Wine group at J.M's 29/05/2007 (TNB)

• Champagne Grand Cru Brut Reserve NV (G. Charlemagne) Quite intense and vinous. Meaty. Good, but I was expecting something more elegant - it's had some time in oak perhaps? May benefit from time in bottle. Top
• Champagne Prestige Brut NV (Diebolt-Vallois) Creamy, fine. No huge intensity but very pretty indeed. Top
• Champagne Grand Cru Brut NV (Bonnaire) Creamy rich and soft. Much of the attraction of the D-V wine and a bit of the body of the Charlemagne. Very nice. Top
• Champagne Vielle Vignes de Cramant 2003 (Larmandier-Bernier) Luscious soft mousse - the whole package very balanced and oozing class. Dry and delicious. Bare even
• Champagne Special Club 1985 (Bonnaire) Rather oxidised. Perhaps an odd bottle.
• Champagne Special Club 1985 (Larmandier-Bernier) Green pea, attractively vegetal old chardonnay. Rather lovely. Bare
• Champagne Cuis 1979 (Diebolt Vallois) Mushrooms - a bit edgy, and tending towards oxidation in a not altogether agreeable way.
• Champagne 1979 (Mumm) Honied nose. Dry, flavoursome, delicious. Lovely.
• Chassagne Montrachet rouge Vieilles Vignes 2005 (B. Moreau) Quite big, rich, excellent. No huge subtlety - typical good Chassagne red. Easy
• Chassagne Montrachet rouge Vieilles Vignes 2004 (B. Moreau) Higher-toned - lots of finesse if a little less suave and easy than the 205. Bare
• Leoville Barton 1985 Classic Claret! Now drinking beautifully. Top
• Langoa Barton 1985 Similar style, but side by side, less complexity. Top
• Chassagne Montrachet 1er cru Ruchottes 1992 (Ramonet) Touch of ginger, quite high-toned. Excellent. Needs time perhaps.
• Fonseca 1960 Fresh, complex, high-toned. Very good. Bare

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Top Champagne with Edinburgh wine Merchants 27/05/2007 (TNB)

• Pol Roger blanc de blancs 1998 Citric, autolytic - that from a very slightly corked bottle. A replacement had a great richness of ginger-edged fruit too. The good bottle will benefit from some time and could even merit 5 stars eventually. Top
• Dom Perignon 1999 (Moet et Chandon) Elegant, complex, slightly gamy - wet farmhouse straw. Restrained and rather fine. Bare
• La Grande Dame 1996 (Veuve Cliquot) Quite meaty, in your face sort of fizz. It's a bit short on finesse for my taste, but I suppose it will turn out pretty interesting in 10 years. (with reservations)
• Pol Roger Winston Churchill 1996 Lovely: all the complexity of the Pol Roger above but with fascinating depths that I kept returning to. Absolutely lovely balance. and rising
• Krug Grande Cuvee NV Vanilla, very refined, gorgeous soft bubbles (it always has such a fantastic mousse). On top form. Bare

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In Jersey 22/05/2007 (TNB)

• Champagne Cuvee Longueville NV (Gardet) Decent middle of the road Champers. Top
• Redoma Rose 2001 (Niepoort) Gamy, like sort of red Burgundy - interesting wine. Top
• Segla 2001 Rausan Segla's second wine. Scented, bright fruit - very Margaux and very drinkable. Bare
• Savennieres Clos St Yves 2000 (Baumard) Attractive wine, honey and apples once it has been open a while and warmed up. A more easy-going style than the appellation stereotype. Top
• Lafon Rochet 1993 It seems to be time to drink the good 93's, and I think there are more such than I once thought. Cedary fruit, slightly green but attractively succulent tannins, rather nice mature Claret. A rather good

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16/05/2007 (TNB)

• Barolo 1989 (E. Cogno) Left standing up inside for half a day and decanted for an hour or so this still improved with a little more air. Old-fashioned stuff, still rather tannic, needing food, but with that elusive rose-like fragrance and purity of fruit. Pleasant drinking if you like this sort of thing - I do.

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Odd recent bottles 13/05/2007 (TNB)

• Chateau La Tour St Bonnet 1970 Certainly alive and pretty decent. I suppose the problem with older Claret at this level is that there aren't enough interesting nuances to be revealed. Pleasant though. Top
• Pernand Vergeleses blanc 2001 (Rollin Pere et Fils) Chalky, mineral, high-toned, fairly Chablis-like. Rather good. Bare

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An early 2002 Burgundy 13/05/2007 (TNB)

• Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru Combe aux Moines 2002 (Fourrier) Attractive, bright fruit, quite high-toned. Perhaps closed at the moment as it seems quite light despite there being good intensity and length on closer attention. Probably needs some time.

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At Kinnard a while ago 13/05/2007 (TNB)

I forgot to enter these for a while!

• Soave Classico 2002 (Pieropan) Good flavour but a touch maderised. An odd bottle perhaps.
• Tokay 5 puttonyos 1993 (Crown Estates) Lovely.
• Champagne Grand cru NV (P. Moncuit) Flavoursome, quite rich and vinous, possibly a bit clumsy. I would never have guessed this as Le Mesnil. Is there perhaps some oak involved? in its way
• Maranges 1er cru Fussiere 2001 (B. Morey) Very decent basic Burgundy.

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Auction makeweights 09/05/2007 (TNB)

Bought as part of a recent auction lot with some bottles I did really want!

• Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Marina Cvetic 2000 (Masciarelli) Herby, honied, reminiscent of the Southern Rhone with its fairly flat profile. Stylish wine, if not hugely complex. Rather nice though - valued at a couple of quid when I decided what to bid, but I'd happily pay 10-15 for this. Bare
• Angimbe Insolai Chardonnay 2003 (Cusumano) This a complete unknown I valued at zero - which may have been a bit high. From Sicily, this wine has an odd, unattractive bitterness that I don't care for and no real compensating features. Bare

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Another Filippi Soave 02/05/2007 (TNB)

• Soave Colli Scaligieri Vigne della Bra 2005 (Filippi) Lovely honeysuckle fruit with a touch of bitter almonds once it opens up. Real concentration and presence: absolutely lovely and a touch more of everything than the other Filippi Soave I noted. I suppose one has to say that this one scrapes given that the other got a top 3 stars!

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