Wine group at E. O'N's 28/02/2000 (TNB)

• Malvasia Seco 1997 El Grifo 97 (Lanzarotti!) Fairly plain. Dry.
• Horton Estate 1993 A little vegetal and "New World Sauv blanc"y. Not bad for English, I suppose.
• Terres Blanches blanc 1998 Slightly characterless: perhaps Provence is too close to Italy for whites!
• Jas D'Esclans blanc 1998 Slightly toffeed. Otherwise plainish again.
• Blanc de blancs 1997 (Domaine Ott) A bit longer and more dramatic. Might perhaps be interesting to taste in a year or two.
• Cote Rotie Jumelles 1997 (Jaboulet) Blackberry and vanilla. Dense, but softish. Pretty good.
• Cornas 1996 (Jaboulet) Soft, less defined, almost New-worldy.
• Magill Estate 1995 Ripely fruity: very Ozzy but attractive with a sort of old vines texture.
• Shiraz Yalumba 1993 Oddly spicey, but not otherwise very memorable.
• Zinfandel 1997 (Edmund St John) Seemed very faulty, although others decided perhaps it wasn't.
• Orion 1997 (Thackeray) Obtrusive tannins as always for this wine. Not too minty. Perhaps good in its way.
• Condrieu Eguets 1996 (Cuilleron) Apricoty fizz? Presumably the sparkle a fault. Underneath, rather pleasant.
• Semilion 1995 De Bertoli Rich, dark, spirity. Brown sugar, tending to flab. Very typical of the estate.
• Chateau Myrat 1996 Sauternes - lightish (perhaps the youth). Apparently a property on the up. Seems very respectable rather than great though.
• Giraud 1996 Big, concentrated. Very good. Does seem rather evolved for the age though. Good, with a slight question mark.
• Champagne Rose 1993 (Veuve Cliquot) Avoids the vulgarity well. Good rose champagne.

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26/02/2000 (TNB)

• Graach Josephshofer Auslese 1983 (von Kesselstat) Fresh, pleasant fruit, but a bit one-dimensional. Nice enough, but not a good auslese for the vintage.

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Clos des Papes presented by Raeburn Fine Wines 25/02/2000 (TNB)

Tremendous wines, emphasising fineness rather than just size. They seem to mature extremely well. This is surely a estate.

• Clos des Papes blanc 1998 Young and estery now. Nice acidity and concentration. Good Potential. (Apparently this wine ages well.)
• Clos des Papes 1997 Lovely sweet cherry fruit - almost Burgundian. All the components in place: will be good.
• Clos des Papes 1995 A little less forthcoming and severely structured. Will probably come round and turn out very good.
• Clos des Papes 1990 Farmyardy (pleasantly), very concentrated indeed. Exceptionally long. Quite out of the ordinary - will be really great.
• Clos des Papes 1989 Less flambouyant: cherry fruit, some spiceyness, lots of tannins. Excellent but without the extra drama of the 90.
• Clos des Papes 1988 The first largely resolved wine, but not at its best yet. Cherry fruit evident again. Fine with excellent balance.
• Clos des Papes 1985 Again lovely: high-toned, not soft like some 85 Chateauneufs. Herby, mature Grenache fruit. Excellent drinking now.

After, with dinner:

• Chablis Montmains 1983 (Duplessis) I think I'm getting the hang of these wines: there can be an almost woody character, which perhaps goes on ageing, and is perhaps emphasised in odd bottles. Delicious unoaked fruit, less cosseted perhaps than early-bottled stainless-steel jobs, but ageing splendidly. This wine was completely fresh and excitingly complex.
• Puligny Montrachet Demoiselles 1989 (M. Colin) Colin-Deleger's wine from this vineyard is absolutely superb. (And his other wines are very strong too.) Perfect Puligny, hints of Hazelnuts, long. Very, very fine indeed! Relatively early drinking - no hurry, but it may not improve much from here.
• Rioja Reserva 890 1970 (La Rioja Alta) Cassis, herbs and vanilla notes a lovely complement rather than a primary flavour. Top Rioja, looking and tasting almost youthful.
• Rioja Reserva 1968 (Marques de Riscal) An enigma! Young looking, monolithic, serious fruit density, but unforthcoming. A fine drink, but I feel there may be something more. Possibly just not mature, since Riscal was making good wine at this time. Lets give it the benefit of the doubt:
• Amabile 1981 (Quintarelli) A complete one-off: sparkling (perhaps just petillant) pink (or slightly coloured white) valpolicella! Slightly sweet, but in perfect balance, and good depth of flavour. An unusual pleasure.

