Bonneau du Martray 2015s - the first of three mini blogs from Burgundy, October 2016

So last Sunday/Monday, with two colleagues, I made a bit of a "dash in, dash out" visit to Burgundy. Strictly that's not true as Guido stayed there all week. But it is amazing what you can get to taste in 20 hours in the Cote!

We arrived and about 3 minutes later had supper in Puligny. The three bottles in the picture.
Puligny-Montrachet 2012 from Francois Carillon was drinking deliciously, just PnP and crack on, good intensity. The Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot 2012 from Domaine Ramonet is clearly less ready, more focussed, tighter and may be leaner but classy, I didn't really have a favourite right now. Hand carrying a bottle of Bordeaux - Roc de Cambes 2009 - to Burgundy may seen a little odd but actually there are very few occasion when Roc isn't a good idea. The 2009 shows all the promise of never closing down (the 2005 though did)...what's not to like, our guest certainly loved it.

Up at the "crack of sparrows" and down to breakfast in the hotel in Puligny at 7am, first tasting, for which we were 1 minute early was 8am at Bonneau du Martray with the ever charming and often slightly mischievous Jean-Charles Le Bault de la Moriniere. We chatted and then went downstairs to the tasting room which is new since I was last there back in 2009. I'll never leave it this long again!

It is lovely to visit this Domaine, almost unique in producing solely Grand Cru wine - even Domaine de la Romanee-Conti sometime does a 1er Cru!! Having just two wines to concentrate on is a blessing when at some producers it can be tens of wines. Red then white (leaves you better placed for the next tasting from a practical standpoint) as the locals prefer.

Corton Grand Cru 2015 - Good colour, bright and translucent. Very primary and airy on the nose, good wine, nice crunchy fruit and a proper backbone. A good mineral aspect, cherry fruits and a little black fruit but behind the red. Vibrant, freshness. 17-18 out of 20 Drink 2022-2032+ (40% new wood).

Then a chance to re-taste the bottled (end of March 2016) 2014 vintage. This was the first certified organic vintage for the estate.

Corton Grand Cru 2014 - Nicely complete, melds together well. Some sweetness to the attack, then structure. A little leaner than sometimes, good structure and a cool fruit character which adds to the crunchy fruit expression. 17 out of 20 Drink 2020-2026+ 

FYI - Jean-Charles likes to always wait 8-10 years before opening the red. About the only exception I have found was the 2007. 

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2015 - In many ways this is the crucial wine of the visit. Bonneau du Matray is comfortably the largest landowner in Corton-Charlemagne. Lovely bright colour, waxy with some unctuousness, generous for the wines of this estate but some of that will be the ripeness of youth. A little grapefruit and great depth. Lemons and pears on the finish. This will tighten up and is very promising indeed. 18-18.5 out of 20 Drink 2019-2027

Then the 2014 which I have had in London a couple of times.

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2014 - A good whiff of subtle reduction. A little prickle of spice, such supreme tension, this is the archetypal "coiled spring" but not to the degree that means you can't see how good it is now...you can! Savoury, intense, moreish and very long...18.5-19 out of 20 Drink 2020-2030+

A few words about the savageness of the production in 2016 here...well not as bad as many places is the answer. The 2016 Corton-Charlemagne is 40% down, the Corton is 66% down (usually 24 barrels, just 8 in 2016).

Bravo J-C!

Perfect Petrus...

I am incredibly late writing up this truly wonderful evening that happened before Christmas last year. The evening was all about Petrus. The location was the stunning Dumfries House. It's an easy thing to say but this was a truly memorable time. The hosts were a combination of three of the team from Corney & Barrow (of which I was delighted to be one) then Christophe Jacquemin Sablon (CEO) and Olivier Berrouet (Winemaker from 2008 having taken over from his father Jean-Claude who was in charge from 1964-2008) from Petrus.

We started the evening with a tour of the house and a small explanation of the amazing works that go on all over the estate (this continued with a driven tour the following morning). It is a fascinating estate and story, one worth looking at the website to find out more about it.

