International Pinot Noir Celebration, part V

In the afternoon, we’d all signed up for a session with the title “Sparking Wine: The Art of Blending” which turned out to be something of a misnomer, as nobody really talked about blending. Instead, five producers of fizz talked about their wines.

I appear to have had nothing to say about the first one from CHO Wines except that it was quite expensive – I've written down $95 but can’t find this wine on their website. I found the 2014 Fiddlehead Cellars “728 Bubbles” blanc de noirs more interesting and quite winey for a fizz, and it was only $65. They're based in the Santa Rita Hills area of California. 

Next was a wine from Nautilus Estate in Marlborough, NZ. This was only $40 and very bubbly. It reminded me strongly of the kinds of New World fizz that were around when I was an undergraduate – stuff like Yalumba Angas Brut. For me, it was clean but completely lacking any character. 

Then we moved on to two champagnes. The first was Laurent-Perrier which was perfectly nice but nothing out of the ordinary. The second, from Henri Giraud, was much more my cup of tea. This was the Hommage au Pinot Noir NV. It was a much more golden colour than the others and had a lot of mushrooms, yeastiness and richness. Someone mentioned salinity, which wasn’t a word I’d ever heard used to describe champagne but fitted the bill. This retails at around $100 which seems like a fair price for it.

Incidentally, the first three wines had been poured before everyone entered the seminar room, and the last two were poured halfway through the seminar, which meant that they were significantly colder. I've probably already said this but if there’s one thing I learned from the IPNC, it's that serving wine at the proper temperature makes a huge difference.

Swiss Pinot Noir Society, 17th May 2023

Last Wednesday, it was off to the Savile for another instalment of the SPNS. Present and correct were G, T, P, D and myself. 

First up was a bottle of Ambriel Rose 2015, a sparkling wine made entirely from pinot noir, from West Sussex. This was brought along by T, who thought it might be (slightly) over the hill, but it actually went down pretty well! It was a beautiful dark colour with strawberries and good fruit. P described it as spring/summer in a glass which I think sums it up nicely.

We went upstairs to the dining room, where we had the bottle which I brought along. This was a 2020 white pinot noir from Willamette Valley Vineyards in Oregon which I was given by my friend J recently and thought would be appropriate to share with the SPNS. I think it's fair to say it didn't wow the assembled company. I found it interesting and J had told me it was quite smoky which was indeed the case. Others struggled to say much about it and one member damned it with faint praise - "Quite pleasant". Perhaps they should stick to making the red...

Moving swiftly on, the next wine was a Rose des Riceys "En Valingrain" 2017 from Olivier Horiot, provided by G. This was something of a rarity - a still pink champagne. It was light, fresh and pretty, with lots of raspberries going on, and we all enjoyed it.

After that, we moved on to a trio of reds which we compared side by side:

• Chateau Grand-Pontet 1961, provided by P
• Chateau Haut-Brion 1966, provided by D
• Chateau Berliquet 1988, provided by P

This was a fascinating opportunity to compare and contrast three mature clarets. At this stage of the evening, the comments in the Book became even more illegible than usual, but I'll do my best to summarise. The 1961 had some lovely cedary notes and was still standing up well. D considered that it was on its plateau and would last, and T particularly liked it. The Haut-Brion was as good as you'd expect, i.e. very. Textbook claret - a robust dark colour and wonderful cabernet nose of pencil shavings and mint. "Pleasing to drink" said D with appropriate modesty. Wonderful stuff. 

The Berliquet had been living in my wardrobe for a good 8-10 years, left by P on a previous occasion, and I was relieved that this didn't seem to have done it any harm. It was generally regarded as very good and with a lot of life still in it. 

Finally, with dessert, we had a Massandra White Muscat 1975 bottled in 1982, brought along by G. This was a murky brown colour and I found notes of rhubarb while others detected figs. It was very sweet - maybe even a bit too sweet for me - and went very well with the baklava. T described it as "habit forming" but I doubt he'll get the chance as this was another very rare bottle.

All in all, it was another great evening of diverse and interesting wines! Thanks for all for their contributions and company.

