Summer drinking

Today je vous presente general highlights from the last few weeks rather than anything particularly systematic. On most of the occasions below, notes weren't taken so this is mainly a photographic record of Nice Things I Have Drunk Lately

I was delighted to return to the Savile Club for a very welcome and long overdue dinner with T and G. G and I walked there and it was good to see Oxford Street buzzing with activity on a Friday night, complete with a lunatic-with-a-microphone at Oxford Circus offering up some entertainingly ludicrous theories on the causes of Covid-19. 

   

This English pink fizz provided by T got things off to a good start. The vineyard is in West Sussex and I believe it was the 2014 vintage, which is a blend dominated by pinot noir.

G brought along this 2008 rose from Chateau Musar which he had been saving for a very long time to drink with T, connoisseur of pink wines. Apparently T's previously experiences with it had been disappointing, but this time it delivered the goods. 

My contribution was this 2012 Barolo which I brought back from a wine shop in Turin a few years ago. 

 

And with dessert, a particularly unusual additional wine from G - a half bottle of Romanian "Cotnari". We had a similar half a while back with D (see here) although I can see that the labels are different, possibly reflecting different grapes. On that occasion, it was sweet, unctuous and fascinating. This one was very interesting and although we'd expected it to be sweet, had become almost dry over time, a phenomenon which G referred to as "swallowing its sugar". Great to get a chance to try it. 

G and I drank this 1976 Vouvray from Domaine de L'Epinay a few nights ago. It was part of the interesting mixed case I got at auction some time ago, none of which have yet let me down. It was a wonderful amber colour and very concentrated with honey, grapes, lime blossom and beeswax. Once again it had a dry finish and high residual acidity. We had it with a new "ethical foie gras" from Waitrose and brioche toast, which worked very well, but it would probably have gone with other things too. Fully mature but not over the hill, it went down very easily. We finished it off with some berries and cream, which brought out an interesting note of amaretti biscuits!

I'll do some more premier cru project reports in due course, but while I remember, G and I drank this Beaune 1er cru Clos des Feves Monopole 2012 from Domaine Chanson the other night, and had an unusual divergence of opinion on it. It had a wonderful exuberant perfumed nose, very Beaune, and for me continued to deliver on the palate with wild berries, a hint of sousbois, and a heady icing-sugar sweetness. For me it was complex, fruity and autumnal, a nice medium weight and provided a lot of sensual pleasure. It was close to a 10 for me (and the same when I polished the rest off the following evening), but for G it was apparently a mid-7. We're usually much closer in our scores, so this is a bit of a mystery. I may have to get another bottle so we can investigate further, and if G still doesn't think much of it I guess I'll just have to drink it...

Finally, last night I made my way over to Shoreditch, braving the assorted stag and hen parties which were out in force, and met up with ACC for dinner at Rochelle Canteen. I hadn't been there for some time, and they've added a greenhouse type section with good ventilation so we were able to sit "outside". ACC brought along this Volnay 1er cru Carelle sous la Chapelle from Perrin, with the vintage hand-written on the back as 2012. This was lovely stuff, fully mature and elegant. 

The John Dory which we had to share was phenomenal, as was my duck terrine and the malted chocolate chip ice cream! It was great to see Rochelle continuing to thrive, and definitely worth the trip east.

So that's July almost in the bag, and on Saturday I'm off to Iceland for a few days with D which can't come a moment too soon. I suspect this trip won't be particularly wine-related, but have spotted some crowberry liqueur on a restaurant menu so may be unable to resist!

Four whites

Things are looking up here - restrictions easing soon, the prospect of seeing friends and family in a normal way again, my birthday month, England in the semis and a trip to Iceland with my fiancee in 4 weeks' time. I've been over-excited all week! 

Today I shall report on four premier cru white Burgundies which G and I have had over the past few weeks, in ascending order of points awarded. 

First up, this St Aubin 1er cru Les Perrieres 2017 from Henri Prudhon & Fils. This was quite a pale colour as you can see and for me had a surprisingly grapey nose. G had opened it an hour earlier and said it had changed quite a bit - he'd found lemon and mushroom previously. It was full in the mouth and weightier than I expected. However, there was a lot of oak which smothered it somewhat. That amount of oak would be fine in a better vintage perhaps. We ended up giving it a 7 which considering that it cost £27 from the Wine Society, was a little disappointing. You can get much better Chablis at that price.