We then gathered in the drawing room and started the evening with the rather splendid Delamotte Blanc de Blancs 1996 En Magnum. The 1996 was a vintage of Delamotte that all got sold to the Japanese market so I had never had it before. A lovely combination of toastiness and freshness with a lemon shortbread finish, very moreish and very appetising

We were then piped through to the spectacular dining room and a delicious looking menu of:

Half Lobster with Beurre Blanc

Roast Pigeon Breast with a Pea and Bacon Salad

Dumfries House Estate Venison with Market Vegetables, Roasted Shallots, Potato Puree and Thyme Jus

A Selection of Locally Sourced Cheeses (Aiket, KIlbride, Cheddar and Arran Blue)

With the opening speeches and the first course we had Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 2011 En Magnum from Bonneau du Martray which, whilst on the youthful side, is drinking very well now like the vast majority of the 2011's. It has a steely classicism but not quite the searing acidity that you might expect of Bonneau at 4 years of age. Very good indeed with the delicious Lobster, quite a combination.

Now of course, it was time for Petrus, this most famous of Pomerols. I have been very lucky to have both visited and drunk my fair share of Petrus over the last decade or so. This 11.5 ha site with vines of 45 years age on average is planted, historically, with 97% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc. The wine is actually now pretty much 100% Merlot. We were to have the vintages served in two pairs. Older, and from more difficult vintages, first then the younger stellar vintages. This has the advantage of showing grace and maturity before power although it is not necessarily the conventional order. Olivier Berrouet did comment, with a twinkle in the eye, that of course these were his father's wines and he could not be "blamed". The wines had all come from the Chateau a moth or so earlier.

Olivier speaks...

Petrus 1969 - This was described as a lighter style of Petrus by Olivier, "a style that doesn't really exist anymore". The wine was delicate but persistent, not tired. The nose had notes of grapefruit and citrus almost a cool tropicality. I loved it, a shade of menthol and a good gentle balance.

Petrus 1979 En magnum - A growing season with quite high rainfall and limited warmth. This was by contrast to the 1969 (and accentuated by the format) a richer more succulent wine all round. Very iron-like and savoury, a wine to wallow in, a wine of depth and texture. As with the 1969 this far exceeds the vintages reputation.

Petrus 1990 - Velvet and superb weightlessness, supreme even, so moreish with a battle between red and black fruit. My note is clearly too concise, quite rightly this was a wine to enjoy and drink rather than write about. There was a brief comment about the contrast between 1989 and 1990 for Petrus. Olivier said that in 1989 the spring and early summer were hot then it was cooler later, pretty much the opposite in 1990.

Petrus 2000 - Savoury, granite, stones, so youthful, delicious, packed with fruit, decadent and rich. Stunning balance...depth, depth, depth, so much texture but without being heavy. I was trying to compare it to the 2001 that I once had and it seemed less extrovert than that vintage, may be more serious, more understated confidence.

The combination of the food, the wonderful conversations and the fact that there are never going to be enough occasions in life when you have four vintages of Petrus in front of you made for a wonderful atmosphere. The receptiveness of everyone to the Grahams 1970, bottled by Whighams of Ayr, was tremendous, I find myself saying it often but we don't drink enough good Port! We did on this occasion.

As the harpist, oh yes you have to have a harpist, played her last, rather brilliant notes we were joined by a singer and a fiddler...this went well with the Hine 1987 Early landed Cognac, bottled in 2006, which I find to be the most drinkable of all spirits, so mellow and refined...

The evening carried on late, with singing and cigars back at the lodges, a few sore heads in the morning...

What fun!

Seeing in 2016!

I have come to really enjoy New Year's Eve. We have the same couple of families around and just eat and drink. There is now the odd girlfriend joining here and there but essentially it is the same each year. We always host which means I can select the wines. One of my quests of recent times is to get more and more people appreciating the variety and quality of many whites. For food Mrs H did two spectacularly large and brilliant potato Dauphinoises to accompany a vat of green beans with three lovely hams, the nibbles and puddings arriving with the guests.

The line-up I chose started with the cool complexity of Scharzhof Riesling 2009, Egon Muller. It was my last bottle of this which was a shame. It has real balance and is off-dry with nice gentle fruit, it seemed to go down well. Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons 2011, Vincent Dampt certainly surprised a few who thought Chablis was a very dry, slightly astringent style. I love Vincent's wines and buy them a lot, I hadn't had any of the 2011's for a while, this 2011 was lovely and balanced, totally open now, as most of them seem to be. We stayed in Burgundy and had the opulent, slightly toasty and showy Saint-Aubin 2012 from Francois Carillon, this from his third vintage on his own. There is an intense ripeness to a lot of the 2012's I think. The pinnacle of the Burgs was Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2004, Bonneau du Martray - there are really variable bottles of this wine, entirely down to cork supplier. The estate seems to have a cracking record from 2006 onwards and pre 1995 but in between there is a mix. This bottle, I am delighted to say, was electric, so poised and getting better and better with air, a lovely bit of reduction. One final white is a wine I hope I will keep a few bottles of Que Bonito Cacareaba 2011, Benjamin Romeo as it is a fascinating wine, rich, toasted and juicy. Made from a field blend of old vine fruit in Rioja. It changes more than most wines as it warms up and could almost be served as a red wine that happens to be white.