SPNS, 8th June

D was in town recently, so we took the opportunity to have another SPNS dinner. There were four of us on this occasion - me, G, D and ACC. 

It was lovely to walk through central London seeing so much life everywhere. It really feels like things have returned to normal at last and everyone's getting on with their lives.

We began with a bottle of Delamotte 2002 which I had thought was my penultimate bottle, but then G informed me that there are a couple left in his Rutland cellar, hurrah! It was lovely, rich and yeasty mature champagne and I plan to polish the rest off fairly soon as it feels like it's at that point.

The Savile were very busy that evening but we had our usual table in the corner and got cracking on the white.

As the Book was used up at the last meeting and G hadn't got round to getting a new one yet, notes were not made and I'm therefore relying on my hazy memory.

Anyway, ACC brought along this white, Clos du Rouge Gorge 2019, which was generally regarded as a food wine. Further research indicates that it's from Roussillon and the grape is Maccabeu. I seem to recall I got melon on the nose, and then there was some discussion of the precise type of melon, during which G mentioned a melon I'd never heard of. 

 

My second contribution was this Vosne-Romanee 1er cru 2012 from Felettig, which has been wonderful - relatively light and pretty for Vosne, as one would expect from a Chambolle-based producer.

G brought along this Les Rouges 1998 from Domaine Jean Grivot which was fascinating and complex. Obviously it had a lot more age on it than the Felettig, but it was drinking beautifully. 

It's not every night you get to drink two premier cru Vosnes...

Finally, D brought along this "Zinfandel Dessert Wine" 2016, Il Padrone from Oak Farm, California. This is a fortified Zin and apparently to be found in the port section of the wine shop. I really enjoyed it, although I'd like to think I wouldn't have confused it with port. Many of the Zinfandels I've tried in the past have been pretty high in alcohol, so at 18% this wasn't that much higher than them. Fascinating stuff and, as usual, I felt fine the next day!

In other news, I attended a rum tasting with the Baron last week which was fun and educational, so will write about that soon. Next week I'm off to the US and will raid the booze store for some bargains, and we're also heading up to Grand Rapids to visit J, which promises to be an epic weekend. Her collection of grower champagne may take a hit, but I also have a few things stashed away that have been waiting for the right moment!

Swiss Pinot Noir Society, 17th March 2022

On Thursday night, it was over to the Savile Club for an SPNS dinner. Five of us were present - me, G, ACC, D and P - sadly T was unable to join us on this occasion.

We kicked off with this champagne from Paul Bara, a special cuvee from 2012, provided by G. The bottle was an interesting shape, kind of squat, but my picture didn't come out very well. G told us that a group of growers had clubbed together to buy these bottles and that they all had to agree on anything bottled in them. It was my kind of champagne - mature, rich and yeasty, and drinking beautifully now. A great start to the evening. 

The Savile staff politely asked us if we'd be willing to go upstairs to the restaurant a little earlier than usual, as they had a big St Patrick's Day dinner going on and wanted to stagger the orders. We ascended the swooping staircase up to the ballroom, and were seated at our usual table. The restaurant itself was less busy than usual, which was rather nice as it made hearing each other easier.

P had brought along this white, bottled in a very modern-style bottle which led some to suspect it might be vodka. It was in fact Berton Vineyards Winemaker's Reserve Aranel Riverina 2019, from Australia. It was a very pale colour, aromatic, reminding me of lychees, others of melon. It was light, floral and clean, and went down very easily. I imagine it would be a refreshing wine to drink in the summer. 

My own contribution was this Meritage 2017 from Thirsty Owl in the Finger Lakes, which I bought back in 2019 and which had been hanging around at D's house for the last couple of years. I wasn't sure if it would have survived, but was relieved to discover that it was fine. Meritage is a Bordeaux blend and there was more than a hint of cabernet franc in this. It was exuberant and fruity and relatively young. I hope to revisit to the Finger Lakes soon and this is the kind of thing I'll be buying for my cellar.

