Three recent reds

I'm aware the blog hasn't been updated for a while, for which apologies to both of my regular readers... But I'm still alive and kicking and about to head off to the States for a road trip which promises to be epic. I shall be taking a trusty bottle of premier cru Chablis to accompany a lobster roll or two, and I may even get back on Instagram to document the journey from Pennsylvania to Maine. I'm also hoping for a quick detour through the Finger Lakes on the way back although I was disappointed to see that Thirsty Owl have sold out of their pinot noir...surely not my fault?

Meanwhile, last Thursday was Wine Out Thursday! I really should have got it out on Wednesday as that's a much more pleasing acronym. I went down to collect my parcels to find a gentleman eyeing them greedily. It turned out to be G, who was just back from Sicily, and kindly helped me carry them back to the penthouse suite. We then proceeded to drink three bottles over the course of five days.

First up was this Santenay Comme Dessus 2009 from Domaine de la Choupette. This was my second six pack, as the first came out just over a year ago and was reported on here. I had actually drunk the last of that batch while G was away, and enjoyed it very much. I failed to make notes this time, but can confirm that it continues to be delicious and wonderful and at approximately twenty quid a bottle (excluding storage) is about a good a bottle of Santenay as one could ask for. Those were the days!

We noted that it was good with burgers! Just for the comedy value, "good with burgers" was a catchphrase with us back when I was doing my DPhil in Oxford 21 years ago, as can be seen from the tasting note above from the archives, regarding what I believe was Carruades de Lafite 1989. It cost around £11 then, and we still weren't particularly impressed with it. That's going for £210 now. How one wishes for a time machine sometimes...

The second red was consumed on Sunday night with a roast chicken from Farmdrop. I'm not sure if I've mentioned Farmdrop here before, but I will now, as it has become a very useful addition to the repertoire when I'm feeling too lazy to walk to Marylebone, and also now sells some wines from the Burgundy Portfolio including my beloved Grenat. I was really looking forward to this Beaune 1er cru Les Reversees 2010 from Jean Claude Rateau, he of the magnificent moustache. More on that here. This came in at about £35 a bottle.

I did take notes this time, hurrah! I decanted it an hour ahead and popped it in the fridge, as I'm increasingly feeling that these reds are best served cellar cool. When served, I got very little on the nose initially. G was more charitable and talked about yellow/red cherries. My view at that stage was that it was middleweight, silky and very serious, with a great finish. But, given that it's biodynamic, I guess I'd been hoping for something more scintillating, more like the wines from Emmanuel Giboulot.

Things got better. After two hours in the decanter, it really opened up and developed some rich, dark flavours with chocolate, morello cherry and maybe some plum. My notes say that it was bursting with fruit, which suggests it needs a longer decant in future and also that there's no rush to drink it. We gave it a temporary score of 8 but think it could go higher in due course.

And last night we had this Vosne-Romanee Aux Reas 2009 from Alain Guyard, which came in at about £40 a bottle, still a steal compared to what it would cost now. I remember the tasting where we tried this initially, or it may have been the 2008 as it appears to be pre-blog. I've probably told this story before, but I said to my sister-in-law that I appeared to be acquiring a Vosne-Romanee habit. She replied me too! Another friend then chimed in, is there a methodone equivalent? Sadly, I don't believe there is.

This was given an hour in the decanter but only 45 minutes in the fridge, so as not to numb it too much. It had a lovely dark colour, and was very glossy with great legs. We got a big hit of blackcurrant and lots of fruit. G mentioned the peacock's tail and there was certainly a burst of flavour - it was juicy and succulent, although still packed a tannic punch. G described the blackcurrants very carefully: big, lush, fresh blackcurrants, not horrid little things like you find in the supermarket freezer. I thought of D, who would say it had good acid. It was ready but there's no rush to drink it, and it went very well with rack of kid, again procured from Farmdrop. I've had worse Tuesday evenings!

Dinner at mine, 14th July

A couple of weeks ago, ACC joined me and G for dinner here at AduV Towers. The heat wave had not yet reached its heights but up here in the ninth floor penthouse it was on the warm side.

