Wine group at D.L's 26/11/2007 (TNB)

These have been hiding on my Palm in unedited form for rather a long time - they may be even vaguer than usual!

• Blauer Spatburgunder 2002 (Ziereisen) Lively Burgundy-like, quite gamy. Surprisingly decent.
• Jaspis Syrah 2003 (Zieriesen) Porty, slightly sweet. Proper wine but I'm not wildly keen.
• Tokay Vieilles Vignes 1988 (Zind-Humbrecht) Fresh fruit, spritzy, quite soft now. Very pleasantly drinkable.
• Meursault Genevrieres 1993 (F. Jobard) Mineral and herby good but slightly odd. Good, but perhaps a slightly off bottle.
• Meursault Genevrieres 1992 (F. Jobard) Higher-toned than the Charmes, quite deep colour (as in fact all these Jobard's had). Very attractive fruit. Bare
• Meursault Charmes 1993 (F. Jobard) Gorgeous - very stylish. quite a lot of body. Lemony (like the others). Bare
• Meursault Charmes 1992 (F. Jobard) Great richness. Very lovely but less fine than the 93. Top
• Clos des Papes 1990 Medicinally-edged fruit. Pretty serious. Tight still, brooding and a touch awkward. Top possibly more
• Clos des Papes 1988 Very mineral and fine. Absolutely lovely.
• Beaucastel 1998 Very reductive. Clears - a touch rustic, quite hot. Bare
• Beaucastel 1985 A touch rustic, bags of fruit. A bit gamy/bretty. Bare
• Monthelie Sur la Velle 1993 (Surmain) Gorgeous, mineral, ravishing fruit. A star.
• Monthelie Sur la Velle 1990 (Surmain) A stunning, fresh 90 with lifted fruit. It closes up a bit.
• Beaune Greves 1993 (Lafarge) Lovely, balanced, high-toned.
• Beaune Greves 1990 (Lafarge) Another star. Rich and long.
• Chateau Nairac 1990 Good but a bit simple compared to the next wine. A good
• Chateau Raymond Lafon 1979 Barley-sugar, botrytis, lots of complexity, lovely.
• Cockburns 1985 Rather reductive - opens out but still odd.
• Taylors 1980 Vibrant, fruit - mainly raspberry. Top Port. Excellent.

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All the 7's - celebrating significant birthdays 24/11/2007 (TNB)

With two 47's, two 57's and a 67 (if I counted correctly) among the diners, it seemed to be a good idea to celebrate vintages ending in 7. Most of the wines fall into that category.

• Erdener Treppchen Spatlese 1990 (Moenchoff) Very keroseney mature riesling. Good although with a touch of rusticity.
• Champagne Cuis 1976 (Diebold-Vallois) One of the Vallois wines disgorged relatively recently by Diebolt. Fresh, mushroomy from time on the lees, stony, dry finish. Very good. Top
• Bernkasteler Doktor-Badstube 1967 (Deinhard) From a half - delicate apricot nose, decent richness but a touch light on the finish.
• Chateau Carbonnieux blanc 1947 Light pink almost, rose-scented like old Claret, terribly attractive. fresh, with a hint of caramel. Not quite as startling as the other time I had this wine. Top
• Lavuille Haut Brion blanc 1975 Very fine, subtle, complex but with clear underlying strength. Recently transported, so probably showing a bit dumb. Still improving.
• Vouvray Clos de Bourg demisec 1957 (Huet) Very delicate, the merest touch of sweetness. Piquant, completely fresh and young-seeming. Very fine.
• Volnay Santenots 1959 (Potinet-Ampeau) Very ripe, sweet, gorgeously mature fruit. Fantastic.
• Brunello 1967 (Nardi) Good fruit, possibly fairly simple but balanced and very nicely evolved.
• Rioja Reserva Especial 1947 (Palacio) Fascinating nose: blackcurrants, orange-peel, bandages, touch of rubber. Completely fresh and very beautiful.
• Barolo Riserva 1967 (Prunotto) Not really drinkable - probably just very reductive - needed to be opened a day in advance!
• Chateau Haut Bailly 1947 Great deep red colour. Hot-vintage fruit but good complexity. SA bit volatile towards the end. Bare
• Chateau Mouton d'Armailhacq 1947 Absolutely gorgeous, complex orange-peel and truffled fruit. Less hot - better balanced than the Haut Bailly with a piquant finish. Absolutely lovely.
• Spanna Monttalbano 1967 (Vallana) Burnt fruit, complex, very individual - hard to describe its exoitic oddity. Great raspberry fruit.
• Chateau Haut Batailly 1957 Very good colour, nice balance. Very fine, fresh, medium-weight mature Claret. Will todays wines drink this well at age 50 in moderate vintages? I doubt it very much. Top
• Chateau Guiraud 1967 Deep orange colour, drinkable enough but the fruyit seems tired in some ways.
• Vouvray Haut Lieu Moelleux 1947 Ravishing green-rimmed orange-gold burnish. Great poise and acidity, slightly lighter weight than I remember but with gorgeous brown-suraged fruit on the long complex palate. A great wine.
• Tokaji Szamorodni 1957 (Monimpex) Brown colour, burnt liquorice. Curious - one might be able to sip it as a liquer, but really not great as wine.
• Grahams 1977 Aniseed fruit, still quite closed and backwards. Needs time on this showing.

