Recent whites report

It's definitely feeling autumnal here in London, although allegedly we have a mini-heatwave to dread look forward to next week! We shall see... 

Today's report is on white wines I've had recently.

 

Monday was a bank holiday and G showed up for dinner bearing this Champagne Gruet. He'd had it in a champagne bar in Wapping at lunchtime and had saved half the bottle for us to try in the evening - fine by me! This was of particular interest as it was 100% Arbane. I'd never heard of Arbane before (hangs head in shame). It was quite pale, with a light and elegant floral nose, and had a lovely texture with a delicious creaminess. Not at all the yeasty style of fizz. G reported that it hadn't changed much since lunchtime, and it went very well with our wild smoked sockeye salmon starter. 

I took a picture so that I could boast about it to my champagne expert friend J across the pond, who informed me that Gruet have a big operation in New Mexico. Then I discovered D actually brought some over a while back and I wrote about it here. I'm not sure what the connection is these days between the operation in Champagne and the operation in New Mexico, but I think it's fairly clear which one came out on top. 

 

Moving swiftly on to some premier cru Burgundies! Here we have a brace of wines from Chablis. This was a half bottle of 1er cru Vau Ligneau 2015 from Domaine Hamelin, purchased from the wine shop in Oakham. It looked nice and was definitely chardonnay with a rich nose, but was unbalanced, with little acidity. It reminded me of a random international chardonnay which I had in a restaurant in Reykjavik the week before - generic and obvious. "If it was ever interesting, it was interesting three years ago," said G, and we gave it a disappointing 6.  

 

The second Chablis was 1er cru Vaucoupin 2017 from Jean-Paul and Benoit Droin. G reported that he had never had a correct Vaucoupin, which I hadn't realised. But hurrah! There was nothing wrong with this one. It was exuberant on the nose and much more exciting and vigorous than I'd expected, with very ripe tropical fruit. For me there were perhaps melons, grapes and even lychees going on. In the end, the verdict was an 8. It would have been a 9 but we deducted a point for lack of typicity. G found it over-ripe and we agreed that it certainly needed drinking now. 

Heading south to the Cote d'Or, we had this Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru Les Vergers 2018 from Fernand and Laurent Pillot back in July. It had an amazing nose, fragrant and very oaky, and I did enjoy it but possibly mostly due to the First Glass of the Evening Effect. As time went on, we became more critical and it reminded me of a big buttery Californian chardonnay. There was no sense of terroir, and as G remarked, "We can't even tell which continent it comes from, let along which fucking vineyard." Ouch. 2018 was a hot year, and it felt like they hadn't adjusted to that. At £55 a bottle, we felt it was twice the price of a decent bottle of Chablis. We gave it a 7 in the end, and I'd have struggled to drink half a bottle of it.

But I'll wrap up on a happier note. This Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru Champ Canet 2016 from Chateau de Meursault came in the kind of big chunky bottle that exudes quality and annoys Jancis. It had a rich, mushroomy nose and a lovely weight. It was quite big, and I wondered if it might be flabby, but no! It had the acidity to balance it and a little tingle of apples on the finish. While the oak was prominent, it had a wonderfully pure line going down the middle, and went very well with some miso cod. At £88 it wasn't cheap, but it was a good solid 9. Sometimes you get what you pay for. 

And finally, a real treat, some decent Meursault! This was 1er cru les Charmes Dessus 2017 again from Chateau de Meursault. The nose was classic, rich and buttery with some lemon. On the palate, it had a nice gloopy texture and a lovely weight, and was very precise, with that lemon/lime core going down the middle and a long finish. It was typique, classy, delicious and easy to drink, and we felt it could have a few years in it. As time went on, the acidity receded slightly and it became richer and more rounded, so possibly needed to be a little colder. We gave it a 9, as at 14% it was just a percentage point too high in alcohol for perfection. I believe this was £71 from the Wine Society, so had the edge on the Puligny in that respect. 

Thanks to G for supplying all of these - a mixed bag, but always great when we find a winner!

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.

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 whites

Just squeaking in before the month end with a report on March drinking. Today I'll be looking back on the white wines that G and I have had this month, five of which were from Burgundy, one from Champagne and one from Bordeaux. 

In ascending order of seriousness, first up is this Bourgogne Cote Chalonnaise from 2017 from Les Champs de Themis, a domaine based in Bouzeron. This was good, honest, well-balanced white burg. Quite fresh, sharp enough to go well with Thai crab cakes, yet not tooth-rattlingly acidic. We felt it didn't need any more time. A useful addition to G's cellar. 

A few days later we had this Bourgogne Blanc 2014 from Domaine de la Roseraie. This was a nice pale gold colour and had a hint of white flowers on the nose. On the palate, it was deft, with a certain saline quality. An enjoyable aperitif.

Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume from Domaine Nathalie & Gilles Fevre is an old friend and I recently got one of my two six packs of the 2013 delivered. We detected white flowers, apricots and stone fruit. For me, it wasn't flinty but quite full with a bracing finish. We thought it was very successful and gave it a 9 on the premier cru scale. It was remarkable value for money, coming in at about £23 a bottle excluding storage costs over the years. It was ready now but I feel there's no particular rush to get the second half case out. 

This Rully 1er cru Molesme 2017 from Jean-Baptiste Ponsot was the second of two premier cru Rullys which G bought recently - I reported on the first in the previous post. This one had a fresh, brisk nose with a hint of mushroom which reminded us of Puligny, but on the palate it was richer than the previous Rully and more like a Meursault. We gave it a high 8 and it went very well with some Perard soupe de poissons. Altogether now: Ne bouillez pas!

Last night we had a bottle of Puligny-Montrachet Tremblots 2015 from Domaine Joly. I'd like to think I would definitely recognise it as Puligny if I tasted it blind, as the nose is very classic. On the palate G detected lime blossom while I got beeswax and a hint of honey. It improved as time went on and developed a petrol quality reminiscent of Riesling. We had it with a crab salad and both of us used the phrase "a real pleasure to drink" at different points during the evening. It's perfect now, and I imagine the rest will be polished off in the next 6 months or so. 

Moving out of Burgundy, G produced this "Les Vignes D'Autrefois" 2013 champagne from Laherte Freres the other night, which is 100% pinot meunier. I found the nose quite yeasty while it reminded G of sherbert lemon. It was almost frothy with bubbles. There was considerable acidity and I got some grapefruit on the finish. Very interesting and a good aperitif.

And finally, the other night we had this Chateau Malartic Lagraviere 2012 white Bordeaux. This was a wonderful golden colour and as someone who doesn't drink a lot of this kind of thing, I really enjoyed it. It had honey, pears and maybe lychees going on, and had great balance and a nice weight. It was serious stuff, exuding quality. Unfortunately it has a price tag to match. Still, a useful reminder that I like white Bordeaux. 

Thanks to G for providing or sharing the above with me. Our occasional dinners together have been one of the few enjoyable things during this interminable lockdown. One is very grateful for a decent cellar at the moment!

Recent drinking round up! - whites

G has been making a good stab at keeping the Premier Cru Project going, so over the past few weeks we've notched up a few more.

This St Aubin 1er cru le Champlot 2014 from Sylvain Langoureau was a nice pale gold colour and had a classic St Aubin nose, lemony with a hint of toast. It had a nice weight and was refreshing with good acidity. The finish improved as time went on and developed a tingle of its own, reminiscent of gooseberry. We had it with a Thai chicken and mushroom stir fry which worked well. Described as entirely satisfactory, we gave it a solid 8. 

 

On to two Puligny 1er crus, both 2014s, both from Drouhin. A few days ago I made my trademark Parmesan crisps (wonderfully easy recipe - put teaspoons of grated parmesan on a baking sheet, bake for 5 minutes at 200C) to go with the Clos de la Garenne, a very small vineyard near Folatieres. This was a beautiful colour, with that Puligny mushroom thing going on on the nose, and rich and full on the palate. Our favourable first impression gradually receded somewhat as we failed to detect any great complexity which was surprising for a wine at this level. Other commentators had given it very good reviews but we assume they must have drunk it young, so maybe it hadn't lived up to its early promise. It did go well with our fish soup and in the end it managed an 8 but I think we'd hoped for more.

 

We had this 1er cru Champ Gain from the same producer and the same year back in July. In the absence of a notebook I made brief notes on my phone, but it's interesting to compare with the other one. It had the mushroomy thing again and a certain waxiness on the nose. On the palate, it had a lovely weight and was crisp and typique, elegant and polished with a great finish. G detected lemon peel but felt that the oak was slightly intrusive and thus it was awarded a 9. This vineyard is a bigger one up towards Blagny, which may explain why we liked it.

And finally, to Chablis where I've been getting through supplies of this 1er cru Montmains 2011 from La Maison Romane. This has been a real pleasure to drink. It looked amazing in the glass, and on the nose G detected lemon verbena while I got a hint of lemon curd. On the palate, it was dry yet rich and fully mature, with a nutty note on the finish. It reminded us of a premier cru Chassagne rather than a Chablis, and became more honeyed over time. We gave this a high 9 and made a note to drink my one remaining bottle in the near future. 

Dinner at mine, 22nd March

Last Sunday evening, I was joined for dinner by G and D just in the nick of time before the lockdown in London got serious.

To start, we had this Chablis 1er cru Montmains 2011 from La Maison Romane, one of my recent withdrawals from storage. This was a beautiful golden colour, with a citrusy nose - D got lemon drop, G mentioned tangerines and I was reminded of tinned mandarins. On the palate, it was crisp with good acidity and had a lovely weight. I probably won't want to let it hang around too long, although there's no sign of a heatwave just yet.

