I'd never been to Shoreditch before; the extent of my roaming in that direction has been Old Street "silicon roundabout". As we approached it on Monday night, we walked along a section of Old Street full of shabby 1960s office blocks with a dreary air of hopelessness. I decided that the area reminded me of Wellingborough town centre, and G said that he'd been thinking of Peterborough. Maybe the geeks are too busy developing killer apps to notice the architecture.
Fortunately things looked up fairly quickly on the other side of the roundabout and Shoreditch seemed similar to the nicer bits of Clerkenwell, with interesting warehouses and Victorian buildings, but with a side order of Vietnamese cafes and trendy bars. Eventually we found the venue, which turned out to be a charming cafe down the far end of a quiet side street. A cheery group including several familiar faces were getting stuck in to a choice of two cremants de bourgogne - either the normal or the rose from Domaine Jean-Pierre Bony. I opted for the rose which I've tried before and liked. I didn't really pay a huge amount of attention to it but it went down a treat.
After some preliminary chit-chat, we took our places at the table. This was a sit-down tasting, which is my favourite kind as I find I can concentrate better, get to listen to ACC's take on the wine and anecdotes about the wine-makers, don't have to sharpen my elbows to get to the booze, and can make proper notes. Also, we had some food, which helps put the wine in context. On this occasion there were wooden boards bearing cheeses and saucisson, alongside bread, cornichons and crisps. G was ravenous and within minutes had practically eaten his own body-weight in Comte and saucisson.
The theme of the tasting was vintage variation and for the most part we drank pairs of the same wine from different vintages. The first pair was the Petit Chablis from Domaine Nathalie and Gilles Fevre, the 2011 against the 2012. We were supposed to drink from young to old, and therefore pour the young wine into our left glass and the old wine into our right glass. This required a surprising amount of concentration every time the wine went round and somehow seemed counter-intuitive. I wonder if this has something to do with the fact that we're used to reading from left to right and therefore unconsciously expect the older thing to be on the left and the newer thing to be on the right. Who knows.
The 2012 had only been in bottle for 3 months, while the 2011 had been in bottle for 15 months. I liked the fresh, lemony nose on the 2012 and found it quite sharp on the palate, which made me think it will be good in a few months' time. The 2011 was definitely drinking better now, but wasn't quite as crisp. G and I agreed that we preferred the 2012 but opinions around the table were mixed.
Then we tried the 2009 and 2010 Bourgogne Blanc from Domaine Florent Garaudet. This domaine is in Monthelie which is on the other side of Volnay from Pommard, and not a very well-known appellation. We visited the domaine back in January and came away with the impression that Florent is very passionate and even obsessive (in a good way) about his wine.
We'd tasted the 2010 at the white burgundy and port tasting a few weeks ago, and I liked it then. I liked it this time too - it was well-balanced and precise. We were less keen on the 2009 - G described it as "butch" and I thought it lacked the special quality of the 2010.
Then we tried the 2008 vintage of the same wine and this was very impressive, drinking very well now and with a great finish. Florent Garaudet is only in his early 20s and ACC thinks that he's one of the great stars of the future. He might just be right.
Next we tried two viogniers from Domaine de Sermezy which is in Beaujolais. The 2012 had a very strong smell of pear drops on the nose, which was perhaps a little too powerful. And sadly the 2011 was corked - it was fizzy but there was also an underlying mouldy sock thing going on. This was a shame, as ACC said the 2011 is generally better than the 2012.
Then it was on to the reds. First, we compared the 2010 and 2011 Moulin-a-Vent "Mortperay" from Domaine Benoit Trichard. I preferred the 2011 - it had a lovely nose but was not yet knitted together. ACC said it had a purity of fruit and more polish. We followed it up with the 2009 of the same wine, which was drinking now. I liked it but thought it perhaps wasn't as pretty as the 2011. Also, I've had a lot of the 2009 Moulin-a-Vent "L'Exception" from the same producer, so am staying loyal to that.
Finally, the highlight of the tasting: two vintages of Nuits-St-Georges 1er cru Les Pruliers from Domaine Jean-Pierre Bony, the 2010 and 2011. For me, again, the 2011 was the winner - it had an absolutely beautiful nose. It had lovely cherry fruit and was very elegant, with a wonderful finish. This will be first-rate when it's ready, and I succumbed to a half case to be tucked away for 10 years. I don't think I'll regret it. Thanks again to ACC for another fascinating tasting.
No comments:
Post a Comment