Next, we have this Givry 1er cru Petit Marole 2016 from Domaine Francois Lumpp. It was a beautiful golden colour and had a very enticing nose. G described it as "almost stereotypically white Burgundy" - waxy lemons and a prickle of acidity at the end which reminded me of sherbet. There was some yeastiness going on too. It was drinking perfectly now. But our favourable first impressions began to fade as it turned out not to be particularly complex. We toyed with a low 8 but in the end gave it a high 7. 

On Tuesday night we had this 1er cru Les Lys 2016 from Domaine Vincent Dampt, which we consumed while listening to chants of "Engerland" from the street outside, as the game had just ended. It was a pale lemon colour and was fresh and bracing on the nose, with light citrus. On the palate, it was heavier than I'd expected and had a certain floral honey character, although G said the honey was held in check by a "really nice chalk note". It had a wonderful finish too. We were going to give it a 9 but then downgraded it to an 8 due to lack of typicity, but it was seriously good.

And saving the best till last, a few weeks ago we had this Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru Les Macherelles 2017 from Jacques Carillon. It looked good and as we got our noses in the glass we both made noises of appreciation. For me it was a very Puligny nose - mushroom duxelle was mentioned. It had a lovely weight and was rich with great balance and a very long finish. I wondered if there was some lime going on but G corrected me to yuzu. As I don't think I've ever had yuzu, I'm unable to confirm or deny. It had breadth and depth and altogether we couldn't fault it and gave it a 10. Good times! Thanks G for keeping the premier cru project going - as usual, it's a mixed bag but we've had some real gems lately.

Fascinating and delicious

I'm glad to say that things gradually improving here. I've been out for a couple of very welcome meals and hosted my first indoor lunch party for a very long time. Now I'm just waiting for the USA to open up so I can get over to Pennsylvania and see my beloved. But in the meantime, a lot of fine wine is getting drunk so time for another update. Reds this week, whites next week. 

This Beaujolais le Ronsay 2019 from Jean-Paul Brun was one of those low-sulphite numbers that I adore. It had a glorious nose of cherries and marzipan, and was fresh and fruity, despite being served slightly too cold (tsk, G). It was crying out for a baguette and a bit of pate. I'm informed that it cost less than £15. If I was still buying wine, I'd be stocking up!

This Givry 1er cru la Grande Berge 2015 from Domaine Ragot also went down very well. It was glossy, with a pleasing garnet colour, and the nose was absolutely gorgeous - summer fruit compote or even a fruit tart, as there was hint of creme patissiere. It was more serious on the palate, succulent with hints of cigar box and blackcurrant on the finish. As G said, "the nose is glorious, the palate merely excellent." We wondered if it needed more time, but I'd be a little anxious about the nose losing its freshness if one kept it too long. We gave it a 9. I think Givry is definitely a village to watch as this wine was quite a steal for what it was.

These days I don't always bother making notes on wines which I've reported on before, but this Chassagne 1er cru Morgeot 2010 from Domaine de la Choupette continues to provide a lot of pleasure. We detected various colours of currant on the nose - not sure I knew pink currants were even a thing -  and it had an enticing juicy sharpness. The notes of redcurrant made it an excellent pairing with venison and the finish was also wonderful, with a peacock's tail burst of black cherry and even a little chocolate. "Not for amateurs" said G. It's been a consistent 9.

I didn't get a photo of this one, but one night last week as we watched the rain pouring down on the Scottish football fans outside (which didn't stop the chanting, sadly), G poured me a mystery glass of something which I promptly misidentified as a gamay, as it was very purple. It turned out to be a Beaune 1er cru Cent Vignes 2017 from Jane Eyre. It was exuberant and lively, very fruity and a little frivolous. I found it slightly croquant and G detected a rather agricultural stemmy quality. Anyway, he told me it cost £58, which is rather a lot when you can get Coteaux Bourguignons for a third of the price. Apparently Jane is quite a cult producer, hence the ambitious price tag. We gave it an 8 but wouldn't be rushing back to buy more. 

Prices aren't what they used to be!

