Wine group at A.D.'s 27/04/2009 (TNB)

• Sonoma Pinot Gris 2005 (Seghesio) Quite pleasant, unassertive, sensibly balanced, drinkable. Top
• Russian River Arneis 2005 (Seghesio) Pine resin, mothballs, very odd. Is this as it should be?
• Gewurztraminer Sonnenglanz 2001 (Bott-Geyl) Rich, unctious - near sweet. Not my style. Bare
• Gewurztraminer 2004 (Te Whare Ra) Drier, quite elegant. Light and clean. Quite nice. Bare
• Gewurztraminer Cuvee des Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre 2000 (Trimbach) Slightly off-dry, touch of smoke, not quite the finesse I would expect. Still a rather good wine. Bare
• Gewurztraminer Cuvee des Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre 1998 (Trimbach) Slightly smoky mature Gewurztraminer. A bit thinner and a touch drier than the 2000. Nice but one could ask for more. Bare
• Hermitage La Sizeranne 1985 (Chapoutier) Sweet and syrupy. Wrapped in an austere case. Slightly tired and generally odd. Bare
• Beaucastel 1985 Berryish, mature, farmyardy, a touch rustic. Not the best bottle I can remember having of this. Top
• Beaucastel 88 Similar, but a touch purer and so preferable to me. Bare
• Chateau La Tour de By 1985 Lighter than the following wines but pleasant enough. Good for its level - top
• Gruaud Larose 1985 Dusty, nice fruit. Quite classic. Time to drink. Top
• Batailly 1985 Quite smoky, succulent, almost gummy. A bit more life in it than the Gruaud. even
• Orange Muscat and Flora 1985 (Brown Bros) Peachy, light, fairly dry at this age. Rather short Quite pleasant.
• Don Guido PX Solera especial 20 yrs (Williams and Humbert) Black and treacly, not in fact that sweet, a pretty nice PX. Top
• Montilla Moriles PX 1979 (Toro Albales) A little better-defined, more complex. Very nice.

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Last day in Nice 20/04/2009 (TNB)

At Le Part des Anges: the only wine shop I have ever found in Nice with well-chosen wines. The back half of the shop is a cafe serving rather good, honest food in a home-cooked style.

• Champagne La Closerie Les Beguines NV Brut Nature (Prevost) Bottle code LC05 which I am told indicates disgorgement in 05. Deep bronze/gold colour. A touch oxidative in style, lots of honey, good concentration too. This does seem to have something in common with the wines of his mentor Selosse. It is 100% Meunier, which is reflected perhaps in a slight neutrality of the fruit, which is high quality too in that "Brut Nature" does not turn out to be austere. There is quite a lot of wood influence in a style that some may not like but it is pretty deft and I am inclined to give it the benefit of the doubt. Very interesting. Bare

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In Nice 19/04/2009 (TNB)

• Bandol blanc 2007 (Le Galantin) Pleasant broad flavours - quite tropical - pineapple etc. While quite South of France I feel there is something a touch modern about it: is there a bit of barrique? Good but not really individual. Top
• Cotes du Rhone Rose Le Gramenon, 2008 (Grameneon) A bit yeasty and closed on the nose, also slightly awkward on the finish - maybe this could do with six months or so in bottle. There's a hint of attractive rose fruit. Let's say a bare and rising.

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In Antibes 16/04/2009 (TNB)

• Chateau Simone Rose 2007 One of the very few seriously fine roses, in my opinion. Lovely strawberry fruit, nice persistence. A lovely drink on a sunny day.
• Bandol 2005 (Domaine Fregate) Decent enough, attractive fruit, not overdone but without real concentration and complexity or a real sense of place.

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Still in Antibes 16/04/2009 (TNB)

• Jurancon Ballet d'Octobre 2006 (Cauhape) At the low end of sweet for a pudding wine with nice balancing acidity. The fruit has an interesting grassy green edge and good concentration.

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A few oddities from the cellar 13/04/2009 (TNB)

• Cotes de Provence, Villars-sur-Var blanc 2006, Clos st Joseph Pleasant broad-textured wine from a vineyard 20 or so miles North-west of Nice. Quite classy, very nicely made - good for a few years in cellar too. Brought back last year from the excellent Caves de Mougins. Bare
• Gewurztraminer Cuvee Laurence 1988 (Dom. Weinbach) I begin to think that the point of cellaring wines is not so much the vintage Clarets (or whatever) that in fact are plentiful on the market when they are 20 years old anyway, but this sort of thing: a half bottle with gentle rose-petal lychee fruit and and intriguing smokiness. Lovely - not terribly valuable, but simply not really on the market at this age. Time to drink this though.
• Pernand Vergeleses blanc 2002 (Rollin) Poxed - it has that odd stinky, rotten nose and lots of odd-looking crud floating around.
• Meursault 1er cru Boucheres 2003 (Deux Montille) My theory buying these was that if anybody is going to make a decent 2003 it will be somebody with a tendency to old-fashioned austerity. I bought a few on sale some months ago and they are pretty delicious, if quite forward and hinting at tropical. Top
• Trebbiano d'Abruzzo 2000, Marina Cvetic Delicious stuff, with an intriguing broad palate suggesting the South of France. Bare

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Edinburgh Offline 09/04/2009 (TNB)

Rather delayed notes on a splendid evening.

• Champagne Terre de Verus NV (Larmandier) Lemony, floral. Great balance. Easy drinking. Top
• Chateau Coutet blanc sec 1998 Seems a bit unclean.
• Bourgogne blanc 1992 (Jobard) Lemony, not great complexity. Pretty good for the level. Top
• Cote Rotie 1983 (Jasmin) Very stylish. Lightweight, smoky, completely delicious, bare
• Tignanello 2004 Caramelised bananas. Quite cooked fruit. I guess this will develop well, although I find it hard to guess: @Top plus.
• Tignanello 1982 Young profile. Nice classic weight. Seems younger than the Jasmin but where's it going? perhaps
• Pavie 1989 Very lovely - fantastically balanced, very much coming to peak.
• Calon Segur 1982 Softer even than the Pavie, just delightful old Claret. Bare
• le Vigne di Zamo 2005 (Zamo) Caramelised bananas. Brown sugar. Not sure Where this is going,but pleasant in a way.
• Suduiraut 1997 Highly botrytised. Nice fruit, Seems quite forward.
• Pinot Gris Goldert VT 2002 (Burn) Seems a bit dull at least this late in the evening. For now, top

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