D brought along this Chateau Ausone 1966. The colour had held up well and it had a remarkably youthful appearance considering its age, a tribute to D's cellaring. It was relatively soft, and the tannins were fully resolved, with some lovely notes of blackberry jam. I am informed that St Emilion is Merlot-dominated, which explained why this was very different from the cedary, cigar box notes you find in a cabernet sauvignon. According to D, back then they would have included unripe grapes, which gave it a good structure, and it was half an hour before we noticed it beginning to fade. Old, soft and very delicious. Thanks to D for sharing it with us.

Alongside the Ausone, we had this Corton Grand Cru Les Renardes 2008 from Domaine Parent, which was from another half case I just got out. This was very glossy and had a beguiling nose which G described as forest fruits poached in darjeeling tea. It was smooth, top notch red Burgundy and had an amazing finish with notes of white pepper. I'm not sure it will improve, but must try to resist the temptation to drink it all during this period of lockdown, as it's certainly not something to guzzle by oneself.

We finished off with some Taylors 63, provided by G, which I didn't photograph as it had already been decanted. The cork was clean. Without wishing to sound ungrateful, I have to admit I found it a little spirity. That didn't stop me drinking it though! G said he'd had a similar experience with a bottle about 10 years ago, so it seems that once spirity, always spirity. G was paying more attention than me and made copious notes - "lots of swirling released some cherry and chocolate notes. Marzipan on the mid-palate, cranberry and cherry stone on the finish. Amaretti and orange peel right at the end." Nevertheless, he also found it a little on the "hot" side.

Well, that was the last dinner party I'll be having in person for a while, so thanks to both for braving AduV Towers and I look forward to resuming happy social occasions some time in the future...

Lunch at the Baron's, 2nd November

Once again, I see that it has been a shockingly long time since I updated the blog, what with all the gallivanting that has been going on. The road trip to Maine back via the Finger Lakes was great fun, and thanks to D for his tip on the wine store in Ithaca, which had a remarkable collection. I also went to Sicily for a few days with my mother and enjoyed plenty of Aperol Spritzes in the sun. That seems a long time ago now as I sit here typing with the rain beating down outside. I plan a few more posts before the end of the year, as there is some recent drinking to be reported and a flurry of vinous-related social events lined up in the near future.

Anyway, last Saturday the Baron kindly invited us round to lunch at his place and, glass of Pol Roger in hand, we enjoyed a viewing of the newly-installed penthouse suite. With our smoked salmon, there was vodka from Uzbekistan and Russia. I'm not a vodka expert by any means but these were very interesting and definitely not something you'd find in Waitrose!

G contributed this 1973 Chablis 1er cru Fourchaumes from Lamblin & Fils which amazingly seemed to have survived very well.

It was an absolutely beautiful golden colour and very buttery. We concluded that a lot of sulphur must have been used to preserve it. It was made in the days when such things were built to last. Definitely the best dry white from 1973 that we can recall tasting.

I loved the label, with the lobsters and the rams, and we admired the colour of the bottle which ACC tells me is called "feuille morte".

Moving on to the main course, an amazingly silky "oxtail and other beef" stew, the Baron indulged us with a bottle of 2002 Beaune 1er cru Greves from Yves Darviot. This had a very farmyardy nose and needed a bit of time. It's fully mature now and went down very easily.

ACC brought along another 1973, this time a Cotes du Rhone from a negociant based in Rully. We were amused that it hadn't been passed off as a Burgundy. This was at the agricultural end of the scale and I detected a hint of the sugar bag. It had sweet fruit and was easy drinking.

My contribution was this 1978 Romeira, a random Portuguese red picked up at auction. G had suggested that it would make a good cheese wine, and indeed it was big, gutsy and powerful with a great finish.

Epoisses!

Finally, we had a bonus white which G brought along - this 2014 Hermann J Wiemer Late Harvest Riesling from the Finger Lakes.

This was medium-sweet, an old-fashioned style, and some described it as appley. It was the perfect complement to a fruit tart. At a mere 8.5% alcohol, it had good acidity and an amazing finish. The sort of wine that when I drink it, I always wonder why I don't drink wines like that more often...

Thanks very much to the Baron for hosting and to everyone for their contributions!

Sunday lunch at mine, 16th Sept

Last Sunday, I was joined for lunch by G and D who was over on one of his trips from the US.

We started with a bottle of this Chablis 1er cru Montmains 2011 from La Maison Romane, which was sublime, with perhaps more tropical fruit flavours than in a classic Chablis. I had the 2010 in reserve, and it would be interesting to try them side by side some time.

It was very effective with the enormous piece of smoked trout which I procured for the occasion. There were some leftovers!