D had also brought along a red from the US - a Haywood Estate Rocky Terrace Zinfandel 1996 from Sonoma. What a treat! It was big, rich and delicious with lovely dark fruit, and was drinking very nicely now. D told us it had been in his cellar since around 1999 and I continue to be very grateful for his ability to delay gratification and for sharing these treasures with us. We didn't have a formal discussion but G and I both considered this to be the wine of the evening. 

P had brought along another red, this Lestoa Rot 2003 from Strohmeier who are based in Austria. This was unusual - a very dark colour, showing no signs of age, and D described it as astringent which I think summed it up nicely. There was some debate about whether it had high tannin or high acid. According to P, it worked well with wild boar sausage. To be fair, having it after the Zin probably didn't do it any favours. 

Finally, ACC had brought along this Croft LBV 2013. He was a little disconcerted to discover that G and I had attended a 1985 tasting the previous evening, but it's only fair to judge everything within its own category, and this was lovely stuff, fruity and approachable, and a great way to round off the evening. Thanks to all for a very interesting range of wines!

Swiss Pinot Noir Society, 30th September 2021

After18 months, we finally had another meeting of the SPNS! All were present except ACC who had a prior engagement, and it was lovely to see everyone.

Proceedings commenced with this Nicolas Feuillatte non-vintage rose provided by P. It was a cheery colour, prompting a debate between G and T as to what precise type of salmon it most resembled. I found it refreshing and fruity (possibly benefiting from First Wine of the Evening Effect) and D described it as easy drinking and thought it would go well with shrimp. 

Upstairs in the dining room, we weren't at our usual table - outrageous! It was good to see the Savile so busy, although a lively group nearby made it hard to hear at times. While we were waiting to order, we pressed on with this Edoardo Miroglio viognier traminer blend, from the Thracian Valley in Bulgaria, a name which brought back vague memories of A Level Greek for me. The vintage was 2020 and the wine was brought by T. I'm already struggling to read the comments in the book, but G described it as light as a feather. For some reason I'd got the impression from T that it might be slightly sweet, so it was drier than I expected and very quaffable - I thought it would be wonderful on a hot summer's day, just the thing to sip while lying in a hammock. All in all, an excellent discovery from T.

Next up was this Forge Cellars Seneca Lake Dry Riesling 2018 brought by, surprise, D! This was a fabulous golden colour and had a wonderful classic riesling nose. For me it had a core of lime running through it, while D detected pears and peaches. It had good body, good acid and a long finish. I haven't been to this winery but would certainly add it to the list for consideration on a future trip.

The main event was this magnum of Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour cabernet sauvignon from 1980, brought by G. The nose was generally considered a triumph with plum, currant and even ink, if I'm reading G's handwriting correctly. The palate was more divisive, with T feeling that it was a little disappointing whereas I enjoyed the blackcurrant, mint and cedar very much. There was some debate as to whether it was actually ready, or whether it needed a bit more air. Either way, we had no problem dispatching the magnum between us.

And finally, I failed to take a photo of my own contribution which was a Lorentz 1984 vendange tardive gewurztraminer from Alsace, obtained at auction with some other pretty good stuff a couple of years ago. It was a wonderful amber colour and very aromatic, but had lost the typical gewurz perfume and wasn't as sweet as I expected. I thought maybe it was slightly over the hill, but D thought it was still young. It was generally well-received.

We've now almost reached the end of the Book, which prompted me to check when we started - it was July 2009. It's very pleasing that the SPNS has been going for 12 years and hopefully normal service can now resume. In other news, I was delighted to hear yesterday that the US travel ban is being lifted on 8th November, and will be heading over there shortly afterwards. I've completely lost track of what wine I have stashed away in Pennsylvania, so it will be exciting to find out, and I'll also be heading to the booze store to grab a bottle of Dad's Hat to add to my spirit collection. Can't wait!

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!

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!

Lunch at the Baron's, 6th September

On Sunday I took the tube for the first time in months over to Baron McGuffog's neck of the woods where we were joined by ACC and G at the "pub table" in the garden. What follows will mostly be a pictorial account.

