Wine group at M.D.'s 29/06/2003 (TNB)

• Schlossbock Felsenberg Spatlese 1983 (Deinhard) Deep gold. Quiet nose. Delightfully honied, mature, nutty, spicy Riesling palate. Very balanced. Excellent for spatlese.
• Hocheimer Herrenberg Auslese 1983 (R. Nagler) Quite similar (the vintage perhaps) but a touch more intense although slightly inferior balance.
• Chablis Valmur 1995 (Collet) Deep colour. Honey, curious (interesting in a way) aromatics. Appley fruit. Slightly ill-kept at some point possibly?
• Chablis Les Lisse Premier Cru 1995 (Defaix) Bone-dry apple fruit. Appetising. Good finish.
• Chablis Vaudesir 1995 (Michel) Slightly more evolved. Mouthwatering. Lovely balance. Mineral. Long again.
• Chablis Vaudesir 1994 (Michel) Lovely: dry, mineral and long.
• Gran Coronas Black label 1978 (Torres) An intercourse wine - sexy nose, gamey - luscious brambley sweet fruit. Fresh. Slightly baked finish. Not so cabernet but very stylish. Very top
• Barolo Riserva 1990 (Rocche dei Manzoni) Tarry, fragrant. Dry, nice ripe fruit with tannic backbone. Possibly a shade light.
• Barolo Brunate 1988 (R Voerzio) Very rubbery. Good fruit and bags of tannin. I don't like the rubberyness but it wears off to reveal meaty depths and a touch of class. Perhaps needs more time!
• Barolo Tettimorra 1982 (Scarpa) Dry, concentrated baked fruit. Intense. plus
• Barolo Vigna Lazzarito 1982 (Fontanafredda) Pretty rubbery. Wears off but then seems a bit thin.
• Barolo Marenasco 1978 (R. Ratti) That rubbery, recently opened Barolo nose again. Wears off - shows maturity - fine fruit, gentle yet quite grand. plus
• Muscatel du Setubal 6 year old - bottled 1978 (J.M. da Fonseca) Orange with a green rim. Savoury, off-dry, brown sugar burnt-marmalade palate. Lovely - what a pleasant surprise. Top
• Vin Santo 1988 (Selvapiana) Really quite similar in character to the previous wine. Simpler though, more sherryish and perhaps less balanced. A bit toffeed. Still pretty good though.
• Warre 1977 Not too heavy, high-toned, nice acidity with attractive fruit - a touch of aniseed and chocolate. Lovely.

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Misc. 19/06/2003 (RJB)

• Tokay Pinot Gris 1989 vielles vignes (Zind Humbrecht) A funny metallic taste to start with - seem to remember this with other oldish Zind Humbrechts recently. But then a good oily rich wine with time ahead of it. Probably
• Chateau Cadet Piola 1985 From a magnum. Better I think than the last bottle I had of this. Good liquorice maturity. Very much alive.
• Petit Chablis 2001 (Jean-Marc Brocard) Good sense of terroir. This producer may not be in the white Burgundy top league, but he does make traditional feeling good value wines.
• Champagne Blue Top Monopole Brut (Heidsieck ∓ Co) A good bottle of this. Is it on the way up? A good balance of autolysis, fruit and acidity. A pleasant surprise. Perhaps even
• Chablis 2000 (Jean-Marc Brocard) a real sense of terroir on this wine. Steely and with texture. Lovely affordable white Burgundy.
• Champagne Brut (Ruinart) Pleasing medium bodied fizz. Well put together.
• Chianti Classico Riserva Rocca Guicciarda 1997 (Ricasoli) The first of three 1997 Chiantis. In a maturing phase and not quite as good as it has been. Which way will it now go?
• Chianti Classico Riserva 1997 (Antinori) As with the Ricasoli, not quite holding its own at the moment.
• Chianti Classico Riserva 1997 (Fonterutoli) Of the three 1997s I think this is the one that will come round from it slightly subdued present state.

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Artadi - Juan Carlos Lopez de Lacalle presents a tasting for Raeburn Fine Wines 15/06/2003 (TNB)

• Laderas de El Seque Alicante Tinto 2002 (Laderas de Pinoso) Wine-gummy fruit. Forward and gluggable. A touch of structure too.
• El Seque Alicante Tinto 2001 (Laderas de Pinoso) Attractive redcurrant and mulberry - modern style - good example of getting something interesting from an unregarded region. Needs a while but perhaps won't merit more than
• Rosado Navarra 2002 (Artazu) Well made - scented - slides over palate.
• Artazuri Garnacha Tinto 2001 (Artazu) Very pure, scented fresh fruit. Very drinkable. top
• Santa Cruz de Artazuri Tinto 2001 (Artazu) Rather complex spicy red fruits. Nice balance all through - I do wonder if it might be better without its time in new oak, deftly though that has been done.
• Rioja Crianza Vinas de Gain 1999 (Artadi) Restrained by comparison to above. Spicy fruit. Quite classy for purity and good acidity. Maybe even
• Rioja Pagos Viejos 1999 (Artadi) Very well-integrated new oak. First-class winemaking. Lovely balance and length. Elegant. Maybe even
• Rioja Pagos Viejos 2000 (Artadi) Very young but with depth - from a large vintage, but one where it was difficult to make really fine wine.
• Rioja Grandes Anadas 2000 (Artadi) Lovely dense fruit - quite overwhelming the oak. Luxuriously textured. Lots of class.
• Rioja Vina El Pison 2000 (Artadi) Tighter and more elegant - lovely refined fruit.
• Rioja Pagos Viejos 2001 (Artadi) Succulent, lovely fruit and acidity.
• Rioja Grandes Anadas 2001 (Artadi) Lovely raspberry fruit - luscious texture. Conservatively
• Rioja Vina El Pison 2001(Artadi) Really lovely - higher toned than above. Stylish like a fine Burgundy. Fantastic length of fruit with oak buttress.

