A trip to the US and more ramblings about rum

It's been an eventful few weeks, including a trip to the States. We had a chance to visit J up in Grand Rapids which is about a 7 hour drive away. 

We loaded up the Jeep and I got some podcasts on the go. I'm particularly enjoying The Creative Penn about writing and self-publishing at the moment, and as D likes true crime, I did some digging about to see what I could find and came across one called Drunk Women Solving Crime which we enjoyed. Coincidentally, the first episode we listened to featured a somewhat gruesome murder that happened just outside my home town in 1930!

It was great to see J and her family, and to meet Penny the cat for the first time. Here she is keeping watch over a bottle of Cuvee Josephine which J had saved in my honour. 

 

Some epic wines were consumed over the course the weekend, including a trio of Corton supplied by me, which had been biding their time over at D's house. I was delighted they had all survived. The 2013 white from Maison en Belles Lies was particularly wonderful, and it was lovely to have it again as I probably drank my penultimate bottle over here back in 2020. The Americans mostly preferred Anne Parent's 2008 red over the Maison Romane 2009, which was useful intel for future reference. I suspect the Maison Romane may have been a bit wild for their tastes whereas the Parent was perhaps more polished.

Eagle eyes may notice that there was also a bottle of Delamotte 2002 and a half of Suduiraut 2001 in the mix. The Suduiraut was a really great bottle which reminded me how much they vary, but when they're good, they're exceptional.

J also shared some treasures from her spirits collection, which is quite something!

We returned home via East Harbor State Park in Ohio, on the edge of Lake Erie. Sadly this time there were no raccoons in evidence, but there were thousands of fireflies which was a magical new experience for me. 

The following weekend D and I had time for a quick backpacking trip to the Laurel Highlands. As the weather forecast was a little dicey, we booked a shelter as well as a tent spot. The camp sites have 5 or 6 of these shelters, space for tents, and bathrooms. A snake was sunning itself outside the ladies, but it was small and relatively sweet so I didn't freak out too much.

Anyway, on to the rum. Before my trip, the Baron and I attended a rum tasting at the WSET in Southwark which was very interesting. I hadn't previously been aware of the difference between column stilled and pot stilled rums, but it seems that column stills produce higher strength rum with less space for flavour, so they end up being very neutral and smooth. This is your typical white rum, good for mojitos or daiquiris. Not really what I'm after. 

We started off with one of these from Cuba, then had a rum from Haiti made from sugar cane, which was much more aromatic. The guy giving the class told us that the technology in Haiti is quite rudimentary so they're producing artisanal rums which might well be the next big thing. 

Then it was on to some rums more of the style that interests me. The Real McCoy 5 year old is a mix of column still and pot still, and had a lot more going on. I brought a bottle back from Pennsylvania where it was $30 as opposed to the £44 which it costs in the UK. To be honest, it's been fine but not super exciting. It's from Barbados and those rums tend to be a little on the light side for me. I'm glad I didn't spend £44 on it. 

Back at the tasting, we then tried something from St Lucia which reminded me of wood polish, and then some Worthy Park Single Estate Reserve from Jamaica. The guy told us that Jamaican rum often has "high ester" fruity flavours as there's a lot of yeast and bacteria involved. Others detected banana and tropical fruits while I got yet more of the varnish thing that I'm not mad about.

Finally, we tried some Ron Zacapa Centenario from Guatemala, which comes in a glamorous looking bottle and costs £105 over here. Ron Zacapa is part of Diageo, and they're clearly going for the luxury drinks market with this. It's made by the solera method, had a lot of toffee and caramel, and was very smooth. Just a little corporate for my tastes!

The overall conclusion was that rum is very good value compared to other spirits, and the other thing I learned is that you shouldn't swirl it in your glass as that releases the ethanol and makes it more volatile. 

Armed with all this new knowledge, I picked up a bottle of El Dorado 12 year old which is widely available at around the £37 mark. I liked it more than the Real McCoy 5 year old, as it had a bit more going on, but it's still not particularly complex or exciting and I wouldn't bother to buy it again. 

Unlike this bottle which G brought back from his holidays. This is Venezuelan rum from La Maison Du Rhum, which internet research tells me is actually made by Diplomatico. It's quite light and fruity, with a lot of coconut on the nose, and really interesting. Sadly it appears to be unavailable in the UK. G tells me that I like rums from South America, and looking at my Berry Bros experiences over the past couple of years, I think he might be right, so my next project will be to explore the Diplomatico range. 

Sunday lunch, 1st May

Yesterday I ventured south of the river for lunch with G and H at their new house. Also present were ACC and the Baron. I attempted to make a few notes but this will be mostly a review in pictures. 