With the main course of slow-cooked chicken and braised lettuce, peas and mint, we had this 1982 Firestone Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon which G picked up recently. There was an element of risk as it could have been terrible but instead it was amazing. Hurrah! I was amused by the label which informed us that the wine was 12.3% alcohol, but D told me that in this case the precision probably indicated actual, rather than spurious, accuracy. As he is one of the world's foremost experts on antique measuring instruments, I suppose I must defer to his opinion in these matters. As for the wine itself, G described it as "entirely pleasurable to drink" - it was soft, smooth, rich and sweet with hints of cocoa, stewed plums, mint and maybe even pontefract cake, and went down very easily.

With the cheese course, we had this Syrah-Cabernet Franc 2001 from Red Newt which was 13.2%. We established that it had been in D's cellar for the past 15 years. My notes include the word LOVELY but on closer inspection I see that was just me trying to make my handwriting legible. The wine was succulent and well-balanced, with the syrah to the fore, and G compared it to Chateauneuf. We agreed that some American wines are lacking in acidity but that criticism did not apply in this case. I enjoyed it very much.

Getting ready to attack the cheeseboard

Finally, G contributed his last half of Rieussec 1983. Avid readers may recall this was drunk in magnum at our birthday celebration in July, and was so successful that G rushed out and bought three halves - one for dinner at the Savile with VIP guest, one for the waitress who did such a good job of looking after us in July, and this remaining bottle. This time I actually managed to make notes, although I think it's quite a different wine in half from the magnum, and D, who has bottles of it, says his is different again. It was a lovely dark amber colour, and very aromatic on the nose - G mentioned lemon thyme and garigue. It was almost like a glass of herbaceous honey, and very complex. Wonderful stuff.

We finished off with a glass of marc or was it fine de bourgogne, or possibly both, and perused the pages of an old catalogue which had some fascinating adverts. If anyone has been searching for a patent "Roy" glass bottle stopper, you now know where to send your telegraph!

Birthday dinner at the Savile, 20th July

On Friday evening, G and I had a joint dinner party at the Savile Club as we have both recently celebrated a moderately significant birthday. We held this in the Elgar Room upstairs, which was a very nice size for ten, and a random selection of ne'er-do-wells and miscreants were in attendance, otherwise known as family and friends.

On arrival we had a glass of this Champagne Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Nicolas Billecart 2002, which we tried in bottle earlier in the year. On that occasion, it went down in the blink of an eyelid, and I think it's fair to say that the same thing happened again. It was perhaps more austere in magnum than in bottle and with plenty of life to come, but had the same lovely floral notes. ‎I hope to drink some more in due course!

With the first course, we had this magnum of Chablis 1er cru Fourchaume-Vaulorent 2008 from Domaine Nathalie et Gilles Fevre. An old favourite from a great vintage, it had never been better. It was crisp and lemony, but with a breadth on the mid-palate that wasn't there when it was younger. it went really well with the sea trout. Sadly this was G's last bottle!

With our main course, a lamb tagine for the carnivores and a vegetarian one for the veggies, we had two reds. First, a magnum of Beaune 1er cru les Greves 2005 from Yves Darviot. This prompted much reminiscence about how we used to stay at Yves' house in Beaune back in the day etc.etc. The 2005s have taken a long time to come round but are getting there now. This had the classic violets on the nose and was very elegant. We have two magnums left and I would still not be in a rush to drink them!

The second red was a magnum of Chateauneuf du Pape Clos des Papes 1998 from Domaine Paul Avril. For me, this was richer and sweeter compared to the Beaune but was still not heavy. An impeccable mid-weight style of Chateauneuf, drinking perfectly now.

Beaune on the right, Rhone on the left

With pudding, we had a magnum of Rieussec 1983 - remembering from the famous 40th birthday dinner that one bottle of sweet wine is simply not enough! This was amazing, rich but with acidity that meant it was not in the least cloying. The marmalade element from the heavy levels of botrytis paired wonderfully with the lemon tart. G informs me that he has acquired three more halves to see if he can recreate the sensation.

It was an absolutely beautiful colour, too.

Then, with the cheese course, a real treat. G provided this Quinta do Noval Nacional 1960 which he acquired from an auction where they described it in the catalogue as "Da Silva 1960". Imagine his delight when this showed up. It was in great shape, still fairly dark in colour, and extremely complex on the palate, with notes of fig and prune and a certain creamy quality. The finish was extraordinary. Absolutely top notch vintage port. Thanks for sharing it with us, G.

And to round things off, we had a glass of Lemorton Vieux Calvados 1972, which was an excellent digestif with true essence ‎of apples.

All that remains is to say thanks to G for organising everything, to the staff at the Savile for looking after us so well, and to everyone who joined us - it was a really enjoyable evening. Now roll on the 50th in five years time!