Xmas tasting at Valvona and Crolla 25/11/2004 (TNB)

Rather late writing these up I'm afraid. I seem to recall tasting some serious stuff at this event in the past, but this year it was more of a plonkathon.

• Prosecco Brut Quartese NV (Ruggeri) Very fresh - the merest hint of sweetness - very nicely made.
• Pinot Bianco 2003 (Valvona and Crolla - own label) Very clean, very easy. Nice ripe fruit. Top
• Riesling 2003 (Kim Crawford) Quite rich mouthfilling riesling fruit but a bit short on "edge". For drinking. Bare
• Bergerac Sec 2003 (Chateau des Eyssards) Quite understated varietal (Sauvignon/semillon) flavours. Just a bit thin in the final analysis.
• Grecanico 2003 (Mandarossa) Arrestingly different nose - nice clean fruit but no real intensity on the palate.
• Pinot Grigio 2003 (I Feudi di Romans) A bit less obvious than the earlier pinot blanc - quite dry, nice balance and an unassertive but long finish. Good
• Grechetto 2003 (Antonelli) Dry, clean and fruity but really a bit too anonymous on nose and palate.
• Sauvignon blanc 2004 (Omrah) Much more "heart on sleeve" than the earlier Bergerac. Too vegetal for me to be very keen.
• Novello Rosso 2004 (Banfi) Chianti meets Beaujolais - the result is reasonably fruity but not really exciting. Bare
• Castel del Monte Rosso 2002 (Torrevento) I like this - quite soft ripe fruit with a tiny bitter twist, really well judged easy drinking. Nero di Troia and Aglianico apparently. Even
• Chianti Colli Sensi 2003 (Tenuta Baiocchi) Pretty forward and soft with a Turkish delight edge to the nose. I'd like a bit more grip. Good
• Shiraz 2001 (Omrah) I less and less like being yelled at, specially when the yeller has little out of the ordinary to say. A weak
• Tempranillo 2000 (Senorio de Sarria) Nodding towards Modern International and old-style vanilla - it's pretty pleasant and has some sense of Spain about it. Would drink well at a BBQ. Good
• Cesanese del Piglio 2003 (San Tommaso) Fairly pale colour. Sweet scented strawberry nose and a lightweight but pleasant dry palate - no great length but II quite like this.
• Brindisi Rosso 2002 (Valvona and Crolla - own label) Engaging - different flavours - nice fruit - very drinkable. Scrapes
• Langhe Nebbiolo 2002 (Produttori del Barbaresco) Quite stylish - hard to follow some of the earlier wines - pretty much authentic.
• Valpolicella Campo Lavei 2002 (Ca Rugate) Well, I could happily drink this with its sexy ripasso style. But the reds from this estate don't seem to push the limits like the Soaves. Pleasant but perhaps a bit too pleasant! Good
• Moscato Passito 2002 (Araldica) A bit simple - just fine if you aren't really paying attention. I'm being a bit mean - it has a nice uncloying finish. Top

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Xmas party stuff from Oddbins 24/11/2004 (TNB)

• Soave Classico 2002 (Suavia) Good intensity and length. Clean, fresh honeysuckle. Top
• Chardonnay Vin de Pays d'Oc 2000 (James Herrick) Melony fruit, modern, nicely balanced.
• Modello delle Venezie 2002 (Masi) Soft fruit but some dryness as it continues. Pleasant.
• Barbera d'Asti il Monello 2003 (Braida) Gutsy, quite decent concentration - will improve a touch too. Scrapes
• Reserve Pinot Noir 2003 (Porta) Authentic Pinot colour - varietal fruit if a touch sickly. Decent
• Esprit d'Automne 2001 (Borie de Maurel) Quite dense slightly leafy, not unpleasantly astringent fruit. Quite serious. Possibly even scrapes

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At E.McC's 21/11/2004 (TNB)

• Niederhausser Hermannshohle Spatlese 1985 (Statliche Weindomain) Nice nose and broad palate that falls away a touch. Good but perhaps a bit straightforward. A moderate
• Condrieu La Bonnette 2000 (Rostaing) Nice fruit but it has perhaps become a bit flabby. Still fairly classy. I oscillate between a good and three stars.
• Hermitage blanc 1985 (Chave) Very closed at first and insubstantial-seeming. After a couple of hours, so fragrant and honied, even after intervening reds. That suggests it is in a closed phase and needs time.
• Corton Charlemagne 1970 (Tollot-Beaut) Honied, gracefully maderised nose, fine mature slightly citric palate - lovely mineral finish. Good
• Rioja Imperial 1947 (CUNE) Vanilla and germolene. Fresh (so fresh) and herby - fine and long.
• Barolo La Serra 74 (Marcarini) Elegant - very fragrant, fresh. Dry palate and finish - needs food. Very nice. A good
• Barbaresco Gaiun Martinenga 1982 (Di Gresy) Tarry, dried fruit, a touch reductive. Fragrant. Good but could do with a couple of hours in a decanter. A good treated well.
• Barbaresco Rabaja 1982 (Cortese) Quite bright and fruity - but a bit bitter towards the finish. Nice fruit but quite austerely dry.
• Barbaresco 1982 (Giacoso) Fascinating, complex, chemical almost, nose. Creamy palate. Oozes class - excellent drinking.
• Gewurztraminer Hengst VT 1983 (Zind-Humbrecht) Bone-dry, essence of Gewurztraminer - long and mineral.
• Grahams 1983 Dry, aniseedy, long, balanced. Very good. Easy