G gave a tour of the house accompanied by this 2009 Moet and Chandon which was pleasingly mature.

ACC had brought along this intriguing looking white. I was paying insufficient attention when the Baron translated this for us, so have no idea what it is called. 

We were told it was a combination of two grapes from Burgundy, which turned out to be chardonnay and melon de bourgogne. It was certainly unusual, very aromatic with quite a grapey nose, and quite dry on the palate. It went well with the very pungent smoked trout starter. I also approved of the alcohol level. 

I had brought along two bottles of red which needed drinking up with good company. First was this Beaune 1er cru Les Epenottes 2009 from Domaine Parent. It looked beautiful in the glass, lovely and glossy, and was fully mature. I found it quite savoury and it almost reminded me of a claret, with some woody notes which others attributed to new oak. G gave it a solid 9 points. 

This Corton Perrieres grand cru 2009 from La Maison Romane went down even better as far as I was concerned. It had beautiful summer berries on the nose along with a slightly wild quality, and was drinking perfectly now.

Then G produced this 1973 Beaune 1er cru Les Greves from Yves Darviots, a real blast from the past as we used to stay at this domaine back in the day. It had survived remarkably well, especially considering that the vintage isn't well-regarded (for wine at least). It was perfumed, piquant, delicate and delicious, a real treat. In a crowded field, for me this was the top wine of the day. 

We finished off with a half of Suduiraut 2001, which went very nicely with a raspberry and almond tart. 

It was also a pleasure to see Benjy again, settling well into his new home and keeping an eye on things from his chair. 

Thanks to all for a most enjoyable lunch!

Recent reds

Feeling a bit more cheerful here at AduV Towers with things starting to open up in London now and a sense that things might get back to normal soon. It was great to see ACC and the Baron in real life last Saturday after five months, and I'm looking forward to seeing other friends soon and getting back to tastings, lunches and dinners like the good old days!

Meanwhile, G has been keeping me company and we've drunk some pretty good stuff over the past few weeks. Today's report is on the reds only, in descending date order.

We recently acquired some halves of En Gregoire 2012 from Emmanuel Giboulot, and G located the 2018 vintage of the same wine in bottle, so naturally a vertical tasting ensued!

They were a fairly similar colour but the 2012 had a slightly paler rim. The 2018 had a pretty nose with exuberant ripe fruit, and was big and juicy with notes of black cherry. It came in at 13% and certainly ticked my boxes. Young, but why wait? The 2012 had more sous bois and was a little earthy - less fruity, more serious. It was only 12%. But there was a close resemblance between the two, indicating a strong sense of terroir. It was hard to say which we preferred. I think for G the 2012 was a narrow win, and for me the immediate deliciousness of the 2018 had it. 

The other night we had this Rully 1er cru Preaux from P&M Jacqueson. I had some trouble deciphering the curly font on the label! It was a pretty colour and looked young and fruity. The nose was fresh and pretty although G detected "an enticing whiff of rot", and the wine was light, succulent and delicious with stone fruit. It was quite high-toned and mouthwatering, and the word "croquant" sprang to mind - there was a kind of plum skin note. For me, it was the kind of wine that would be delicious at lunchtime with a baguette and some pate. It was perhaps a little on the frivolous side but there's nothing wrong with that. We gave it a 9. I see that we've actually had white wines from Jacqueson before (2007 vintage!) and thought they were pretty good. Definitely a domaine to look out for especially as Rully is relatively good value compared to more prestigious villages. 

There follow a trio which we had at my place where I failed to take photos. I've been getting better at making notes lately, but apparently not at remembering to take photos. 

The first was old favourite Terres Burgondes 2011 from Giboulot. This had a lovely nose of tinned strawberries and was congruent, sensual and pretty. It had some interesting notes of forest floor and wild fruit. Not too serious, obtained at an advantageous price (thanks ACC!) and very much my kind of thing. If it had been a premier cru, we'd have given it a 9. 

Back in mid-April we had some Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru Morgeots 2011 from Domaine de la Choupette. This had a glorious nose of black and red cherries and was elegant with blackcurrant on the palate. It was rich upfront but lighter on the midpalate and finish. It went well with our venison fillet, and we gave it an 8. Not quite as good as the 2010, but I always love red Chassagne.

Another recent acquisition was Ladoix 2010 from Domaine Parent. This was very much in the style of the domaine and if I'd been tasting it blind, I might have thought it was a Pommard. It was powerful, polished and rich with a long finish of black cherries. "Quite a serious wine from a minor village" was G's verdict. It definitely needed some red meat to go with it. 

