Mark and Katherine's wedding reception at the Old Bridge, Huntingdon 28/04/2002 (RJB)

It probably isn't the best of form to write up the wines from a wedding, but the day was so enjoyable and the Old Bridge such a pleasant setting with fine food and wine that it seems a shame not to.

• Champagne Brut Premier (Louis Roederer) One of the advantages of weddings is that you can sometimes taste the same wine from several bottles. This Champagne was consistent from bottle to bottle. Consistently good. (Although one bottle was lightly corked.) Honeyed and with elegance and depth.
• Sauvignon Blanc 2001 (Isabel Estate) Very New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and rather estery to my mind. Not a style I particularly enjoy and, let's face it, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc isn't the most complex of wines.
• Riesling Alte Reben 1998 (Brundlmayer) A delicately balanced but fairly big Riesling with good acidity and a touch of residual sweetness. Lovely.
• Reserve Chardonnay 1998 (Shaw & Smith) Good Australian Chardonnay with honey and peach notes and some butteriness and maturity.
• Le Grola 1998 (Allegrini) From magnum. Lovely light-bodied, cherry scented wine with a touch of herbs. plus
• Chianti Classico 1999 (Fontodi) This is drinking very well with depth of fruit (red and black) and gentle bitterness. A very good fullish bodied Chianti.
• Geyserville 1999 (Ridge) This is an excellent wine that is drinking well young but should also age well over the medium term. Smooth and with fine fruit and a hidden structure keeping it all together.

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The Edinburgh "Slow Food" dinner and other recent Italians 27/04/2002 (TNB)

At the "Slow Food" dinner:

• Dolcetto d'Alba 2000 (SanMarco) Dry blackberry - quite savoury. Chocolate. Goodish Dolcetta.
• Pinot Grigio Isonzo 2001 (Lorenzon - I Feudi di Romans) Very young - estery still, a fair amount of fruit but unless it has hidden depths it is a little simple.
• Taurasi 1997 (Feudi di San Gregorio) Nicely textured, good tannins, nice acidity - serious wine. Fine, but is it just a shade international? Scrapes
• Vinsanto del Chianti Classico 1993 (Cennatoio Uvae) Clean straw - long - near dry - refined fruit - delicious!

Other recent Italians:

• Soave Classico Superiore 2000 (Inama) Clean, bone-dry, hints of honeysuckle. Minerality and a hint of bitterness on a quite persistent finish.
• Soave Classico Superiore Calvarino 2000 (Pieropan) Pure, dry, concentrated and long, but I find it hard to identify any particular flavours - a little neutral perhaps but still a good
• Dolcetto d'Alba 1998 (Sandrone) Fine blackberry fruit but perhaps a bit over-civilised: Sandrone's cultured modern style has left this pretty good wine a bit short of character.
• Falanghina 2000 Sannio (Feudi di San Gregorio) Restrained, unassertive but some richness. Moderate acidity. Honey and caramel finish. Rather attractive.
• Refosco 2000 (Pierpaolo Pecorari) Fruity and forward but fairly gutsy - bit of sulphur on nose. Decent.
• Anagallis 1995 (Lilliano - Ruspoli) Good colour, hints of lime and forest floor on the nose - this is quite classically styled (dry, structured) except for the oak influence. Scrapes
• Torcolato 1999 (Maculan) Chocolate oranges. Quite sweet with adequate rather than excellent acidity. A high-quality wine that needs to be a shade tighter. I possibly over-rated this a shade recently: scrapes

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Wine group hosted by E.O'N at La Garrigue 21/04/2002 (TNB)

