Z's Wine group evening at the Vintners Rooms 31/05/2005 (TNB)

• Champagne Fleur de l'Europe 1993 (J-P Fleury) Rich, quite fat, slightly off-dry. Forward (perhaps the vintage) and nicely mouthfilling. A good
• Riesling 2004 (Dry River) High-toned, dry, floral. Mineral.
• Riesling 2003 (Dry River) Richer, keroseney, slightly off-dry (this vintage was quite warm in NZ too). Balanced, long. Forward.
• Pinot Gris 2000 (Dry River) Fat, quite evolved. Dry and balanced but the fruit doesn't quite have the tone. A good
• Meursault Poruzot 2001 (F. Jobard) Ungainly now. Hard. Fantastic underlying concentration, comlexity and length - will be excellent.
• Meursault Poruzot 1992 (F. Jobard) Dry but rich. Complex, still a bit hard.
• Meursault Poruzot 1989 (F. Jobard) Fantastic complexity - resolved I guess but nowehere close to decline. A delight and like the previous two wines, quite firm and masculine.
• Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 1987 (Joseph Swan) High-toned, so juicy. Lovely. Structured.
• Montebello 1985 (Ridge) Riper and bigger. Complex and delicious. A bit easy-going to be really great. Bare
• York Creek 1984 (Ridge) Shoe-polish. Showing its age a bit. No more than
• Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 1978 (Joseph Swan) Slightly off in some hard-to-place way.
• Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 1976 (Joseph Swan) Lovely - completely fresh, complex and long. Easy
• Botrytised Chardonnay 1997 (Dry River) Pale but green rim. Loads of brown sugar. Fantastic fruit. A lovely dessert wine.
• Niepoort 1982 High-toned nose hinting at aniseed. Quite sweet light-to-medium weight palate. Very fragrant and elegant. Others found things they were less keen on in this wine but for me a top

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Isole e Olena at Valvona and Crolla 26/05/2005 (TNB)

• Chardonnay Collezione de Marchi 2003 (Isole e Olena) Tropically edged green-pea fruit. Manages to be quite easily fruity but pretty dry and appetising. Good intensity and length. Very pure and enjoyable. (almost more)
• Chianti Classico 2002 (Isole e Olena) Light-coloured, fragrant, pinot-like. Really fairly simple but pleasant. Makes for drinkability.
• Ceparello 2000 (Isole e Olena) Intense brambly fruit - quite forward. Easy-going, more or less drinking now.
• Ceparello 1999 (Isole e Olena) Dark and dense - wood still a bit evident on a concentrated background. As it opens up it is just simply very good.
• Ceparello 1995 (Isole e Olena) The fruit seems very mature - almost over. Herby - quite complex. Still quite tannic. As Paolo de Marchi remarked, there can be a problem with Sangiovese of the fruit maturing before the tannins. Bare
• Cabernet Sauvignon Collezione de Marchi 1999 (Isole e Olena) Quite mineral as Cabernet goes. Rounded, easy, very drinkable, but without the edge of the Ceparello. plus
• Cabernet Sauvignon Collezione de Marchi 1998 (Isole e Olena) A bit higher-toned perhaps. More tannins but generally a little bit thinner. Still nicely elegant.
• Vin Santo 1997 (Isole e Olena) Quite sweet. Fairly sherried and very intense. Lovely concentration.

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20/05/2005 (RJB)

• Savigny-les-Beaune 1995 (Lucien Camus-Bruchon) One of those wines that is just bordering on the past it, but is still pleasant and intersting to drink: it's possibly just that bit too oxidised, but this has given it a nutty character.
• Rioja Reserva Especial 1991 (Marques de Murrieta) Rather disjointed and disappointing - a bit volatile. It might come together, but I think not.
• Rioja 2000 (Marques de Caceres) Not something to get too excited about, but with decent, sweet strawberry/cherry fruit.
• Ribera del Duero 1993 (Pago de Carraovejas) Undrinkable. Past it. Musty vinegar.

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At the Edinburgh Slow Food fortified wine event 10/05/2005 (TNB)

• Amontillado Viejo Pastrana (Hidalgo) Elegant, fine, fruity, long, long finish.
• Oloroso Viejo (Hidalgo) Mahogany - dry, oozing age, complex, quite challenging and altogether wonderful.
• Rivesaltes 1995 (Gauby) Elegant, savoury, rather good.
• Banyuls cuvee Parce Freres 2002 (Dom de la Rectorie) Really nice - just a hint of sweetness - chocolate fruit. Top

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Joseph Swan wines at Raeburn Fine Wines 08/05/2005 (TNB)

• Chardonnay Wolfspierre Vineyard 1995 (Joseph Swan) Gamy, rustic, straw nose. Nice fruit. Idiosyncratic but nice. Lovely. Top
• Pinot Noir Saralee's Vineyard 2000 (Joseph Swan) Light-medium weight elegant, high-toned. Strawberry - perfumed. Dry. Very Good. Decent
• Pinot Noir Estate 2000 (Joseph Swan) Much more dense - cassis fruit. A very substantial wine - but nice balance. Maybe even
• Mourvedre 1997 (Joseph Swan) Taught, dry and structured, fragrant too. High-toned, complex. Good at least.
• Cabernet Sauvignon 2000 (Joseph Swan) Tending towards leafy, high-toned, hints of tobacco. Very mineral and stylish.
• Cabernet Sauvignon 1999 (Joseph Swan) Slightly softer riper and rounder. Still nicely structured. Probably a better all-round wine than the 2000.
• Zinfandel Lone Redwood Vineyard 2001 (Joseph Swan) Pure dry rich - elegant. Top
• Zinfandel Stellwagen Vineyard 2001 (Joseph Swan) More spicy (white pepper) complex long.
• Zinfandel Ziegler Vineyard 2000 (Joseph Swan) More mineral. Spicy. Delicious. Top
• Zinfandel Lone Redwood Vineyard 1999 (Joseph Swan) A bit enigmatic. Intense - concentrated. This may be beginning to emerge.
• Zinfandel Craighead Laguna Ridge Vineyard 1995 (Joseph Swan) Sage and onion stuffing - cranberries. Strange but splendid.