Earlier in the week, we succumbed to this Trefethen Napa Valley pinot noir from 1983, which had been lurking in my cupboard for a long time, part of the excellent lot I got at auction a couple of years ago. The cork initially looked good but then crumbled spectacularly. The wine itself looked mature, with a lot of brett on the nose initially which fortunately blew off, and a generous hand with the sugar bag. Or maybe they didn't need the sugar bag in California. Anyway, it was silky, with lovely autumnal fruit and was described as "fascinating and delicious" hence the title of this blog post. We would have thought it was from Burgundy if we hadn't known it was Californian. A real pleasure to drink.

Then on Thursday, G raised the bar yet again by producing this Chambolle-Musigny 1er cru Les Sentiers 2012 from Domaine Arlaud. I had a good feeling about this one.

While he was doing stuff in the kitchen, I swirled it around my glass and started chortling at the sight of these impressive legs. What a wonderful glossy wine. The nose elicited groans of ecstasy - it was absolutely divine with sweet, heady fruit. "Oooh that's absolutely fooking gorgeous" said G in a camp northern accent. On the palate, it was congruent, silky and complex with mouthwatering fruit. Griotte cherries, loganberry, plum skin and dark chocolate were all mentioned. It was very sensual and typique, seriously sexy pinot noir. 2012 can be a little on the burly side, but this was not. Top notch Chambolle from an excellent producer. We thought it was at the beginning of its drinking window and if we were lucky enough to find another bottle there would be no rush, but no particular need to wait either. There was some debate as to whether it was a 10 but in the end we settled on a high 9. The kind of wine that reminds us why we drink Burgundy.

Action shot!

And finally, a real rarity. I was joined for lunch by G, ACC and the Baron a couple of weeks ago and G produced this magnum of Clos de Vougeot from Jean-Jacques Confuron which he got at auction. The vintage was unknown, and we had hoped that it would be revealed on the cork but it was not to be.

It was plummy in colour with a light rim and great legs, and looked pristine. For me, it was very old school - fragant, rich and powerful with incredible length. It didn't have a huge amount of fruit, but ACC said that Clos de Vougeot often has mocha chocolate, which was certainly the case here. We thought it was at least 35 years old and apparently most of the other wines in the lot were from 1978 so there's a very good chance that this was too, but we'll never know. There was no problem getting through the magnum between the four of us - what a treat! Thanks G.

Three wines from Chablis and one from New Zealand

Now on to some whites from the past few weeks. As previously mentioned, G has been putting new life into the Premier Cru Project, which means we've been drinking a lot of Chablis.

Chablis 1er cru Vaulorent from Domaine Gilles et Nathalie Fevre is an old friend and here we had the 2015 vintage. This was impeccable, very typique and drinking well now. It was not grand, but whistle clean with a lovely weight and balance. We gave it a high 8.

Next up, a half bottle of Chablis 1er cru Butteaux 2014 from Louis Michel et Fils. This had a classic nose with hints of mushroom and lemon. It was brisk and well-balanced, and went well with our fish soup (NE BOUILLEZ PAS!), the acidity cutting through the richness. It was perhaps served a little too cold, and initially I thought it was a high 8 but it moved up to a 9 as time went on.

The third of the trio was this Chablis 1er cru Vosgros 2015 from Gilbert Picq. It was an attractive pale gold colour and had a splendid nose with white flowers, mushroom and something that I thought might be honey but G identified as honeysuckle. Clearly I need to improve my horticultural knowledge! On the palate it was congruent, with a lovely texture. I got a hit of lemon sherbet and it had a floral, almost herbaceous quality. I thought if I'd been tasting it blind, I might have thought it was a white from the Cote Chalonnaise. It was really interesting - there was a lot going on and it was a clear 9 pointer. It went very well with some top-notch smoked salmon fillet and an Asian salad. We felt it was about as good as a white wine as you could get for £27. 

And finally, a wine from les autres regions - a Sacred Hill Riflemans Chardonnay 2019 from Hawkes Bay in New Zealand. It looked good in the glass, and G found the nose exotic with some mango, while for me it was reminiscent of a Puligny. On the palate, it was quite full and rich with what G described as "a not unpleasing oiliness to it". The prominent use of oak reminded us of grand cru Chablis from an opulent vintage. Apparently it cost £32 which we felt was decent value. A worthy competitor to white Burgundy. 

