Recent drinking round-up!

It's been a while since I did one of these and there's a large pile of notes needing to be decluttered before the long-awaited arrival of a certain VIP from the US in a couple of weeks... So without further ado!

G contributed this Volnay 1er cru Santenots du Milieu 2011 from Domaine des Comtes Lafon  one evening. It transported us right back to Caveau des Arches in Beaune where we have been fortunate enough to drink rather a lot of the Comte's offerings. It was polished, glossy, smooth, coherent and typique with a great finish, and there was a lot going on! We found black cherries, sloes (that was G not me - I'm not entirely sure what a sloe tastes like) and loganberries or possibly even poached damson fool. There were also woody things such as liquorice root, and a herbaceous note, which could have been mint leaf. It was remarkably ripe and intense considering it was from 2011, and there was no rush to drink it. This stuff isn't cheap but it was worth it, and we gave it a 9 on the premier cru project scale.

G also provided this Chablis 1er cru Beauroy 1995 from E.A.R.L. Hamelin as he had an urge to "try some weird old Chablis". This was a beautiful golden colour and our first impression was that it was surprisingly rich and oaky, with a touch of honey on both nose and palate. It was mature but not over the hill and went very well with our chicken salad. It also didn't cost a huge amount considering its age, confirming that Chablis remains the best value white burgundy. Unfortunately another 1995 Chablis, this time 1er cru Vaucoupin from Pascal Pica, turned out to be undrinkable, so there is a risk when you go back this far.

Instead, we drank this Rully 1er cru Raclot 2012 from Celine et Vincent Dureuil. This may have been served a little too cold. It had some mushrooms on the nose and was well-made, with good acidity, but perhaps a slightly short finish. It was enjoyable, and a solid 8.

G also contributed this Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru les Champonnets 1998 from Lucien Boillot. This looked like old, mature pinot with a faded rim. It had a very Cote de Nuits nose with forest fruits and dark chocolate and a hint of the farmyard, but also quite a lot of volatile alcohol. We decided it needed to spend more time in the fridge, which led to the discovery that a decanter I was given recently actually fits in the fridge door - thanks J! It was smooth, with a nice weight, and fully mature and powerful but quite short. It improved over time but we felt it was possibly on its way out and gave it an 8.

This sparkler from Damiani Wine Cellars 2011 is one which we picked up in the Finger Lakes last September. I remember that day being particularly hot and it was our last tasting of the trip. This had fine bubbles and we wondered if it was a blanc de blancs but having just checked, it was actually two thirds pinot noir! We drank this very cold and it was brisk up front, with a floral mid-palate. It didn't seem that old but then these Finger Lakes wines are built to last. It was approachable and not too serious (just as well, as we were eating fish fingers with it) and went down real easy. G thought it would make a good party wine and the price, currently $34, compares well with sparkling wines from certain autres regions.

A rummage in the wardrobe one evening produced this bottle of Auxey-Duresses 2011 from Jacques Bavard. I do adore red Auxey and was delighted to get this back in the day, particularly from this lovely vintage. It was a very pretty example of a Cote de Beaune red, with perfume, lots of red fruit, and a certain sweetness. G wondered if some white grapes had got in there to give it a lift. All in all, a very pleasurable wine to drink and it went down in no time.

I had a wine delivery last Friday and have tried two of the four delivered so far. This Pernand-Vergelesses Les Belles Filles 2010 from Ludovic Belin went AWOL in the storage facility for a long time but was finally located, so I got it out rather later than I normally would have done. I had also been under the impression it was a red, but actually given the heatwave, was quite pleased it turned out to be white. The label was certainly promisingly appalling, although the name always made me cringe slightly. Its extended term in storage had done it no harm at all and it was still very fresh and lemony, with a floral mid-palate. It was classic Pernand, relatively light and not terribly serious, but good summer drinking.

Last Sunday we had this Santenay "Comme Dessus" 2009 from Domaine de la Choupette. Again this had a perfumed nose with summer fruits - raspberries, plums and G's new go-to description, loganberries. It had "lovely filigreed tannins" and was pleasantly croquant. I served it slightly chilled and it was very refreshing, with good acidity. It's that nice middle-weight style which is very versatile and had a sweet note which reminded G of those "hint of the sugar bag" Burgundies from the 1970s. I'm delighted with it, it's everything I love about Cote de Beaune reds. G thinks it needs to be drunk over the next year, and there's another six pack tucked away in storage. I don't think getting through a bottle every month or two is going to pose any problem whatsoever!

Trip to the Finger Lakes part X - Red Newt and Damiani Wine Cellars

With the finish of that last sweet riesling we'd tried at Hermann J Wiemer still lingering on, we arrived at Red Newt Cellars and had a spot of lunch out on the terrace. For once, a pulled pork sandwich wasn't on the menu. I had the closest thing to it, a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.

Another beautiful sunny day in the Finger Lakes!

Then we went inside and had a tasting. We tried three rieslings to start with. The 2013 Riesling Tango Oaks Vineyard ($26) had remarkable acidity and was very zingy. The man pouring the wines told us it needed food. Even better was the 2013 Riesling "Knoll" Lahoma Vineyard ($35), which was a splendid bottle of serious riesling (I suspect I'm quoting G here) with great concentration and grip, off dry, with a good finish. We picked up a bottle to take away with us. Finally, the 2011 Riesling from the Bullhorn Creek Vineyard ($22) was fascinating, with some botrytis going on, and stone fruit with a nice core of acidity.

Of the reds, I found that the 2014 Cabernet Franc didn't quite do it for me, with a slightly bitter finish, and the 2013 Merlot Glacier Ridge Vineyards wasn't my thing either although possibly it just needed time. The 2012 Merlot ($22.50) was better and apparently 2012 was a very good year - we bought a bottle of this too. The 2012 Viridescens ($42) was their version of Meritage, with 67% merlot, 28% cabernet sauvignon and 5% cabernet franc. This was very attractive and we thought it needed to be kept for 10 years.

Finally, we tried the Hellbender which was similar to port. With all due respect, I think I'll be sticking to port...

We moved on to Damiani Wine Cellars, where things were somewhat chaotic. I think we'd just happened to arrive at a busy time and they also told us they had a photo shoot going on. After hanging about for a few minutes the tasting eventually commenced with the Brut 2011 ($33.99) which we were told had been disgorged this summer. It was made in the style of champagne, mostly pinot noir but with some chardonnay and pinot meunier. This was impressive, toasty, with an excellent finish, and seemed like good value. We bought a bottle to take away with us.

Then we tried six reds. The Pinot Noir Reserve 2012 ($46.99) was from a single vineyard, unfined and unfiltered. It was a very pale colour and I found I wasn't getting much at all from it. The Merlot Reserve 2012 ($40.99) was more powerful, with a lot of tannin. We wondered if it would soften, given that it had already had five years. The Cabernet Franc 2013 was full-bodied, complex and interesting but had some way to go, while the Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 and Syrah 2013 were both perfectly nice but overshadowed by the Meritage 2013 ($26.99) which was a blend of 55% cabernet sauvignon, 18% cabernet franc and 27% merlot. This was complex and serious and again, needed time.

This completed our trips to the various wineries on this trip - twelve altogether. Thanks so much to D for selecting these places for us to visit and for ferrying us about, it was a real education!