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Recent Burgundies (and a Beaujolais) 12/06/2003 (TNB)

• Clos St Denis 1991 (P. Charlopin-Parizot) Deep but healthy colour, meaty red fruit nose and a touch of gamyness. This is pleasant drinking Burgundy - the fruit has held up well and shows no sign of being past its best. On the other hand there is a lack of purity and real complexity: Parker writes that the estate was using extended cold maceration which resulted in strong colour in this vintage and I wonder if this is the consequence. Pretty good if not entirely typical Burgundy.
• Fleurie Vieilles Vignes 2000 (Potel-Aviron) I don't drink a lot of Beaujolais and this (sign of the times?) doesn't have that word on the label - just "red Burgundy wine" near the bottom. This splendid wine could entice me back to drinking these wines - plenty of characterful bubble-gum fruit, some complexity and the over-all balance and structure of a fine wine. There is even a touch of sediment to testify to its seriousness. I think this will even improve in a year or two, specially given that this was tasted from a half.
• Rully blanc Premier Cru Gresigny 1999 (M. Briday) Spicy, I want to say "peppermint" but I'm not sure that is quite the flavour, asparagus fruit. Attractive drinking.
• Chassagne Montrachet Ruchottes 1993 (Ramonet) Very zippy with bags of acidity overlaying a core of quality, gringery (as so often with Ramonet) fruit. Rather stylish. I think this will even age well from now with the structure it has. Top
• Pommard Clos des Lambots Vielle Vignes 1999 (Girardin) Rather good, boiled-sweet fruity, attractive Village Pommard.

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Wine Group at M.M.'s 09/06/2003 (TNB)

• Cotes du Rhone blanc reserve 2001 (Perrin) Almondy, apples, dry, but rather characterless. Scrapes
• Cotes du Rhone blanc Vigne du prieure 1996 (Chateau Gigognan) Deeply metallic old socks. Undrinkable.
• Erbacher Marcobrunn Kabinet 1999 (Schloss Schonborn) Sherberty, floral, very riesling. Quite a spritz - intentional I think and it will age well.
• Erbacher Marcobrunn Spatlese 1993 (Schloss Schonborn) Intensely petrolly. Very rich, off-dry but good acidity. Relatively hefty for Spatlese but excellent.
• Erbacher Marcobrunn Auslese 1995 (Schloss Schonborn) Deep colour. Very rich and broad with concentrated nectarine fruit. Lovely.
• Cos d'Estournel 1988 Warm cassis nose. Classic claret palate - earthy, balanced, quite dry.
• La Lagune 1986 Cedary cassis - good acidity and tannins. Scraping
• d'Issan 1983 Easy going - chocolate. Fragrant but fairly lightweight.
• Cos d'Estournel 1981 A touch dumb at first. Fills in to be classically drinkable - but drink up fairly soon.
• Opus One 1981 (Mondavi) Smoky/gamey - very exotic. Survived very well. Lacks the balance to be really exciting.
• La Lagune 1976 Stylish, scented, redcurrants - quite dense - long and fine. Brilliant for the vintage. Very top
• Tokaji 3 Puttonyos 1993 (Oremus) Appetising barley-sugar, typical but unremarkable Tokay.
• Vin de Constance, noble late harvest 1987 (Klein Constantia) Very zippy, camphor. Orange peel. Very striking - oozes character. Perhaps even

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Other wines from the holiday 01/06/2003 (TNB)

• Champagne Krug NV At the airport at 8.30 a.m! Believed quite old - delicately maderised, rich and long. Lovely. From a half.
• Palo Cortado (Lustau) I like the savoury style of Palo Cortado. An attractive example.
• Waldracher Jesuitengarten BA 1971 (Schenk Oster) A Mosel wine. Golden with qreen rim - rich fruit. Not much botrytis - a bit barleysugar like old Barsac. Good though.
• Puligny Montrachet Pucelles 1989 (Domaine Leflaive) Deliciously savoury - quite fat and forward (the vintage and not a criticism). Classy. Ready now.
• Champagne blanc de blanc 1990 (Dom Ruinart) Very pure, filigree, yeasty white bread, fine fruit and supple length. Youthful.
• Chablis Grand Cru Valmur 1996 (Raveneau) Fantasically pure, mineral fruit, lovely acidity, hints of marzipan. Very long.
• Tursan 2000 (Chateau de Bachen - Geuraud) An AC I haven't tried before. Quite fruity at first in a south of france sort of way. Odd astringent, hot finish. Not quite worth a star.
• Condrieu Les Terrasses de l'Empire 2000 (Vernay) Dry, fresh, appetizing, attractive with the grapes peachykernelness coming through on the finish.
• Bandol 1990 (Pibarnon) Cassis fruit, rich and a bit rustic. slightly varnishy finish. Decent enough. Won't improve.

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