5.6.40
Fine Wine Diary The Bailey brothers have now tasted 12082 wines in 29 years 0 months and 23 days
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Diary index

31/12/1995 (RJB)

At the Three Horse Shoes, Madingley 28/12/1995 (RJB)

26/12/1995 (RJB)

22/12/1995 (TNB)

Drinks at SPC and odds and ends 20/12/1995 (LJM)

19/12/1995 (TNB)

at Noel Young Wines 18/12/1995 (RJB)

16/12/1995 (TNB)

at Mark's 15/12/1995 (RJB)

OFW Claret Tasting 14/12/1995 (TNB)

10/12/1995 (RJB)

09/12/1995 (RJB)

09/12/1995 (TNB)

Cambridge University Blind Tasting Team 'Bring a bottle of red' blind tasting 03/12/1995 (RJB)

A tasting for Cambridge Food & Wine Society 02/12/1995 (RJB)

02/12/1995 (TNB)

01/12/1995 (RJB)

The Diary - December 1995

31/12/1995 (RJB)

Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 31/12/1995   Return to top

At the Three Horse Shoes, Madingley 28/12/1995 (RJB)

The first two wines from the restaurant list, the Port from a private source.

Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 28/12/1995   Return to top

26/12/1995 (RJB)

Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 26/12/1995   Return to top

22/12/1995 (TNB)

  • Couhins Lurton 87 From a half. Good colour. Lost some fresh fruit, but gained style and (some) complexity. First thought was that it was a shade past it, but it has a lovely honeyed finish. Drinking well, but probably for consuming soon. 86.
  • Ladoix les joyeuses (Mallard) 83 Good colour, showing some maturity, but very healthy. Nose quiet, but good mature pinot flavours. Nice raspberry fruit in the mouth, it's sweetness masking the slightly harsh tannions of the vintage. Nicely mature burgundy, drinking nicely. 87
Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 22/12/1995   Return to top

Drinks at SPC and odds and ends 20/12/1995 (LJM)

  • Fontanafredda Barolo `La Delizia', 1982 . Quite an elegant wine with flavours of cherries and perhaps violets and refined structure. Not a huge amount of fruit but still a very pleasant drink. Ideal with Bollito Misto. 87
  • Quinta da Noval, 1970 . Still tastes quite fresh. Medium weight with good fruit and balance, quite pleasureable, but quite simple. 86 (RP84)
  • Grahams, 1983 . This has been open since summer term apparently and shows some signs of losing its edge. However, it is still clearly very complex and interesting and still has very good depth of fruit and structure. Much much better than the quinta da Noval despite being open for so long. Confirms my impression of Grahams being the best port producer that I've tried. 91 (RP95 which is almost certainly the case when freshly opened)
  • La Tour du Haut Causson, 1990 . Ripe fruity claret that has enough weight and structure to stand up well at dessert after drinking port. It is not particularly refined but very enjoyable at the price (about 6.40 at '91 prices). Will still improve with time. (RP88)
  • Ch Poujeaux, 1988 . Another good value well built Cru Bourgeois that has good ripe fruit and structure. Will go on. (RP87)
  • Ch Roumieu, Sauternes 1990 . Impressive weight and concentration. However its a touch on the heavy and inelegant side lacking a lift from balancing acidity. (86)
  • Clos Windsuhl, Hunawihr, Zind Humprecht 1991 , Threshers 10.69. I assume the varietal name is Hunawihr as there is no other possible varietal name on the bottle. (I think not. Ed.) Very dry for ZH. The bouquet is good, but the first sip tastes slightly ugly. That disppears almost immediately and follows into a wine with very fine structure. The fruit flavours are not so elegant perhaps. I'm not too sure about this one. 82-88
Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 20/12/1995   Return to top

19/12/1995 (TNB)

  • Mas de Christine, Muscat de Rivesltes 91 Odd whif of sherry-type oxidation at first. Gives way to dense muscatty fruit. Big and impressive in a way, but I can't get that excited. 87. (OFW 9.99 -- gets a huge Parker score, if this is the right wine.)
Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 19/12/1995   Return to top

at Noel Young Wines 18/12/1995 (RJB)

Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 18/12/1995   Return to top

16/12/1995 (TNB)

  • Syrah Estate 92 (Bonny Doon) Astonishing inky red. Nose of crushed blackberry leaves with mushroooms/chestnuts. Huge in the mouth, high alcohol (legs like gothic arches, as Michael Broadbent says of 83 Palmer), tannins hidden beneath a wall of fruit. Very impressive. If one were to criticise, it seems slightly soulless. 90.
Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 16/12/1995   Return to top

at Mark's 15/12/1995 (RJB)

Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 15/12/1995   Return to top

OFW Claret Tasting 14/12/1995 (TNB)

  • Bahans Haut Brion 89 Quite complex, smokey/gravesy, nice fruit, but lacking the density to be first rate. 87.
  • Dom de Chevalier 88 Intruiging, complex, high-toned. More appearing the more one tased. Coming back to this at the end, it had a distinct aroma of toast. Classy. 91.
  • Vieux Ch Certan 86 Unevolved, big wine in need of a lot of cellaring -- it has the strong tannins of the vintage. Obviously has the makings of a great wine. 92
  • Brane-Cantenac 82 High acid, with reasonable quantity of round sweet fruit. The acid will keep this looking OK, but the fruit will fade without ever gaining complexity. 82.
  • Leoville-Poyferre 82 Very dense, unevolved colour. A great wine in its infancy. The high acidity is balanced by a good density of ripe fruit. Very long. 93
  • La Mission Haut Brion 81 Sheer class -- lovely smokey, cedary nose, with suprising fruit concentration and a good long finish. Amazing balance. Lovely. 92.
  • Leoville Las Cases 79 Looking good, reasonably concentrated mature claret, but nothing very exceptional. 86
  • Ch La Rame Reserve 90 Suprisingly different from last time I tasted - much more botrytis evident , and more like Sauternes -- not so bubble-gummy. Good concentration, but it stops a little in the mouth, suggesting it is not really a keeper. 89
Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 14/12/1995   Return to top

10/12/1995 (RJB)

  • Jansz NV, Heemskerk, Tasmania Odd sparkling wine. New World pineapple fruit flavours evolved in the glass, with a lot of acidity on the palate. Rather unknit. 83
  • Pinot d'Alsace 1990, Zind-Humbrecht Drinking wonderfully well with buttery flavours. Sweeter and not as evolved as the half I had a few weeks back. 89
  • Cotes du Rhone 1988, Guigal Very much like a scaled-down version of a Guigal Cote Rotie. Silky with mushroomy aromas. Drinking close to peak, but no rush. 88
Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 10/12/1995   Return to top

09/12/1995 (RJB)

  • Gewurztraminer Herrenweg 1992, Zind-Humbrecht Quite a youthful spritz to this wine, and still pretty closed. I don't think it is quite the monster that the 1990 was at this stage. Still pretty big, but with more elegance and less residual sweetness. Definitely needs some time to open up. 89+
Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 09/12/1995   Return to top

09/12/1995 (TNB)

Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 09/12/1995   Return to top

Cambridge University Blind Tasting Team 'Bring a bottle of red' blind tasting 03/12/1995 (RJB)

Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 03/12/1995   Return to top

A tasting for Cambridge Food & Wine Society 02/12/1995 (RJB)

Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 02/12/1995   Return to top

02/12/1995 (TNB)

  • Clos Floridene 90 This bottle at least still had most/all of the fruit I remember. I would not say it is improving, but it is still v. good. 89.
  • Brunello 1990 (Lisini) Possibly a bit closed at present -- plenty of structure -- good colour and plenty of fruit -- chestnutty overtones. One would exppect this to be better than the 89, and perhaps it will be (RFW) 89+
Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 02/12/1995   Return to top

01/12/1995 (RJB)

Tasting notes added to Fine Wine Diary 01/12/1995   Return to top