I did remember to take a pic of this Chambolle-Musigny Clos le Village 2010, or at least the bottle. The wine was glossy and 90% opaque with a pale rim. On the nose we got mixed forest fruits - blackcurrant, raspberry and redcurrant. G also detected a note of orange peel. On the palate, there were some chocolatey tannins, blackberry and blackcurrant. It was perhaps not altogether typical of Chambolle and reminded me more of a Morey. I gave it two and half hours in the decanter and it was drinking now but we thought it would be good for another five years. I have another five bottles so that shouldn't be a problem. 

One night at G's we had this Pommard les Croix Noires 1er cru 2009 from Domaine de Courcel. This had been decanted for three and a half hours and was a lovely garnet colour, a little brown at the rim. I found the nose a little brooding. On the palate, there were some dusty tannins which resolved to reveal some lovely ripe blackcurrant and finally some raspberries. It went well with steak, which helped to buffer the tannins. We thought this was starting to drink, but would be good for another decade, and gave it an 8 with the potential to become a 9 in time. Not a wine one would seek out in a bad vintage.

Finally, the oldest of the bunch: this Morey-Saint-Denis 1er cru Les Ruchots 1996 from Domaine Arlaud. It looked mature and had a fascinating nose of tinned strawberry, sous bois, dark chocolate and cherry. On the palate it was extraordinary, there was so much going on. An immediate 10 pointer, happy days! It had lovely berries, was very complete and harmonious, and had a long finish which changed all the time and delivered little bursts of fruit. It was magnificent wine, old school burgundy as it ought to be, not one to be rushed. G told me that 1996 was a good vintage but also quite tough. This was approaching the end of its drinking window, so I'm glad we had it when we did. One of those wines that reminds us why we love Burgundy. 

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!

Recent drinking round-up!

Time for another catch-up on what's been drunk lately... one has to get through this interminable lockdown somehow! Here we have three blasts from the past and something new.

The other night, G cracked open a couple of wines from Domaine Parent, and it was fascinating to try them side by side.

The 2015 Bourgogne Rouge came in at a mere 12.5% and had a nose of raspberries and a certain earthiness reminiscent of Pommard. It was lighter than I expected, and very drinkable, the kind of wine I think of as being good with lunch. Not what I was necessarily expecting based on the old days when we used to drink a lot of it.

The 2013 Monthelie came in at 13% and had an attractive, slightly musky nose. It was juicy with a high level of acidity and also seemed light, fruity and young. It opened up after a few minutes and with hindsight would have benefited from an hour in decanter. Apparently it was even better the next day!

Yesterday the weather was good enough for ACC and I to have a socially-distanced picnic in the nearby square. ACC had told me he was going to bring along the new gewurztraminer from Romain Chapuis, which was exciting. I wasn't really sure what food would go well with it, but it turned out that my duck and prune terrine was a very good match. It was a beautiful golden colour and had an aromatic gewurz nose but more subtle than some (no granny's handbag here). Apparently it's made from grapes grown in Alsace but Romain declassifies it so it's a Vin de France. I really liked the weight and richness of it, then discovered it clocks in at a whopping 14.5% so not like some of his other unsulphured wines. Definitely a bottle to share with others, and something a little bit different. The wine bars really ought to snap this up, once they're allowed to reopen...

My contribution was this Moulin-a-Vent Cuvee L'Exception 2011 from the Trichards, which we used to enjoy very much back in the day. A case was still lingering in storage and I had it delivered recently. It has matured very nicely and is still a wonderful bottle of Beaujolais, more on the serious side, and best served slightly chilled. As usual, my glass seemed to evaporate. A very pleasant way to spend a sunny afternoon!

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 mine, Sunday 20th Jan

On Sunday a couple of weeks ago, I was joined by G and ACC for lunch. Sadly J was unable to join us this time but hopefully next year we'll make up for it!

We started with this 2010 fizz from Quentin Beaufort provided by G. This has a label that my phone camera doesn't like much so I'm delighted that I finally managed to get a decent pic of it. It's made from grapes grown just over the border from Champagne and was mature and interesting, with nice fruit. It had something appley going on and a lovely creamy quality. Very good with a Roka Cheese Crispie.

Then it was on to some Puligny-Tremblots 2011 from Domaine Joly. This was a pale gold and had that classic Puligny nose. It was very precise, elegant and stylish and was fantastic paired with hot smoked salmon salad and rye bread.

Next up was a bottle of Pommard Croix Blanche 2009 from Domaine Parent, which apparently I didn't take a picture of. This was powerful, muscular and easy drinking, with black fruits, liquorice, coffee and dark chocolate. It only took 10 years to come round...

We rounded off with a bottle of Smith Woodhouse 1994 to accompany the cheeseboard. This went down very well with my family at Christmas, and on this occasion the three of us polished it off with no problem. It was medium weight with figs, prunes and liquorice, and went down very easily. Apparently this vintage got lost in the noise and was good but not great - anyway, I'm very glad I have a couple more bottles stashed away!