• Riesling Polish Hill 2001 (Grosset) Light colour. Limey nose - kerosene - floral. Identified this blind as Ozzy riesling (the lime as much as anything gave it away) and it is quite a good one. Fairly refined. Top
• Zobinger Heiligenstein Riesling 1998 (Hirsch) Pleasant gold colour. Weighty Alsace-like palate. Tends a bit to flab unlike the best Austrians. Good, but not as stylish as some.
• Riesling Frederic Emile 1997 Pale colour. Dry, good acidity. Closed but mineral. I thought this had a lot of class tasted blind although others thought it lacked something. Certainly not easy to taste after the showier Austrian above. (maybe more).
• Rioja Reserva 1994 (Cacerras) Warm berries. Blackcurrant. Bags of wood. Cedary. Rather modern style.
• Navarra Lautas 1996 (Guelbenzu) Leafy blackcurrant fruit. Fresh, but very oaky. Slightly drying finish. A moe interesting wine - wotth a bare
• Rioja Reserva 1992 (Cacerras) Oxidised. Possibly a bad bottle.
• Rioja Gran Reserva 1989 (Cacerras) Mature, fruity, all a bit simple - a bit past its best probably. (just)
• Rioja Gran Reserva 1987 (Cacerras) Pleasantly mature - still a bit light and now heading to the 1-dimensional. Good
• Molino Real Mountain wine 1999 - Malaga Restrained, mothball/marzipan (hints) nose. After that, surprisingly sweet on the palate. Elegant. Rather classy - this is a Moscatel, I beleive.
• Pedro Ximenes Vino Dulce de Postre Gran Reserva 1972 A dry take on dark treacle. Sweet, of course, but not to excess. Only moderate length but engagingly different. No great acidity and a sort of medicinal quality. As PX goes this is really good!

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A d'Yquem and de Fargues tasting with le Comte Alexandre de Lur Saluces 21/04/2002 (RJB)

• Chateau de Fargues 1995 The wines at this tasting are all roughly 80% Semillon, 20% Sauvignon. Deepish lanolin nose and good depth on the palate. Good length with a closed minerality at the finish. Acidity peering through. Needs time. According to the Count this should last for 50 years, at a gamble 100 and maybe even 150.
• Chateau de Fargues 1990 Sweeter and fuller than the 1995, but simpler on the finish. Rather unforthcoming.
• Chateau d'Yquem 1996 So closed on the nose and palate. Lots of oak showing through at the end. What can one make of such a wine. It doesn't seem truly great, but it could just be in its shell.
• Chateau d'Yquem 1988 Seems like a stylish, classy dry white Bordeaux on the nose. Real structure and some tannins at the end. Reveals more with time in the glass - a big oak door slowly opening to reveal the Semillon behind. Superb.

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Super Tuscans plus ... 13/04/2002 (RJB)

• Champagne Grande Milliseme 1989 (Gosset) Getting nicely mature - rich style, depth and good acidity.
• Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs 1993 Belle Epoque (Perrier Jouet) Clean, simple, almost New World fruit. Touch of tannin at the finish. Short.
• Dom Perignon 1982 (Moet et Chandon) Elegant and creamy, and not really showing its age. Good texture and length. Lovely.
• Flaccianello 1997 (Fontodi) Vanilla nose and a touch of aniseed and resin. Structure on the palate, and with a fine lightly bitter fruit finish.
• Tignanello 1995 (Antinori) Leafy on the nose, and poor and thin on the palate - the first of two bottles of this wine.
• Lloyd Sangiovese Cabernet 1998 (Coriole) This is a wine that when I first had it I called an Australian Super Tuscan. Tasted blind with the real things it held its own, but I must admit didn't perform as well as I had hoped. This bottle was medium bodied and had a metallic finish.
• Poggio Rosso Chianti Classico Riserva 1985 (San Felice) Clearly some age, and alas on the way down.
• Dominus 1984 Vegetal and simple - weedy.
• Marchese di Villamarina 1997 (Sella & Mosca) Ribena nose and lots of tannins, but it didn't give the impression of a wine that's going anywhere. maybe
• Tignanello 1995 (Antinori) The second bottle of this at the tasting - and, no, no one spotted that it was the same wine. This bottle was more astringent and didn't really seem to be going anywhere.
• Secret of Marlborough Montelpuciano Cabernet Franc 1999 (Herzog) A blend of 15% cabernet franc and 85% montepulciano. Good cherry fruit and good tannins (perhaps a touch harsh?). I would like to try more from this winery. This may well rate higher than plus
• Caselferro 1999 (Ricasoli) People were thinking that this might be a New World ringer (we had quite a few of those after all, so perhaps 'ringer' is the wrong word). Lovely sweet fruit and structure - high toned and with textured oak. Excellent. An easy
• Cuvee Martine Gewurztraminer 1988 (Lucien Albrecht) Flat but drinkable - the fruit deadened with age.
• Old Vines Late Harvest Zinfandel 1995 (Biale) Just 17.9% alcohol. Pure sweet raspberry fruit with no real signs of age. An oddity.
• Muscat des Beaumes de Venise 1988 (Domaine de Durban) Past it (although the next day - having been left opened in a cold room - it did briefly show its youthful self before subsiding once more to the years.)
• Trockenbeerenauslese No. 1 Zweigelt/Pinot Noir 1999 (Kracher) From a half. Well balanced sweet with elegance and length.
• Chateau Coutet 1962 I thought this fading - with a varnish and apple nose. Others were more keen, but
• Capitel Monte Fontana Recioto 1995 (Tedeschi) From a half. Alas corked.

