30/06/1998 (TNB)

• Rudesheimer Berg Schlossberg kabinet 1983 (Deinhard) Quite weighty for kabinet, drinking very well. À good
• Barolo Cannubi 1993 (Scavino) Very lovely, good concentration for a moderately good year, intruiging coffee flavours. Impressive.
• Brunello Riserva 1990 (Col D'Orcia) Lovely almost clarety lead pencil nose (some new oak?). Good length. Excellent.
• Puligny Montrachet Folatieres 1996 (Ch de Puligny) This was excellent in 95 - this year is a little tighter, but still pleasant hazelnut flavours and good length.

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Wine group at St Bernard's Crescent 29/06/1998 (TNB)

Notes a bit brief owing to the problem of concentrating when also cooking!

• Bernkasteler Doktor Spatlese 79 (Deinhard) Not bad, but a shade "flat". Possibly not an optimal bottle.
• Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg 83 spatlese First bottle had a leaky cork and was very severely oxidised. The second was very classy: spicy, hints of marzipan, concentrated and very fine.
• Riesling Frederic Emile (Trimbach) A mini vertical, with 90, 86, 85, 81, 79. The very tightly wound and needing a lot of time. The and the an interesting pair - the 1986 needed time, it was quite tight and closed whereas the 1985 was very voluptuous. I thought the 85 was probably the best overall, but the 1986 perhaps has a way to go. The was better than I remember, but not a top example. The opened out a lot and was drinking well - probably at peak.
• Hermitage La Chapelle 91 (Jaboulet) Seems to get better and better - it's probably an early drinking La Chapelle, but it has a lot of class fruit. 89
• Cote Roti La Landonne 91 (Rostaing) Clearly oak influenced, with cherry like fruit and a slightly pencily/orangy nose. Very good wine. 89
• Hermitage 88 (Chave) Very fine, slightly clarety blackcurrent. Lovely quality of fruit. 92
• Cote Rotie Cote Brune 88 (Gentaz) An absolute star - needs a few more years at least, but it is already a wine one returns to compulsively, with all sorts of flavours. 94.
• Hermitage 83 (Chave) By no means a blockbuster, but very classy, smokey fruit. 92.
• Cote Rotie 83 (Guigal) Holds its own in this company, but the oak dependent complexity is perhaps less interesting with syrah than with (say) claret. Less fine than Chave or Gentaz. 89.
• Vouvray demi-sec sparkling 83 (Foreau) Nice mature chenin - the sweetness only clear if you look for it.
• Taylors 66 Quite fine and elegant - a good vintage port, but not a great Taylors.

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Gang of Six 28/06/1998 (RJB)

The wines between the fizz and the Kracher were tasted blind, the theme being 'any white and any red'. Scores in brackets are the group's average score.

• Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 1961 Blancs de Blancs Extra Dry Beautiful old Champagne - honeyed and nutty and with reasonable fizz left. Joyous.
• Corton Charlemagne 1990, Louis Latour Oily, well balanced mature, textured, chardonnay. (89) 88
• Maximun Grunhaus Riesling Abstberg Auslese 1989, Von Schubert Slightlt spritzy, with sweetbness and depth. Not quite in its usually perfect balance. (90) 90
• Clos Jebsal Tokay Pinot Gris 1988, Zind-Humbrecht Corked
• Clos St Urbain Rangen Tokay Pinot gris 1990, Zind-Humbrecht Vegetal and slightly spritzy. seemingly rather past it. (86.2) 86
• Rochioloi Chardonnay 1996, Russian River Valley Estate Light colour, soft, but surpringly dense, chewy flavours. (89) 89
• Bernkasteler Doktor 1985 Riesling Kabinett, Dr Thanisch Slightly woody riesling, but otherwise fairly good. (84.8) 86
• Haut Batailly 1985 Some age, reasonable length, a bit alcoholic and rough at the finish. (82.8) 85
• Dominus 1991, Napanook Valley Some complexity, reasonable length, still needs a bit of time. Fairly claret like. (86.2) 86
• Chateau Canon 1982 A reasonable amount of age and lots of tannin. Disappointing. (85) 84
• Magpie Estate 1997 Mouverdre Grenache Berries and brambles. Bright wine with length and good balance. A welcome relief between some dull clarets. (92.2) 88
• Haut Bages Liberal 1986 Structure and texture, juicy and with good tannins. (89.6) 90
• Cos d' Estournal 1986 Another disappointing bottle of this - simple and short for waht it should be. (88.6) 86
• Lynch Bages 1985 Corked.
• Grande Cuvee TBA No 12, Alois Kracher From a half. Waxy / bready bouquet and flavours. Seems very good.

