SPNS, Mon 9th April

On Monday night, I made my way over to the Savile Club this time accompanied by thumping trance music courtesy of Paul Van Dyk's excellent podcast.

T was sitting with a distinguished-looking bearded gentleman who on closer inspection turned out to be D! Apparently the pair of them had decided seconds earlier that quorum had been reached, and so this bottle of Cuvee Brut 2013 from Hermann J Wiemer brought over by D had just been opened. It was perfect timing.

G and ACC duly showed up and we cracked on. We tried this wine at the winery back in September and were favourably impressed on that occasion. The general consensus was that it was admirable, creamy and smooth, generally a classy drop which might improve with time. It certainly gives many champagnes a run for their money.

We moved to the dining room upstairs where I had this as a starter - trying to remember what it was now! The yellow thing is definitely pasta, and I believe the pink thing is beetroot and there was also some goats cheese involved.

My contribution was this Beaune 2010 Chaume Gaufriot from Henri Audiffred, which has been sparking much joy here at AduV Towers. On this occasion it took a few minutes to open up and seemed less tropical than previously, but was generally considered to be top notch classic white burgundy. I suspect the remaining stocks need to be drunk in the near future though. Quelle horreur!

G contributed two wines, the first of which was "Queen Charlene's Dry Rose" from Seneca Shore winery in the Finger Lakes. I wrote about this winery here and Charlene is the name of David's wife for those wondering where the name came from. This was a relatively uncomplicated easy-drinking, fruity pink wine.

I can never resist pork belly and scallops when they appear on a menu...

We moved on to two reds. First this Beaujolais Nouveau 2016 from Dominique Piron, provided by ACC who with typical modesty wrote "Amazing!" in the Chronicles. Everyone else agreed that it was punching well above its weight and was fruity and drinkable. Certainly not your average Beaujolais Nouveau.

This A.A. Badenhorst Brak Kuil Barbarossa 2015 provided by T was quite a contrast. It was a big, gutsy, South African red which could really have done with some red meat to go alongside. We doubted it was 13.5% as claimed on the label. G subsequently referred to it as "break skull" as we both found ourselves suffering the next day and this was suspect number one.

Can never resist Welsh Rarebit either...

Finally, we had this La Font Del Bosc Maury 2004 also provided by G. It was described as thick, gooey and sweet by T, which was spot on, and we had no problem dispatching it. Thanks everyone. I can think of worse ways to spend a Monday evening!

Recent drinking round up!

Using the word "recent" in a loose sense here... it's finally time to pull together all the scrappy notes that I've been accumulating over the past few months and record some drinking!

First up, Fratrie Gamay. I bought this in the serious wine shop in Beaune. It was just 12% alcohol but you'd never guess - it packed a punch. It had an amazing fruity nose and was very juicy. It went down real easy, but was definitely one for short-term drinking. There was no vintage on it but the cork said 17.02 so we guessed it was 2016. The guy in the shop told us to serve it cool, which was definitely good advice. A very vibrant, accessible wine.

Then, something a little more serious... Clos-Vougeot 1995 from Chateau de la Tour. This was a dark colour and had a rich, mature and cedary nose. It was elegant and powerful, with notes of chocolate and drinking really well now. Black forest gateau in a glass. It had a beautiful weight and an excellent finish and all in all, was top notch stuff.

One evening, G contributed a bottle of Duhart-Milon 1988 which I am informed is a 4th growth Pauillac. This had the classic cabernet sauvignon nose and was silky and ripe but not fruity. We thought it would probably have been quite unpleasant in its youth. It was almost textbook middleweight Pauillac. G described it as having "slim fetlocks" (he was pleased with that one) and it was precise and congruent but perhaps slightly old school and austere.

Back to Burgundy, a bottle of Beaune Lulune 2010 from Emmanuel Giboulot. We decanted this two hours in advance and put it in the fridge. It was a nose of poached strawberries and was incredibly smooth, vibrant, elegant and feminine. Another low alcohol wine at just 12%. It went really well with our 100 pound, sorry 100 day old chicken. For me it was a definite 10 while G considered it a high 9.

Another 2010 was a white this time, Beaune Chaume Gaufriots from Domaine Audiffred. G and I had the first bottle of this with fish fingers, and I had another one with the boys a couple of weeks ago. I honestly think this is the best white Beaune I've had since the good old days of Yves Darviot. It was particularly good in the first half hour, with a lot of tropical fruit - passion fruit, mango, pineapple. An exuberant wine, with a sort of line of acidity down the middle. My notes contain the phrase "died and went to heaven". Over time, it became more classically lemony. I believe I still have 4 bottles left - don't think they'll be hanging around for long!

In early February, G and I drank this Hosmer Cabernet France 2009 which we brought back from the Finger Lakes. This had a lovely fruity nose with rich berries and plums, and reminded us of fruit compote. It was silky, succulent and congruent, with a freshness that gave it a mouthwatering quality, and a good finish. We had it with a lamb tagine and couscous, which worked very well. It was juicy, glossy and accomplished, and not at all green. Surprisingly serious stuff and very attractive. I continue to rate this winery highly and would definitely buy this wine again.

