28/02/1999 (RJB)

• Cabernet Sauvignon / Malbec 1996, Browns' of Padthaway Easy New World wine with fruit and chocolate.
• Ridge Geyserville 1996 Initially showing too sweet for balance or enjoyment, but this settled down a bit (although it is a worry). Otherwise a weighty wine with good fruit. Need to try this again sometime. perhaps more?
• Gruner Veltliner Spatlese 1983 Langen Louiser Berg-Vogelsgang, Brundlmayer Still drinking well in a fullish slightly sweet style, but drink up.
• Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie 1996, Louis Metaireau, Grand Mouton Pleasant chilled food wine - like a less alcoholic Fino Sherry (dry and crisp). And, let's face it, we haven't had a Muscadet on these pages for a while.

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27/02/1999 (TNB)

• Anfiteatro 1993 (Vecchie Terre di Montefili) Blackberry and raspberry nose, with a lovely liquorice and cherry palate. Excellent balancing acidity and structure. My kind of Chianti! Needs five years.

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Gang of Five 'Any Red, Any White' 25/02/1999 (RJB)

The whites . . .

• Moss Wood Semillon 1991 (4) Pale colour, soft wine with an overripe grapefruit edge. As with the other 1991 Oz Semillno in this tasting, strangely un-semillon like.
• Corton Charlemagne 1987, Olivier Leflaive (1) Deepish colour with goodish acidity and balance of vanilla oakiness and maturity. Highly enjoyable.
• Marques de Murrieta 1985 White Rioja (5) Unfairly criticised in my view at this tasting - tastes much like it always has. Old-fashioned wine.
• St Aubin 1989 Louis Jadot (3) Quite elegant goodish modern Macon were the words I wrote at the tasting. Not showing its age.
• Amberley Semillon 1991 (2) Aniseed oddness - I wouldn't have been suprised to see it turning cloudy if water was added.

  . . . and the reds.

• Remelluri Rioja 1995 (1) Lovely wine with a slight rustic edge.
• La Poja 1993, Allegrini (6) Cherry fruit - easy drinking.
• Beaune Clos du Roi 1988, Tollot-Renat (3) Nicely matured Burgundy with fruit and life still much in evidence.
• Chambolle Musigny 1985, Jadot (7) Thin and dull.
• Hermitage 1991, Guigal (2) Metallic pencil shaving nose. I was guessing South of France cabernet.
• Pesquera 1989, Ribera del Duero (5) Oaky tempranillo, but short on length.
• Seabrook and Seabrook Shiraz 1996 (10) Orangey and with a green sappy nose. Reasonably juicy.
• Veramonte Primus 1997, Alto de Casablanca (9) Like juicy Beaujolais (I didn't like it!)
• Unison 1997, New Zealand (8) Juicy and easy, with a toffeed New World edge.
• Penfolds Coonawarra 1990 (4) Clearly New World and reasonably made. Holding together well.

  Also tasted ...

• Gewurztraminer VT 1990, Vigneron de Pfaffenheim From a half. Rich and smokey with soft (too soft) flavours.

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American Cab Sauv at OFW () 25/02/1999 (TNB)

• Counter Point 1996 (Laurel Glen) Deep colour, sweet, berryish blackcurrent nose. Ripe fruit but slightly green tannins. (13.99)
• Forman Cabernet Sauvignon 1996 India ink colour. Deep, warm ripe nose. Moments of fineness. Slightly minty, ripe fruit. (24.99)
• Wing Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon 1995 Rather sulphury. Underneath, perhaps best yet. (18.99)
• Wing Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon 1993 Restrained, slightly smoky nose. Ripe, balanced, very good length. (22.99)
• Phillip Tongi Cabernet Sauvignon 1996 Deep colour. Slight sulphur problem. Very unknit - almost like a cask sample. High acid, bags of fruit, slightly medicinal. 41.99 Perhaps this is better than it seems to me, which is
• Matthews Cabernet Sauvignon 1996 Cab Sauv, but a shade anonymous. Round, balanced, decent. Acidic. (22.99)
• Andrew Will Cabernet Sauvignon 1996 Clean, balanced, very slightly minty. Decent length. (24.99)
• Andrew Will Sorella 1996 Deep colour, warm climate Cab nose . High acid, grippy palate. A bit much for me. (24.99)
• Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 1995 Solid India ink colour. Slightly run-of-the-mill nose. Quite balanced, decent length - pretty good. (29.99)

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23/02/1999 (RJB)

• Remelluri 1995 Rioja Brilliant wine - Rioja, but not as we know it. Big and with a leathery overtone - juicy and full. needs time.
• Mas de Daumas Gassac 1987 The last time I had this wine (a couple of years back) it was distinctly past it; I was rather dreading this bottle. However, this was good (if not great) wine with a lovely balance of maturity and fruit.

