Dinner at D.L's 21/07/2008 (TNB)

• Chablis 1990 (Duplessis) Completely fresh, mineral, steely, green pea fruit. Just excellent for a village wine, although, as one would expect, with no special complexity. At peak (which is more than a lot of recent Chablis will be at age 18). Bare
• Chassagne Montrachet 1er cru Champgains 1996 (Niellon) Creamy, very gently, gingery, quite fine. Free of 96 pox, but not backwards the way some are. Ready to drink. Bare
• Puligny Montrachet 1er cru Demoiselles 1991 (M. Colin) Deep, evolved colour and living rather dangerously. Pleasant but not a great example of this wine. Top
• Rioja Monopole Blanco Seco 1953 (CVNE) Cork disintegrated - rather tired and not terribly drinkable. The cork may be to blame.
• Barolo Riserva La Rocca e la Pira 1997 (Roagna) Leathery, deep tarry fruit with a hint of perfume. This has apparently been almost 10 years in barrel and so is drinkable now but I think it will improve. Not a showy wine but top-class.
• Chateau Pavie 1982 Flatter than the 90 that followed and a bit narrow and suppressed. It's perfectly nice Claret but other bottles from this case have apparently been much better. So
• Chateau Pavie 1990 Nice tone, silky fruit, piquant (more red fruits than black). Top Claret. (and rising)
• Veuve Cliquot Rich England NV The bottle is probably around 40 years old. In excellent condition, with a honey character like an old Loire. Quite sweet - it would drink nicely with the right desert. Not that complex or long however. Bare
• Tokaji Aszu 6 puttonyos 2002 (Kiralyudvar) Lots of residual sugar and a great texture here. It seems quite straightforward currently, but I think that's just its youth. Rather fine.

A couple of reds 04/07/2008 (RJB)

• "Ripasso" Valpolicella 2004 (Tommasi) Black cherries on the nose and a touch resinous on the palate.
• Emporda Gran Reserva 2000 (Rigau Ros) Ripe black fruit and gentle (more gentle than I was expecting) oak. Well made without trying to be more than it is. A Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo and Garnacha blend.