Recent drinking round-up!

And so the blog limps in belatedly to 2020 with the first entry of the year! I've finally had a chance this weekend to review my notes and photos of what has been drunk here over the last couple of months.

First up, a couple of Cabernet Francs from the Finger Lakes. It seems that I forgot to take a photo of the first, which was a Ryan William Vineyard 2012. This was my kind of cab franc, dark in colour, with lovely earthy and herbaceous flavours, ripe and not stemmy. G detected plums on the finish. We thought it was drinking very well now and needed no more time. It was apparently 12.7% alcohol so no hangover, and at $22 including tax one can hardly argue.

The second was this Kelby James Russell 2017, coming in at a mere 12.2%. This was paler in colour and I probably would have guessed it was a pinot if I'd just been looking at it. It had some sweetness on the nose and was relatively lightweight with, to use D's expression, good acid. G said "you could (expletive deleted) buzz a bottle of this on your own at lunch" which is praise of a kind. It certainly went down very easily and again it was around $22.

On to more serious stuff. Here we have a 2009 Vosne 1er cru Les Chaumes from Francois Lamarche which I brought back from Burgundy some time ago. We think I paid around 75 euros for it back then and it now costs £100, so quite a top-end wine by my standards!

It was an intense deep ruby colour and very glossy. I described the nose as opulent, with blackcurrant and chocolate and it was uncompromisingly big on the palate, powerful, complex and very Cotes de Nuits. It had a wonderful intensity and went very nicely with beef stew. We thought it was at the beginning of its drinking window and would easily last another 10 years. We gave it 9 points on the premier cru scale.

I enjoyed this little map of the village on the back label!

One evening in November we drank this Rully 1er cru "Le Meix Cadot" 2014 from Domaine Vincent Dureuil-Janthial which G bought for apparently around £30. This was a pale gold colour and had a vibrant nose. On the palate, it was ripe with a touch of honey and a certain beeswax quality, then a wonderful zing of lemon zest as it went down. We served it very cold and it was wonderfully refreshing. G said if he ran a restaurant he'd put it on the wine list. This was apparently an excellent vintage and was drinking perfectly now. My notes finish "Yay! :)" which sums it up well.

Finally, two wines which we had a couple of weeks ago with ACC. From G, this Volnay 1er cru Clos des Angles 2009 from the Marquis D'Angerville. I failed to make notes but recall that it was exactly what you would expect of premier cru Volnay from this vintage. An expensive, superior bottle of wine.

Meanwhile, ACC brought along this Aloxe-Corton Les Valozieres 2013 from Domaine Audiffred. Although Aloxe is in the Cote de Beaune, the flavours are often more like those which we typically associate with the Cote de Nuits. Again no detailed notes were taken but it was a very fine bottle and certainly beginning to drink now. I tend to end up buying Vosne from this domaine because I love it so much, but this was a useful reminder that Henri's other wines are also reliably wonderful, and it was a pleasure to see him at the Burgundy Portfolio en primeur tasting on Monday.

Lunch at mine, Sunday 9th March

Last Sunday, ACC, Baron McG and G joined me for lunch. It was a beautiful weekend and felt like the start of spring as the weather was sunny and warm.

Proceedings commenced with a bottle of cremant de bourgogne from Domaine Felettig, and G produced an Israeli fig liqueur - which I'm glad to say he had been given, not paid good money for - to put in it. I think it was better without, but you have to try these things. The cremant went nicely with some pork scratchings from Turner & George (previously the East London Steak Co) who are firmly up there on my list along with the Ginger Pig. I hope everyone's teeth survived.

Then it was time for some serious food and drink. To start, we had this bottle of 2008 Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru Les Folatieres from Domaine Bzikot. I thought it was wonderful, but G was less convinced and felt it lacked acidity. No accounting for taste.

To go with it, I had made this chicken, apricot and pistachio terrine the day before which was a great success even if I do say so myself!

Then we moved on to the reds. ACC kindly brought this village Beaune 2009 from Domaine Audiffred, which was as wonderful as one would expect. You can tell it's a Beaune made by someone who is based in Vosne, but that's fine by me. To go with it, we had a beef stew - I'd planned the menu before the weather suddenly changed...  

The piece de resistance was this 1973 Beaune Greves from Moillard which ACC and the Baron gave me for my birthday last year. This was amazingly good considering its age and the alleged poor vintage. It was very fine and still had it all going on. Thanks very much to both of you!

Finally, we had this Clos-Vougeot 1982 from Domaine Lamarche, which G picked up in a recent auction. It was noticeable that this had not lasted so well and had baked characteristics but nevertheless was very interesting to drink.

I failed to take further photos, but honourable mentions must be made of les fromages most of which came from Beillevaire - the Epoisses in particular was absolutely perfect, and of the excellent Charbonnel et Walker chocs which the Baron brought along, just the thing with a post-prandial espresso. All in all, it was a lovely occasion!