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Reds young and old - gang of five 24/02/2000 (RJB)

Two wines: younger wines tasted in the first flight; older wines in the second. All wines tasted blind.

• Sassacaia 1994 Oaky claret nose, reductive character. Tannin a touch green.
• Lamaione 1995 Merlot, Frescobaldi Harsh tannins, rather short of fruit (it did open out a bit the next day). Not very recognisable as Merlot.
• Chateau Larrivet Haut-Brion 1996 Lots of toasty oak - difficult to tell whether the fruit is present (time will tell). Initially quite showy, but the more you taste it, the more you wonder just how good it is.
• Greenock Creek Creek Block Shiraz 1997 Gummy and mushy New World chocolatey shiraz. Not really my cup of tea.
• Chateau Musar 1994 Bizarre! Too sweet. Various guesses at tempranillo or pinot noir.

  and flight 2 . . .

• Seppelt Chalambar Burgundy 1965 According to the label this has the 'rare flavour of good Australian Burgundy', for me it was the wine of the tasting. The grape varieties are Hermitage [is this cinsault or shiraz?], Miller Burgundy [pinot meunier] and Malbec. It has a lovely sweet mature nose with a gentle leatheriness - I thought it good old claret, but in retrospect it was a touch too sweet for that.
• Lamaione 1991 Merlot, Frescobaldi I thought this early 80s claret. Liquorice overtones - not showing as well as it should be if my memory of previous tastings serves me right. Just
• Chateau L'Eglise Clinet 1983, Pomerol Old showing, but not very good claret.
• Chateau Musar 1977 I thought this to be an old (1978ish) claret - a reasonable if not overly exciting drink.
• Penfolds Shiraz Oulliade Bin 426 1969 I believe that 'Oulliade' = 'Cinsault'. According to the label this is 'light easy drinking wine of Burgundy style'. On first tasting I thought it past it - the fruit virtually all gone. The dregs, however, did perk up a bit the next day. Opinion split
• Chateau Smith Haut-Lafite 1961 Lovely claret, sweetly matured - a joy. This has lasted really well. Four scores of 90 and one of 91 (vitrually unheard of consitency for our group) attest to this wine's quality.

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Odds and Ends 24/02/2000 (RJB)

• Pol Roger 1990 (Brut) Very good, but perhaps not up to the '88. Almost lean, suprisingly for a '90, and showing a reasonable amount of age.
• Berrys Own Selection Vintage Port 1977, Shipped by Quarles Harris OK, but lacking grip - a touch too soft and simple.
• Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 1995, Cecchi I tried this a few weeks back, and made a note to try it again. It really is fairly good maturing wine with plenty of fruit ad flavour. Have with food. Most enjoyable.

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23/02/2000 (TNB)

• Chianti Classico Riserva 1995 (Castello di Fonterutoli) Very attractive, high-toned, mouthwatering, juicy fruit with chocolatey overtones. A fair amount of structure too - should drink splendidly in a few years. Pleasant now though.

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Wine dinner at E.McC's 19/02/2000 (TNB)

• Gracher Himmelreich spatlese 1996 (Kees-Kieren) Sherberty. Good depth, acidity and length. Will be at least pretty good. I don't know this producer, but perhaps I should.
• Riesling Saering 1989 (Schlumberger) Creamy, peachy, fattish, yet very dry. Good, but idiosynchratic.
• Pignan blanc 1993 Declassified Rayas in this vintage. Lots of glycerine and extract. Lovely.
• Rayas blanc 1994 More toffeed (just youth I expect), rather serious, will be excellent, needs time.
• Ceps Centenaires 1998 (Gramenon) Medicinal, herby, splendidly textured old Grenache. It's funny how Grenache can make these undeniably great wines, but doesn't (at least on its own) make many very good ones. This is fantastic.
• "Pascal" 1998 (Gramenon) A sort of late-picked version of the above. Almost porty. Dazzling in its way, but it could be tiring to drink. I think I prefer the previous wine.
• Hermitage La Greal 1988 (Sorrel) One bottle corked. Second bottle much better: soft fruits and cassis, elegant. Very good.
• L'Evangile 1983 Huge, sexy, mineraly - iodine or iron perhaps. Decadent. A bit of a monster for me. Hard to see where it's going - maybe it will improve, or maybe it's just for drinking now!