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28/06/1998 (RJB)

• Beaunes Boucherottes 1988, Jadot From a half. Disappointing given how good it was a few years back. Much of its silky charm has gone to be replaced with too much acidity and too little fruit. Probably on the way downhill 83
• Langi Shiraz 1996, Mount Langi Ghiran This is excellent wine and is stunningly good Shiraz for the price (12.99 Noel Young Wines). This has a peppery Rhone-like feel to it and good depth. It should age very well. 93
• Caymus Napa Valley Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon 1985 Who says Californian Cabernet doesn't age? This is drinking very well and rather better than some big name clarets I've tasted recently. Cedar wood with currant fruit still in evidence. 88
• De Bortoli Rare Dry Botrytis Semillon 1993 Not unlike a big old-fashioned white Rioja. Resin and wax. 85
• Riesling Guebschwihr 1992, Zind-Humbrecht Spritz and an odd plastic bouquet over some petrolly riesling. 83
• Saint Veran 1994, Domaine Densaziller Hazelnout oil flavour and good acidity. 85

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24/06/1998 (RJB)

• Domaine des Entrefaux Crozes-Hermitage Blanc1994, Tardy From a half. Mellow white with subdued peach flavours. 83
• Cornas les Tourradons 1989, Les Grands Chais de la Vallee a Cornas Drinking very well, with leathery syrah and some berry fruit. 88
• Chateau Pontac 1995, Loupiac From a half. Lemony, slightly musty nose and palate. Not at all bad. 84

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European Reds at Oddbins Fine Wine 24/06/1998 (TNB)

• Dolcetto D'Alba San Francesco 96 (A. Oberto) Very light, terribly bland. 78 (6.99)
• Batie Nebbiolo 93 (Gagliardo) Another emasculated wine - anonymous berry fruit and no great structure. My guess is that a desire to produce something universally acceptable has led to a dilute wine with no character. Something seems to have been badly wrong with OFW's Italian buying - there's a lot of this sort of stuff, and no almost no serious wines at all! 78 (13.99)
• Casa Cadaval 95 Trincadeira preta Good colour, lots of soft fruit, some oak. Pleasant. Confirms my belief that Portugal is the best bet outside of the classic countries for producing characterful wine at reasonable prices. 84 (7.49)
• Hautes Cotes de Beaune 95 (Jayer-Gilles) Good colour, slightly gamey nose with a touch of sulphur (i.e. the usual Burgundian nose). Simple sweet jammy fruit with bags of oak - very typical of the producer (I guessed it blind). Not really my sort of thing, but good of its type. 83 (13.99)
• Savigny Lavieres 96 (Tollot-Beaut) Much higher toned on the nose and in the outh with classic pinot fruit and a nice balanced finish. Confirms an earlier impression that this (under-rated) domain did particularly well in 96. Good value. 86 (14.99)
• Morey St Denis 95 (Dom. Laurent) Light but healthy colour, slight tropical fruit touch to the cherry nose, a bit thin and sharp in the mouth. Not really in balance, and I don't think it will be! 84 (19.79)
• Beaune 1er cru 95 (Dom. Laurent) Oranging rim, hard to place as Burgundy, sweetish fruit, quite tannic and fairly short. Possibly coming apart. 84 (31.99) (This is apparently a very trendy producer at present - I can't imagine why!)
• Dom de la Remejeanne (Gard) 95 Les Eglantiers Very deep, slightly sulpherous fruit-cake nose, dense monolithic fruit. Characterful stuff! 87(?+) 9.99
• La Couspaude 95 The second time I've tried this St Emilion: this to was very evolved in colour and on the palate, but not to the point of clear faultyness like the previous one. Mature sweet rounded fruit, in a slightly oxidative way (reminiscent of wines aged a long time in large barrels). Still not my idea of a serious claret! 86 (18.99)
• La Conseillante 95 Medium colour, light nose with pencily hints. In the mouth it's very charming and ripe, but a bit dilute for a serious wine. 89. (44.99)

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21/06/1998 (TNB)

• Chassagne-Montrachet Les Embrazes 96 (B. Morey) The second B. Morey 96 I've tried - he seems to have had a good year. Bags of ripe melony fruit and lots of good, but not yet fully integrated, oak. A hedonisitc wine with enough acidity to mature nicely for a few years. Does not quite have the complexity to be great. 90. (OFW - about 22.00)

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19/06/1998 (RJB)