Stu had dropped a bottle of Duhart-Milon 2004 off with us about a month before so I decided we would have it alongside the Les Carmes Haut-Brion 2004, I know the Carmes well and this wasn't a particularly vibrant bottle of it, a little dull. The Duhart was exactly what you would hope for, some of the iron and savouriness of Pauillac balanced by the ease of the 2004 vintage. A fun pair but the Duhart winning pretty comfortably by a stoppage in the late rounds. Although we moved on to the Sauternes and Port we did dip in and out of the magnum of Cotes du Rhone 2012, Domaine Charvin during the rest of the night and very good it is. I find southern Rhone 2012 to be a little bit of a gem. People don't seem to speak about it but I think it is pretty serious.

The Corney & Barrow Sauternes 2010 from a half was delicious, opulent, not overly complex but this and the other half I had over Christmas were both lovely. In many ways the wine I had been most looking forward to was the Noval 1963. A gift from a kind customer and friend. It was interesting as well as just lovely in quality. Really quite light in colour, think aged tawny, when poured through muslin as the cork disintegrated. The wine grew in depth and structure with air which I've not come across. It was always fruited with delicate sweetness and just a joy to drink. I've had a few bottles of mature port ('63/'66/'70) recently and it really id pretty joyous stuff...a missed opportunity by many.

A fun evening with friends as we saw in 2016...

Mr B liking the Noval 1963

and Stu too

The whole gang...

Bonneau du Martray - a recent vintages tasting with Jean-Charles le Bault de La Moriniere

A few weeks back before everything got ever more manic with Christmas and the pre-Burgundy season (January) workload we were delighted to have Jean-Charles le Bault de La Moriniere of Bonneau du Martray in town. We spent two hours listening to him and firing questions at him while we tasted two reds and three whites. It was a special afternoon. As usual I will state my fairly considerable bias now, this is the 15th vintage I have worked with. Having said that there is arguably no other 100% Grand Cru estate that is under-recognised like Bonneau du Martray. The older vintages of this great estate are stunning and that includes years with no right to be so like the 1987 and 1994 that I have had several times. The 1992 is one of "the" white Burgundy drinking experiences. There have been intermittent "premox" problems but these Jean-Charles feels certain are due 100% to cork supplier (i.e. there are "good" and "bad" batches as the Domaine had separate suppliers - a common practice) and limited to 1995-2005 in my view. There is nothing before and nothing since where I have seen any problems. I say this from a stand point where my drinking experience is greater with this estate that almost any other white Burgundy estate.

I do not intend this to be a long post, I have written on these wines many times in the past and whilst I am honest enough to say I do not always understand the red Corton or give it the time (in maturity terms) in may well need, I love the Corton-Charlemagne for it's preciseness and moreishness - I always want another glass/bottle/magnum and ultimately that is the measure of a wine being great.

As in Burgundy we went red then white:

Corton Grand Cru  2009 – Lovely tight freshness, it is too early but there is a lot to love about the minerality here. A wine to look at again in 4-5 years and well beyond.

Corton Grand Cru 2014 – (cask sample which the Domaine do not like to do) I simply summed this up as “Vibrant”, there is so much energy and purity…will be exciting to follow.

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2011 – I love this wine. It showed so well. There is just a wonderful balance, opulent but so true to the Domaine. Some lemon short bread and easy persistence. Hedonistic even.

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2012 – Wow! This has so much potential. Coiled like the tightest of springs with a whiff of reduction and then so much power to the palate – this demands patience! It is a real shame that this crop was so small but may be that is where the magic comes from.

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2014 – (cask sample again) Focussed and fine with lots of minerality and so much drive, a little lime and saline too. Superb.

A splendid tasting!

Fascinating map of the hill of Corton.

Back from holiday with something of a bang...