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23/11/2007 (TNB)

• Rioja Imperial 1968 (CUNE) From a half and no indication of Reserva or better. On cutting the capsule the cork dropped into the bottle, which seemed a poor omen. But the wine was completely fresh and pretty attractive mature drinking. Bare
• Meursault Meix Chavaux 2002 (Roulot) Taught and needing a bit more time, but not in an aggressive way. Complex, mineral, wine - lovely Meursault. Bare even
• Vougeot Les Petits Vougeot 1996 (Fourrier) A little difficult - perhaps a few more years will help there. Still, as it opens out a very nice Burgundy. Top
• Morey St Denis, Clos Solon 2001 (Fourrier) Yummy, high-toned, appetising wine. It's drinking very nicely but will probably be lovely in five years.
• Quarts de Chaume 1986 (Baumard) From a half, quite dry now and delicious.

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15/11/2007 (TNB)

• Beaune Greves 2000 (Lafarge) Bone (no pun intended) dry and fragrant. A less substantial wine in a difficult vintage (in the CdB) but there is no compromise in the easy-drinking direction. It's a nice wine, but won't appeal to those who like a touch of sweetness. A good

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Fizz with D.W and J.M 15/11/2007 (TNB)

• Champagne Grande Reserve NV (A. Clouet) Meaty, quite Pinot, substantial and yet well-balanced. Fairly dry. This is really rather good. Bare
• Champagne, Grand Cru 2000 (Marguet) A touch of sulphur on opening. Caramel, quite rich, high dosage. Drinking this (after just tasting in France) it's a bit of an oddity, yet interesting, complex wine.
• Champagne 1999 (Cazals) Clean, frothy, good length, almonds. Pretty dry. At first it seems a bit vacuous but it has real depth that emerges. It doesn't have the immediate, sexy appeal of the 98 though - rather, it is sophisticated. Bare
• Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Baudes 1993 (H. Lignier) Dark, slightly baked fruit, almost Clarety nose. Great complexity and just generally gorgeous. Top

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11/11/2007 (TNB)

• Haut Bages Liberal 1995 Very much straight down the middle Claret - dry, fairly savoury. Nothing very special beyond that and not going anywhere really, I suspect. Pleasant enough.

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Odds and Ends including claret and Moldavia 11/11/2007 (RJB)

• Chateau Roc de Cambes 1988 Cotes de Bourg Good, delicate, mature wine. Cedar and tobacco in a simple framework. Ideal for Sunday lunch.
• Chateau Sociando-Mallet 1987 Slightly fuller and purer than the wine above, but similar in style. More of a mineral note, but again good lunchtime stuff.
• Negru de Purkar 1967, Moldavia 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Saperavi and 10% Rara Niagre. I think I got this ages back from Adnams. It has a cork about half the usual length. The wine is rather brown now, and there is a distinct volatility about it. It is past it, but it's still drinkable with the volatility marrying mature mushroomy flavours. Interesting to try after all this time. maybe!
• 1489 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2004 (Baroncini) Fairly standard modern day red.

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10/11/2007 (TNB)

• Champagne Special Club 2000 (Launois Pere et Fils) Lovely, stony, mineral fruit. Quite tight still - will soften into something really good, I feel.

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07/11/2007 (TNB)

• Tokaji Aszu 5 puttonyos 2000 (Chateau Dereszla) Lovely rich tangerine flavours. Quite sweet, but with decent acidity and good depth. I'm not sure quite where it is going, but it will surely improve a touch rather than decline. A strong

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