An Oddbins Fine Wine tasting 29/02/2004 (TNB)

• Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese 2002 (Dr Loosen) Fragrant nose - slightly sweet grapy palate - just enough acid. It seems a bit simple. It could be just young riesling - but I'm not sure it will develop that well.
• Condrieu 2002 (Bonnefond) Banana and bubblegum nose. Is it oaked? Not very luscious. Bare
• Meursault 1999 (Drouhin) Rotting pineapple nose. Smoky. Roasted nuts, charred - to excess perhaps. Exotic. Intense and long but perhas a bit clumsy. A good
• Sutton Vineyard Chardonnay 2000 (Scotchmans Hill) Touch of guava - more classic. Fairly hefty oak. Nice acidity and good length. Also a top
• Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru 2000 (Maison Folly) Touch of beetroot - crisp red fruits. Attractively Burgundian.
• Coudoulet de Beaucastel 2001 Black cherry yogurt. Raisins. Very creamy texture on nose and palate. Silky. An ambitious wine with decent length. More modern-styled than I remember from previous vintages. Good but drink relatively soon.
• Mangan 2002 (Cullen) A huge assault of brambley fruit with a cloying sweetness. Not my sort of thing.
• Observatory Syrah 2001 Cinnamon and clove nose and palate. Slightly coarse-edged but pretty decent.
• Vidal Icewine 1998 (Chateau de Charmes) Long and serious. Very intense with a creamy finish. Pretty good - it really is the business, Canadian or not. But like much icewine (German or otherwise), ultimately a bit simple.

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Some miscellaneous recent drinking 23/02/2004 (TNB)

• Rulandske Sede Kabinet 1999 (Michlovsky) Moravia is very close to Austria and it ought to be possible to make good wine here. Judging by this, there's a way to go. This Pinot Gris has reasonable fruit (without particular varietal character) but a sort of slightly sour roughness that reminds me of how some French country wine used to be!
• Tokaji Aszu 3 puttonyos 1993 (Chateau Megyer) Brown sugar, apricot jam, a bit of botrytis: a nicely elegant fresh wine that slips down a treat.
• Cote Rotie La Landonne 1991 (Rostaing) Intense raspberry nose, with coffee and liquorice too on the palate. Pretty fine wine, if perhaps a shade clumsy. Top
• Chateau d'Issan 1986 Elegant, stylish, cedary, completely evolved, no hurry to drink. It is lightweight but is very charming. Luncheon claret certainly and pleasant to drink something that doesn't shout at you. Nothing could more clearly indicate the difference between Broadbent (who gives it ***) and Parker (who gives it 77/100). I am mainly with the former but it is pretty lightweight so I will restrict myself to saying it is a rather good
• Bandol Migoua 1998 (Tempier) Lovely nose, mineral, succulent tannins, lovely ripe fruit and a touch of chocolate. This is already lovely and will improve. One could though almost worry sometimes that this vintage in the Southern Rhone and Provence is too fruity and immediate for long-term greatness.
• Sauvignon blanc 2002 (Kanu) South Africa Sauv blanc: nicely made, not too vegetal, reasonable balance.
• Cote-Rotie Cuvee du Plessy 1997 (G. Barge) At first quite meaty but with a bit of air some Cote Rotie perfume emerged. Quite open, forward wine with attractive fruit and a peppery finish. For drinking over the next five or so years I guess. Honest, unforced wine - I like it!
• Prosecco NV (Villa Sandi) Slightly sweet and a bit dull - pretty ordinary. A decent

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22/02/2004 (RJB)

• Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile 1989 (Trimbach) Lovely stuff not showing its age. Austere, but with a light sweetness counteracting that.
• Hermitage Cuvee Marquise de la Tourette 1983 (Delas) Touch of rusticity pleasantly on top of a classic mature syrah nose. A bit of polished leather and an almost raspberry fruit. Good stuff.
• Hermitage 1983 (Jean-Louis Chave) This is a touch more elegant than the Delas wine above, and possibly a little more complexity develops in the glass. Not the blockbuster many might expect, and a wine I always feel just a touch disappointed by. Good stuff, but I feel it should be five stars rather than .