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21/02/1999 (TNB)

• Tokay VT 1990 (Hugel) Fine, concentrated, nicely botrytised, long. Is there a hint of tiredness, casued by this having been rescued from a Grocer's shelves where it may have been for a while? Also, has a slightly off taint, I think. Must try it again. From a half.
• Chianti Classico 1995 (Montefili) Lovely, mouthwatering blackberry fruit and a hint of chocolatey depth. I begin to understand why this estate has a reputation! but almost more.

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18/02/1999 (RJB)

• Vignetto Antica Chiusina 1991, Vina Nobile di Montepulciano, Fattoria del Cerro Rather dull and lifeless.
• Capraia Chianti Classico Riserva 1993, Rocca di Castagliano Reasonable Chianti, but lacking class - food wine.
• Domaine de L' Hortus 1996 Grande Cuvee, Pic Saint Loup Good wine, but creeping up in price (the wrong side of a tenner). Liquorice and cherry depth.

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17/02/1999 (TNB)

• Champagne Billecart 1990 Another half - it just seems worth recording again what a lovely champagne this is: ripe flavours yet elegant and grip to improve for at least a few years.
• Ch. Val Joanis Les Griottes 1992 (Cotes du Luberon) Provencal herby nose, with a slightly green, astringent edge at first, that seems to mellow a little in the glass. Lots of character. Unusual.

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After the Nikolaihof tasting at MD's 15/02/1999 (TNB)

• Puligny Montrachet 1992 (Sauzet) Tight, gutsy, slightly unclean, grapey almost. Needs a year or two. Not typical 92. Impressive - Premier Cru quality.
• Barolo Prapo 1988 (Ceretto) Dry, blackcurranty. Slightly vanillan. Heavily oaked. Austere finish.
• Morey St Denis 1993 (H. Lignier) Classic burgundy. Round red fruits, dry finish. Very pleasant drink.

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Weingut Nikolaihof at Raeburn Fine Wines 15/02/1999 (TNB)

• im Weingebirge Gruner Veltliner Smaragd (Nikolaihof) 1998 Cask sample. Very estery. Apples and almonds. Zingy. Long, appley, finish. Decent concentration. (A good year, apparently.)
• im Weingebirge Gruner Veltliner Smaragd (Nikolaihof) 1997 Slightly estery. Mouthwatering, appley finish. (A difficult year)
• vom Stein Riesling Federspiel (Nikolaihof) 1998 Estery (cask sample again). Bone dry. Concentrated. Long. Lots of potential.
• vom Stein Riesling Federspiel (Nikolaihof) 1997 Tightly wound - like last, shade less concentrated.
• Steiner Hund Riesling Spatlese (Nikolaihof) 1997 Pineapples. Dry but less biting. Rich and long. Good potential.
• vom Stein Riesling Smaragd (Nikolaihof) 1997 Gamey (almost), slightly softer. Fine fruit though.
• vom Stein Riesling Smaragd (Nikolaihof) 1995 Spicy. Almondy. Fascinatingly long. Herby. Creamy.
• vom Stein Riesling Smaragd (Nikolaihof) 1986 Slight bottle stink which blows off. Very minerally. Lots of class. A great year apparently.
• vom Stein Riesling Smaragd (Nikolaihof) 1983 Honeyed, evolved, perhaps at best. Nutty. Very fine.
• Nikolauswein (Nikolaihof) 20 yrs in barrel. Stunning, burnt caramel nose. Rich and pretty long. A desert wine, but not that sweet.