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Champagne at Oddbins Fine Wine 18/11/2004 (TNB)

• Champagne Brut Imperial NV (Moet et Chandon) Very grassy and leafy. Richer and more forward than I remember this wine. I am not keen.
• Champagne 1998 (Veuve Cliquot) Richer, purer too - nice hit of fruit. Honied. Quite persistent. Probably mature - certainly not a great ager. Top
• Champagne Blanc de Noirs NV (Charles Lafite) Appley fruit - slightly confected edge - no great intensity on the finish. Not a bad wine at the price. A bare
• Champagn Grand Cuvee NV (Krug) Power and elegance. Fruit and such great complexity. Nice acid. Will improve at least a bit.
• Sparkling Shiraz 2002 (Seppelt) Well done I guess - although it is rather sweeet. A bit too alcopop for me.

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The Fourth Cambridge Offline 17/11/2004 (RJB)

Another excellent evening at Pembroke College. Thanks to Matthew Mellor for organising, and thanks to all who attended for their generosity.

• Comtes de Champagne 1995 (Taittinger) Creamy, slightly exotic nose, and initially a harsh finish. Taut. With time though clear that there is some class in the glass and this wine needs time in the bottle. Serious stuff. An easy
• Vouvray Demi-Sec Mousseux 1999 (Huet) Difficult after the Taittinger. Flatter, softer nose. Honeyed length and acidity. A clear chenin, but possibly showing rather more open than might be expected.
• St Aubin 1er Cru, Clos de la Chatenière 1999 (Hubert Lamy) A slightly vegetal edge to this wine. A soft sweet Chardonnay with obvious oak. Good but lacking some character.
• Prelude Chardonnay 2000 (Leeuwin Estate) Soft and with most of the flavour coming at the end. Balanced aniseed and oak.
• Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2002 (Shaw and Smith) Quite, quite buttery vegetal. Creamy oak.
• Zöbinger Hailigenstein Riesling Alte Reben 1996 (Bründlmayer) The colour of age on this wine. Astringent (tannic) edge. A bit all over the place and suffering. This is odd after previous bottles of this wine so I won’t score.
• Clos Windbuhl Pinot Gris 1996 (Zind-Humbrecht) This is tasting even bigger than usual: sweet, unctuous and with a fine mushroomy vegetal edge.
• Riesling Spätlese Triere St Maximiner 1990 Petrol and flint, but with age has done this wine few favours. Coarse.
• Finca La Anita Sémillon Mendoza 2002 Soft parma violet nose. Thick, gunky and soft.
• Riesling Pflaenzereben de Rorschwihr 1990 (Rolly-Gassmann) We had this slightly too warm and a yeasty edge was coming from the wine. Class stuff though, with balance and pure fruit.
• Vosne-Romanée 1996 (R Engel) Short and with an astringent finish. Simple sweet strawberry gummy nose.
• Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert 1990 (Paul Jaboulet Ainé) Lovely, ageing warm wine. Good tertiary flavours emerging. Perhaps
• Château Talbot 1975 Some (pleasant!) sandy tannins at the end of this lovely mature claret. Nothing heavyweight about this wine. Delicious.
• Château d'Angludet 1993 Leafy wine with cardboard on the nose.
• Château Clerc-Milon 1989 Juicy sweet maturing claret. Medium weight and with time ahead of it. Well made. A good

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The Fourth Cambridge Offline - notes part 2 17/11/2004 (RJB)

You may want to read the part 1 notes (below) first!