Recent reds

Feeling a bit more cheerful here at AduV Towers with things starting to open up in London now and a sense that things might get back to normal soon. It was great to see ACC and the Baron in real life last Saturday after five months, and I'm looking forward to seeing other friends soon and getting back to tastings, lunches and dinners like the good old days!

Meanwhile, G has been keeping me company and we've drunk some pretty good stuff over the past few weeks. Today's report is on the reds only, in descending date order.

We recently acquired some halves of En Gregoire 2012 from Emmanuel Giboulot, and G located the 2018 vintage of the same wine in bottle, so naturally a vertical tasting ensued!

They were a fairly similar colour but the 2012 had a slightly paler rim. The 2018 had a pretty nose with exuberant ripe fruit, and was big and juicy with notes of black cherry. It came in at 13% and certainly ticked my boxes. Young, but why wait? The 2012 had more sous bois and was a little earthy - less fruity, more serious. It was only 12%. But there was a close resemblance between the two, indicating a strong sense of terroir. It was hard to say which we preferred. I think for G the 2012 was a narrow win, and for me the immediate deliciousness of the 2018 had it. 

The other night we had this Rully 1er cru Preaux from P&M Jacqueson. I had some trouble deciphering the curly font on the label! It was a pretty colour and looked young and fruity. The nose was fresh and pretty although G detected "an enticing whiff of rot", and the wine was light, succulent and delicious with stone fruit. It was quite high-toned and mouthwatering, and the word "croquant" sprang to mind - there was a kind of plum skin note. For me, it was the kind of wine that would be delicious at lunchtime with a baguette and some pate. It was perhaps a little on the frivolous side but there's nothing wrong with that. We gave it a 9. I see that we've actually had white wines from Jacqueson before (2007 vintage!) and thought they were pretty good. Definitely a domaine to look out for especially as Rully is relatively good value compared to more prestigious villages. 

There follow a trio which we had at my place where I failed to take photos. I've been getting better at making notes lately, but apparently not at remembering to take photos. 

The first was old favourite Terres Burgondes 2011 from Giboulot. This had a lovely nose of tinned strawberries and was congruent, sensual and pretty. It had some interesting notes of forest floor and wild fruit. Not too serious, obtained at an advantageous price (thanks ACC!) and very much my kind of thing. If it had been a premier cru, we'd have given it a 9. 

Back in mid-April we had some Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru Morgeots 2011 from Domaine de la Choupette. This had a glorious nose of black and red cherries and was elegant with blackcurrant on the palate. It was rich upfront but lighter on the midpalate and finish. It went well with our venison fillet, and we gave it an 8. Not quite as good as the 2010, but I always love red Chassagne.

Another recent acquisition was Ladoix 2010 from Domaine Parent. This was very much in the style of the domaine and if I'd been tasting it blind, I might have thought it was a Pommard. It was powerful, polished and rich with a long finish of black cherries. "Quite a serious wine from a minor village" was G's verdict. It definitely needed some red meat to go with it. 

I did remember to take a pic of this Chambolle-Musigny Clos le Village 2010, or at least the bottle. The wine was glossy and 90% opaque with a pale rim. On the nose we got mixed forest fruits - blackcurrant, raspberry and redcurrant. G also detected a note of orange peel. On the palate, there were some chocolatey tannins, blackberry and blackcurrant. It was perhaps not altogether typical of Chambolle and reminded me more of a Morey. I gave it two and half hours in the decanter and it was drinking now but we thought it would be good for another five years. I have another five bottles so that shouldn't be a problem. 

One night at G's we had this Pommard les Croix Noires 1er cru 2009 from Domaine de Courcel. This had been decanted for three and a half hours and was a lovely garnet colour, a little brown at the rim. I found the nose a little brooding. On the palate, there were some dusty tannins which resolved to reveal some lovely ripe blackcurrant and finally some raspberries. It went well with steak, which helped to buffer the tannins. We thought this was starting to drink, but would be good for another decade, and gave it an 8 with the potential to become a 9 in time. Not a wine one would seek out in a bad vintage.

Finally, the oldest of the bunch: this Morey-Saint-Denis 1er cru Les Ruchots 1996 from Domaine Arlaud. It looked mature and had a fascinating nose of tinned strawberry, sous bois, dark chocolate and cherry. On the palate it was extraordinary, there was so much going on. An immediate 10 pointer, happy days! It had lovely berries, was very complete and harmonious, and had a long finish which changed all the time and delivered little bursts of fruit. It was magnificent wine, old school burgundy as it ought to be, not one to be rushed. G told me that 1996 was a good vintage but also quite tough. This was approaching the end of its drinking window, so I'm glad we had it when we did. One of those wines that reminds us why we love Burgundy. 