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15/02/2000 (RJB)

• Espiga 1998, Portugal Reasonable, lively, cheap Portuguese.
• Valpolicella Taruso Valpalantena Ripassato 1997 Rather cardboardy edge.
• Sangiovese di Toscana 1998, Cecchi Excellent cheap food wine. Good balance of fruit, acidity and Italian bitterness.
• Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 1996, Fattoria del Cerro Quite austere, or rather, perhaps, high-toned. Fruit seems to be there though - probably needs a couple more years. possibly more
• Tinto Arzuaga 1996, Ribera del Duero Plums and cherries, and a rather reduced character. Decent wine.
• Prince St-Didier 1997 Rigal, Cahors Good fruit but no other dimension to it.
• Trimbach Tokay Pinot Gris Reserve 1993 Drinking well, if a little lighter than I remember it. A very slight spritz to it. 87
• Domaine de Sauvigny Syrah 1995 I'm not quite sure where this is produced. Holding up well for a simple wine.
• Laurent-Perrier Brut 1988 A touch too sweet for my taste (this also discernible in the non-vintage).
• Laurent-Perrier Brut LP A touch too sweet as I mentioned above, but reasonable NV.
• Cordon Rouge, Mumm I haven't had this for ages - not a style I used to like. However, this bottle was on a par with the LP above. Easy, light-to-medium bodied fizz.

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Misc 14/02/2000 (TNB)

• La Dominique 1989 Been open a day when I tried it, but clearly goodish, with a touch of that 89 combination of accessible fruit and serious tannins. At least

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Wine group partners dinner 12/02/2000 (TNB)

• Champagne Cellier d'Or 1990 (Vilmart) Lovely nose, deliciously ripe attractive fruit (the producer or the vintage I wonder). Very classy indeed: I increasingly like this producer. (Magnums)
• Corton Charlemagne 1984 (Tollot-Beaut) Quite fine - somebody said "eggy", which I can see, but it's not a criticism. Good. (Magnum)
• Chardonnay 1976 (Joseph Swan - California) Pretty maderised - in an attractive way perhaps, but not terribly interesting.
• Riesling Kappelweg 1985 (Rolly Gassmann) Spicy, keroseney, drinking well but for drinking up.
• Domaine de Chevalier 1983 Pretty fine, just beginning to drink perhaps. Smokey. Very enjoyable. (Magnum)
• Chateau Leoville Barton 1966 Good medium colour with orangey rim. Lovely, cedary mature claret. Tight, mouthwatering, decent length. Just exactly what one hopes for from mature bordeaux. The 66's seem to be opening up so well at the moment. (Magnum)
• Lafaurie Peyrageuy 1981 Pretty pleasant, even if not a Sauternes vintage.
• Echezaux 1983 (Mongeard-Mugneret) Quite leafy, concentrated. Seems rather good, but awkward to come back to. At least

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Cab Sauv: US vs OZ at Oddbins Fine Wine 10/02/2000 (TNB)