Reviewing my notes, I've finally deciphered some blurred handwriting which reads "Pop Goes My Heart" - I guess we must have been talking about Hugh Grant. I had not previously encountered this particular masterpiece... thanks ACC for drawing it to my attention!

Dinner of decadence, 8th August

It's been a fun couple of weeks!

Not wine-related, but can hardly go unmentioned - D visited from Pennsylvania at the end of July! It was her first visit to London and we had a delightful six days doing touristy things, meeting friends, eating fish and chips etc. Good times.

J and her family arrived a few days later and we met up a couple of times this week. A particular highlight was dinner at the Savile which G kindly hosted for me, J and J's wife. This will mainly be a photographic record, as conversation was flowing and notes were not made!

The Billecart-Salmon 2002 Cuvee Nicolas Billecart arrived in the nick of time and made an excellent aperitif. I seem to be acquiring rather a taste for it...

Upstairs in the dining room, we had my last bottle of 2008 Corton from Anne Parent, the white this time. I was slightly anxious that it might not have survived its time in the wardrobe during the recent heatwave but it was absolutely singing. Those who had sea trout for their main course reported that it made a great accompaniment. The label had slipped a little in the ice bucket!

Trademark blurry photo of this 2011 Vosne-Romanee Aux Champs Perdrix from Domaine Audiffred, which was a lovely, elegant Vosne.

It was perhaps overshadowed by the Hermitage La Sizeranne from Chapoutier, provided by G, which was rich and powerful and was something of a crowd-pleaser, although one possibly wouldn't want to drink a whole bottle of it by oneself.

My tiramisu was a work of art!

And finally, a half bottle of Rieussec 1983 was the perfect size for four and gave great pleasure to all concerned. Festivities continued into the small hours. I'm very much looking forward to going to Grand Rapids in September to investigate J's cellar, but thank god she has a Coravin because I'm going backpacking with D two days later! Just as well I have seven weeks to get ready...

Lunch at mine, 13th May

Last Sunday, I was joined by G, D and ACC for lunch at A du V Towers.

We commenced with some pork scratchings and this bottle of Meursault 1er cru Sous le Dos D'Ane 2002 from Domaine Leflaive, provided by G who is trying to breathe new life into the Premier Cru Project. It was a beautiful pale gold colour and had good legs. I'd like to think I would have identified it as Domaine Leflaive from 20 paces. I'd probably have thought it was Puligny though. It was restrained and elegant with a hint of mushrooms, and was drinking perfectly now. G explained at length that the Sous le Dos D'Ane vineyard is in Blagny, but it's only called Blagny if it's a red wine. We gave it 9 points.

Next up, with our starter of smoked mackerel pate on toast, was this Vougeot 1er cru Le Clos Blanc de Vougeot Monopole 2011 from Domaine de la Vougeraie. We suspected it might not be 100% chardonnay and that there might be some pinot blanc in there. It had a lovely weight and G referred to it having "nice shoulders" while ACC described it as racy. I noticed that it strangely seemed to have evaporated in my glass - not sure how that happened. We gave it a 10, which means Vougeot keeps its top spot with the highest average score for a village. 

ACC had brought along this 2014 Beaune Vieilles Vignes from Domaine de la Roseraie, which although very young was starting to drink. As usual with this domaine, it was a serious wine demanding concentration! It was pretty yet had substance and was very smooth, classic red Beaune. Personally I would come back to it in five years.

I was fairly happy with the roast beef which is just as well as I've been eating it all week!

D had brought along a Adelsheim Oregon Pinot Noir Calkins Lane Vineyard ‎2004 which sadly turned out to be corked. I think this is the first corked bottle we've ever had from D, which is a remarkable record, and what an irony that it was this one and not one of his much older vintages.

Fortunately I had a wardrobe full of alternatives so I wheeled out this Pommard la Croix Blanche 2009 from Domaine Parent. I got this out of storage a few months ago and the verdict was that it wasn't quite ready back then, but this time I think it was. It was tres Pommard, powerful and rich, with good length. G described it as impeccable, and ACC told us that the lieu-dit is next to premier cru vineyards, which explains a lot.

This Epoisses wasn't quite ripe enough for my liking. Never mind. The Picos de Europa was pretty stunning, a new discovery made by G. It's going to be hard to go back to Roquefort now...

A brace of digestifs was consumed with abandon. The fine is made from aligote from Pierre Fenal's parcel (i.e. Maison en Belles Lies) and in my opinion these are up there with the Roulot equivalents.

And then just in case we hadn't had enough to drink, G supplied this Exshaw 1973 cognac to round things off. All in all, a very fine luncheon!