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Wynns at Oddbins Fine Wine 22/02/2004 (TNB)

• Riesling 2002 (Wynns) Lifted, aromatic nose with suggestions of marzipan. Good concentration with lemony fruit. Reasonable balance - dry and mouthfilling with decent grip. Will improve and could even rate another star in time.
• Shiraz 2001 (Wynns) Ripe - radiates warmth on the nose. Quite juicy on the palate with a nice touch of dryness on the (good) finish.
• Shiraz 1993 (Wynns) Nice youthful colour. The sweetness has worn off (or was never there - cooler vintage). Attractive mature fruit.
• Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 1998 (Wynns) Softer and a touch minty - oak rather apparent. I don't like this so much. Top
• Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2000 (Wynns) plums - a bit cooked - and minty. Crushed juicy fruit. decent finish. I'm not convinced this will age terribly excitingly.
• Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 1994 (Wynns) a slightly cheesy muted nose. Seems to be drying a bit but that is less clear on returning although the finish remains a bit dry. It might be better than this but for now a conservative
• Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch 1998 (Wynns) Inky red. In your face soft fruit but nicely done. Reasonable length. just
• Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch 1996 (Wynns) a bit more grip - higher-toned elegant and scented. The finest of the three. Top almost more
• Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch 1994 (Wynns) Rich and full - bit of meatyness. a bit more OTT than the 96.
• Michael Shiraz 1997 (Wynns) Complex charred smoky nose. Lovely ripe fruit - intruiging and long. Makes

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At D.L.'s 22/02/2004 (TNB)

• Chassagne Montrachet Ruchottes 1993 (Ramonet) Creamy, citric, gingery, nicely balanced. Not a great wine perhaps but so enjoyable I'm going for
• Ribolla Venezia Giulia 1999 (Gravner) Orange colour, amazingly rich and concentrated apricot fruit. A bit of tannin too from skin contact. Quite unique. Top
• Chateau Chalon 1979 (Bourdy) Austere, a touch of fino sherry, good. Will probably benefit from more age but already scrapes
• Domaine de Chevalier Rouge 1975 A complete wine if a bit insubstantial. Fills out in the glass. Tobacco nose and savoury palate. Good drinking.
• Chateau Haut-Bailly 1964 Liquid tobacco - completely fresh old Graves. Poised - lovely mature wine.
• Chateau La Gaffeliere-Naudes 1928 Good colour. High-toned, scented, edgy - a touch woody and a touch volatile. Fascinating complexity and a glimpse of an exciting terroire, but slightly flawed too. I could give this five stars for its interest but on overall pleasure I think I have to back off to a top
• Leoville Poyferre 1959 Very, very creamy - a touch of capsicum. Good length and rounded as 59's tend to be. Lovely wine.
• Cote Rotie 1985 (Gentaz-Dervieux) Elegant, high-toned, dry yet beautifully delineated ripe fruit. Drinking well, but no hurry to consume it.
• Tokay Clos St Theobald Rangen de Thann VT 1996 (Schoffit) Weighty, rich, substantial - could do with a touch of botrytis perhaps but very good in its way.
• Dow 1983 I must get used to the idea that 83's might be mature. Blackberry - touch of aniseed. Top

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Wine groups Xmas dinner 02/02/2004 (TNB)

• Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett 1996 (Willi Schaefer) Quite evolved sour-apple fruit. Nice acidity. Very attractive.
• Champagne 1979 (Krug) Toasted brioche nose - creamy palate - fine and dry, rapier-like, very precise.
• Tokay Pinot Gris Cuvee Ste Catherine Clos des Capucins 1994 (Weinbach) Rich, seems almost sweet, but it's mainly ripeness. Creamy too. Great length. Good fruit.
• Rioja blanco Gran Reserva 1968 (Tondonia) Fantastically delicate, complex wine. Hard to put a name to - around me I hear people say "artichoke" and "fish"(!) Completely fresh and balanced with nuances that keep emerging. Lovely.
• Corton Charlemagne 1986 (Moillard) In good nic, one has to say and very nice - but perhaps no more than it should be.
• Nuits St George Damodes 1993 (Chauvenet) Fruit tending to baked but high-quality. Earthy. Good. Bare
• Clos Vougeot 1988 (Meo-Camuzet) Lovely fruit - more or less resolved, very mineral. Could it give just a touch more forthcoming - perhaps it needs even a couple more years. Still makes
• Chateau Ausone 1981 Dry, iodine nose. Mineral, piquant, complex fruit. Completely individual, terroir-driven, old-fashioned high-acidity wine and I love it.
• Brunello 1988 (Col d'Orca) Alive but dull. Good
• Hermitage 1985 (Faurie) Big, rustic, decent fuit. Not going anywhere but good basic old-fashioned winemaking.
• Champagne Grande Cuvee NV (Krug) Dry and savoury - quite rich. Like the 79, it carries all this without any hint of heaviness - it is very clearly delineated. This was believed to be at least 10 years in cellar. Not quite as fine as the 79 but still
• Tokaji Aszu 5 Put 1982 (Hungarovin) A bit stale. Communist wine - I get the impression nobody was making an effort with this one.
• Tokaji Aszuessencia 1964 (No clear maker). Deep brown colour - green rim. Intense brown-sugar with a bit of grip. Richly mouth-watering - really good.
• Warre 1980 Big, rich, high-quality port coming into maturity. My already high opinion of this vintage rises yet again! At least a top

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Californian evening at Harvey Nichols 02/02/2004 (TNB)

• Marsanne 2002 (Qupe) Authentic Marsanne - flat palate but mouthfilling. A touch foursquare. Top
• Viognier 2000 (Bonny Doon) Unfortunate toffeed nose dominates. Rich nectarine fruit - but quite a slug of oak. Very new wave. Good in a way but not quite my sort of thing. - grudgingly.
• Chardonnay Les Noisetiers 2000 (Kistler) Rich buttery fruit on the nose with tropical hints but controlled. Good acidity and balance despite its size. Intense and long. Top
• Geyserrille 2000 (Ridge) Milky blackberry fruit. Quite big and tannic. Old vine texture. Good stuff.
• Cigar Volante 2000 (Bonny Doon) Fruit a touch soft on the nose. Nice medicinal Grenache fruit. Good acidity - although still a touch sweet on the finish. It's quite good but I feel one is tasting the winemaking as much as the terroir. Good
• Merlot, Stag's Leap 2000 (Shafer) Fine fruitcake nose (a sort of essence of a component of the Claret nose) - earthy palate and a touch of chocolate. Rather good. Needs a few years.
• Auxey-Duresses 1999 (Comte Armande) Quite intense, dry and savoury (particularly after the Californians), decent length. Pleasant.

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MS's 40th birthday bash - the Old Bridge, Huntingdon 02/02/2004 (RJB)

• Champagne Brut 1989 (Veuve Cliquot) Drinking well - elegant and fresh. A delightful start to an evening.
• Palladius 2002 (Sadie Family Winery) a blend of Viognier, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Grenache Blanc. Possibly too many varietals in the blend for my liking. It tastes a bit like a soft white Bordeaux.
• Clos St Urbain Rangen Tokay 1996 (Zind Humbrecht ) A wine to have in small quantities (so ideal at a dinner for 12 people). Fresh, fat and smoky. But fairly big and with some residual sugar. Good food wine for a rich starter.
• Chardonnay 2000 (Cullen) Clean New World Chardonnay - good balance, but lacking excitement.
• Riesling Smaragd Von den Terrassen 2000 (F X Pichler) Good wine, that needs more time to open out: it needs the depth gained from maturity. possibly
• Dead Arm Shiraz (d'Arenberg) 1998 Vibrant blackcurrant fruit with a restraining volatility. Good, but a bit obvious.
• Solengo 2000 (Argiano) Good, smooth, soft drinking which possibly suffered from being at the end of the evening and being divided amongst 12 people. I’d like to give this more thought some day. Seems well put together plus?

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