A "1996" dinner…two decades on

A note came round, a couple of months back, about the idea of a dinner to drink some 1996's. The logic (as if one is needed) being that for the majority of those who might come along would have started in the wine trade around the time that the 1996's, in most regions, were released. We ended up as eight people which is probably a good number for sharing a bottle. I did a brief sum and recon we had about 150 years of wine trade experience amongst the group. For another version of events have a look at this blog from a regular vinous sparring partner of mine, the often contrary Mr Fowler - Vinolent.

The venue was the, always good, Medlar Restaurant which does good wine service and is open to these sorts of evenings in the spacious room upstairs. Several of this group had been involved in the below dinners and tastings before.

Two very different vintages 2001 Grand Crus and 2003 1er Crus

Burgundy 2004 ten years on...

White Burgundy 2008s - 1er and Grand Crus

White Burgundy 2010's

So 1996: I was half way through a Sport Studies degree and already with Mrs H, it was a good year from memory. Winewise it is one of those vintages that seemed to be good everywhere. The point of difference from other "all rounder" vintages like 2001 and 2010 is that in 1996 the Champagne was top notch which certainly can't be said of 2001 or 2010.

The Menu, well what I chose, is below:

Crab Raviolo with Samphire, Brown Shrimps, Fondue of Leeks and Bisque sauce

Rump of Lamb with Gnocchi, Pied Bleu, Wild Garlic and roasted Baby Gem

Cheese - comte

Chocolate Pave with milk ice cream, peanut brittle and salted caramel

The format: Wines were served blind, mostly in pairs chosen by the sommelier. The fact that we knew the vintage highlighted to me that when I taste blind I try to assess age first, of course rather pointless in this scenario but almost unavoidable.

Having just mentioned Champagne that was were we started with two superb and wonderfully contrasting wines. Bollinger Vieilles Vigne Francaise Blanc de Noirs 1996 and Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 1996 were both exactly as you might hope from a Blanc de Noirs and a Blanc de Blancs. The Bollinger, I'd never had VVF before and may never have it again, was the drier and more intense of the pair, nutty with a saline and sherried character, it reminds we of top notch white Rioja in the fruit character but then has a classy texture and gorgeous mousse, this is a serious wine. The seriounesss of the Bolly is contrasted by the openness and easy enjoyment of the Comtes. This is less dry, more floral and a little more citrus, delicious. The Bollinger continued to evolve in glass and to me is a food wine. The Comtes slid down a treat. It was a fabulous pair to kick off with.

Only one white Burgundy showed itself which I guess is understandable. The one we had was Meursault Tessons 1996 from Pierre Morey, the bottle was in good shape. A lovely nose of reduction with a little ripe citrus in the background gave way to a more unctuous and slightly less refined palate but still a good one. This was in great shape for what it is, technically at least, a village wine albeit that Tesson is a pretty top end Lieu dit.

The second white we had was a unique bottling - Pinot Gris Hommage a Georgette Trimbach 1996 from Trimbach - which I have not managed to find out a lot about but can only imagine was a one-off tribute to the named. This was good, certainly not bone dry. The fruit character was apples, pears and a little apricot to start that then as air got in there there was a definite lychee character. This was delicious with that typical Alsace Pinot Gros character of weighty spice. A flexible wine to serve at almost any stage.  

We then had the first of several full on pairs of blind reds. First we were in Burgundy via a conversation where we tried to convince ourselves we might be in the northern rhone.

Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras 1996 from Ghislaine Barthod was a little stalky with a note of cheesecloth maturity. This is a quite stern wine, not offering flirty Chambolle fruit, more like Gevrey in character. It was good but possibly a shade lean. The other wine was Clos Vougeot Grand Cru 1996 from Grivot, this was richly pungent and much more dense, a good example of Clos Vougeot character. A shade reduced but in a good proper way. A nice pair without either suggesting, as seems to be the case, that there is a lot of sweet fruit about 1996 red burgundies.

Bordeaux was always going to figure strongly in this tasting. The next pair turned out to be Ducru Beaucaillou 1996 and Leoville Barton 1996. Sadly the Barton was the only bottle on the evening that was not quite right. It was not corked but was very muted and a little metallic, a shame as it's a good wine when bang on form. The Ducru was very good, rich, full, quite lush and juicy, a little volatile (no bad thing in my book) and with a good bit of Iron to it. It tasted how I imagine the Ducru's made today will taste which is good. I was a big fan.

Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon 1996 went up against the Flor de Pingus 1996 that I took. This was an interesting pairing the Dalla Valle was/is not an estate I know at all. The wine was bold, quite glycerol without being over the top, an edge of tarry savoury character. The Flor was a better balanced  wine (the general view, not just my bias) with a little more poise, nobody got it as Spanish. I have had it a few times before and since and it's a lovely wine.

And so to our last pairing. I think consensus had it that Pichon Lalande 1996 was the wine of the night. So classically left bank in nature, gunpowder, dark fruits, some saline and lovely deep but balanced texture. The wine it was "up against" was the Dunn Vineyards Howell Moutain Cabernet Sauvignon 1996 which had a deep power about it some of the tar of the Dalla Valle as well as licorice and a slightly syrupy feel. It was good and would have been all the more lovely if not up against the powerful grace of the Lalande.

