At DL's with LJM and EMcC 03/09/2010 (TNB)

• Champagne NV (Heidsieck Monopole) Meaty, seemingly very black-grape dominated. Mature, having been a few years in cellar, this has probably picked up quite a bit of extra flavour.
• Riesling Tradition 2007 (L. Boesch) Pretty dry with a pleasing touch of minerality and, as it warms up in the glass pleasing complex fruit. Rather good - I don't know the producer, but one to look out for perhaps.
• Ducru Beaucaillou 1981 With a lively vivacity for its age, and classic old Claret fruit with a touch of coffee, cedar and so on, this is just lovely. There do seem to be a lot of really good wines from this vintage.
• Ducru Beaucaillou 1970 Rounder fruit, and a bit of hardness at the end. This is a bit more weighty than the 81, a bit edgier but no more intense. Rather typical of the vintage. This sounds a bit negative, but in fact this too is a lovely drinking wine: despite that hardness I don't feel it will improve. Bare
• Ducru Beaucaillou 1989 Succulent 1989 tannins and the fruit is more primary than the older two wines. The Ducru style is more evident in this younger wine, you expect the older wines not to be blockbusters, but the grace and balance are particularly clear in this lovely wine. It's not at peak, I feel but worth already.
• Ducru Beaucaillou 1986 This has a touch of bitterness and a certain unusual sort of hardness. Tannins too as you might expect, but also the slightest hint of something wrong - at times no more than a lack of purity and transparency compared to the other wines. An odd bottle, or perhaps indicative of Ducru's well-documented problems at this time.
• Climens 1990 An absolute star: lovely richness of fruit with brilliant balance.