A new (to me) Champagne from Raeburn Fine Wines 22/06/2009 (TNB)

• Champagne Recolte Noire NV (Dosnon & Lepage) A low dosage, pure Pinot Noir from out in the sticks - Avirey-Lingey in the Aube, to be precise. Very pure fruit, clean and elegant - a little reminiscent of Larmandier-Bernier perhaps: the same ripe fruit, but a touch less austere. Pinot rather than Chardonnay too, I suppose, but this is a rather suave Pinot that makes the comparison a bit more reasonable. Quite vinous in style (partly from being fermented in oak, I guess), it has moderate weight and rather good persistence - it does not seem to demand more bottle age. Very drinkable and I would have guessed it came from a prestige village. A producer to pay attention to. Top

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Edinburgh Offline at the Vintners Room 13/06/2009 (TNB)

Food delicious - the Vintners Rooms seem to do these events really well. Gruaud Larose is a fine wine - it's easy to forget because it somehow doesn't have the celebrity of some other estates. The four vintages we drank were all strong.

• Champagne Cuvee William Deutz 1996 (Deutz) Great richness. Seems to be getting younger - this is less forward than some bottles I recall having of this. Quite wound up now and I am tempted to leave my remaining bottles for a year or two.
• Meursault 1er cru Charmes 1993 (F. Jobard) Gorgeous. Mineral, oily hazelnuts. Light on its feet like so many of the good 93's. Top
• Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru Combettes 1979 (Ampeau) Brown sugar with slightly woody undertones (but not corked, I think). As it opens out, quite rounded, perhaps not so complex. There's still something a touch woody about it though.
• Nuits SDt George Perrieres blanc 1989 (Gouges) White pinot noir from some mutated vines that Gouges found and developed! Red berry fruit, flat, broad, even oily - quite powerful and meaty. There's something of the Rhone about the profile of this. Really interesting and genuinely fine. Bare even.
• Chateau Coutet 2005 Broad, fruity, pretty sweet to have with foie gras. Will doubtless be pretty good. Bare
• Cypres de Climens 2002 A touch more botryrtised, a lesser wine than the Climens but slightly more balanced to my palate.
• Morey St Denis 1er cru St Luisants 1988 (Pernin-Rossin) Lovely colour, fresh, ripe, touch of metallic fishyness. Fine old Burgundy of a certain style. Good acidity.
• Chateau Gruad Larose 1981 Great colour, rounded, seems quite Merlot-influenced. A touch woody. Very drinkable.
• Chateau Gruad Larose 1985 Very easy (like the 90), but with a touch of rounded merlot rusticity (like 81). Very strong near-mature claret.
• Chateau Gruad Larose 1986 More weight, lots in reserve. Intense cassis fruit, still only just starting to open out. Will be great.
• Chateau Gruad Larose 1990 Terribly sexy, scented, actually quite concentrated. Very elegant and terribly attractive. Top
• Clos P 1998 (Naveran) Bags of fruit, but a bit hot on the finish. Pretty tannic and there's a question of how the fruit will stand up. An ambitious wine certainly. Rather hard to assess.
• Coutet 2004 Seems insubstantial? Just young Sauternes in a fairly indifferent vintage perhaps. To give it the benefit of doubt,
• Coutet 1990 Quite big botrytised barsac. A touch sweet and foresquare for me. Top
• Birbet (Filippo Gallino) Sparkling light-red, muscat-like with added rose petals and icing sugar - Turkish delight, I guess. Pleasant.

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11/06/2009 (TNB)

• Beaune Greves 1997 (Lafarge) Quite rich with the fruit tending to cooked, as with many wines of this vintage in my experience. Still pretty tannic, and while fine to drink one could imagine leaving it and waiting for them to soften. Good wine. Top

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A "last bottle" from the cellar 10/06/2009 (TNB)

• Wachenheimer Gerumpel Spatlese 1883 (Burklin-Wolf) Rather a pleasant old thing: apricot fruit with a nutty edge. Slightly faded perhaps, but engaging if you like mature wine. To judge by my note from two years ago, this is better than the bottle I drank then. Top

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Wine group at our place. 01/06/2009 (TNB)

Cooking again, so brief notes even by my standards!

• Champagne Vieilles Vignes de Cramant 2002 (Larmandier-Bernier) Bright and tight, high-quality fruit but needs time. One curious feature is that it seemed to lose its fizz a bit quickly in the glass. Still,
• Champagne Vieilles Vignes de Cramant 1995 (Larmandier-Bernier) This has filled out very nicely: rounded, some mature notes, complex and long.
• Savennieres Clos de la Coulee de Serrant 1986 (Joly) Mineral, lovely balance. Drinking really nicely.
• Vouvray Sec Le Haut Lieu 1988 (Huet) Quite evolved, as suggested by its pronounced orange colour. An odd contrast to the very fresh Savennieres - on its own it would be a good drink.
• Chablis 1er cru Butteaux 1998 (Raveneau) Very gorgeous - not quite as characteristically Raveneau as some (which might be a good thing). Drinking well.
• Chablis 1er cru Butteaux 1996 (Raveneau) A little more of everything - this is absolutely splendid for a 1er cru wine. A star.
• Chambolle Musigny 1er cru Gruenchers 1999 (Fourrier) Quite forward, soft, very sexy red fruits, luscious wine. Unlike some 99's there's no shortage of substance.
• Chambolle Musigny 1er cru Gruenchers 1998 (Fourrier) A little more closed and with more obvios tannins than the 99. Probably a touch more concentrated too. Rising to top
• Domaine de Trevallon 1992 Leafy cabernet - atractive wine and a good effort in the vintage, nice nose but a touch short on the palate now. Bare
• Chateau Simone 2000 A little volatile, old-fashioned ageworthy wine. Will be interesting in 10 years!
• Bandol Cabassao 1989 (Tempier) Very, very meaty, quite severe but probably mature. Top
• Vin Jaune 1997 (Puffeney) Bone dry, with none of the rustic severity of some examples. Lovely.
• Recioto della Valpolicella Classico Amabile 1994 (Alighiere - Masi) Good blackberry fruit. Went quite well with strawberries in balsamic vinegar.
• Sandeman 1977 One bottle dodgy, a replacement has attractive, almost lifted, bramble fruit. Good Port. Bare

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