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Annual Wine Group "Partners Dinner" 12/02/1999 (TNB)

• Champagne Grande Siecle 1990 (Laurent-Perrier) Lovely, plenty of flavour, nice acidity and length. Nice now, will be excellent in a few years.
• Hermitage blanc 1986 (Desmeure) Refined minerallyness. Probably at peak.
• Tokay 1989 (Gasmann) Luxuriously fatty, a nice match for a chicken and foie gras terrine.
• Chateau Lynch Bages 1978 Very pleasantly cedary, blackcurrenty, yet really a bit light - very much "Luncheon Claret". At peak. (From a double magnum.)
• Hermitage La Chapelle 1980 (Jaboulet) Very attractive smokey blackberry Hermitage fruit. This is really quite a good La Chapelle - not a weak vintage at all - just a shade lighter and (most noticeably) shorter than the best. (From a double magnum.)
• Port 1970 (Calem) Roundly fruity, hints of chocolate. Pretty fresh. Good port, but simpler than the best 70s.

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Claret at Oddbins Fine Wine 11/02/1999 (TNB)

Interesting to have a look at some of the same wines through 88, 89 and 90. My prejudices were largely confirmed. 88 looks like a lovely classic vintage that is going to drink very well in years to come. 89 is clearly very good, but I am not personally keen on the balance of the wines - they have bags of low acid fruit, followed by dry slightly astringent tannins. 90 seems to be a start, although I was struck by how raisiny both these wines are. Did the heat take a toll? I do just wonder whether in 20 or 30 years the 88s will seem to be the stars, in much the same way that now 61's seem no better than the once less highly regarded 59s and 62s.

• Chateau Leoville Las Cases 1988 Deep colour, with a slight hint of maturity at rim. Classic young claret - lots of blackcurrent and oak. Moderate tannins, a shade green. Hints of tobacco. Goodish length.
• Chateau Gruaud Larose 1988 A tiny bit lighter. Less open on the nose. A bit sweeter, but rather tannic. Some up-front fruit.
• Chateau Lynch Bages 1988 A shade darker and even younger looking. Again slightly closed. Classic pencily notes. Again, pretty tannic, but this is very serious. Will be first class.
• Chateau Leoville Las Cases 1989 Dense young colour. Ripe merloty fruit (slightly "eggy"?). Good claret, but nothing like the superb wine I remember. Perhaps a phase. For now,
• Chateau Gruaud Larose 1989 Dense young colour. "Lifted", smokey fruit. Lighter in the mouth. Decent length.
• Chateau Pichon Lalande 1989 Even deeper. Berryish merloty fruit. Warm in the mouth, with that 89ish hit of disjointed dry tannins.
• Chateau Gruaud Larose 1990 Dense colour. Very warm datey fruit. Merloty. Complexity emerges. Very good. At least
• Chateau Pichon Lalande 1990 Slightly dumb but classic. Long, warm fruit. Tannic. Good, fine, plummy claret. For the second time, I couldn't decide whether this wine is a shade lighter than it ought to be. Is it just not very Pichon in style?
• Matthews 1996 Lighter colour. Toffeed nose. Ripe, New-worldy fruit. Perfectly pleasant. A Washington state ringer that fooled nobody. Interesting to note it didn't seem any younger than the clarets.

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10/02/1999 (RJB)

• Mas des Bressades Cuvee Excellence Blanc 1997 Young and autolytic, but peachy and floral. should be good in six months or so.
• Mas des Bressades Cuvee Tradition Rose 1998 (barrel sample) Lovely rose (and you won't here me saying that too often!). Berry fruit.
• Mas des Bressades Cuvee Tradition Rouge 1998 (barrel sample) Lovely sweetness of fruit - should be good, cheap (under a fiver) wine in six months or so.
• Mas des Bressades Cuvee Excellence Rouge 1997 Warm, rustic red -- very good with a touch of balancing VA. just
• Mas des Bressades Cabernet Syrah 1997 Out of balance, and with greenish tannins - not convinced.
• Morties Grand Reserve Pic Saint Loup 1996 Sweet, peppery, meaty fruit with a smooth finish. According to others, not showing as well as it has in the past.

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07/02/1999 (TNB)

• Champagne Cuve Louise 1988 (Pommery) Recognisably pretty good stuff, but a bit lacking fineness for a prestige cuvee in a good vintage. Probably near best. Just about
• Brunello 1989 (Lisini) Coming round to some sort of drinkability - brambly fruit, good structure, length OK (I guess not a great vintage in Tuscany).
• Champagne Grand Reserve (Gosset) Old fashioned, wood influenced, suggestive of brandy - will be excellent in a few years if you like this sort of thing. (I do!)

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