31/12/2005 (RJB)

• Champagne Brut Grande Reserve (Gosset) From a magnum (well it was New Year's Eve). I think I've had this bottle for five plus years. Lovely stuff - beautifully balanced. Could still have used a few more years. A very easy

Wine group Xmas/New Year Dinner 28/12/2005 (TNB)

• Champagne Grande Annee 1982 (Bollinger) Deep colour, very yeasty nose and honied appley fruit with bags of mushrooms. Evolved. Quite bold and rich. Long and delicious, provided you like the meaty, not so elegant, Bollinger style - it's not everyones glass of bubbles. Top
• Chablis 1er cru Chapelot 2001 (Raveneau) Quite elegant but rich (some botrytis perhaps). Very fine. even
• Charlemagne Grand Cru 1995 (Jadot) Mineral, nice fruit, dry and taught. Starting to drink nicely. Bare
• Meursault Cuvee Loppin Hospice 1985 (Vienot) Deep colour, rather lovely, gentle, long, mellow, nutty and delightful. Some say a little lacking poise or complexity but I quite like it.
• Gevrey Chambertin 1er cru Combottes 2001 (Odoul-Coquard) Pure, quite light and aetherial (the vineyard perhaps). Nice length and texture. Pleasingly little oak. Still improving but may be won't merit another star. Pretty good.
• Chambertin Clos de Beze Grand Cru 1990 (Jadot) Dusty, quite large but dry. Tending towards baked (typical of the vintage) - a little chunky. Still pretty good. Quite a Clarety style of Burgundy. Bare
• Volnay 1er cru Clos de Chene 1988 (Lafarge) Closed at first, but opens out - lovely pure raspberry fruit. High-toned. Very long. Needs a few more years to peak.
• Gevrey Chambertin 1er cru Clos St Jacques 1987 (Rousseau) Dry, nice, savoury, but time to drink. Top almost more
• Ruchottes Chambertin Grand Cru Clos du Ruchottes 1985 (Rousseau) Colour tending to brown. Quite animal, rich and decadent - fades a bit in the glass and rapidly becomes cloying.
• La Mission Haut Brion 1979 Amazing dense young colour. Floral, mineral, tobacco. Iodine finish. Very fine indeed.
• La Mission Haut Brion 1989 Mineral nose, rich cherry fruit hot iron finish. Fantastic interest - packed with ripe tannins. Great balance - but lots of potential. Top
• Les Carmes Haut Brion 1999 Very easy, silky, forward. Touch of class. I would like to try this from a stronger vintage and with a bit of age.
• Bernkasteler Johannisbrunnchen 1975 BA Eiswein (Licht-Bergweiler) Apricot fruit, creamy texture and flavour. No great complexity (typical of Eiswein). Lovely acidity. Bare (as Eiswein goes)
• Taylor 1963 (very odd brown bottle - presumably UK?) As it opens up, rather fine - raspberry fruit, touch of chocolate, a bit spirity towards the end. Moderate weight now. Top
• Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin 1976 Very fresh, lots of fizz. Touch of yeast, etc - a touch shorter and less weighty than the Bolly. In spectacularly good condition and with fine, precise bready flavours. Lovely Top

A few wines over the Christmas period 25/12/2005 (RJB)

• Champagne Reserve Brut (Raymond Boulard) From a half. Its usual reliable self - fine bubbles and good medium-weight balance.
• Chateau Gressier Grand Poujeaux 1985 From a half. Simple and charming. I love claret like this, especially when the purpose of the evening is purely social rather than wine related. This is at peak and a pleasure to drink.
• Rioja Cantiga 2003 OK stuff with decent fruit. A touch coarse.
• Blanc de Lynch-Bages 2002 Beautiful. Especially after a bottle of indifferent Prosecco drunk with candied(?) hibiscus flowers in the glass. The Lynch-Bages is elegant, and suggests an inner depth that is not at present fully forthcoming. Hints of peach kernel and tempered steel.
• Rully 1er Cru Les Clous 2004 (Olivier Leflaive) Poor alongside the Lynch-Bages. Too soft and undemanding. just.
• Les Tourelles de Longueville 1999 This needs a bit more time. Good structure and supple tannins - medium length. A good

04/12/2005 (RJB)

• Chateau Clerc Milon 1991 Brought round by a friend for a Sunday lunch. A slight whiff of the farmyard when first opened, but this cleared to reveal a light-to-medium weight claret with classic cigar box.