Before I went away on holiday and enjoyed a wide array of wines I had organised a few lunches as catch ups with customers. It ended up being quite a run of wines, and food for that matter. Zucca features large as usual but the main reason is you can adapt a meal there for any pair of wines, to last any amount of time and it is great value. So things "kicked off" with a Tuesday dinner at Zucca and a pair of Grand Crus! 

Not my average Tuesday!

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2011, Bonneau du Martray is a wine I know well, it is superb now although balanced so will age well. There is a tiny kiss of oak that just frames things but is very understated. In general I feel there are quite a few over oaked Corton-Charlemagnes out there, often because a producer has very little and therefore limited control of the % of new oak. With conversation, and a certain amount of gossip flowing it was then time for red!
Musigny Grand Cru 1995, de Vogue not a vintage of this wine I have had before and an interest vintage in general for Burgundy. It gets very little mention as it is not quite in the "mature" category of say '91 and '93…nor is it in the "continue to wait" category like '96, '99, '02. This wine was stunning on the nose, youthful and pure but also serious with a close knit intensity…in honestly the plate is still a shade muted and restrained, good and balanced but just not that expressive. It is not too early to drink this wine but it is not yet at it's peak I would say and this was certainly a good bottle…a very generous opportunity to taste.

the starter will be... 

The following day I went with a buying team colleague to try the food for a Prum dinner we are doing for customers with Katharina Prum at Quilon restaurant in late September. I had never eaten there before and lots of work had gone into the menu. It was, frankly speaking, a revelation, great dishes (a few photos of which are below) that just deliver oodles of flavour in a clean way with a total lack of pretension, I had decided I'll go back even before I left. There a was another thing that made this interesting and that was a chance to have most of the wines we will have at the dinner at the preview, ordinarily we'd take a couple of bottles to a run through and see how we get on. I must say before the notes that I probably drink more Prum Kabinett in a year than any other wine so the levels of bias will be large, even for me!

Estate Kabinett 2011 - Ready, generous yet elegant, frankly speaking this would taste good through a straw. 

Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese 2004 - Slight development but not yet petrol-like, very fine, very clean, a lean elegance, approaching middle age but in an effortless fashion, just my sort of thing.

Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese 2004 - youthful, some richness of texture but beyond that quite closed, will give this air before the dinner, serious.

Bernkasteler Badstube Auslese 2003 - In the zone, refinement is there but ultimately it is hedonistic, an extrovert, waxy, very clean nose, more to come but why wait.

Venison and coconut

Bernkasteler Badstube Auslese 2007 - Some spritz, if it were a sportsperson it'd still be in an age category but have people signing it up for the longterm, there is masses to come but it is poised, proper job! 

Graacher Himmelreich Auslese 1997 - A little flashy and flirty as you'd expect of 1997, some orange rind from development, a wine that tightened up and focussed in glass, too easy to start, getting better by the minute.   

Graacher Himmelreich Auslese Goldkapsel 2003 - The first thought was "old school Prum" a dash of reduction and some sulphur, some spritz also, there is no reason you would EVER think this is from 2003, pure, class and quality...

Then…Thursday came and back to Zucca with a couple of beauties...

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2004, Bonneau du Martray - This is a wine that does have some bad bottles mixed in (see summer Holidays post) but this was the opposite, linear, balanced and pretty dam special. A food white Burgundy with a saline edge and a very proper acidity. Monfortino 1996 was the main reason this luncheon happened and it was wonderful, this is a serious wine with plenty of structure but not hard structure, you need to know where you are with this wine. It loves air and it loves to be thought about and drunk slowly, in many ways it is the traditional persona of Monfortino, uncompromising, quality and long lived. A cracking lunch, Zucca's food did it serious justice.

