-weight style of Chateauneuf, drinking perfectly now.

Beaune on the right, Rhone on the left

With pudding, we had a magnum of Rieussec 1983 - remembering from the famous 40th birthday dinner that one bottle of sweet wine is simply not enough! This was amazing, rich but with acidity that meant it was not in the least cloying. The marmalade element from the heavy levels of botrytis paired wonderfully with the lemon tart. G informs me that he has acquired three more halves to see if he can recreate the sensation.

It was an absolutely beautiful colour, too.

Then, with the cheese course, a real treat. G provided this Quinta do Noval Nacional 1960 which he acquired from an auction where they described it in the catalogue as "Da Silva 1960". Imagine his delight when this showed up. It was in great shape, still fairly dark in colour, and extremely complex on the palate, with notes of fig and prune and a certain creamy quality. The finish was extraordinary. Absolutely top notch vintage port. Thanks for sharing it with us, G.

And to round things off, we had a glass of Lemorton Vieux Calvados 1972, which was an excellent digestif with true essence ‎of apples.

All that remains is to say thanks to G for organising everything, to the staff at the Savile for looking after us so well, and to everyone who joined us - it was a really enjoyable evening. Now roll on the 50th in five years time!

Dinner at mine, 15th Nov

Yes, I realise this dinner happened over 3 months ago... things have been busy lately (in a good way) but I'm hoping to get caught up over the next few weeks.

On this occasion, P joined me and G for dinner at my place.

We kicked off with this Seneca Shore "non vintage" riesling (we suspect it did have a vintage, but they don't bother putting it on the label there). It came in at 12.5% and was light and refreshing, served very cold. It was in the German style rather than the Alsatian and made a very pleasant aperitif with some marcona almonds, especially at $15. There's a reference in my notes to drinking it on the deck, which definitely didn't happen given that it was late November and I don't actually have a deck!

Then we moved on to some fun bottles brought by P, who got them at auction, including two old champagnes. The Victor Cliquot was an amazing amber colour and had a nose of beeswax and honey. P said it reminded him of mead. It claimed to be extra dry which amused us as it was nothing of the sort. I got brioche and pain au raisin. The Charles de Cazanove was drier but it had the same waxy quality. G thought it came from the 1980s as the label was relatively modern.

Finally, we had a mystery wine, in the bottle on the left in the photo further up. The bottle was missing its label and there was nothing on the cork to tell us what it was, but the bottle had a big punt indicating that this was a serious wine. It had a golden colour and a nose of botrytis, but didn't seem all that sweet, with restrained fruit and a hint of apricot jam. G thought it was one of the lighter sauternes, possibly Chateau Nairac, again probably from the 1980s. My notes say "won't go with cheese" only immediately to contradict themselves by saying that it went well with the Epoisses and Cornish gouda... Thanks very much to P for sharing them with us!

Lunch at mine, 21st October

And so the great blog catch up of 2017 continues... thank god I've found my notes at last!

21st October was a Sunday, and D and G joined me at A du V Towers for lunch. That's fellow wine enthusiasts D and G not brother and sister in law D and G.

We commenced with this 1er cru Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot 2012 from Domaine de la Choupette. This was a lovely colour and had a good mouthfeel. The oak was there but it was appropriate and integrated. It was well-balanced and drinking really well now, crisp, classic Chassagne with that slight mushroomy thing going on. There'd be no hurry to drink the rest, if G has any left, and we gave it a 9 on the premier cru scale.

Next up was the red version of the same wine, from the 2008 vintage. This was a relatively light colour and slightly dumb on the nose for me initially, but once it got going it had smokey, leather, redcurrant and red berry compote flavours. We thought it would last another five years.

At this point I remembered that I had the village level Chassagne 2008 from Choupette lurking in my wardrobe, so naturally a horizontal comparison ensued. This was much darker with black cherry fruit and somebody appears to have made the comment "a little bit of sweaty saddle" - I think that must have been G channeling his inner Jilly Goolden. It was drinking perfectly now and was approachable, but we felt the premier cru was more solid and the fruit was riper.

The colour contrast is very clear in this photo.

Moving on, with the cheese course we had some Chapoutier Hermitage La Sizeranne from 1998. This claimed to be 13% but I have my doubts. It was a very dark colour and had a big nose with woody spices including star anise and a hint of rubber. On the palate we found plums, cinnamon and liquorice. It was big but had mellowed down, and reminded me how much I like the Northern Rhone. My notes threw the f word around with abandon and in an entirely positive way. Or, as G put it, more elegantly, "Rhone is offering a lot of pleasure at the moment."

We finished off with a half of Chateau Suduiraut 2001 with our berries, which had a lovely botrytis quality and lemon and lime marmalade flavours. It was light, elegant and floral rather than blowsy, and had good balance and acidity. The finish lasted for minutes. A wonderful end to a very fine lunch!