• Moa Ridge Sauvignon Blanc 1997, Marlborough, New Zealand Typical New Zealand Sauvignon showing a bit more age than is perhaps desirable. 83
• Seppelt Moyston Unoaked Chardonnay 1997, South Eastern Australia Unripe melon nose. Fairly boring. 81
• Salisbury Chardonnay 1997, Victoria, Australia Over oaked - citric. 82
• Gewurztraminer 1997, Cave de Turckheim,oxidative finish which adds to the wine. Goodish plummy fruit. 84 Alsace Some lychees, but modern anonymity. 82
• La Carraia Sangiovese 1997, Umbria, Italy Decentish Chianti taste-alike. Pasta wine. 84
• Roura Reserva Merlot 1994, Grans Vins D'Allela Spain Nutty oxidative finish which adds to the wine. Goodish plummy fruit. 84
• Roura Reserva Merlot 1994, Grans Vins D’ Alella, Spain Nutty oxidative finish which adds to the wine. Goodish plummy fruit. 84
• Mont Gras Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 1996, Colchagua, Chile Soft, warm cabernet. Well made for early drinking. 85
• Les Cailloux 1995 Chateauneuf du Pape, Lucien et Andre Brunel, France Lovely, virtually mature wine with mushroom and strawberry flavours. Is it showing too much age? 91
• Heysen Vineyard Barossa Valley Shiraz 1996, Veritas Winery Big wine, but with good acidity that makes the best Oz Shiraz. 90
• Pesqera 1995, Ribera del Duero Lovely stuff. Leathery complexity and real structure, but silky with it. 92

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15/06/1998 (RJB)

The first three wines at Turner's, SW3

• Champagne Delbeck The cheapest Champagne on the menu (34 pounds!), but a very pleasing drink. Good acidity and elegance. 86
• Petit Chablis 1996, William Fevre Wow! Drinking very nicely in a modern style. Surprising length and depth, and with good acidity. Restaurants aren't often the best places to taste wine, but this really did seem very good. 90
• Crozes-Hermitage 1996, Olivier Dumaine Acceptable, modern Rhone wine. Juicy and lightly peppery. 85
• Morellino di Scansano 1997, Fattoria le Pupille Delightful wine, with real fruitiness balancing a light Italian bitterness. Very well made. 87+
• Pommard 1er Cru Les Fremiers 1996, Domaine Coste-Caumartin Hugely (unpleasantly) acidic, but probably some quite good points underneath. I'm afraid that the acidity is there to stay. 80+?

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Dinner at EMcC 13/06/1998 (TNB)

• Trabener Wurzgarten Auslese 83 (Villa Wurzgarten) A new vinyard and producer to me: pleasant sour-apple, spicy, fresh riesling. Near best. 87.
• Chassagne Montrachet Les Embrazees 92 (B. Morey) Slightly custardy, well integrated, solid fruit and good finish. 90.
• Chassagne Montrachet Les Vergers 92 (Colin-Deleger) Gorgeous, complex nose, suggestive of mediterranean herbs(!). Tight core of delcious fruit. Very classy. 92.
• Vosne Romanee Beaumonts 92 (E. Rouget) Very luscious, ripe, hedonistic fruit, with just enough structural backing. Fine - for drinking soonish. 87.
• Ruchottes Chambertin - clos du Ruchottes 85 (Rousseau) Quite mature, with metallic/fishy fine burgubndy nose. Very good indeed! 92.
• Barbera d'Asti 74 (G. Clemente) Slightly woody nose - possibly faulty. Swinging citric acidity, but some interestingly complex blackberry fruit beneath. Interesting!
• Madeira Sercial 1910 (Barbeito) Orange marmalade, fine, quite dry and good length. Delcicious. 92.
• Doisy-Daene 71 Not very botrytised, but intense barley-sugar on nose and palate. Elegant, 89.

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11/06/1998 (TNB)

• Graach Josephshofer Auslese 83 (Von Kesselstadt) Pretty sound, but not a superstar wine - drinking quite well.

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07/06/1998 (RJB)

• Saintsbury Carneros Pinot Noir 1987 This has aged well in a dry Burgundian style, but is now probably past its best. Hints of plummy fruit and a slight nuttiness. Time to drink up, but still pleasurable. 86
• Chablis Vielles Vignes 1996, Domaine J. M. Brocard (8.99 Oddbin Fine Wine) Lovely steely acidity and greeness. Good concentration of fruit and taut texture - some youthfull mustiness. 87-90
• Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett 1996, Reichsgraf Von Kesselstatt Slight spritz - grapefruit acidity and mineral flavours. Pretty good wine that is refreshing now, but needs time to be at its best. 87

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03/06/1998 (RJB)

• Salice Salentino Rosso 1994, Vallone Apples, spice and violets with good acidity. Excellent midweek pasta wine. 85

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