We kicked off with this bottle of Domaine de la Roseraie Hautes-Cotes de Beaune 2017. As ACC had been gallivanting prior to arrival, it needed extra chilling and the slow cooker was pressed into action to serve as an impromptu wine bucket. This worked remarkably well! The wine was a pleasing pale gold colour, crisp and zingy. It was refreshing, middleweight, and quite floral, with a touch of honey and I thought it would go very nicely with fish. It came from the vineyard which we visited on this occasion and I was transported back to that very enjoyable day watching Julien waving his loppers about in the vineyard. Although it was certainly drinking now, an argument could be made that it would be better in a year or so.

ACC pointed out this detail on the label - only 190 bottles were made!

With our chicken, apricot and pistachio terrine we moved on to the main event, a vertical comparison of the red Meursault 1er cru Les Cras from Latour-Labille or Domaine Vincent Latour as it is now called. On the left we have the 2007 and on the right the 2015. The 2007 has been a firm favourite over the years but is perhaps getting a little elderly now and a reference was made to charming old ladies. It was well-balanced, stylish and elegant pinot, very Burgundian. The 2015 was much bigger, more masculine and more international in style. It was more fruity and spicy, and more crowd-pleasing but we felt it wouldn't ever have the finesse of the 2007. I believe the word "primary" was used. It was drinking now but would benefit from another couple of years. A fascinating comparison and thanks to G for putting it together.

With our berries and cream for pudding, we had this Monbazillac from Domaine du Haut Montlong, 1983, also provided by G. This was a beautiful apricot colour and was a perfectly enjoyable sweet wine with good acidity, but it didn't have any botrytis and I found myself hankering after sauternes. Still, apparently it only cost £10 so no regrets there. I've had worse Sunday evenings!

Dinner at mine, 18th June

In catch-up mode once again, as I see this dinner was actually a few weeks ago! It was a Tuesday night and D joined G and myself here at A du V Towers for an enjoyable evening drinking mature wines from across the pond.

We began with this 1982 Pinot Noir from the Firestone Vineyard, which was a recent auction find. It was a reddish brown colour and had a jammy nose which G described as "high toned". On the palate, it was soft, integrated and congruent, still quite sweet, with hints of sous bois. We found it very drinkable and apparently it was a mere 12% alcohol. They don't make 'em like they used to!

Next up was this 1977 Cabernet Sauvignon from Robert Mondavi. Looking at the label, I get confused as am sure this is the same font the Wine Society used for some of their wines at one point, but apparently there is no connection. Sadly, there was clearly a fault with it, a weird yeasty thing going on which G said was brett, so it went down the sink. You win some, you lose some.

Fortunately, a wine had been placed in reserve for just this eventuality! This was a William Hill (amusing name if you're British) 1988 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. I'm pleased to say this was much better. It was a fruity, soft cabernet with lashings of mint and eucalyptus. The tannins had mellowed and it was extremely pleasant drinking, although my notes also contain the phrase "not setting the world alight" which sounds like the kind of thing G would say. He provided it, so he's allowed to say that.

To go with the cheese course, D had brought along a "port" from Missouri. I had no idea such a thing existed! This was Stark Star 1986 Tawny from Mount Pleasant Vineyards. The colour was not one I would normally associate with tawny port, as it was a deep, intense purple.

It was genuinely interesting, with figs, dates, and agen prunes, and went particularly well with the roquefort. It also had some creamy toffee notes and if we closed our eyes, we could imagine it was a Bual. Somehow I doubt we would ever come across this here in the UK, so thanks very much to D for sharing it with us.

Apparently a great year for tawny port too!

Swiss Pinot Noir Society dinner, 14th June

On Friday evening, G and I walked over to the Savile Club for another SPNS dinner. ACC was absent this time but we had a special guest, H, so six were present as usual.

Having resisted the temptation to pre-load with a sneaky G&T before leaving home, I was outraged to discover that certain people had been guzzling pink champagne in our absence. However, this fizz from Black Dog Hill provided by P and H quickly made up for it. G summed it up nicely as "extremely pleasant, light quaffing fizz". It was from 2014 so had a little age which suited it well, and this winery is in the South Downs. One often hears about how the south of England is going to be the new Champagne, or possibly is already, but sadly with prices to match. Not this time! There seems to be a discrepancy between how much P told us it cost and how much it is on their website (£28.95) but all I will say is they definitely found a good deal.