Then friday, back at Zucca, a long overdue catch up with a mate in the trade who writes a great Blog that varies from mine in style but I can safely say we are from the same "a good bottle is one that seems to disappear quickly" school of thought. The starting point for this luncheon was a post he wrote about 2005 Bordeaux. Knowing that Roc de Cambes 2009 was a real favourite of his I said well let's both take a 2005 to Zucca! 
Roc de Cambes 2005 - this was my bottle which I bought the second it was released in the campaign, I tasted it from barrel and loved it immediately. On this showing I was not wrong, bright, fresh and with a focus that is quite un like most Bordeaux. I tasted very much "mono-varietal", I'll try to keep my hands off it for a few more years but basically it is delicious.
Pavillon Rouge du Chateau Margaux 2005 - May be not the very best bottle of this, it drank well but under close inspection/thought it seemed a little "blunt" or lacking in wow factor, a true decision deferred.
That was a week done but then just as I was about to write this post I had another luncheon in the diary with a customer who insisted on bringing the wines and with this individual that is always a good thing.
Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru 1996, Domaine Leflaive - Was class, the colour suggested good things as soon as it was poured…there was that trademark gunflint reduction and lots of fruit, the real class though was, as ever, in the finish and the way it showed such refinement as it warmed up, it was still evolving and sweetening up 2 hours later.
Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano 1990, Giacosa - was glorious, an open and expressive nose from the beginning, a lovely easy opulence but with a feminine focus. This was as much "1990" as the Monfortino above was "1996". The palate was fairly delicate and fine-boned with lovely red fruit and a dash of savouriness that never became too much…a really wonderful pairing.
It really is one of the great things about the wine trade that customers become friends and want to drink these great bottles…long may it continue that way, it is what wine is about.

Holiday bottles in France - 2014

The family holiday this year was spent, with another family, down in the Dordogne near Beaulieu. One of the advantages to driving is that I can take a couple of cases of wine. We had a great house with a pool, very remote but most of the time was either spent cooking, talking about food and wine or drinking and eating!

I took various things and we hunted around the supermarkets, town markets and a few shops for the others. I was not making full tasting notes as this was a break but I have put a few comments below.

The local "drop"

Cahors is the nearest area of real production so we sampled plenty during out time. One of the favourite producers for me was Clos de Gamot which has old vines and seemed to have a nice and unobtrusive style. I think little or no new oak too which is always a good thing in my book. There did seems to be two styles from the small sample we drank. I am going to call them, "rustic tradition" and "Wannabe Argentinians". The former has no fear of funky aromas and a bit of dirty spice, medium weight, more interesting to my mind. The later is more viscous and technically more fruited and pure but seemed to lack a creation sense of place or uniqueness.

A few Bordeaux

Not being far from Bordeaux a few bottles were always going to creep into the range from that great Region. Grand Place 2009 was a little overstated as the name suggests. Baron de Lestac 2011 white was ok but overoaked which slightly spoilt what could have been a lovely good value bottle. Les Carmes Haut Brion 2004 which I bought a few of some years back has been disappointing me of late, some of the sweat charm has gone and it is a little too savoury now. A fine lesson in not ageing a wine you like as it is/was.

Some Burgs

From left to right; A very ordinary Bourgogne Blanc 2012, a delicious with food Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons 2007 from Vincent Dampt, an insipid and uninteresting Julienas 2013 (yes Beaujolais is not high on my list but this was just dull) and a bad bottle of Corton Charlemagne 2004 from Bonneau du Martray (see next post for a good bottle!).

Got to love the Germans

The German selection was probably the strongest in terms of the producers shown. The magnum of Prum was real highlight. I had never hidden my love of the Prum wines and this was just another great example (Wehlener Sonnenhur 2011 magnum), it'll age well but is so delicious now. The Spatlese Jubilee bottling from Schloss Schonborn is an absolute favourite of Mrs H and rightly so, very intense fruit. The two Mullers are the estate Rielsings from 2009 and 2010 and they are true to type, 2010 more linear and more focussed, 2009 easier and lovely if simpler.

As predicted!

Of course there was a showing from Italy! and I have to say they were on good form. From left to right:
Brunello di Montalcino 2006 - We had two bottles of this and my only real regret is that I did not buy more, it is youthful but stunning and just so enjoyable, I can't think if anytime when I wouldn't love to just open and enjoy this. 
Chianti Classico Reserva Le Baroncole 2010, San Giusto - I am a fan of San Giusto and think that Percarlo is great and the basic Chianti is a "no brainer" BUT this may be the weak link (well at this young age anyhow), it is just too oaked and that masks what is obviously good fruit…a good wine but not what it could be!
Avvoltore 2006 - Sturdy showing from this wine, very good with big meat dishes, the more recent vintages (2002 onwards) appear not to quite have the charm of old but this is a good wine.
Barolo Brunate 2007, Marcarini - As with most 2007 Barolos I believe in serving this cool and after a quick double decant, it is feminine for Barolo, a Volnayesque Barolo of sorts. Very good way to translate the vintage, enjoyable if not serious.
Barbera d'Alba 2012, Negri - A good richly fruited if not heavy Barbera, good all-rounder, best with another 12 months but good.