Port report

Over the past few weeks, G has kindly shared some of his "advent calendar" of port from Quevedo, a Portuguese winery which I hadn't come across before. The concept was 24 x 90ml bottles in a wooden box, which provided some good opportunities for comparison. 

First up was a 1997 Colheita which we later compared with a 1995 but it seems I'd put my phone away by then. I had to ask G exactly what a Colheita is, and he told me it's a single vintage-dated tawny port. Not something I would have guessed from the colour!

The 1997 reminded me of dark chocolate-covered raisins and had a lovely soft texture with plenty of glycerine. It had a great finish with a hint of liquorice. Apparently it was bottled in 2020, so had seen 23 years in cask. I was favourably impressed. The 1995 had some figs on the nose but was lacking structure on the palate - G referred to it as fortified grape juice. It was very pleasant, but not quite the real deal. They were both from the same vineyard and had a similar time in barrel, so this difference was purely down to vintage variation.

On another evening, we tried the 1974 Colheito versus the 1992. Again, both had been bottled in 2020. The 1974 was a mahogany colour, and reminded me of panforte on the nose, with nuts and dried fruit, and maybe a little bit of chocolate. G got sultanas. It was silky smooth on the palate. "Oh, that's delicious" said a certain person. It was really complex and had all come together very nicely, with almonds, brazil nuts, prunes and figs. Apparently 1974 was a terrible year for port, so they did very well here. 

The 1992 was a similar colour, but had a more subdued nose with a whiff of varnish. It was perhaps sweeter and more obvious, with notes of toffee, caramel and dried orange peel. A comparison was drawn between dark Lindt almond chocolate for the '74 and Curly-Wurly for the '92. They both have their place...

It appears from my notes that G got carried away and we also tried the 2005 on the same evening. Notes were becoming sparse by this stage, but the overall impression was that it was pleasant but lacking in complexity, and possibly a bit young. 

Here we have a pair of LBVs from 2014 and 2015. The 2014 had dried fruit, particularly prunes, and seemed young. The alcohol was a little harsh and not very well-integrated, perhaps because it had only had six years in barrel.

The 2015 was significantly darker and had a more subtle nose - G described it as dumb. For me, it was more balanced, softer and more mellow. It was young, fruity and exuberant and reminded me of the young ports we've had from Niepoort. 

We also tried this 2007 Colheita, which had dried apricots, prunes and glace cherries on the nose. On the palate it had notes of orange and chocolate and I thought it was pretty good. My only criticism was a slight alcoholic burn on the finish. 

Here we have a pair of white ports, the 1981 versus the "Very Old". There was quite a marked difference in colour as can be seen from the photo. Their appearance reminded me of elderly Sercial. The 1981 had a delicious nose of sultanas and a very gloopy texture. It was congruent and perhaps a little bit fleshy. G detected marrons glaces on the finish. I thought it was pleasurable in an obvious way. I'm not sure I'd have realised it was port if I'd been tasting it blind, and would probably have thought it was a sherry.

The "Very Old" was fascinating. G told me that it was from 1970. It wasn't as sweet as the 1981 and had more complexity. I got orange and dark chocolate and also some herbaceous notes, possibly menthol or ginger. This really was astonishing stuff. I don't think it's available in bottle, so it was an absolute treat to get to taste it. 

We had a couple of other ports in recent weeks. I failed to take a pic of the 20 year old Taylors tawny bottled in 1982. This was the colour of gravy. On the nose, G got spruce varnish while I got some heady sweet notes that reminded me of icing sugar or possibly candied nuts. Not unpleasant. On the palate, it delivered a massive frontal hit (G's phrase) and had a spicy finish, with some heat as it went down. It was very disjointed. We weren't sure we would identify it as port blind. "Fucked up but oddly good with chocolate gingers" was the verdict. My take home point was that tawny port doesn't benefit from time in bottle. 

And finally, we had this Niepoort Crusted port bottled in 2014. G informed me that a crusted port is a non-vintage bottled relatively young, which forms a sediment. This was like alcholic Ribena. It was very winey, typical of Niepoort, with a freshness and charm which made for easy drinking. I was pleased to discover that G got it for a remarkably low price.

