So nobody spotted that the flight of Clarets were 1986 - there wasn't much of the famed tannins and backwardness of the vintage and they seemed ready to drink. I suppose they are 20 year old wines now and I have to get used to this. On the other hand, for a vintage hailed as the most classical of the 80's they have evolved quite quickly - faster than (for example) the 66's. You might say that is no bad thing - as the growers so like to tell us, we apparently don't have the patience for lengthy cellaring these days. Or to put it another way, the trade likes the cash-flow from selling younger and younger wines. The main point though is that you can't get something for nothing and slow evolution seems to me to produce the most fascinating wines. Beychevelle was the stand-out, which was interesting - it's not a property I tend to follow.

Collares, made from pre-phylloxera vines in sandy soil close to Lisbon was a new one on me (at least as far as I remember). It was very old-fashioned stuff, a bit reductive and so benefiting from a lot of air. I'd like to try some more.

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