The rest!

The highlights here:
Crozes-Hermitage VV 2011, Tardieu-Laurent - This is too young by rights but is delicious in a mini-Hermitage sort of way…savoury bacon with dark fruit. 
Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc VV 2011 - I have had several bottles of this now and whilst it'll age well it is just so balanced and lovely now, not too much structure, not too much fruit just bliss.
Rebmann generally - Not a producer I know but they seem to be a big firm or a negoce who do all that alsace offers, the Pinot Gris got drunk in good quantity, nice simple and enjoyable wines.

There were a good few beers along the way but the sensible thing we did was never go to the fortifiers or spirits (well baring a bit of Pastis).

White Wine and Seafood in Suffolk

A quick bottle of rounded but poised Horizon Blanc de Blancs NV from Pascal Doquet set the day off nicely as we found ourselves on the mid-morning train to Ipswich. On arrival a quick change before a slower ride to Melton. We were in Suffolk and off by cab to The Butley Orford Oysterage, a cracking fish restaurant linked to a great smokery. With the menu, of which I think we had everything, being solely fish and seafood it was always going to be a day of whites. A great array of wines it was too.

A new one on me!

Brut Initial Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, Selosse (Nov 2013 disgorgement) was next out of the blocks and the not quite chilled temperature was actually no bad thing, the wine had enough focus to balance the sparkling Meursault-esque nature of Selosse. Slightly oily with a little whiff of reduction, probably the best Selosse I have had.

A rather lovely way to start the meal

As the delicious food started to arrive - everything from Salmon to Eel to Mussels and Oysters - we were on to the first still white which was served blind. One of our number knew the capsule but we were all fairly quickly in the Loire. Sancerre Les Mont Damnes 2006, Francois Cotat was the wine in question. I'd never had anything of his before and was both pleased to have the chance and impressed by the wine. In a lovely phase. The flavours and aromas were light and almost airy, green but "good" green with some white flowers, a ripe green apply freshness…in a great zone right now.

We then ventured to the opposite end of the scale really and had Belle Cote 2004, Peter Michael, again blind. I was in a warm vintage Meursault sort of place and am not unhappy with that…for some it was just too glupey and textured, I actually quite like it though a glass would have been enough. The fruit character was slightly bruised tropical fruit that matched the opulent texture, not a wine to have anything but well chilled. The only other Peter Michael wine I have had was a rather impressive Chardonnay Cuvee “Indigene” 1991, Magnum at the Paulee at Bovey Castle in early 2013. That seemed to have aged very well and lost the oak so who knows the same may happen here.

The two Will's conferring.

A welcome non-blind wine followed - Gaia & Rey 2005 from Gaja - it's a savoury wine that has aged well, the fruit is a littler spiced too, the saline finish balances things. at 9 years of age I'd say it is certainly not on the way down.

We were then served Chablis 1er Cru Montee de Tonnerre 2002 from Raveneau blind again from a bottle with only a 1971 next label - this can be off putting. I was fairly sure it was Chablis but I was thinking a little older. It had lovely notes of cheesecloth, creme fraiche and goats cheese that then went on to be nougat and gooseberry…really good as is always the case with this great producer in my experience.

A splendid "spread" and that's for starters!

My bottle was up next - Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2001, Bonneau du Martray - and I can already sense the "what so young" comments. I have had this wine to drink rather than taste twice now and it is delicious, not in an over-opulent way but in a balanced loveliness way, a little bit of very classy oak shows alongside the fruit, I think it'll be a wine that drinks well for quite some time but without closing up…If you own it I really think you should have a bottle soon just to see what it is like.

21yrs apart but equally lovely

The last white at actual lunch was - Morey-Saint-Denis Blanc 1er Cru Monts Luisants 1990 from Domaine Ponsot - This was really lovely, very generous in a 1990 way. A little pineapple and a dash of reduction, then a tiny bit of cocoa and mocha…really lovely. It has a very definite character, the only other time I have had it was the 2002 vintage from magnum at a magnum, bbq and poker day/night organised by the very fine chap who brought this along. What I had not hoisted in at all was that a lot of the unique character comes from the fact the wine is made (exclusively as far as research will show me) from Aligote! If you've not had it then you need to put it on your list...

