Last night I was very kindly asked to a "50 years of
Grands Echezeaux, DRC" dinner at Christies in conjuction with Linden
Wilkie's Fine Wine Experience. The setting was the directors dining room, the
food hearty and well chosen so as not to overshadow the wines but compliment
them. Duck, Mushroom Risotto, Beef and finally Cheese. The bottles had been
double decanted (younger wines only) and all sourced in Europe. Many from the
UK agent (who I work for so watch out for bias). The wines were all at a
perfect "cool" temperature and served in flights as shown by the
lines below.
All wines (except 1989) where true
examples. All showed well. The "assembled" felt that the balance and lightness of
touch was excellent. The vintage shone through well and everyone loved the fact
there appeared to be little or no effort for there to be a “house style”. My scores reflect my thoughts on the bottles on the evening, those in brackets are what I have guessed at as a potential final achievement. I was very impressed by the range as a whole. This is the first vertical tasting of anything like this scale that I have done with the DRC wines. So on with the tasting notes and observations.
2008 Crunchy red fruit, ginger and a dash of white pepper, a lightness of
touch, vibrant colour, redcurrant and cranberry in there, will be serious now
it is enticing, good refined grip at the end, long. 18
(19)
2006 More dense than 2008, deeper darker fruits, more black than red, a
sleeper? Less spice than 2008, more brooding, the overriding impression is of
depth and complexity to come. A fascinating future. More in the mould of 2000 or
2002 than 2008 or 2001. 17.5
(18)
2005 Like a two year old colt that you know will be a great three year old,
one to leave and let develop. This wine is a little closed on the nose but the
palate and the texture says it all, depth and precision at the same time, very
fine. 18.5
(19)
------------
2002 Very typical and just as expected, very 2002, a dash of degradation,
developed, a wine that will open out in time, a touch of cheesecloth, bruised
fruit, good acidity, profound rather than pretty, very masculine. 18
(18.5)
2001 Refined, poised, focused and rapier like, a softer 2008? Feminine and
balanced very pure red fruits but depth too. Very complete and as typical of
2001 as the 2002 is of that vintage. 18.5
2000 A little more spread-out on the palate, reveals it character now, open
and expressive, mushroom development and little good decay, a drinker for the
hedonist. 17
------------
1999 Very much a class act, that slightly cheesecloth nose but so much depth
and focus, lots of fruit, rich but so weightless at the same time, velvety
texture without being simple and too easy a very fine wine, appreciable now but
with masses to give. 18.5
(19)
1998 Loose-knit, a little evolved, decent fruit, grip a little marked, good
but no more. 17
1995 Fresh red fruit and considerable poise, at the crossroads between young
and mature. 18
1991 Simply delicious, multi-faceted fruit, red, black and in between,
silken texture but grip too, at the beginning of what I think will be a long
peak, harmonious to the very end, long and very fine. 19
-------------
1989 Colour was good, nose acetic and very “funky”, waited for that to “blow
off” but it didn’t. A strange bottle. No score.
1988 A developed and mature example, mushroom and chestnuts on the nose,
sweetness of fruit still there. Good now, fully mature to my mind.18
1969 A fully mature wine. Still with life, colour now pale. Fruit was there
but in the background. Tertiary aromas prevalent but still elegant, enjoyable
and very interesting but not for the longer term. 18
1959 A great wine and I could see elements of the 1991 about this wine. It
is mature but still only secondary in aromas, my note says “like a 21yr old who
has lived a lot”, there was an almost caramel edge on the very tipoff the tonue
and after time in the glass a little delicate coffee two, very impressive and
not in decline. 19
A really wonderful tasting and one I feel sure I will never repeat.
Some time in the middle of last week a day sort of sprung up out of nowhere as a very good wine day. Following a fascinating morning meeting (can't say "fascinating" and "meeting" appear together in too many sentences in my life) we went down to Zucca for lunch and following a glass of Franciacorta we had three reds, all good, all very different. Clos de Tart 2003 led the way and was, as it always seems to be, a very good wine but also an atypical one that could (and I am saying could with some bias) be a legend in as much as it is all there and often the legendary bottles come from vintages with a degree of excess, we'll see. It sits somewhere between Burgundy and Rhone in its rich density, if you get the chance to try it then do, Andrew Jefford wrote a good article about the wine but I can't find it. Next was Barbaresco Crichet Paje 1988, Roagna which was a little gem, savoury but fruited too, at its peak but not fading one bit I would say, delicious. From one block in Paje, "Crichet" in dialect means hillock. The 3rd wine was a wine I have had many times Barolo Brunate - Le Coste 2003, Guiseppe Rinaldi, it like the Clos de Tart is from a vintage of excess but those traditional producers (i.e. no new oak, in fact deliberately old oak) did well and Rinaldi is, as is Roagna, amongst these and one of the best. This is such but savoury..it was a cracking trio, as ever surrounded by simple food executed so well.
