Misc 31/08/1996 (TNB)

• Gevrey-Chambertin 70 (Claire-Dau) Brown, past it entirely. Undrinkable.
• Volnay Santenots Tete de Cuvee 83 (Lafon) Nice fruit, after an initial whiff of decay. A lot of dry tanins, typical of the vintage. Quite good, but not to my taste terribly enjoyable. 86.
• Barbera d'Alba 93 (Sandrone) Very chocolaty at first taste. Always something meaty, almost corrupt, under the fruit. Moderately concentrated and quaffable. 86.
• Savennieres Clos du papillon 90 (Baumard) Restrained, chablis like. Slightly atypical, possibly owing to real ripeness. Opens up in the glass. Quite classy. 88(?+)
• Quarts de Chaume 86 (Baumard) Honeyed and grassy with, I thought, moderate bottrytis nicely integrated. Drinking well. 88.
• Noble riesling 90 (Mountadam) Lots of apricot-kernelly, oily bottrytis over adequate fruit. Nice, but lacks grip. Won't improve. 85.

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31/08/1996 (RJB)

• Salice Salentino Riserva 1992, Candido warm climate wine with some fragrance, but a bit overblown. 85
• Petaluma Chardonnay 1986 Excellent acidity with restrained mature buttery fruit. This has tempted me to hold onto a couple of bottles, rather than drink them up. 88
• Hospice de Beaune Savigny-les-Beaune 1986, Cuvee Arthur Girard, Arthur Barolet et Fils Good structure, good acidity, just lacking fruit, which is a shame because everything else seems about right. 82

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26/08/1996 (RJB)

• Cru de Coudoulet 1986 Drinking well with mushroomy overtones, but a bit lighter than I was expecting. A slight touch of (acceptable) volatility. 87
• Domaine Bellevue 1993, Corbieres The zinginess of last year has been replaced by a beefy nose and palate - death of a commercial wine? 81

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25/08/1996 (TNB)

• Maximin Grunhaus Abtsberg Auslese Fuder 64, 1992 Gorgeous long peachy fruit, still very tight with delicious acidity. 93.
• Grand Puy Lacoste 90 Rather closed, plenty of smokey fruit promises a lot, and "freshly sawn planks" oakyness needs to integrate. Probably very good in time. 89(+).
• Cote Rotie 91 (Nierot) A bit light, but pleasantly raspberryish elegant, but not really complex wine from a grower mainly of Condrieu. 86.

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22/08/1996 (RJB)

• Beaumont des Crayeres, Champagne Brut A simple ill-defined wine that died in the glass 80
• Ockfener Herrenberg Riesling Spatlese 1979, Deinhard Lacking the acidity I remember from previous bottles, so the balance not as good as previous tastings. I wonder if there was a touch of corkiness?
• Chateau des Tours 1985, Sainte-Croix-du-Mont This has aged surprisingly well. A light to medium weight wine with mandarin and apricot falvours. Not complex, but went very well with some Vacherin and Montgommery's Cheddar. 85

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19/08/1996 (RJB)

• Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 1995 Good typical New Zealand Sauv Blanc - gooseberry fruit with a touch of butter. 85
• Salice Salentino Riserva 1993, Taurino A slightly lighter version of his Notarpanaro. 88
• Chassagne-Montrachet 1989, Vielles Vignes, Michel Colin-Deleger Rather 1-D and flavourless. Tough earthy wine. 80
• Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos 1988, bottled by Disznoko Medium weight tokaji with good balance of sweetness and citric acidity. Very good with cheese (a rind washed Chambertin). 89

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19/08/1996 (TNB)

• Schlossbockelheimer Kupfergrube spatlese 89 (Staatdomain Nahe) From what is supposed to be a dodgy time for this domain, this has bags of fruit, nice structure, but a suspicion of a bitter edge that stops me being wholeheartedly in favour.
• Vouvray Clos Naudin 85 demi-sec (Foreau) Opened up into a lovely grassy honeyed wine. I think this is drinking time for it though -- I suspect there's not much more to come. 89.
• Salice salantino reserve 93 (Taurino) Not quite as startling as when I tasted this at the end of a run of South Italian curiosities, but nice sweet (unspecific) fruit, quite high-toned with good acidity and mushroomy notes. A bargain! 87.

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18/08/1996 (RJB)

• Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot 1987, Regis Fevre More toffeed and less steely than last time. Drinking nicely.89
• Hocheimer Konigin Victoria Berg Riesling Auslese 1971, Pabstmann OK acidity and lovely mature fruit. A slight mustiness at the end which I don't remember from previous tastings. 88
• Cloudy Bay Chardonnay 1991 Two bottles of this, each initially with different characteristics. One with quite full varietal features, the other quite powdery and honeyed. After some time in glass they settled down and became more alike. Not as good as the 1990 or the 1992. 87
• Lindemans Bin 65 Chardonnay 1995 Typical Oz Chardonnay, but quite classy in its price level. Well made. 85
• Domaine des Baumelles 1992, Cotes du Luberon Strawberry fruit without the zinginess of a few months back. Commercial wine that has aged quite well. 84
• Wynns Coonawarra Riesling 1993 Becoming petrolly with lime acidity. Simple. 83
• Notarpanaro 1988, Cosimo Taurino Notes as previously. A good summer red, with maturity, fragrance and structure. 89

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Les Quatre Muscateers at Tom's 16/08/1996 (RJB)

A theme of light reds and 'late harvest' whites. Having the reds before the whites was definitely the correct order.