We finished lunch with a sticky toffee pudding of epic proportions then had a wander down the road to pick up some smoked goods before pudding number. This was served with - Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese 1990, JJ Prum - this was in hedonistic form, a little over developed may be but very very good and much enjoyed. 

Diet? What diet?

Needless to say the return train journey was a more mellow affair than the way up…what a great day! Well done all…and special thanks to Uncle Ju-Ju...

Late Christmas at Planet of the Grapes

Having not managed more than a beer as steam before Christmas it was time for a gathering and the venue was to be Planet of the Grapes at Bow Lane a great venue with proper grub, good glass and a very wine friendly attitude. There was no real brief on what to bring but we ended up with a nice selection. It wasn't a night for making many notes so the below are more recollections than anything.

The whites

Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons 2005, V.Dampt - a wine I know well, oily and a complex, drinking well.

St.Joseph Les Granits 2007, M.Chapoutier MAG - a waxy wine of weight and structure, delicious with the food, a mighty effort for a hot year, impressive 

Clos du Papillon Savennieres 2006, Domaine de Baumard - really lovely and received very well all-round. Savennieres is such a good drink. 

Langhe Riesling 2012, Vajra - A first for me and a welcome one, an easy mellow feel, wonder how it'll age? not that it needs to.

Hyde de Villaine Chardonnay 2009 - Really decadent number like a ripe vintage Meursault, not OTT but quite hedonistic.

Corton-Charlemagne 2011, Bonneau du Martray - Love this wine and showing well even now, well ahead of time.

The reds

Percarlo 2009, San Giusto a Rentannano - I love Percarlo but this needs time to mellow and for the oak to knit in, I just hope that does happen as the fruit is clearly very good.

Blagny Sous le Dos d'Ane 2002, Domaine Leflaive - The last vintage of this wine. A beautiful, delicate nose and then good rich but medium bodied palate, cracking.

Barolo 2007, Bartolo Mascarello - Showed very well, great estate in great form, quintessentially elegant Nebbiolo from a vintage where that was difficult.

Barbaresco 2010, Gemma - Interesting if to my taste a tad too dry, the 2010's are great in barolo, may be less so in Barbaresco. Good with the steak.

Potensac 2003 - I was really impressed here, I'm not a 03 fan generally but this was more "good drinking Bordeaux" than it was an "03".

Hermitage 2002, Chave - This has a nose to die for, such purity, it reminded me more of Rousseau than of Grenache.

L'Aurage 2008 - drinking beautifully in the degraded Mitjavile way.

The "others"
Gewurtztraminer SGN 2002, Clos St Landelin - I wish I'd made more notes here, I remember really loving it's waxy but sweet texture and refreshing finish.

Mossy's magic Ice wines - 3x200ml - Riesling, Vidal, Cab Franc - Very very sweet!

Fonseca 1997 - drank really well, still puppyish and young.

Delamain Pale "n" Dry - not sure I needed that but it was rather splendid!

Until next time...

Simply wonderful evening at Zucca

It has taken me a over a week to write up what was a brilliant evening of food and wine with friends on the last friday night in August. There was a slight feel that this was the last hurrah before proper work starts with the arrival of September, we certainly enjoyed ourselves.

A staggering menu was put together Zucca's Chef/owner Sam Harris and executed on night by Simon:

Broccoli, Squid and Pepper fritti

Antipasti

Tuna involtini, Cripsy Cavolo

Cauliflower, broad beans and hazelnuts

Mozzarella, speck and figs

Beef carpaccio, beetroot

Primi

Agnolotti in brodo

Vitello lasagne

Taglierini, rabbit ragu

Secondi

Grouse, trompette and pea shoots

Formaggio

Toma, pecorino sardo and gorgonzola dolce

Dolci

Pistachio tart, raspberry ripple ice cream

I have put pictures of a few of the courses at the bottom of this entry. There is no point me even trying to pick a favourite dish, they were all genuinely great in their own way.

Moving to the Wines the co-ordination had taken place before hand. The selection was a brilliantly balance and worked superbly with the food. Just one of those occasions when things clicked.

