Mostly Magnums at Hawksmoor...

An end-of-year gathering organised by Jordi at Hawksmoor in Basinghall Street. The price of admission was a magnum. The food was what you would expect, well executed, filling and meaty!

Dom Perignon 1990 - This was on great form, quite bold on the nose and then both refreshingly and fresh fruited on the palate, far more citrus than bread or biscuit, ripe and quite full, it got the appetite going.

Riesling Smaragd 2010, R.Pichler - Dry and following the DP may be too dry to be fair on it, it was not young or mature and was a wine of texture over extrovert aromas and flavours. would be great with oily fish.

Meursault Charmes 1996, Roulot - Possibly wine of the day for me. If all mid 1990's Burgundy was in this sort of shape then the fine wine world would be a happier place. The nose had a little reduction on the attack (a thing I love) and then the wine was all waxy mellow citrus and frankly so delicious that I struggle to add many many adjectives- complete and as good as you could ever expect - wonderful!

Chambolle-Musigny 2007, de Vogue (2 bottles)
Fresh and pure red fruit, this is very Chambolle and very pretty, not overly serious and whilst it will age why would you when it tastes so lovely now.

Corton Renardes 1971, M.Gaunoux

Soft powdery, slightly bruised red fruit with an fresh acidic lift. There was then some white pepper spice. The wine held together well in the glass for 45 minutes or so and then got a little fragmented into it's parts and became a little medicinal. The high-toned sweetness of the fruit was remarkable, fascinating wine.

Ermitage Le Pavillon 1989, M.Chapoutier
If it is possible to be medium weight and a bit of a bruiser at the same time then this is that very thing. Quite primary with black fruit and some black pepper, not "too much" but certainly with more complexity to come. Promising and balanced.

Magdelaine 1985

My red of the day. Now before people shout that I am being biased (not that it was my bottle) I need to point out that this Chateau does not even exist anymore in terms of production as one estate. It has been "rolled" into Belair-Monange . The wine had a real charm and perfect balance between sweet and savoury with a lovely elegant medium weight and no hard edges at all. I would imagine that in magnum this will remain delicious for many decades. This is stunningly understated and all the better for it.

Domaine de Chevalier 1961

Savoury and deep in colour, this had good initial fruit and then became more "stocky" and deeper and more saline with time. For Pessac of this age it had amazing texture and weight.

Leoville Barton 2000

To me this was the only real disappointment of the lunch, it was just far too much on the savoury side, even a little metallic, ferrous and blood-like, it just needed some sweetness and lift. I might be being harsh...

Stag’s Leap “Cask 23” 1991

I thought this was really lovely and had a slightly sweet fruit finish, this worked well in contrast to the slightly dry finish of the Barton and the Chevalier. I would not have been near the 23 years of age if served blind, there was evolution but in a very sedate and steady way. Really lovely.

Percarlo 1990

Good sweetness to the ever so slightly bruised fruit, a good bit of spice that was balanced by a dash of minty freshness, really good, better even that when I had it during this tasting, the sort of wine I'd love to have spent a while with.

Tenuta di Trinoro 1997

Rich and pretty opulent, ripe without being over the top, nice balance and the slight sweetness worked well at the end of the meal...this is a wine I've had a couple of really in-depth looks at, the first of which was here and the second I need to write up!

Then there was one more wine that came around during the meal...

Mystery Chambolle-Musigny Amoureuses

This was absent of either producer, although Negoce was the thought, and vintage. I agreed with our organiser that it may well be 1966 but that can be no more than an educated guess. I wish I had taken a pic so I could do some research. It had a lovely mature Pinot sweetness without a hint of stink or farmyard, feminine for sure...

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...

A German and three Italians or one 2007 and three 2008's...

This was a cracking little sunday selection with a couple of friends (and former colleagues) a few weeks back. I've been meaning to write them up for a good while but just not got round to it:

Bernkastler Badstube Kabinet 2008, J.J.Prum - I have had several bottles of this now and whilst I wish I could be more patient this is just delicious now. I am a big fan of decanting young Riesling as it just opens out so much, in texture as much as anything. This has a little bit of what I like to call Prum-Stink. The white, slightly floral, fruit is in perfect balance with the acidity, it is just the sort of thing to wake up the taste buds and refresh the mind.

Barolo Cannubio 2007, F.Rinaldi - I decided to show this as I want to see how it compared to the Brunate 2007 from the same producer that had so impressed me a few weeks ago. This was also splendid and poised, slightly redder fruit than the Brunate. I first started buying the F.Rinaldi's after having a few older (1971 & 1979) bottles and then loving the 2006's. The 2007's are going to develop nicely but will certainly get drunk before the 2006's & 2008's.

Percarlo 2008, San Giusto a Rentannano - Having had a Vertical tasting of Percarlo a year or so ago this was a first re-visit in a purely drinking capacity. The wine is impressive, has grown an extra savoury component. I would say it is best left now, this was enjoyable but in 5-6 years will be even more so. The magnum I have will stay tucked away for well over a decade. The estate seems to be going from strength to strength and is on of my favourites in Tuscany.

Barbera Cerretta 2008, Giacomo Conterno - Anyone reading this blog regularly will not be at all surprised by this appearing, it is in a lovely place at the moment, the rich but red/purple fruit balancing the acidity and the grainy tannins perfectly. To think that this wine has got better every year since Roberto took it over in June 2008 is very exciting.

And that is that - it was great as ever to catch up with old friends and realise that nothing changes, well except for their cool new addition "Henry"! Lots more blogs to write so better get to it!