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!

Burgundy Portfolio 2016 en primeur tasting, 15th Jan

Since my chronology is all over the place at the moment, let's rewind to Monday when I had the good fortune to attend this rather exclusive event at Le Meridien, Piccadilly. A quick trip to Fortnums beforehand and I was all set to taste some serious booze. In pictures, here were some (but not all) of my favourites... A good time was had!

Semi SPNS, 16th Oct 2017

Now that my epic report from the Finger Lakes is finished, it's time to get up to date with a few other bottles that have been drunk over the past three months or so.

On Mon 16th Oct, G, P, D and I convened at the Savile for a dinner which was sort of like the SPNS but with more relaxed rules (i.e. we could spend what we liked). Notes do not seem to have made it into the official Proceedings so we'll have to make do with a pictorial record. At this rate I'll need to abandon the blog and get an Instagram account... only kidding...

Update: now edited to include G's comments as his memory is better than mine.

G contributed this 2002 Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Nicholas Billecart which was very fine indeed. I could happily drink more of it, hint hint. G said it was the sheer drinkability of it that was so surprising. We could happily have polished off a magnum without further ado.

My contribution was my penultimate bottle of white Corton 2008 from Anne Parent, which was singing. A wonderful lemony, waxy, oaked chardonnay, impeccable.

P contributed a bottle of Chateau Berliquet 1988... G says classic luncheon claret, good of its type but outclassed by its company. I think that's a fair assessment.

The company being this Chateau Haut Brion 1975 contributed by D. This had a wonderful perfume, almost of violets and was still inky-hued. A great pleasure to drink.

Scene of wild abandon at our usual table at the Savile Club

And finally, a bottle of 1881 Leacock Terrantez contributed by G. This was full-throated stuff with a five minute finish. The last of his nineteenth century vintages, sadly. Fun while it lasted.

Just another typical Monday night in the world of A du V.... thanks to all for their contributions!

Dinner at D's, 23rd Sept

On our last night at D's, he held a dinner party with the guest list including Morton from Ravines and Dave from Seneca Shores and their wives.

The scene was set...

The purpose of the evening was to drink some of D's 1968 Californian cabernet sauvignons, but we started off with a variety of fizzes brought by the others including some 2000 Krug which was very generous as I for one don't get to drink that every day. I also had to restrain myself from eating too much of D's amazing venison liver pate.

Before we made a start on the reds, we had this bottle of Hanzell Sonoma Valley chardonnay 1967. This was a golden colour and was big oaky, buttery and rich, still going very strong. It was remarkable that it was still alive as apparently Hanzell weren't a particularly prestigious operation.

With dinner we moved on to the reds...

D's impressive collection of wine glasses... and as for the contents...

This was the Beaulieu Vineyard 1968 Private Reserve which was 12.5% alcohol. I found it impressive with a great finish and it seemed to improve with time. For many of the assembled company it was their favourite wine of the evening.

The Freemark Abbey came in at 12.0% and was very smooth, with resolved tannins, and notes of blackcurrant. It was elegant and more subdued but perhaps lacking something compared to the competition.

This was the standard Inglenook which was very smooth and maybe a bit lighter, something of a fruit bomb.

The Inglenook Cask H12 was very clearly a step up from the previous wine and had a good structure. It was my second favourite of the evening.

My favourite, however, was this Ivancie Cellars "American Cabernet Sauvignon" which was made in Colorado from Californian grapes. It had a lovely ripe sweetness which I found very enjoyable.

Finally there was this Robert Mondavi which was noticeably different from the others, with some darker notes. It was less fruity. Mondavi was established in 1965 so this was one of their first wines.

We finished off with some Grahams 1970 which was classic, integrated and drinking nicely now.

And finally this extraordinary item - Paul Masson Rare Souzao Port. This was very dense and reminiscent of prune juice, but surprisingly good!

Many thanks to D for hosting such a fascinating tasting - it was remarkable that these wines have lasted so well and a real privilege to get to taste them side by side like this. And that concludes my write-up of our trip to the Finger Lakes. It was a memorable trip and very enjoyable all round.

Happy new year and here's to more exciting adventures in 2018...