Whilst we had a nice squabble over the wines we drank a bottle of Latour a Pomerol 2009 which slightly suffered by comparison with more mature wines but is good from the previous tastings I have had if not quite at the level of the 2010. In fact 2009/2010 became one of the main discussion points. All in all, and from this small sample, 1996 remains a good all round vintage for the serious wine lover.

I just want to thank everyone for their generous bottles and Mike for organising the evening so well. What next?

A "must have" - the Crab Raviolo with Samphire, Brown Shrimps, Fondue of Leeks and Bisque sauce

Sager & Wilde my first trip (and certainly not my last)

This evening made it's way into the diary a good two months earlier. It was with three like minded wine lovers. The venue was always going to be Sager & Wilde and having heard a lot about this place (all good, which is rare) there were no protests from me. They have a wonderful list put together by several of the team there but all from wines they love and want to drink. The Wine List just makes you want to trade up and the fact that the wines have the same (very modest) cash margin has the same effect. They must be selling a lot of the best actual bottles from "off the list" in London these days. The food offering is basic in a good way. Cold meats, great toasties and more simple dishes, all deliciously wine friendly without ever becoming fussy and certainly no need for cutlery.

The format of the evening was a sort of "your turn" scenario with all the wines coming from the list. There were several people who wandered over and shared bottles during the evening which is one of the great things about a place like this…it attracts kindred spirits... 

So, we were off and running with a little blind red…

Wetzer Kekfrancos 2011 Sopron, Hungary - Totally new on me and I guessed Cru Beaujolais…lovely aromatic blackberry and black cherry fruit with a real lift. The palate is round in shape rather than linear and the only way you could criticise this wine would be to say it is a little hollow but then, there is a lovely elegant finish, mellow with a dose of wet stones, impressive. We were then on to the whites for the next few bottles.

Enviate "Taganan" Parcela Amogoje Blanco 2012, Jose Paster Selections, Canary Islands - Ok so a long wine name (and the list of grape varieties is even worse!) and a rather smart Raveneau-esque capsule. This actually had a lovely Chablis-like character with a sort of waxy grapefruit. This showed a maturity (not tiredness) that would make you think it was 5 years older.

Barraco Catarratto 2012, Sicily - This I thought was absolutely delicious, a herbal wine with citrus and then a complex texture but never heavy…lovely…good choice Mr R.

Bourgogne Aligote 2000, Pierre Morey - Ok so this was my first pick with some help from Michael (owner)…I just thought that as we were doing things blind it's nice to watch and let people try when you know it is almost impossible (not in a cruel way just a fascinating one). The nose was mature and apple-like but NOT bruised apples, then the apples became toffee apples, good acidity…a great experience if not an "everyday tipple".

Hermitage Blanc 1997, Chave - This had a bit of time in a decanter but if truth be told it could have been there for hours. A rich texture without becoming heavy, a nose of honey and flowers a substantial palate…superbly hedonistic…have a look at the picture, annotated by DB to leave nobody in any doubt about who the bottle needed to be drunk by.

We ten thought "it's time for some red"…already this evening was building well…you need 4 whites before moving to the "serious" stuff!

Barbaresco 1970, Produttori del Barbaresco - I spotted this when looking for my white so had it decanted then. I have a massive love for this Co-op, the best anywhere. I have also had considerable joy with Piedmont wines from 1970 so this just seemed too good to miss. A wonderful expression of deep Nebbiolo in a very traditional style. Good dollops of Iodine in amongst a beautiful bruised black fruit, a cracking acidity to keep the freshness, tarry and perfect now.

Volnay 1er Cru Mitans 1988, Domaine de Montille - Mr P then struck with a very clever choice that had us all searching around Piedmont again only f0r it to be Volnay…what's that expression about being wrong for the right reasons? After the "reveal" I wish I'd been a bit more logical about things but hey the wine was good, fully mature and autumnal but in an elegant way.
  
Hermitage Le Greal 1983, Sorrel - My notes on this wine are rather hard to read given the rather vulgar doodling by DB but then he chose the wine. Exceptional and probably wine of the night all in all. aged tobacco and leaf tea, very fine red fruit too. Then a meaty mid-palate of liquid beef stock and dry Oxo cube before ending with a white pepper balance. Clearly of full maturity (certainly not on the way down though) but I was struggling to say Northern or Southern Rhone and went for the later - wrong of course. Very good wine!

Mas de Daumas Gassac 1989 - I found myself back in the hot seat and went for this for two reasons, Firstly I had a case of the 2000 that I drank ridiculously early on, never a bad thing if you're drinking it because you simply like it. Secondly, I have never had it when mature. This was dense and black in an "Iron meets cool climate Cab Sauv" sort of way, did I like it? Yes, was it charming? Not really. I'd love to try it again as the only red and with a great steak.   

The numbers around our table seemed to have swelled now and the next couple were wines we were very kindly given tasters of... 

Windgap Pinot Noir (not sure of vintage) - A very rich and high octane style of Pinot…may be a little "worked" but good, so much fruit…

Clos de papes CNDP 1998 - a "puppy" of a wine…it's all there and brooding in intensity and fruit, good minerality but a wine that definitely will be even better with time, not because "it" isn't all here now but because when the fruit is looser and the structure more organised it'll be superb…made a mental note to try this again in 7-8years…very good. 

Nuit-Saint-Georges "Aux Saint Julien" 2000, Daniel Bocqueret - I remember liking this but little more…taxi to North London please!!

Great evening that will be repeated….interesting cycle in the next morning...