Recent drinking round-up!

Time for another catch-up on what's been drunk lately... one has to get through this interminable lockdown somehow! Here we have three blasts from the past and something new.

The other night, G cracked open a couple of wines from Domaine Parent, and it was fascinating to try them side by side.

The 2015 Bourgogne Rouge came in at a mere 12.5% and had a nose of raspberries and a certain earthiness reminiscent of Pommard. It was lighter than I expected, and very drinkable, the kind of wine I think of as being good with lunch. Not what I was necessarily expecting based on the old days when we used to drink a lot of it.

The 2013 Monthelie came in at 13% and had an attractive, slightly musky nose. It was juicy with a high level of acidity and also seemed light, fruity and young. It opened up after a few minutes and with hindsight would have benefited from an hour in decanter. Apparently it was even better the next day!

Yesterday the weather was good enough for ACC and I to have a socially-distanced picnic in the nearby square. ACC had told me he was going to bring along the new gewurztraminer from Romain Chapuis, which was exciting. I wasn't really sure what food would go well with it, but it turned out that my duck and prune terrine was a very good match. It was a beautiful golden colour and had an aromatic gewurz nose but more subtle than some (no granny's handbag here). Apparently it's made from grapes grown in Alsace but Romain declassifies it so it's a Vin de France. I really liked the weight and richness of it, then discovered it clocks in at a whopping 14.5% so not like some of his other unsulphured wines. Definitely a bottle to share with others, and something a little bit different. The wine bars really ought to snap this up, once they're allowed to reopen...

My contribution was this Moulin-a-Vent Cuvee L'Exception 2011 from the Trichards, which we used to enjoy very much back in the day. A case was still lingering in storage and I had it delivered recently. It has matured very nicely and is still a wonderful bottle of Beaujolais, more on the serious side, and best served slightly chilled. As usual, my glass seemed to evaporate. A very pleasant way to spend a sunny afternoon!

Domaine Audiffred dinner, 15th November

On Tuesday night, I attended this dinner in Pimlico, which I was very excited about. I managed to get completely lost in the short distance between the tube station and the restaurant, Shepherds, but found it eventually and was ushered through a long room apparently full of famous politicians, to a small, bunker-like private space with excellent sound proofing and circular table set for eight. In the corner was this welcome sight.

As my phone had been draining its battery even faster than usual, G kindly agreed to take charge of photographic duties, which is why we have some rare photos in focus for this post. Also present and correct were Henri Audiffred himself, ACC, the Baron, C, J and S.

We commenced with a glass of 2013 Beaune "Chaume Gaufriot" Blanc which was drinking very well now and accompanied us well into the first course which for most of us was potted crab and toast, but those with a seafood allergy were given salt beef instead and the restaurant gave them a different menu which shows admirable attention to detail.

At this point we also began to drink some of the 2014 Bourgogne Rouge which was the hit of the evening back at the en primeur tasting in January and is still available. Henri described this as a mini Vosne-Romanee and I'm very tempted to get another case.

With our main course of pheasant, we had a brace of red Beaunes, the 2013 and the 2011. I found it difficult to decide which I liked best. I've often found that this wine has a strong perfume of tropical fruit, particularly mango and pineapple, which makes it very distinctive, and it's a very pretty wine.

Meanwhile, the conversation had turned philosophical, and Henri was asked about his approach to wine-making. Fortunately ACC and the Baron were on hand to translate and I wished I'd brought a notebook to record it in more detail but to summarise, his aim is to let the wines express themselves, and to make well-balanced wines. Certainly every time I've visited the domaine I've come away quite overwhelmed because everything he makes is so good.

It emerged that Henri has been making wine for 30 years, which is hard to believe but apparently he started very young. He was asked if he remembered the characteristics of every vintage and said that he particularly remembers the difficult vintages. Conversation then turned to the 2016 vintage which has been brutal. Frost struck many vineyards seemingly at random, with one row of vines affected while its neighbour was fine. ACC compared it to three out of the eight of us present suddenly disappearing. It was difficult not to think of this...

Finally, with the cheese course, we had some 2013 Morey-Saint-Denis, some 2012 Vosne Chalandins, and then the jewel in the crown, 2013 Vosne "Aux Reignots" which is a premier cru. For me the Morey was immediately pleasurable, the Chalandins still had a lot of tannin and needed more time, and the Reignots was quite remarkable with a finish which went on forever. 