• Dolcetto d'Alba 1989, Mascerello Excellent vibrant youthful colour, violet and almond nose. Enjoyable wine with a balancing bitterness throughout. 87
• Pinot Noir 1990, Herrenweg Turckheim, Zind-Humbrecht A highly perfumed, extracted plum-skin Pinot nose. Much more acidity on the palate, and less sweetness and fruit than the nose would suggest. A touch short, but the bouquet is particularly pleasing. 87
• Bourgueil 1988, Pierre Jacques Druet Earthy, fading wine with volatility creeping in. 78
• Gigondas 1978, Jaboulet-Aine Light-bodied wine with only the odd hints of maturing Syrah. 82
• Wehlener Sonnenuhr 1983 Riesling Auslese, Dr F. Weins-Prum Erben Classy petrol and sherbert nose, but a bit cloy and a touch woody on the palate. Good wine though. 88
• Riesling VT 1983, Hugel From a half. Tight, citric-sharp nose. Dry (surprisingly so) and lacking on the palate. Very disappointing. 81
• Delatite 1985 Late Picked Rhine Riesling Gorgeous Germanic style petrol nose. Originally I thought it too sweet, but a lovely grapefruit acidity came through. Very good. If you concentrate very hard, once you know what it is, you can almost believe it has some New World traits, but ... 90
• Tokay Pinot Gris, Clos Windsbuhl 1989 VT, Zind-Humbrecht Excellent. Medium bodied with peach and bacon fat flavours. Coming after the Rieslings didn't do it any favours. More restrained than I would have expected. 92
• Louis Eschenauer Cognac Cognac that had been found bricked up in a cellar, so unclear how old. Beautiful nose with citric undertones. Lovely balance.

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Pinot Noir at OFW 15/08/1996 (TNB)

• Pinot Nero 94 (Maculan) Italian Pinot, quite fruity with toasty oak, pleasant but unexciting. (9.99) 81.
• Martinborough Pinot Noir 94 Typical NZ caricature -- very pinot like in many ways, but no soul. (10.99) 83.
• Stoniers Pinot Noir 93 Oz version -- reasonably authentic fruit, again pleasant but lacking interest. (11.99) 84.
• Rutz Russian river 93 The best non-burgundy, with some real complexity of fruit spoiled for me by a noticably hot finish. Unbalanced. (17.99) 84.
• Clos Vougeot 93 (Meo-Camuzet) Delicious, concentrated, structured (needs a couple of years), high-toned and balanced. Lovely. (34.99) 92.
• Nuits St Georges Boudots 92 (Meo-Camuzet) Less concentrated, and almost too highly strung. Very good (specially for a poorish vintage) but it somehow demands more attention than it is quite capable of delivering. (34.99) 88.
• Vosne Romanee Chaumes 92 (Meo-Camuzet) Less nervy than the above, and slightly easier going. Lovely fruit. (27.99) 89.
• Volnay Clos Bousse d'Or 89 (Pousse d'Or) Aggressive acid, out of balance, genmerally flawed. (26.99) 82.
• Aloxe Corton 90 (Tollot-Beaut) Average village wine -- what a price! (24.99) 85

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14/08/1996 (TNB)

• Tokay bergheim VT 90 (Marcel Deiss) Very honeyed nose with underlying tokay bacon fat. Desert wine sweetness, nice flaovours, but concentration only moderate. 87.

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12/08/1996 (RJB)

• Domaine de l'Hortus 1994, Classique (5.99 Booths) Fresh and spicey Rhone-style wine. Perhaps rather lacking depth. 86
• Cote Rotie Seigneur de Maugirion 1989, Delas (10.99 Booths) I remember being quite impressed with this a few years back, and it has aged rather well. Classic leathery and mushroomy overtones. It won't win medals for complexity, but it is still good, if simple, drinking. 87
• Ninth Island 1994 Chardonnay, Tasmania Wine Company Typical melony New World Chardonnay - reasonable of its sort. 83
• Riesling Muhlfurst 1994, Mader, Alsace Not overtly Riesling, but reasonably clean flavours without much excitement. 84
• Jeeper Grande Reserve Well made Champagne but rather New Worldish - lacking acidity. 84
• Oudinot Brut NV Similar to the Jeeper. OK, but lacking class and identity. 84
• Chateau Tahbilk Cabernet Sauvignon 1986 Bin 73 Impressive, mature, warm climate Cabernet. Warm nose of fruit, and loads of cigar box. 90
• Marsannay Les Longeroies 1988, Bruno Clair From a half. Fruit fading, and acidity growing. Pleasant, but for drinking up. 85

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Various wines 09/08/1996 (TNB)

• Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Auslese 90 (Fritz Haag) Young riesling can be a pig to evaluate, but after the excellent Spatlese from the same producer, vinyard and vintage, this was a major dissapointment: pleasant, but watery and lacking conentration and complexity. Bad bottle, or what? 84.
• Pinot Noir Carneros 86 (Saintsbury) At best probably. Real pinot, and quite pleasant.
• Riesling Schlossberg 93 (Weinbach) Young riesling again! Probably quite good, but a little hard to appreciate at the moment. Nice sherberty finish.
• D'Angludet 85 Good colour, just coming round to drinking, with room to improve. Violety Margaux nose with that lovely sweet 85 fruit, particularly evident in the good finish. 88.
• Maximin Grunhaus Abtsberg Auslese 90 The real thing! Evolved spicy nose, but tight enough structure with more to come. Delicious peachy fruit and lovely long finish. 92.

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