Wine group Xmas dinner 28/12/2011 (TNB)

With a fantastic tasting menu at Mithas

• Champagne Polisy 1999, disgorged Oct 2010 (A Beaufort) Deep colour. Rich ripe-apple fruit - it has something of the style of a good "natural" table wine. Quite oxidative in style, a one-off. Slightly off-dry although some of the impression of sweetness is down to top-quality ripe fruit. Lovely.
• Champagne Coeur de Cuvee 1999 (Vilmart) Very stylish, the oak gives a touch of vanilla but it is very deftly handled. Top Champagne, if a bit more mainstream than the Beaufort. Bare
• Krug 1989 Becoming mature now - a touch of slow-moving rivers about it. Bright colour, quite a deep gold. Rich, as usual with Krug. Bare
• Riesling vom Stein Smaragd 1998 (Nikolaihof) From a magnum, great mature riesling nose and palate, bone dry, nice weight and balance. Very, very good.
• Malvasia Istriana 2007 (Duline) Bitter almonds. So, so delicate with fantastic complexity once it opens up in the glass. Repays attention the more you study it. Gorgeous.
• Santenay 1er cru La Comme 2002 (Belland) Quite dry and a little lacking in charm. Pleasant enough Burgundy. Scrapes
• La Conseillante 1981 Another magnum. Very rounded, fruitcake Pomerol, with classic mature Claret character. pretty much at peak, I would say. Delicious.
• La Conseillante 1997 I think I started some dessert at the wrong time and so wrecked my palate for this: my impression is that it was a pretty good but I won't try and rate it.
• Colheita 1988 (Niepoort) Beautiful sparkly, bright colour. Thoroughly transparent, delicious fruit. This seems a good Colheita vintage for Niepoort.

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Wine group Xmas - postscript 28/12/2011 (TNB)

One wine I forgot to note. I'd been wanting to try it again having sampled it in London.

• Crozes Hermitage 2009 (Dard & Ribo) Excellent quality fruit, with all the purity you expect from natural winemaking. I think I have to agree with those present who thought that it did not really have much terroir character and so lacked real distinction.

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25/12/2011 (TNB)

• Nerello Mascalese Nonna Concetta 2007 (Calabretta) Lovely, transparent, high-toned fruit from this producer on Mount Etna. Quite severely structured, but a few more years in bottle will soften that a bit - now it is one to open a few hours in advance. Real wine.
• Leoville Barton 1986 A lovely drink now - classically cedary Claret. Top
• Smith Woodhouse 1977 I might (as so often with Port) have imagined this was a bit younger if tasting blind. Nice fruit, and is it still a touch hard on the finish? Top

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18/12/2011 (TNB)

• Moulin a Vent Cuveé Lucile-Msaud 2007 (Domaine du Granit) Luxurious old-vine texture. Really nice fruit if little less interestingly challenging than the La Rochelle from here tasted recently.
• Champagne Special Club 1996 (José Michel) This has come on beautifully. Quite a large wine, needing food, with a flowery background that I attribute to the large amount of (high quality) Meunier in the blend. Splendind now.

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More exploration of Beaujolais Crus 13/12/2011 (TNB)

• Moulin-à-Vent 2007 "La Rochelle" (Domaine du Granit) Quite high-toned, lifted, juicy red fruits, still with some succulent tannins. A nice touch of minerality too: I think this is still improving. Top perhaps more eventually in its way.
• Cote de Brouilly 2009 Cuvee Zaccharie (Chateau Thivin) Another rather fine 2009 from this region. This seems a bit more mainstream: rather good but without the excitement of a few comparable things I have tried recently. Sti;;, worth trying again.

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Beaujolais again 04/12/2011 (TNB)

• Brouilly Pisse Vieille 2009 (Gravallon and Lathuilière) This particularly caught my attention - more even than this producer's Morgon Cote du Py. Lovely, ripe but fresh cherry fruit, great tannins and that so desirable touch of minerality. Top - almost more!

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