My contribution was this bottle of pink champagne from Jean Comyn which we calculated must have been at least 10 years old. The colour was compared to Lucozade and it had certainly mellowed in the intervening period but was possibly now on the elderly side! I attempted to incite ACC to tell his Comyn joke which involves at least 15 minutes of build up, but the moment passed... 

With our starter we had this white Marsannay 2017 from Romain Chapuis which was lovely, rich white Burgundy drinking very nicely now.

It went extremely well with this amazing onion tart which the Baron made from an Elizabeth David recipe. The bar just got raised!

It took an enormous amount of self-control for us not to eat all of it and save some room for the rest of the meal.

Next up, a magnum of Lombois Volnary 2014 from Domaine Perrin which was made by Vincent's son Guillaume. This was earthy, almost like a Pommard, and starting to drink. It went very nicely with the pigeon and peas. 

ACC had brought along some of his famous magnum of Prunelle which was a delight. I failed to ask the bottle detectives how old they thought it might be, but maybe 1970s? It had that almond or apricot kernel thing going on but we were assured it wasn't cyanide...

A finally, a bottle of young vintage port - 2016 Smith Woodhouse, to go with the chocolate cake, which was another triumph. 

Thanks very much to the Baron for hosting - a very enjoyable way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Picnic in the park, 2nd August

And so the summer continues... Still no light on the horizon as far as big life plans go, but I'm now resigned to things going on like this for some time. Meanwhile, as my wedding has been postponed and plans for a big (by my standards) celebration have flown out of the window, there is wine to be drunk! I was delighted to be joined by ACC, G and the Baron for a picnic in the local square yesterday. 

   

Proceedings commenced with a bottle of Delamotte 2002, which is a blanc de blancs and from an excellent vintage. G explained that he had brought it to my attention a few months ago, and then I'd gone and bought a whole case. Well, obvs. There was some debate about how long it will last but in my view there's no great rush so the odd bottle here and there over the next 2-3 years will go down very nicely. 

ACC pointed out this comet motif on the foil. We wondered if this was a reference to Hale-Bopp, but Google tells me that was in 1997. It seems there was a comet called Ikeya-Zhang in 2002, which completely passed me by at the time, but seems like a cheery thing to have on a bottle of champagne and one can only hope the stars will align again soon. 

I made some cheese straws to go with the fizz, which were somewhat lacking in appearance but still tasted pretty good, made with the Cornish Vintage Quartz cheddar from Waitrose. This cheese is rated strength 7 on a scale of 1-6, and in my experience under no circumstances should be eaten after 3 pm as it has a tendency to cause nightmares. Which is a shame, as it's very delicious.  

Next up was this bottle of Corton Charlemagne 2013 from Maison en Belles Lies. For me, this is absolutely wonderful stuff, the epitome of Chardonnay, drinking very well now. Apparently there is still some available from the Burgundy Portfolio - I highly recommend grabbing a bottle or two! We had it with a chicken, apricot and pistachio terrine which worked very well. 

Moving swiftly on, this red Corton Les Renardes 2008 from Domaine Parent was also exemplary. Normally I'd have decanted it, served in proper Riedel red burgundy glasses etc, but as this was a picnic, it had to be served as it came. I had chilled it, which possibly brought out higher acidity, and it was a wonderful example of pinot.

It was an absolutely beautiful colour too.

And then, dessert! I failed to take a photo of the meringues I made, which incorporated pistachios and chocolate chips, based on Nigella's "forgotten cookies" recipe, although Nigella sadly let me down by pretending these would cook properly in a switched-off oven.  

With these, we had two half bottles of Suduiraut 2001, apparently one of the best ever Sauternes vintages. The first half was wonderful, lots of citrus and marmalade, but the second half was even better! It was a slightly darker colour, more gloopy and ACC detected butterscotch. Interesting that there should be so much variation between bottles from the same case. I'm glad we drank them in that order. We finished off with a spot of Epoisses which happened to be hanging around in my fridge *innocent look*

It was very enjoyable to have this get-together after recent months of doom and gloom. Thanks to the boys for your company and giving me an excuse to drink these beauties!