Wine group at D.W's 30/11/2009 (TNB)

I lost these notes for a while - hence the long delay.

• Champagne 2002 (Lilbert) Mineral and chalky, crystallised lemon, great richness butall tightly wound at the moment.
• Champagne 2002 (Billiot) Meatier that the Lilbert (as one might expect), quite dense, could do with some food. A lovely concentration of fruit. Bare
• Vin de Pays des Cotes de Thongue blanc Vieilles Vignes 2006 (Domaine Magellan) Almost resinous, soft and peachy in the mouth, decent length. This is rather good.
• Hermitage blanc 2006 (J-L. Chave) Rich, quite soft, lowish acid (as one expects), very suave and lovely. Bare
• Vieilles Vignes blanc 2002 (Gauby) A touch of spritz. Lovely balance, complex and intriguing. A real terroir wine.
• Meursault 1993 (Coche-Dury) Completely fresh, yet evolved, with good complexity. Fantastic village wine from a great grower and a lovely vintage.
• Puresa 2006 (Som Dinou - Terra Alta) Cherry fruit with excellent persistence. Really nice. Top
• Crozes-Hermitage Les Trois Chenes 2006 (Darnaud) Deepp, ripe and rich, fairly high-toned fruit. Very pure and a bit modern-styled. Excellent in its way. Top
• Hermitage 2002 (J-L. Chave) Rounded and meaty with great density and length. Concentrated and structured. I suppose one would have to say this is also a touch modern-styled in that pure, suave way. Top at least.
• Hermitage 1985 (J-L. Chave) Smoky, light-medium bodied, not so long, better on the nose than the palate and drying a touch. A bit disappointing - possibly an odd bottle?
• Coteaux de Saumur 1990 (J-C Bourdin) Orange peel and apricot, elegant and fairly lightweight. Rather lovely. At least top
• Vouvray, Clos de Bourg 1er tri Moelleux 1989 (Huet) Rounded fruit but quite grippy, a bit more presence than the previous wine, this is fresher too than the 1990 had recently. Very good.
• Offley Boa Vista 1966 Gentle and soft but with a lot of presence on the palate. Raspberry fruit, high-toned but with good texture. Excellent. Top

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At D.L.'s 27/11/2009 (TNB)

• Krug NV The current release. Sophisticated nose with that touch of farmyard straw but it seems a bit "flat" and unforthcoming. There's almost a sour apple note on the palate which is pretty big and meaty. I'm not totally sure what to make of this. Is it perhaps not the best bottle or does it just need time. The latter is I suppose more likely. Top
• Meursault Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir 2001 (Roulot) Complex herby nose, lovely refined fruit, great balance. A great village wine. Bare
• Vosne Romanee 1er cru Clos de Reas 1999 (M. Gros) Quite a soft, almost cooked plums nose, attractive but a bit hollow on the midpalate. There does seem to be a problem of diluteness in a lot of Cote de Nuits 99's, and this is a good example.
• Vosne Romanee 1er Cru Brulees 1987 (Meo-Camuzet) Lovely fruit, almost peachy, high-toned, with a lovely refined, balanced palate. Time to drink this rather wonderful mature Burgundy.
• Griotte Champbertin Grand cru 1997 (Ponsot) Perfumed yet very meaty, idiosyncratic (as often with this grower), but rather fine. Bare
• St Joseph, Clos de l'Arbelestrier 1983 (Florentin) Very fine, mineral, completely fresh. Fantastic wine - no wonder Chave bought this estate. I hope he does not change very much. Bare
• Brunello Riserva 1982 (Il Poggione) Pleasantly fragrant, fine mature Brunello (very authentic) once it has a chance to open up.
• Vouvray Moelleux 1er Tri Clos de Bourg 1990 (Huet) Very deep colour - botrytis mainly I guess. A bit of brown sugar, rounded, quite complex but it seems a touch closed currently. Rising to top
• Whisky: Benrinnes 26 year old (The Bottlers) Not really my area, but this has a lovely touch of smoke and great fruity notes too. With the caveat that I don't drink that much whisky:

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