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The Wine Groups "Partners dinner" 09/04/2002 (TNB)

• Champagne 1990 (Sarcey) Flavoursome, but very farmyardy, like a certain sort of red Burgundy. Pleasant if you don't mind that. Scrapes
• Riesling Loibner Steinartel Smaragd 1999 (F.X. Pichler) Very fine, clean and dry. Lovely. Perhaps even
• Corton Charlemagne 1994 (Jadot) Rich and mineral, with a fairly early drinking balance that probably suits the vintage. A really good effort for 94. Probably scrapes
• Chateau Poujeaux 1982 Lovely cedary, smoky, cigar box claret. Completely resolved and very nice drinking. Top
• Domaine des Terres Blanches 1990 From Provence - high-toned, some complexity, this has aged quite nicely.
• Syrah/Cabernet Blend Vin de Pays Cevennes 1995 (Domaine Baruel) Gamy, dry, structued, serious.
• Basor Lamontagne 1988 Very botrytis dominated - oily and nutty. Pretty pleasant - this won't improve from here but there is probably no hurry to drink.
• Crusted Port 1958 (Grahams) A bit of an oddity, crusted port of this age. Quite light in colour, and in taste too there is something of the tawny about it. A slightly unusual drink, but interesting with some complexity. Interesting enough to rate
• Croft Quinta da Roeda 1983 Seemed rather shocking after the Grahams - almost sweet and slightly toffeed. I was not wild about this, but I suppose it is reasonable for a single quinta wine.

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At M.D.'s 02/04/2002 (TNB)

• Chassagne Montrachet Morgeot 1992 (Ch de Maltroye) Honey and minerals - quite stony. Slightly rustic. Fairly high acid - a shade unknit. Not bad though.
• Chassagne Montrachet Ruchottes 1992 (Ramonet) Honey, dry, fine, lemony. Ramonet ginger but I didn't spot it blind. Good acidity. Long and fine - clearly a little better than the previous wine. Scrapes
• Chateau L'Angelus 1990 Dry and a shade austere. As it warms - plum and coffee. Tannic finish. A good drink.
• Chateau L'Eglise Clinet 1985 Green, herbaceous, tannic and austere. Green capsicum character. Irony, herby, quite hard. This started a shade below the best temperature in the glass and it was pretty hard to appreciate. I may even now not be doing it full justice. At least

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Some Australian wines 02/04/2002 (RJB)

• Zerk Old Vines Semillon 2000 (Grant Burge) The nose closed up in the glass after an initial burst of waxed fruit. Crisp lemony palate, but an ill-defined nutty finish.
• Yarra Valley Vineyards Chardonnay 1999 (de Bortoli) Youthful palate, glycerolic and with melon fruit. A heavy disjointed finish.
• Vat 1 Durif 1999 (Deen de Bortoli) Spicy chocolate nose which gets more leathery with time in the glass. Some VA, and a dry finish.
• Cabernet Merlot Margaret River 1999 (Cape Mentelle) Gamey and vegetal, and with a touch of mint. Soft and showing more age than one might expect.
• Cabernet Sauvignon 1998 (Tatachilla) Soft, dull nose; soft, dull palate. A bit woody and with a greenish tannic finish.
• The Holy Trinity Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre 1997 (Grant Burge) Burnt rubber nose and with a greenish palate. This needs fleshing out. perhaps
• Botrytis Gewurztraminer 1998 (Rymill) From a half. Big overbalanced glycerolic stuff.

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