• Château Clerc-Milon 1990 Purely by chance someone else had brought along the 1990 of this wine. The nose is perhaps a bit more modern on this – reduced and toasty. Again some time needed.
• Prado Enea Rioja Gran Reserva 1995 (Muga) Corked alas.
• Château de Pibarnon Bandol 1997 Combined sulphur. Sweet fruit. Possibly not in the best of condition.
• Château Gruaud-Larose 1982 Absolute class. Elegant, yet deep: mature, yet still young. This wine seems alive in the glass. Clean and pure. Harmonised.
• Château Duhart-Milon-Rothschild 1982 Round, opulent claret. Not the depth of the Gruaud, but not too far away. Fleshy.
• Crozes-Hermitage 1989 (A Graillot) Well balanced with sweet age. Good drinking. plus
• Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 1984 (P Togni) Tastes much younger than 20 years old. But lacks the class and character of the clarets. Good without really exciting.
• Château Guiraud Sauternes 1990 Hmmm. A real pleaser in some ways, but too soft and creamy for my tastes when it comes to Sauternes. maybe
• Château Rabaud-Promis 1986 This doesn’t have the depth of the Guiraud, but it does have the acidity and is the wine I would rather drink. Maybe I get less of a sweet tooth with age.
• Fonseca 1977 Very spirity. Good grip, but not with the usual Fonseca togetherness. I would guess this bottle wasn’t in the best of nick. On this showing

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A bottle for Sunday 14/11/2004 (RJB)

• Cotes du Rhone Blanc 2002 (E. Guigal) Interesting for a change - gentle honeysuckle and melon.

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Fernando de Castilla at Valvona and Crolla 07/11/2004 (TNB)

This tasting was actually a good few months ago.

• Classic Fino (Fernando de Castilla) Lemony, hay in Summer nose. Mellow, light-bodied palate - fine rather than piquant. Quite vinous.
• Classic Amontillado (Fernando de Castilla) Nice nose but slightly off-dry (young PX added). A good version of the traditional British half-sweet Amontillado, but it is just not a great idea to my mind. (just)
• Antique Amontillado (Fernando de Castilla) The real thing, about 20 years old apparently. A touch of yeast, tarry - nutty, savoury core of fruit, fine and long. A good
• Antique Palo Cortado (Fernando de Castilla) Complex, nutty, rounded and long. Tangy and rather fine. By a fairly narrow margin, the pick of the "antique" wines.
• Antique Oloroso (Fernando de Castilla) Elegant round touch of fruit. Nice texture in the mouth. Long and elegant. Top
• Antique PX (Fernando de Castilla) Raisins and cream. Unctious. A fine example of the style, but ultimately these are fairly simple wines. If you like the style:
• Gran Reserva Brandy de Jerez (Fernando de Castilla) Fruity elegant. Fine, balanced, with a broad range of flavours. Brandy is not really my area, but I will givce a rating anyway:

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Last night 06/11/2004 (RJB)

• Chandon Brut(Domaine Chandon Australia) Good fizz with only a slight whiff of pineapple suggesting it didn't come from Champagne.
• Great Rocks Gigondas 2003 (LCB) This almost deserved to go in as a "Life's too short" for its name. Great Rocks indeed! Soft, fleshy wine but boringly predictable in its modernity.

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At D.L.'s 05/11/2004 (TNB)

This was a good few weeks ago but I don't seem to have recorded a date!

• Cotes-du-Rhone blanc Reserve 1995 (Fonsalette) Rich grassy, characterful nose. Decent acid, luxurious texture, nutty, delicious. Top
• Meursault Tete de Cuvee 2001 (Verget) Fat, pineapple, modern, new-world style wine with a rich palate. Not a long-term wine and not really my style. Good though. Merits I guess.
• Rayas Blanc Reserve 1989 Herby nose, not so long but intriguingly individual. Top
• Echezeaux 1987 (Rouget) Rich fruity nose, fantastic sweet fruit palate. Balanced and long.
• Hermitage La Chapelle 1982 (Jaboulet) Gamy, meaty, fruit - tending towards baked (a very hot vintage) but not unbalanced. Bare
• Barolo Riserva Cascina Francia 1982 (G. Conterno) Healthy young colour. Meaty, tarry, tannic - very old-fashioned. Needs time.
• Taylors Port 1980 Warm juicy peppery - touch of chocolate. Raspberries. Easy going but very good.

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Some recent wines 05/11/2004 (RJB)

• Macon Villages Domaine Clos de l’Eglise 2002 (Albert Bichot) Gentle and ready (very slightly oxidised). Quite good for immediate drinking with vanilla and butterscotch.
• Crozes-Hermitage 2003 Cuvee Adrien Pochon (Domaines Pochon) Well made and elegant with light custardy toffee fruit. Pleasant.
• Ygay Gran Reserva Rioja 1996 (Marques de Murrieta) First bottle of this was badly corked. The second bottle was a good Rioja, but one can’t help but think that Murrieta should be better. Strawberry fruit but with a coarse edge to the winemaking.
• Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2002 (Barone Cornacchia) Cornacchia’s Montepulciano used to be a good value red with individuality and no rush for drinking up. This, though perfectly drinkable, could be any modern well made wine in the price bracket.
• Brunello di Montalcino 1998 (Cantina di Montalcino) Modern, soft and lacking any sense of identity. Good concentration, but made (alas) for today’s market. By no means a cheap wine, it suffers from sterile dullness.

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