It was now time for vulgar commerce and ACC produced the order forms. I think everyone agreed that whereas so often prices rise exponentially with quality, in this case they are very fair at all levels. They are available from the Burgundy Portfolio, where else. Thanks very much to Henri for coming over to London to share them with us, and to ACC for organising such a fascinating and enjoyable evening.  

Burgundy Portfolio tasting, 16th Feb

Last Tuesday I found myself on an impromptu tour of Highbury before I belatedly found the venue for that evening's wine tasting, the Highbury Library, opposite the Arsenal stadium. I assume that the name is a jolly jest as it didn't look much like a library!

Upstairs seemed pretty lively but I spotted some familiar faces in the downstairs room and headed down to join them where I was greeted with a glass of Chablis by ACC. This was a tasting of 2014 en primeur "Burgundies". The main Burgundy Portfolio en primeur tasting took place back in January at the Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green, which was very enjoyable but difficult to blog about with at least 80 wines being shown. This evening was a more in-depth focus on some of ACC's relatively new discoveries.

The 1er cru Vosgros from Domaine Gueguen was our aperitif, It was drinking already but would keep, with good acidity, citrus and white flowers. It was unoaked and elegant, and seemed popular with everyone.

Then it was on to another 1er cru Chablis, this time from the Vaucoupin vineyard. This seemed more serious, and might need more time. ACC mentioned gunflint. My notes record more detail about the Gueguen's gite for two with swimming pool, which sounds like a great place for a retreat in the Chablis countryside!

We had a bonus tasting of this bottle of Bourgogne Blanc, which was also very good and retained the minerality of the house style.

Then, with a single bound, we leapt from the north of Burgundy to the south, with this Beaujolais Blanc from Domaine des Josephins. This spends 9 months in barrel and was distinctly richer. It was very quaffable and good value for money at £105 for a case of 12 in bond.

This Bourgogne Blanc from Domaine de la Roseraie went down very well. It's made in Puligny Montrachet, by the chap ACC went to visit in October while I wandered round the village taking photos. Only 100 cases were made and apparently a lot of it goes to Parisian restaurants. It wasn't ready yet, still not fully integrated, but Baron McG and I succumbed and decided to split a case between us.

This Viognier from Domaine des Josephins was a little bit different, with white peach, and seemed like a wine that would age well. It was was well-balanced and stylish, something for those who like something different to Chardonnay occasionally.

Food appeared at this point, some charcuterie and cheese, and we cheerfully dived in.

Then it was on to the reds. This Gorge Rouge from Domaine des Josephins is basically a Bourgogne Rouge, made from pinot noir. The name refers to a robin. It had lovely light strawberry fruit and was only 12.5%. I snaffled a case.

The same domaine also makes this Tete Noire - which apparently is some other sort of bird, not the rather unfortunate direct English translation! This is made from the gamaret grape, which is a cross between gamay and reichensteiner. It was much darker in colour and almost brooding. Some detected liquorice. I quite liked it, but suspect it divided the audience.

We moved on to a trio from Domaine de la Roseraie - a Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Beaune, a Maranges and a Beaune "Montee Rouge". These ascended in terms of power and complexity.

The Montee Rouge in particular was very interesting but still quite closed and possibly the sort of wine one would come back to in 6 years. It was serious stuff, complex and concentrated with black cherries going on. Some of us were keen to have a tasting with some older vintages so that we could see how it would evolve.

Overall, it was great to consider some new arrivals in more depth and I look forward to drinking my new acquisitions in due course!

Domaine Audiffred, 29th October

On Thursday morning, Julien le taxi was booked for 9.00 and we emerged from the gite to see him pulling up on the pavement in the distance - no precision driving down the narrow alley for that precious Merc! We were duly whisked off along the trusty Route des Grands Crus to Vosne-Romanee.

It was very foggy and autumnal out in the vineyards.

We turned up at Domaine Audiffred but there was nobody around except some gnomes.

Gnometastic!

Then Henri arrived and the tasting could commence! I was very excited as this was my first tasting of the trip. ACC asked Henri how he had found the 2014 vintage and the reply was that it had been complicated and was a bit like 2010 in terms of power and acidity (if I understood correctly).

