Wine dinner at St Bernard's Crescent 28/06/1999 (TNB)

Brief notes as usual, because of cooking, etc!

• Schlossbockelheimer Kupfergrube Spatlese 1975 (Staat Dom.) Ullaged, dodgy cork, oxidised.
• Rauenthaler Rothenberg spatlese 1983 (von Simmern) Good fruit, appley acidity, nice length. Surprisingly evolved though. Almost 4-star quality, but perhaps just a good
• Pouilly Fuisse 1969 (Latour) Very pleasant old chardonnay, acceptably vegetal and quite fat. (Magnum)
• Chassagne Montrachet Premier Cru 1969 (Ch de Maltroye) Very classy, lovely tertiary flavours, yet almost fresh fruit. One might guess it as 86 blind. Nice acidity.
• Pavie 1966 Corked, but suggests class underneath. (Magnum)
• Siran 1953 Lovely, delicate, fragrant, perfumed wine. I enjoyed this as much as anything, but perhaps objectively
• Lannesan 1953 Chunky, still tannic, rustic wine. Suggests it might need another few years(!) Certainly impressive.
• Haut Brion 1966 Very fine, medium weight, smoky, complex. A leafyness about the fruit stopped it being an absolute star for me, excellent though it is.
• Ferreira 1958 A bit weak and clearly fading. Drinkable though.
• Sandeman 1958 More interesting nose, but very spirity on the palate.
• Port Dow 1970 Young seeming, dense, concentrated, excellent. Needs some years.
• Champagne Charlie 1979 (Heidsieck) Lovely mousse, fine fruit, completely fresh and alive but with the complexity of age. Really good!

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Niepoort at Raeburn Fine Wines 27/06/1999 (TNB)

• LBV 1995 (Niepoort) Cherry, chocolate, coffee. Attractive nose. Round, fruity, nicely balanced. (This is the more or less the grapes that would have been the vintage 95, if declared.)
• LBV 1994 (Niepoort) Softer - a bit duller although perhaps a stronger wine in some ways.
• Quinta do Passodouro 1997 (Niepoort) Large-scaled, soft, but with ripe, tannic background. Very good.
• Quinta do Passodouro 1992 (Niepoort) Fine, elegant. A bit closed now. Probably even
• Five components from which Niepoort 1997 was blended, tasted for interest: (1) Slightly leafy - warm climate herbs, lighter in the mouth; (2) Deeper, cherry fruit. mouthfilling, jammy, shortish; (3) Lovely blackberry fruit, cherry later in the palate, multidimensional, nice balance; (4) Liquorice and menthol, good long palate, lots of backbone; (5) Warm, almost toffeed, bags of fruit.
• Port 1997 (Niepoort) Slight smokyness, herby notes. Most of the best individual features of the component wines are present almost unattenuated in the blend. Seems very promising: Niepoort feel they have really hit the jackpot with this.
• Port 1985 (Niepoort) Something slightly animal, smokey complex nose. Seemed a shade light in the mouth, but that is probably just following the 97.

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Rioja at the Atrium with "Wines from Spain" 24/06/1999 (TNB)

All a bit dull I'm afraid: old names, some performing wellish, some not. Some pretty disgusting stuff, and some OK. Little better. Rioja needs a wake-up, hopefully without infecting it with "modern winemaking" or Parkerisation!

• Marques del Puerto Blanco, Joven 1997 Pleasant, slightly old-fashioned nutty palate. Not bad. (c. 5.25)
• Ygay Reserva Blanco, Murietta 1992 I'm not convinced this estate is what it once was, but this seems as you might hope. (7.99)
• Bodegas Sonsierra Tinto Joven 1998 Dull boiled-sweety modern stuff. (5.99)
• Frederico Paternina Crianza 94 Woody and drying. This is really rather poor. (c 5.99, and Safeway named as sole retail outlet.)
• Vina Pomal Reserva 1994 Better, tolerable length, and fault free. A bit dull though. (c. 8.99)
• Faustino V Reserva 1994 Very dirty, very evolved. Not at all good. (7.49)
• Marques de Riscal Reserva 1994 Much better, proper wine and reasonably priced at 7.99ish.
• Marques de Caceres Reserva 1991 Another fairly decent wine, with a bit of age. (c. 12.99) perhaps more
• Bordon Gran Reserva 1991 And back to one of those drying out, woody, "is it corked or is it just the house style" wines to finish.

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20/06/1999 (RJB)

• Savigny-les-Beaunes Tete de Cuvee 1996, Les Caves des Hautes Cotes Lacking fruit, but not lacking acidity. Terrible.
• Rocca Guicciarda 1996 Chianti Classico Riserva, Barone Ricasoli Good, but feeling a bit too alcoholic for perfect balance. Smokey fruit.
• Moscato d'Asti 1996, Cascinacastle't Opened this and the Sun promptly disappeared. I thought it might be suffering from age (the wine that is), but it was as fresh as I remember from last year.

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19/06/1999 (TNB)

• Vouvray Le Haut Lieu Sec 1988 (Huet) Just becoming mature: honey and grass - quite rich. Huet wines are so rarely disappointing.
• Erdener Treppchen Kabinet 1989 (Moenchof) "House white" at the moment at 4.99 a bottle from J&B's Centenary sale. Drinking well. 15 quid for this quality from anywhere remotely fashionable, whether French or New World! Easily
• Romeo, Colli Piacentini Gutturnio Riserva (Fugazza) 1990 Slightly unclean on opening, but dense blackberry fruit and nice acidity. (A Barbera mix, I seem to remember.) A wine of character. A Raeburn find from a less known part of Italy. Easily
• Palacio de Monsalud 1988 Old-fashioned, seems to have seen a few years in large casks. Done well though: mellow, but still good fruit. Pleasant drinking.

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Oddbins Champapne & Sweeties 09/06/1999 (TNB)

• Dom Perignon 1988 Floral, yet oaky. Old-fashioned. Slightly off-dry. A bit soft overall. Certainly not showing terribly well at the moment. (Magnum) I suspect this will improve
• Taittinger 1990 Ripe, but excellent acidity. Classic, full-bodied. Excellent. (Magnum)
• Chardonnay 1990 Pol Roger Lightish-bodied, high acidity, apple crumble, decent finish. Fizz vanishes rather rapidly, however. I'm not sure about this but let's say
• Condrieu Eguets VT 1997 Cuilleron Fat, floral, a shade flabby, but dramatic, as usual. Good wine, but I'm not sure I'm a great fan of sweet Condrieu, and while good this certainly isn't worth the huge price that Parker has driven it to!
• Bonnezaux, Ch. De Fesles 1997 Very fat, sweet, but just in balance. Very impressive.
• Doisy-Vedrines 1996 Pretty correct young Sauternes, but not absolutely exciting. Perhaps just an average vintage. Scrapes
• Rayne-Vigneau 1996 Coconut and honey, but closed. More dramatic, but finishes a shade guick perhaps. It would be interesting to taste this and the previous wine in 10 years. They are certainly both pretty decent. Juts about
• Coutet 1996 Rather 1-dimensional. Lacks botrytis. Weak beside the previous two.
• Guiraud 1996 Burnt sugar, lots of botrytis, quite classy. The best of the Sauternes.

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