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A couple more reds 06/05/2005 (RJB)

• Bourgogne La Digoine 2000 (A. et P. de Villaine) Light fragile colour, sweet dilutish strawberry colour. Pleasant enough.
• Antonin 2001 Coteaux du Languedoc (Chateau Gres Saint Paul) Well put together tight wine, bright and vibrant. Good fruit, nice balance. Probably only for short term aging. A good

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Recent fizz 01/05/2005 (TNB)

• Champagne Brut, Cuvee Laetitia NV (Billiot) White bread leaps about of the bottle on opening. Nutty, dry, green apples - the fruit changes every time you come back to it. A prestige cuvee that lives up the billing. Lovely drinking. Easy
• Champagne Grand Cru Bouzy, Silver Brut Nature NV (A. Clouet) Could do with another year or so to mellow, but this is nicely structured fizz with floral aromas and refined, appley pinot fruit (it's a BdN, I believe) with overtones of white chocolate. Pleasingly dry. Top
• Champagne "1911", Qualite Superieure NV (A. Clouet) A blend of grapes from 89,90 and 91 - Cuvee 5, disgorged March 04. Fresh bread and apple nose, rich full yeasty and meaty palate. Perhaps in danger of being a bit coarse without food (as Blanc de Noirs sometimes are) - possibly a little more time in bottle will help. Complex and with a long, honied finish. This opens up with a little breathing and is really rather good. Top
• Champagne Clos du Moulin NV, 93/95/96 blend (Cattier) Honey, yeast, apples - a complex nose and palate that repays attention. This still seems a bit tightly wound as yet. My impression is that while very good there's no extra depth of character apparent from its "single vineyard" status. A prestige cuvee I'll try again but I won't be rushing. Bare
• Champagne Cuis 1979 (Diebolt-Valois) Unpleasantly oxidised. I hope this is an odd bottle.
• Champagne Grand Cru Chouilly Blanc de blancs NV (Legras) A half, opened rather soon after shipping. Seemed confected and estery at first, quite citric but with decent concentration. I think this is better than it initially seems. Let's say it is scraping for now.
• Champagne Cuvee 729 Brut NV (Jacquesson) White bread and currants on the nose. Light to medium weight - elegant fruit. Quite a lot of Meunier - which shows slightly negatively on the palate. Very good but could one ask for slightly more intensity without sacrificing the elegance? I'm not sure. I'm being critical - but this is very nice. (2001 plus reserve wines - disgorged June 2004 - I like the informative back-label). Very top
• Champagne Brut Tradition Grand Cru NV (Egly-Ouriet) Rich nose - chocolate, yeast, dense fruit. Quite a weighty, vinous palate - perhaps a bit heavy at the moment and perhaps rather wood-influenced, but this might mellow with a year or two in bottle into something very fine. Might even rate another star in its way but for now
• Champagne Brut Classic NV (Deutz) Touch of white bread but mainly ripe Granny Smith apples on the nose. Pretty decent basic NV. Bare perhaps
• Champagne Grande Sendree 1990 (Drappier) Perfectly pleasant but a bit nondescript. This has aged OK without really developing in an interesting way.
• Champagne 1995 (E. Barnaut) This is rather dominated by farmyard straw on the nose an palate - too rustic for me in a way that I don't think will improve with age. OK, but no more than that. Bare
• Champagne Brut Les Vignes de Vrigny (Egly Ouriet) 100% old-vine Pinot Meunier and thus interesting. Floral and perhaps floury (or am I being influenced by the name of the grape) fruit, quite forward in the mouth and a bit colourless on the mid-palate with an ordinary finish. Real Champagne balance (quite dry) makes it pretty drinkable however, although it is hard to find much real complexity. An oddity that is worth trying, particularly if one wants to get a grip on the grape and what it might contribute to wines like Moet NV, for instance. Scrapes
• Wine Society Celebration Champagne 1982 (A. Gratien) Quite autolytic, appley fruit, complex an honied, quite dry and with good pinot gutsiness. All this after seeming a bit maderised at first, but as often with Champagne this seemed to blow off. Excellent.
• Champagne Cuvee William Deutz 1996 (Deutz) Citric, appley nose with yeasty notes - quite complex. Ripe, rounded fruit despite the excellent acidity of the vintage - needs a bit more time though - aspects of it seem quite tightly wound still. Quite long too and creamy textured.
• Champagne Fleuron 1er Cru 1999 (Gimmonet) Light to medium weight, elegant, complex and nutty, quite long. Just occasionally it seems a little oily/keroseney on the palate but that may be the food I am having with it. Really pretty good, although probably for drinking over the next couple of years. A good deal from Oddbins at not muchover £20. Bare
• Crede Prosecco di Valdobbidene NV (Bisol) A bit coarse on first sip, but this seems less noticable afterwards. The fruit quality is a way short of Champagne so a fairly basic wine. Pleasnat enough.

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