We tasted 15 wines from barrel altogether. Some favourites were as follows:

The Bourgogne Rouge was a beautiful bright purple. It had a fruity nose and was a nice weight, and would make a fine house red in a couple of years, I imagine.

The Nuits St Georges was a lovely darker colour, complex with good structure, power and elegance and black fruits. One to keep. The Nuits St Georges Argilliats had a lovely nose, good concentration and there were references to creme de cassis. I tactlessly asked if it's a premier cru and it isn't, but it seems to me that it is at that level.

I very much liked the Pommard "no.2" which I found very charming and more elegant than the more masculine Pommard en Mareau. It might need re-branding for the UK market though...

As one would expect, the Vosne-Romanees are very special here, all the way from the village level, to the Chalandins, to the wonderful Champs Perdrix (I was pleased to see there were 7 barrels of this) which was like a compote of summer berries, and finally what was modestly described as "the 1er cru" i.e. the jewel in the crown, Reignots, which was bursting with delicious sweet fruit. I'd be thrilled to own any of these gems.

Then we tasted a number of older wines in bottle including the red Beaune 2011 which was pretty and elegant with red fruits, the Gevrey-Chambertin 2010 which was soft with a nice weight, and the Vosne-Romanee Champs Perdrix 2010 which ticked all the boxes. It looked beautiful, had an enticing nose and on the palate had a lovely richness and a great finish. The thought immediately occurred that any of these would be a fine addition to a Christmas celebration,

Merci beaucoup to Henri for another masterclass and I look forward to adding some of the 2014s to my collection in January, when the Burgundy Portfolio will be offering them en primeur.

Recent drinking round-up, 2nd August

No particular theme today, just a recap of what we have been drinking over the past couple of weeks.

This was a 2013 Beaujolais "Champ Blanc" made by Julien Merle, which G picked up in Triovino in Lyon for around 19 euros. It's a natural wine and we served it slightly chilled. I found it delicious and pure with vibrant fruit, while G described it as "essence of Gamay". At 12.5% we could be confident there'd be no hangover the next day either.

Last Sunday, ACC joined us for dinner and we were treated to some leftovers of this Chablis 2012 Grand Cru Les Preuses, from Domaine Nathalie and Gilles Fevre, Obviously this is very young, but it was already drinking nicely, probably because it had been open for a little while. I was struck by how elegant and pure it was. The use of oak is judicious at this domaine.

Then, I was excited to drink this white which I'd been saving up for a suitable occasion - a Bourgogne Blanc 2008 from Domaine Roulot. We don't see much Roulot in the UK and I'd never had a white from this domaine before. This bottle cost 39 euros from Antic Wines in Lyon. It didn't disappoint - it was like a baby Meursault with richness but also a lively streak of acidity and an edge which kept it interesting. It was beautifully balanced and drinking very well now. Those 2008 whites are so good.

With the cheeseboard we had this Bourgogne Rouge 1993 from Domaine Bernard Delagrange, which I believe ACC had picked up in the bargain bucket at Magnum in Beaune. This had survived remarkably well and went down a treat.

On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of attending a wine tasting hosted by the Burgundy Portfolio at the Gallery Magda Danysz on Charlotte Street. This was very entertaining as we were given a tour of the remarkable space, which included a secret cinema hidden away downstairs, and were served a different wine in each part of the gallery. The wines were generally old favourites, but the white Pernand-Vergelesses from Pascal Clement was showing particularly well on this occasion.

On Friday, G and I tried out this Greek red, which was part of a recent order from the Wine Society. It was described in their notes as being like a Cote de Nuits burgundy, and I could see where they were coming from, as it had dark red berry fruits. I quite enjoyed it, but at 14% alcohol it was on the heavy side. G was not so keen and refused to drink it, but relented the following evening and helped me polish off the remainder. The fact that it was better on night 2 suggests that it's probably too young, but at £19.50 a pop I'm unlikely to rush out and buy any more with a view to keeping it for 3 years.

As an aside, I'm slightly miffed with the Wine Soc at the moment, because they seem to have discontinued the Norman Hardie Canadian pinot noir which I had from them some time ago. I didn't write about it on here at the time, as I was planning to get some more and take it to an SPNS dinner and didn't want to spoil the surprise, but I thought it was excellent, and now I can't get hold of any more. Grrr! However, what the Wine Society does do very well is sherry, and I ordered a little mixed 6 pack last week.