Another evening in early Feb, G showed up with this sercial from Cossart Gordon. He thought it had spent 30 years in cask and the bottling was postwar, possibly from the 1950s. It smelled like sercial, but was sweeter than expected on the palate, and we thought it probably had a rum base. I was moved to use one of my Irish granny's phrases: "No harm in that!" It had caramelised nuts, a slightly herbaceous edge to it, and a great finish. Really lovely stuff.

On the same evening, we cracked this bottle of Beaune Greves 1er cru 2008 from Chateau de Meursault. This had been hanging around in my wardrobe for some time, in a huge and somewhat ostentatious bottle. The wine itself looked glossy and was pretty and typique, with a nice weight and the classic red Beaune perfume, and was drinking very well now. All in all, a decent 8 on the premier cru scale.

And finally, in late February, we had a bottle of Kylix Cuvee 2007 from Seneca Shore, also in the Finger Lakes. This was a dark purple colour and had amazing legs. It had a very cabernet franc nose, with menthol and blackcurrant, and was a lovely weight. G said it was frontal, a term which always makes me laugh, but I wasn't sure I agreed. The finish actually reminded me of mouthwash it was so minty. Somehow this bottle seemed lighter than previous bottles, so we wondered if it was getting to the end of its life. When we had it with food, however, in this case a beef stew, it seemed to gain weight. A pity they're not making it any more.

That brings us reasonably up to date and this week I took delivery of a couple of reds which have been in storage so will be writing about them soon...

Dinner at mine, 15th Nov

Yes, I realise this dinner happened over 3 months ago... things have been busy lately (in a good way) but I'm hoping to get caught up over the next few weeks.

On this occasion, P joined me and G for dinner at my place.

We kicked off with this Seneca Shore "non vintage" riesling (we suspect it did have a vintage, but they don't bother putting it on the label there). It came in at 12.5% and was light and refreshing, served very cold. It was in the German style rather than the Alsatian and made a very pleasant aperitif with some marcona almonds, especially at $15. There's a reference in my notes to drinking it on the deck, which definitely didn't happen given that it was late November and I don't actually have a deck!

Then we moved on to some fun bottles brought by P, who got them at auction, including two old champagnes. The Victor Cliquot was an amazing amber colour and had a nose of beeswax and honey. P said it reminded him of mead. It claimed to be extra dry which amused us as it was nothing of the sort. I got brioche and pain au raisin. The Charles de Cazanove was drier but it had the same waxy quality. G thought it came from the 1980s as the label was relatively modern.

Finally, we had a mystery wine, in the bottle on the left in the photo further up. The bottle was missing its label and there was nothing on the cork to tell us what it was, but the bottle had a big punt indicating that this was a serious wine. It had a golden colour and a nose of botrytis, but didn't seem all that sweet, with restrained fruit and a hint of apricot jam. G thought it was one of the lighter sauternes, possibly Chateau Nairac, again probably from the 1980s. My notes say "won't go with cheese" only immediately to contradict themselves by saying that it went well with the Epoisses and Cornish gouda... Thanks very much to P for sharing them with us!

Trip to the Finger Lakes part VIII - Seneca Shore Wine Cellars

On Friday morning, we drove over to Seneca Lake where our first stop was Seneca Shore Wine Cellars. Here we met David DeMarco, the owner, who happens to be a friend of D.

David was exuberant and charming and gave us a tour of the winery which was very entertaining. I enjoyed hearing about his business model. He sells most of his wine directly to his customers rather than going through the retail trade, and his branding suggests that the wines are medieval in approach i.e. small scale rather than made by some industrial conglomerate in a huge impersonal factory somewhere.

We tasted our way through twelve wines altogether. I was impressed by the Dry Riesling 2016 which had a lovely limey zinginess to it. The Chardonnay Balanced Barrel 2014 was was very good, but the barrel-fermented Chardonnay 2013 was even better, with a golden colour and buttery richness which reminded me of a Meursault. Given that it was $14.99, it was really very impressive.

The Pinot Noir 2012 was smooth, light, easy drinking with good acidity, and had only just been released, while the Cabernet Franc 2012 had oomph, with smoky, tarry notes and would be great with barbecue. There was no sign of stemminess here. Dave told us that cabernet franc is often overcropped and that's when it starts to develop those green pepper and green bean flavours which I can't stand.

But the jewel in the crown was undoubtedly the Kylix Cuvee, which is a cabernet franc from 2007. It was big and rich, with velvety tannins. I liked it very much and it retailed at $24.99, making it an absolute steal in my opinion.

No doubt the medieval angle plays well with your average tourist, but these are not novelty wines by any means. We put together a mixed box to take away with us and not only did Dave refuse to let us pay for them but he added a few more, which was really very generous. This tasting was definitely one of the highlights of the trip!