G must have been hungry as we quickly moved upstairs and had a bottle of the club's Pernand-Vergelesses while waiting for our starters, which was from Jean-Jacques Girard and a good example of the genre. Then it was on to this Ovens Farm Rose 2018, also provided by P and H. This had a fruity nose and was a very enjoyable easy-drinking summer wine, prompting visions of lying in a hammock etc. It came as quite a surprise to discover that this winery is in Lincolnshire, close to where P and H live. Another win for English wines!

Moving on to the reds, G had brought along this Chateau Ksara Annaya 1946 Vin D'Antique, from Lebanon, knowing that T is quite a fan of their rose wines. This was interesting! It was a dark brown colour and there were some doubts about it initially, but then we reframed it and found it reminded most of us of a fortified wine - dry oloroso or marsala. Hints of eucalyptus were detected, and T thought that something about it could still be found in the modern wines.

We then had two more conventional reds, both pinot noirs. T brought along a 2016 from Louis Guntrum which was relatively light, juicy, fruity and vibrant. It was perhaps not the most serious wine I've ever tasted, but was a pleasure to drink. Thank god it wasn't like the German reds we had a few years ago which I wrote about here.

D had brought along this 2016 pinot from Brys Estate which is in Michigan. I don't think I've ever had a wine from Michigan before so this was a new experience! It was fuller-bodied than the German wine, fruity, elegant and smooth, with a hint of spice. We all enjoyed it and I suspect it would age quite well if D has any more.

My contribution was also from the USA, this Ravines Late Harvest Vignoles 2013 from the Finger Lakes. We tried this at the winery a couple of years ago and I immediately thought of T who is a big fan of sauternes. It was an absolutely beautiful colour and had that lovely thick gooey texture. It was concentrated, marmaladey and had a great finish. D described it as apricot nectar. Judging from their website, it still seems to be available, so maybe more can be obtained in due course if anyone is going that way soon...

As the Ravines was only a half bottle, and we fancied cheese as well as dessert, G ordered a half of Smith Woodhouse 1980 from the club wine list. This also went down well, with baked plums, black cherry and liquorice all present and correct. G, who is becoming quite a port expert these days, felt it could have done with a longer decant, but somehow we coped.

Thanks everyone for another very enjoyable and educational evening!

Veuve vertical and other things, 19th May

A couple of weeks ago I was joined by ACC, G and the Baron for lunch at AduV Towers, and a real treat was in store. It's not every day you get to drink two vintage champagnes from the 1980s!

First up was this Veuve Clicquot 1983 provided by G, who got it at auction for an absolute steal. Based on his experience with other bottles from this lot, it came from a good cellar with good levels. The pop of the cork was certainly lively, and the wine itself was a glorious golden colour. It had a very yeasty nose and was rich and concentrated which made ACC think it had a high proportion of chardonnay. The finish was impressive too and it was drinking very nicely now, whereas apparently the 2008 vintage is falling off a cliff. The Baron thought it would go well with sweet food, but it was fine with smoked trout too. It was as good a bottle of champagne as I've had in recent years.

Meanwhile, ACC had brought along this 1980 vintage Veuve which he obtained for less than 20 euros from a source which I won't divulge in order to preserve this particular hunting ground for the future. Eye injuries were avoided as the cork was eased out with a gentle sigh. It was generally agreed that this bottle had more nutty aromas and was perhaps a little drier, with good grip. Its bubbles were exuberant to begin with but then tailed off more quickly. Comparisons were made to Salon. I wouldn't like to say which I preferred - they were both remarkable wines and it was an extraordinary experience to drink them side by side. They don't make them like they used to!

Those two were always going to be a tough act to follow, but we did our best with the reds. I supplied the Nuits St Georges 1er cru Pruliers from Domaine Bony and once again I was very pleased with it but didn't bother making notes.