Thanks very much to G for giving me the chance to try all of the above - I feel like I learned a lot!

Recent reds

Now time to look at the reds which we drank in March, in ascending order of seriousness. 

My Eaux-Vives from la Maison Romane appeared at long last. I'm pretty sure this is from 2014 although we struggled to find the vintage on the bottle. It claims to be only 12% like most of Oronce's wines (hmmm). I find this one fascinating in a weird way. It's one of those low sulphur gamays with a certain feral quality and a hint of farmyard, like the ones from Chapuis and Maison en Belles Lies. The fruit profile is not standard and made me think of weird Scandinavian red berries - possibly the Nordic crowberry - or maybe sour cherries or lingonberries. Not a serious wine and probably wouldn't appeal to everyone, but I like it and I think G does too. 

And now a bunch of premier crus, as G has been reigniting the Premier Cru Project and has taken over my rather garish colour-coded spreadsheet on the subject. Here we have a Savigny les Beaune 1er cru  "Les Peuillets" 2014 from Domaine Guyon, who are based in Vosne Romanee. This was decanted for two hours. I found the nose promising with red berries and icing sugar, and some not-unpleasant volatile acidity. We finally settled on wine gums as the prevailing note. On the palate it had a silky texture and was richer and fuller than expected, but I found a sharp, bitter note on the finish. Overall we gave it an 8. We thought this was like Savigny made in the style of Vosne, and since to be honest neither of us is a massive fan of Savigny as a village (although weirdly we did have two early 10 pointers from there) this was more to our liking than I thought it might be.  

Here we have a Morey-St-Denis 1er cru la Riotte 2014 from Domaine Taupenot-Merme. This was decanted for the best part of four hours. It was a relatively light colour with a pale rim, and glossy with nice legs. Expectations were high and it had beautiful rich, sweet fruit, reminding me of tinned or baked strawberries. However the finish was a bit weird and we felt it wasn't altogether joined-up. G found black tea on the back palate. Some quick research showed that others thought it needed a further three years. We gave it an 8 but thought that it had the potential to become a 9 in time. It also went noticeably better with food, as this eliminated the problematic tannin thing. G informed me that MSD is his new favourite village, so I'd be all in favour of him getting some more and hanging onto it for a bit to see what happens. 

Next we have this Nuits-St-Georges 1er cru Aux Argillas 2012 from Domaine Jean Chauvenet. This was decanted for 3.5 hours. It was glossy in appearance with an attractive rich nose. On the palate, it was quite ripe with considerable tannin and black fruits, along with a certain earthy quality. Rugged, yet attractive. Tom Hardy was mentioned. Given that I don't always particularly enjoy NSG, it was a pleasant surprise. We felt it was just about ready but at the beginning of its window and would last a further 10 years, so no rush on the 2012s. We gave a it a high 8 but felt it had the potential to go higher.

An old favourite here - Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru les Morgeots 2010 from Domaine de la Choupette. This was dark and glossy with a sweet, enticing nose. It had lots of lovely sunny fruit - strawberry tart and blackcurrant. It was congruent, mouthwatering, rich and delicious. "Absolutely gorgeous" said G and it reminded me why I love red Chassagne so much. It went very well with venison fillet, and we think it will last another 3-4 years but I doubt it will get the chance. We gave it a high 9. Wonderful stuff, so happy I bought it back in the day. 

And finally, we had this Vosne-Romanee 1er cru Aux Brulees 2013 from Domaine Michel Gros back at the start of the month. What a treat. I have fond memories of the Clos de Reas from the same domaine so expectations were high. It looked absolutely beautiful and had a very attractive nose of red fruits. I suggested summer fruit compote while G put the case for summer tart. There was definitely a lot of raspberry going on. It was flowing and silky, medium weight, with a wonderful finish. G made a comment that it did a little dance on the palate, like a gavotte. Not a wine to guzzle, as there was a lot to unpack and it demanded attention. We thought it was drinking now but that it would be good for another ten years, and toyed with giving it a 10 but in the end settled for a high 9. A pleasure to drink. 

The weather is improving and I have a self-indulgent random day off today, lured by the prospect of a boozy lunch in someone's garden. Things are looking up!