We opened this Cayetano del Pino Palo Cortado last night and I was hugely impressed with it. It's made by Sanchez Romate who always seem to do a good job. It smelled almost sweet on the nose, but it's actually dry, nutty and complex. At £14.50 a bottle it's a snip, and I'll be back for more in due course.

Also in the picture is the first course of G's "Superfood Supper" which he treated me to last night. I usually do the cooking so this was a nice change.

The second course involved mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes, and we opened my penultimate bottle of Meursault 2008 from Vincent Perrin.

This has been a spectacular wine, and I've enjoyed it very much. It's drinking beautifully at the moment and is everything you want in a Meursault.

The main course was a delightful crab and dill concoction, along with avocado. We used to eat a lot of crab on toast, but since the grill has now packed up due to too many vast hunks of beef being roasted in the oven, and in an attempt to lower the carb-count, this was an excellent alternative.

Next up, an assiette de fruits. Super-fruits, in fact.

Finally, the best super-food of all - cheese! G had been to La Fromagerie and got some Roquefort, Comte, a Banon, a Charollais and an Ami du Chambertin to go alongside the dregs of a Pecorino and a Valency from the 'Trose. There was so much that two cheeseboards had to be pressed into action. I hasten to add that we only had very small amounts of each, served with some Peter's Yard artisinal sourdough crispbread things, which have been the breakout hit of the summer.

To accompany this, we had a half bottle of Coufis Vin Doux from Chapoutier, which had the vintage (2008) on the cork. I really enjoyed this - it wasn't too sweet, and had lovely apricot flavours. Looking it up on the Chapoutier website, I'm not at all surprised to see that it's made from the viognier grape. I'm not sure why it's not allowed to be called a Rhone wine - perhaps it's from the wrong side of the tracks or something. This too came from Triovino and G thinks it cost about 18 euros. I'd certainly have it again, and find myself fervently wishing that Triovino had a branch in London.

That brings us all up to date. It's already beginning to feel slightly autumnal here and I've pencilled in a trip to Burgundy in November. I've been hearing good things about the wines of the 2014 vintage so am looking forward to trying them myself!

Lunch at ACC's, 20th June

Yesterday G and I made our way to the wilds of south-west London for lunch chez ACC. Our journey was made more complicated than usual owing to various transport connections being disrupted by some march, which meant I managed to forget not only my umbrella but also my camera. Fortunately I didn't forget my phone, or the bottle of wine I was bringing, or the latest edition of Bourgogne Aujourd'hui which gave its best chablis award to Domaine Nathalie & Gilles Fevre.

We arrived, somewhat damp and grumpy, but our spirits were soon restored as ACC put on a semi-vertical tasting of two whites from the Vondeling estate in South Africa. I say semi-vertical because one was from 2006 and one was 2008 and they were a mixture of chardonnay, viognier and chenin blanc but in the case of the 2008, there was some grenache blanc in there too.

It was very interesting to try these, especially as they had some age on them. The 2006 was elegant but I preferred the 2008 which was fuller and reminded me of a Volnay. They weren't massively alcoholic either - 13% and 13.5%. Certainly the best South African whites I've tasted.

To eat, we had some pate to start and then ACC served this roast chicken which was very fine...

... as was the stuffing, served in a Le Creuset aubergine dish shaped like an aubergine! I'm quite jealous.

My contribution was this bourgogne rouge 2000 from Leroy, which was one of my finds in Antic Wines in Lyon.

I enjoyed this very much - very 2000 said ACC - and particularly towards the end as it opened out it had a lovely sweetness and red berry fruit reminiscent of summer pudding.

G provided the cheese board, which came from La Fromagerie. His ability to open the incredibly heavy door to their cheese room is greater than mine. The Langres in particular was wonderful and can be seen oozing all over the cheeseboard here - clearly it was necessary to eat it all immediately.

With the cheese, ACC served this fantastic 1990 Jurancon, which I understand he got from Philippe at Mon Millesime in Beaune. It was absolutely lovely, with caramelised pineapple flavours, and it was not too sweet by any means. A real treat.

Merci beaucoup to ACC and I look forward to the re-match at my place in a couple of week's time!