From G's cellar came this Chambolle-Musigny Clos le Village 2008 from Felettig. This was drinking perfectly at 10 years old, and was delicious, smooth, plummy and elegant. "Chambolle is sexy pinot noir" said ACC, and this bottle lived up to its reputation.

Finally, the Baron had brought along some Mas de Daumas Gassac 2005 to go with the cheeseboard. This is from the Languedoc and I found myself wondering what grapes it was made from - have just looked it up and apparently it's mostly cabernet sauvignon which would explain why I liked it so much. It was smooth, fruity and ripe, and drinking very nicely now, although the website says this one should be kept further. Apparently it was only 12.5% alcohol so not a hangover-inducing monster either.

I've definitely had worse lunches. Thanks everyone for a very enjoyable occasion!

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...

Recent drinking round-up - reds!

I see it's been a while since I posted, but yes, the blog is still going! I have a few weekends in London coming up so there may be a flurry of activity in the near future.

Time to catch up on what G and I have been drinking and in order to make this a less daunting prospect I've divided the report into reds and whites.

Back in March we had this Santenay 1er cru Clos Rousseau Les Fourneaux 2010 from Domaine Bachey-Legros. It appears that this came from the wine shop in Santenay, and a price of 35 euros has appeared in my notes, but whether this was speculation or G's remarkable memory is unclear to me right now. Anyway, this had dark fruits on the nose and was a little lighter on the palate. It was a "vrai pinot", smooth and middleweight. Perhaps slightly rustic, certainly typique, it was drinking well now. We initially scored it as a middle 8 but it ended up being a high 8. The fact that I seemed to guzzle it without paying too much attention was a tribute to its drinkability.

This bottle was an altogether more serious proposition, and quite why I took a photo of it sitting next to an empty class is a mystery - giving a sense of our anticipation perhaps! This was a Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru Estournelles Saint-Jacques 1999 from Frederic Esmonin. It brought back happy memories of a bottle of something made by Sylvie Esmonin which we drank at lunch in Chablis with Nathalie Fevre on a memorable occasion back in 2013. So much happened that day that I didn't even allude to it in my write-up!

Back to this wine, which I believe G got at auction. It had a lovely Gevrey nose, which we described as a melange of autumn fruits with bramble and G even finding a hint of rosehip. I'm not sure what rosehip smells like so am unable to confirm or deny. On the palate, my notes say "oh yes". It was silky, poised and congruent, and drinking perfectly now, with a lovely balance of fruit and tannin. The fruit was ripe but not blowsy and reminded us of poached plums with cinnamon, and the tannins were chocolatey. I detected a hint of pontefract cake. This was very serious wine, hugely accomplished and a wholly pleasurable experience. We were sad to get to the end of the bottle and gave it a top 9.

Another Gevrey provided by G, this time the 1er cru Aux Combottes 2007 from Domaine Odoul-Coquard. I believe this was his last bottle, and we chilled it for an hour or so in the decanter. It was lovely Cotes de Nuits pinot, smooth and glossy in that Odoul-Coquard style. It had notes of black cherry and liquorice and was really delicious, albeit at the back end of its drinking window. I've enjoyed the 2007s so much but I guess it's time to say goodbye now.

Earlier this week, I got some more wine out of storage, which is always an occasion for excitement. The fanciest of the bunch was this Nuits-St-Georges 1er cru Les Pruliers 2011 from Domaine Bony so we drank some the next day.

"This will be first rate when it's ready" I predicted back in 2013 and indeed this proved to be the case! It was at that tasting that I ended up buying a six pack, and je ne regrette rien. It was a lovely dark colour, and turned out to be ripe and succulent. It had the prettiness of the 2011 vintage but still had some power to it. I've sometimes found that Nuits from other producers can be a rather unapproachable tannic monster, but that's not how Fabienne makes them. It had perhaps gained weight in the intervening years as cherry had been replaced by blackcurrant and dark chocolate. The fruit, acidity and tannins combined to make a wine that was harmonious and drinking perfectly now. G and I gave it a 10 and immediately began plotting when we're going to drink the next bottle... very soon, I think!