2015 vintage continued

I've been to two wine tastings within seven days! These were follow-ups to the Burgundy Portfolio's big January tasting. While that one is always very exciting, there's a lot to get through and it can be overwhelming to a mere amatrice, so I was happy to get a chance to taste some of the same wines again in a more leisurely setting at the Highbury Library wine bar up near Arsenal stadium.

Last week we concentrated on whites, and I forgot to bring my camera. There were eight of us around a square table and we started with Chablis. Both growers, Nathalie et Gilles Fèvre and Céline et Frédéric Gueguen, had managed to pack plenty of acidity into their wines and the premier crus Vaulorent from Fèvre and Vaucoupin from Gueguen were showing particularly well. Premier cru level is where Chablis gets exciting, after all. The consensus was that the Fèvre wines were very elegant, and the Gueguen ones perhaps a bit richer.

Probably the highlight of the evening, however, was the white Beaune from Domaine de la Roseraie which had already impressed me back in January. This was deep and complex and will need time to open up - the drinking window is estimated as 5-15 years. Can't wait!

We also tried an amber wine, made by Pierre Fenals at Maison en Belles Lies, which we were almost forbidden to pour ourselves as it's so precious that ACC needed to keep some back to show the following day. This was made in a very traditional way in an amphora and was very interesting but probably wasted on me!

Then, on Wednesday night, it was back to the same location to try some reds. Word must have got round as this time there were 18 of us sitting around the table so it was quite a crowd.

We began with a brace of Beaujolais - the Brouilly and the Cote de Brouilly from Trichard. For my money, the Brouilly was drinking nicely now with cherry fruit, while the Cote is richer and more complex and will keep longer.

Other highlights, for me, included three wines from Domaine de la Roseraie. First we had the Bourgogne Rouge, which has already sold out, and on the evening I confidently reported that I had bought it already but now checking my trusty spreadsheet I see this is not the case! I should have done. I have however got some of the red Beaune and the Eponyme, which is only available in magnum. The Beaune is a lovely expression of the terroir with the classic perfume, elegance and length, while the Eponyme is the jewel in the crown of the domaine and had massive cheek-coating tannins, wild fruit and generally a grand cru feel to it. What's that coming over the hill? It's a monster... wine and ACC suggested it will be drinking in 7 to 20 years so we could be looking at 60th birthday celebrations rather than 50th, if I make it that far.

We also tried some wines from Microcosmos Chai Urbain, which is a very small winery in Marseilles. I drank a couple of bottles of the Marvin rose (on the left in the photo above) last year and it was wonderful in the very warm summer weather.

It's made from mourvedre, and it has a certain grapey quality and is dangerously drinkable given that it's 14.5% alcohol. I took the opportunity to grab a case. The name always makes me think of Marvin the Paranoid Android in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is no bad thing.

We also tried some reds from the same domaine and I was particularly impressed by the Tempete, which was powerful and intense with black fruits and liquorice. It turned out that this is made from syrah, which explains everything. Apparently 2015 is a great vintage for Rhone - well, this will do me nicely.

Thanks very much to ACC for a pair of fascinating tastings!

Chateau Latour 1969

Last Sunday, G and I decided it was time to knock this bottle of Latour on the head; it had been lying around at the bottom of the wardrobe for a long time.

We last drank this in December 2012 so it had been a while! This time I promised to make proper notes and so here they are. It was dark and glossy - so much so that when G held it up to the candle to try to show the colour, it remained entirely the opposite of translucent.

We opened it about 10 minutes before drinking, and on the nose, I found it slightly dumb, but on the palate it was smooth, and relatively light by Latour standards. It gained weight a few minutes later (I know the feeling) and accompanied our lamb tagine very well and G said it reminded him of Domaine de Trevaillon. The tannins had softened and it was approachable and less majestic than some Latours but the class was clear. "Sauntering gently downhill," said G and followed up with "Still offers pleasure but drink up," showing that he is wasted on the law and should be a professional writer of wine lists. It was possibly better 10 years ago, and I wasn't sure that I would have guessed it as a Latour if I'd been drinking it blind.

Here endeth the Latour chronicles as this was the last of the mixed case I acquired back in the day, and it's unlikely I shall be getting any more in the near future unless Euromillions finally delivers - hope springs eternal.

In other news, I can report that the 2011 reds are giving me a lot of pleasure at the moment. I've had some Bourgogne Rouge from Bouard-Bonnefoy, and some Terres Burgondes from Domaine Giboulot recently, and the vintage seems very pretty and enjoyable, rather like 2007. I see I have some Beaune Greves from Maison en Belles Lies in storage which I must get out soon...

Recent drinking round-up

On a recent Sunday evening, D came round for dinner at my place and G also joined us.

I'd just got some wines out of storage (Wine Out Friday) so we began with a bottle of this Chablis 1er cru Montmains 2010 from La Maison Romane.

It was a lovely pale gold colour, and very typique. We felt it was at the beginning of its drinking window, but it went down so easily that I'm not sure how long it's going to last. G and I had another bottle later in the week (the perils of leaving a spare in the fridge!) which was surprisingly different and reminded me more of a premier cru Chassagne. Good with fish fingers.

Back to Sunday. The main event was this bottle of 1969 Beaulieu Vineyard brought by D.

This was a lovely dark glossy colour and had a classic cedary cabernet sauvignon nose. G detected mint leaf. It was absolutely delicious - intense, rich, and sweet, with a lovely soft texture and an amazing finish. It was very drinkable too, and it was a real treat to drink such a wonderful wine.

With our cheese, we had this bottle of 1er cru Morey St-Denis 1996 Clos des Ormes from Maison Champy, provided by G. This was again very classic and typique with the black forest gateau thing going on, but for me it was overshadowed by the Beaulieu Vineyards - tough competition.

We finished off with some of G's old kirsch which made a refreshing digestif. Thanks to both of you for another memorable evening!

On Saturday, G and I went over to ACC's for lunch. We were presented with a mystery white and invited to guess what it was. Let's just say we were completely wrong!

ACC had a new cookery book by Stephane Reynaud and presented us with this amazing sausage and lentil dish.

To go with it, we had a magnum of Morgon 2011 from Lapierre. This was glorious Beaujolais, fruity and gluggable.

As we reached the bottom of the bottle, it became increasingly more murky...

G contributed an excellent cheeseboard, and I brought along a 2009 Pommard from Domaine Parent which was another of the wines I got out recently and the first time I'd tried it. My feeling was that it needs more time, so I'm going to tuck it away for a bit. For drinking now, the 2011 vintage seems to be the way forward!

We finished off with an amazing selection of digestifs and plotted our next trip to Burgundy...

Thanks ACC for a fabulous lunch!