• Cab-merlot 1995 (Banockburn - Geelong) Fruity, but very vegetal (to an extent that I find hard to deal with). Rather evolved. Will not improve. 13.99
• Cab Sauv 1997 (Mathews - Washington State) Slightly toffeed deeply plumy nose. Good acidity, tannins, reasonable length. Quite good. 22:99
• Cab-sauv Counterpoint 1996 (Laurel Glen) Very deep india-inky red colour. Deep fruit, not giving much away. Is it hiding, or is it all oak? 13:99 Say
• Cab-sauv Reserve 1996 (Yalumba) Big, but mentholy mint gets right up my nose. (Eucalyptus, I suppose!) Impressive in its way, if you like polo mints. 14:99
• Bin 707 1996 (Penfolds) A redish shade of black. Smokey, varnishy nose - quite interesting. Long, structured - I like this. (The star of the evening to me, and in the old days when 707 was a 10-15 quid wine I might have bought a few bottles. There's serious claret at this price though, even now.) 34:99
• Quilceda Creek 1996 (Wash. State) Soft, almondy fruit. Dumb perhaps, but maybe just a bit dull. 32:99 Say
• Kalimna bin 42 (Penfolds) 1996 Nicely balanced New Worldy Cab. There's an impression of something hiding, but it might just turn out a bit simple. I'm not totally convinced it's better than the 707! 79:99(!)
• Cab-sauv 1997 (Philip Togni) Severe sulphur problem. Underneath, well-balanced, nice, but unremarkable. Does seem to get more exciting as the sulphur recedes. I do find it extraordinary that people are producing 50 pound wines with such an obvious flaw (and yes, Burgundy producers are even more likely to be guilty of it). 47:99
• Chateau Larrivet Haut Brion 1996 Slight sulphur problem again, but nowhere near as bad. Smokey, mouthwatering. Rather good. To be honest, I'd sooner drink this than anything else tonight. Clearly a property on the up!

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06/02/2000 (TNB)

• Coonawarra Chardonnay 1987 (Wynns) I've had this bottle for years, because ages ago somebody said that Wynn's chardonnay was ageworthy! They were right in a way - this had pleasant mature honeyed flavours and decent fruit, and the fairly heavy oaking typical of Ozzy wines then had integrated well. A pleasant surprise. This may be inverted wine snobbery, but I think that the current fashion among wine writers for less oak in New World chardonnay is misguided. At least at the level of more serious wine, all that less oaking does is to reveal the mediocre quality of the fruit (which is the reason why Ozzy "champagne" is so dire). Bags of oak is tiring as a style, but at least it has character.
• Chardonnay 1994 (Cloudy Bay) Very trendy, and quite heavily oaked. Quite a good drink in its way, but will it be as good as the Wynn's in 7 years? Possibly!

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Misc. notes 02/02/2000 (TNB)

• Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste 1994 I don't always feel confident assessing young claret, but this is clearly pretty fine. Nice balance, all the components in place, and suggestions of complexity on the palate to come.
• Chateau Musar 1981 The old standby from the Lebanon. I always have a soft spot for this property. This is drinking well, but pretty rustic!
• Champagne NV (Billecart-Salmon) An under-rated house, the "2000" special seems to have the usual refined elegance.
• Chardonnay 1990 (Mountadam) Bottles of this vary a bit, depending on the nature of the vegetality (at least to my taste). This one a bit tiring.
• Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu 1988 demi-sec (Huet) From a half - seems pretty mature. Pleasant honey character. Huet's Vouvrays remain under-valued in the fine wine market, but they do need to be 10 years old to show their class.

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Cos d'Estournel at Oddbins Fine Wine 01/02/2000 (TNB)

• Cos d'Estournel 1970 Some orange, but a good mature colour. Classic, iodiney nose. High acidity. Lovely figgy fruit emerged later. Pretty good - may even improve, but will certainly hold for years.
• Cos d'Estournel 1981 Deep youngish red. Tobacco and ripe fruit nose. Pleasant sweet fruit. A shade simple, but quite good.
• Cos d'Estournel 1986 Deep, india ink colour. Meaty, perfume lurking. Structured - tannins behind the fruit, will be pretty good, but perhaps not quite the star it is reputed to be.
• Cos d'Estournel 1988 Pretty good colour again. Complex, elusive nose. Lovely, classic balance. Lacks the weight (of course) of the 86 and 90, but I love the classic style of the 88s in general, and I prefer this to the 86.
• Cos d'Estournel 1989 So 89: soft fruit and slightly unripe tannins. I still suspect that most 89s will just stay unbalanced. Not my sort of vintage (although one must admit the wines are quite good), and this is a typical example.
• Cos d'Estournel 1990 Ripely hedonistic and quite enormous. Not classic of course, but 90 (like 82) can pull off this trick of producing huge wines that excite rather than cloy. Brilliant.
• Cos d'Estournel 1996 Classic, capsicumy, decent length. Good stuff. Perhaps not a world-beater though.
• Pagodas de Cos 1995 Decent regulation claret. I'm baffled that people will pay 20 quid plus for second wines from fashionable properties. Of course, all claret prices are eyebrow-raising, but there is better value from good but less trendy first wines!

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