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. 

SPNS dinner, 15th March

Last Friday we had another SPNS dinner at the Savile Club and I'm delighted to report that all members of the SPNS were present and correct for once!

My contribution was this Cremant de Bourgogne Blanc de Noirs from Domaine Felettig, which was bought several years ago and had been languishing at the bottom of the wine rack as we had thought it would be interesting to try a bottle with some age on it. G bravely went first and gave a grimace, which I think created an expectation among the group that it was going to be terrible, but actually it wasn't at all. It was definitely on the elderly side with yeastiness and biscuity notes. Some detected a weird finish but overall it was considered drinkable and actually improved as time went on, although of course by that stage we had inevitably drunk it all.

P brought along a 1992 sauvignon blanc from Cloudy Bay which apparently he bought en primeur at the height of the hype. It was remarkably youthful and zingy with the classic elderflower nose, while D detected green olives. G said it was a marvellous survival and I would never have predicted that it would be so youthful. It was very kind of P to share his last bottle with us.

T contributed this Vina Tondonia rose 2008. It was a beautiful colour and had a lovely floral, herbaceous nose. D described it as bright and alive and P found it vibrant and great with goat's cheese, while T thought it was still a bit young. ACC wrote something in the book which apparently I'm not meant to quote but since I can't read his handwriting anyway there's no danger there. I found this wine full of character. T says it's still the world's best rose and he's the expert so I wouldn't dream of disagreeing

ACC had brought along this Pur Jus 2016 from Chateau Landra in the Ventoux and described it as pure and juicy, ha ha. It had what T described as a full bouquet, quite earthy, and on the palate was very fruity and powerful. It's a low sulphur wine and I found it dangerously drinkable but noticed it was 14% so have to be careful with that! It went well with food and T particularly enjoyed it, I think.

D had brought along something very unusual, a 1999 Small Berry Mourvedre from Cline Cellars in Sonoma. This was another 14% wine but less of a surprise in this case! ACC told me that mourvedre is a Rhone grape so it was very interesting to try this alongside the Ventoux. It was a very dark colour and hard to believe it was 20 years old, it seemed so youthful. It was complex and powerful with lots of mint and fruit.

Finally, G stole the show with this magnum of Harvey's Bristol Cream bottled in 1977 to celebrate Her Majesty's Silver Jubilee. This was a dark brown murky colour and quite sweet. I got notes of butterscotch and it went really well with my millionaire's pudding. G described it as coherent, old school sherry, really very pleasant and good fun. We all enjoyed it and polished off the magnum with no difficulty whatsoever. As ACC put it, God Save the Queen!

All in all, it was another very interesting and enjoyable evening and thanks everyone for your contributions and notes in the Book.