Perle 2006 from Ferrari kicked us off, 100% Chardonnay and focussed with a little toastiness, very balanced and just right as a palate primer. The second sparkler was a perfect foil for the Perle, Henriot Cuvee des Enchanteleurs 1998 was richer more dense, more serious, not over the top but with a sturdy core. The 1988 as a Pinot vintage is a bit of a star just as 1999 is for Blanc de Blancs, this was really good, serious, a Meursault-esque Champagne.
A magnum of Riesling Unendlich 2000 from FX Pichler was up next which had a lovely oiliness and a petrolly nose but stopped short of being Kerosine-like. It went with the Tuna and crab brilliantly and added to the very good impression I have of this producer from a bottle a few blogs back, I am not good on Austria but obviously should put in some work here!
Cervaro della Sala 2010 from magnum had a very well balanced nose with savoury toastiness but enough fruit, if it had been served blind I would have been tempted to say classily Californian it was really good and certainly not too young to drink though obviously has some legs. The third dry white was Corton-Charlemagne 1987, Bonneau du Martray, we managed to get though three bottles of this, two at this stage of proceedings and then another at cheese time. It's a cracking wine that confounds the lack of faith in white Burgundy but then the problems seem to be 1996 and onwards generally. It is everything you could expect from a difficult vintage but showed very well with a nutty unctuousness balanced by mineral vibrancy. All three bottles were identical.
The first of the reds was also a Burgundy, Chambolle-Musigny 1976 from Bouchard. This had a flinty, graphite like minerality on the nose which left after a minute or two in the glass then there was just a mass of dark fruit, kirsch and headiness, it was as though it was under screw cap, somehow lost in time. The fruit might have mellowed a little but there wasn't really much development or degradation to be seen, incredibly, a difficult vintage if for the opposite reasons to 1987, the 1976 vintage was hot, very hot and dry. With this brilliant "time capsule" tasted it was time for a truly tremendous run of eight Italians. There was a general pattern of Tuscany then Piedmont but as you'll see it changed towards the end.

Chianti Classico Riserva Vigna del Sorbo 1997, Fontodi was very pretty, in great shape, showing more refinement than many 1997's. Tignanello 1993 in magnum was delicious, mellow, totally ready and just one of those wines you love to drink without having to think too much, in bottle format I would imagine it may be fading but not in magnum.
Sassicaia 2000 also from magnum, was really delicious, sometimes in youth Sassicaia comes across to me as almost too serious and too savoury but this has found a lovely spot, it has that trademark bell pepper and savoury bite but the structure had just eased a tad to allow the wine to soften and become seriously inviting. Clearly this has years ahead of it but is lovely now.

Nebbiolo now took over with several rarities in the mix. First up was a lovely magnum of Barolo 1988 from Bartolo Mascarello which was a joy, slightly herbal, bricky, mellowing nicely. The structure has eased a little, I had this in bottle 5 or 6 years ago and as you'd expect this is tighter and arguably a little classier...delicious.
Two bottles of Barolo Riserva Voghera Brea 2000 from Azelia followed and showed a very different style of Nebbiolo, more richness and more toffeed notes, less class but then Bartolo is hard for anyone to live with. Azelia is a producer I should learn to know better.

Barolo Villero 1982 from Giacosa was next and for any lover of Piedmont there is something about the Giacosa wines from the 80's that is simply unmissable. An incredible balance is found between extreme elegance on the one hand and a persistent almost powerful guts on the other, it really doesn't get much better and especially when you are talking about a vintage that, for the top producers, is drinking brilliantly now. A tasting note is pretty pointless here.
A quick look back into tuscany now followed with Montevertine 1999, my notes are brief here but say; lovely rich fruit. I remember thinking it was young but at a great stage. One final red was left and Barbaresco Gallina di Neive 1985, Giacosa was an incredible note on which to finish the reds, what I said above about Giacosa from the 80's followed through well, this was a joy, I wouldn't dream to trying to say which I preferred of the two Giacosa's as that would harm both. There was deep fruit, black fruit almost, cherry too and then a lovely saline grip with the structure, obviously hitting fourth gear with fifth to follow soon, incredibly good.
The final bottle was the oldest of the night but in many ways was possibly the youngest tasting in comparison to its age. Bual Madeira 1969 from Blandy was exceptional, I love Madeira, this had walnuts, dates, Christmas cake and a whole load of power, sweet brown fruit character, one glass could have lasted for ages and the value in bottles of these is that you can drink almost a "dram" a night and just have the most fascinating complexity several times over...I need to get some.

Well, there we are then, a brilliant dinner that regardless of what the autumn has to hold will be one of the dinners of the year, great food, great wine, great chat...

Vitello lasagne

Beef carpaccio, beetroot

Agnolotti in brodo