Lunch at Ronaldinho's...

A brilliant luncheon served by Ronaldinho at his house, brilliant food and just the job for the vast array of wonderful wines. Almost all the wines where from the cellar of the house. The storage, as the bottles showed, is perfect.

The assembled was the usual gang "The lads" – Ronaldinho, Irish, Chewy, Newcastle, Halifax and a couple of "Bon oeufs" who more than got the idea, I think they’ve spent years practicing!

There was the normal amount of boyish abuse as one would expect but at the end of the day everything was just so dam enjoyable…

The wines:

Scharzhofberger Riesling Spatlese 1999, E.Muller - Beautiful balance, fresh, young with a little spritz and soft citrus fruit, years ahead of it.

Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese 1996, J.J.Prum - A little resinous and with more volume than the Muller, more texture, more richness but not the focus in honesty.

Chevalier-Montrachet 1986, Neillon - Smokey, honey, yoghurt, then struck match, not really showing the full age that it is, a lovely wine.

Montrachet 1992, Ramonet - Beautiful acidity and richness, profoundly good, very fine, smokey element but also rich fruit, white fruit, a little reduced with that hint of struck match, sublime, a wonderful wine that would be in the top ten bottles of the year any year, a privilege.

Mercurey 1971, Hugues & Yves de de Suremain - (served blind) Fascinating, fully mature, not serious but with aged red fruit and a little spice too, we all had a guess and I think I went for 60’s Gevrey…one of us went for Grenache and I could totally see why. Not the shabiest of vintages!



Volnay 1er Cru Taillpieds 1993, d’Angerville - Deliciously opulent colour, nose of red fruit and violets, almost cranberry, a lovely crunch to the fruit. Very interesting to contrast with Clos de Ducs 1993 tasted a few weeks later (blog to come!).

Volnay 1er Cru Taillpieds 1990, d’Angerville - Beetroot strong in colour, slightly chalky texture, opulent, a wine you’d love all to yourself to drink over a few hours and really wallow in. Juicy richness and a combination of red and black fruit.


Dominus 1991 - Mint and eucalyptus, amazingly youthful, opulent, almost like a time capsule or like it had been under screw cap. This was served blind and while I said I agreed with the idea of USA (or Australia even) I said loudly that there was no way it was Dominus! Oh how wrong.

Giscours 1966, BBR bottling - Very distinct black pepper, some nervous acidity, very good, dark fruit but not without lift, somehow I couldn't get as excited as some about this but it was very good.

Palmer 1966, BBR bottling - Gorgeous nose of sweet fruit and a floral edge of violets, really stunning, the palate did not live up to the balanced fresh beauty of the nose but to be fair it was a crazy act to follow.

Ducru Beaucaillou 1970 - Saline, has a little hint of swimming pool, this goes quickly, then we have a good luscious palate that is delicious right now.

Palmer 1970 (magnum) - Pepper and mint with a savoury edge, more savoury than Ducru as a whole, my note says “I like this but it is not exciting”

Romanee-Saint-Vivant 2001, S.Cathiard - Quite high octane, very pure, very lifted and very red fruit, some creaminess to the palate, very much primary, really good, stops short of being too glossy. Impressed.


Romanee-Saint-Vivant 1990, DRC - Decadent, delicious, so fine, perfect now but no rush of course, has real depth of texture, red fruit mainly but also some black in the back ground, in an early secondary phase, so long, delicious, just lovely…

Bonnes Mares 1985, Dujac (magnum) - The sort of wine that almost makes you feel guilty for loving it’s openness and just pure opulent loveliness. There is a slightly degraded, sweet Asian spice and a slight orange rind aroma, really very delicious. Could drink lots of this...

Chambertin 1983, Rousseau - Mature in a masculine way, a savoury earthiness to this, good power but not a bruiser, I liked this, may be not the freshness of some of the wines but very impressive for 1983.

The order got slightly strange from here, as did my note taking...

Yquem 1975 – Superb, I have had this a couple of times and always liked it but this particular bottle was on electric form, bright and focused but maturing, a very classical Yquem, a sort of savoury crème brulee base but at the same time fresh fruit…bang on!
Cheval Blanc 1964 - dry but very decent if not exciting (bottle was a very low level).

Fonseca 1963 - in many ways a similarly brilliant experience to the Yquem, just a pristine example of a great bottle, black fruit and compote but also just the right amount of pepper and spice, not heavy but rich and full, still in mid age, excitingly good.

Chambertin 1990, Rousseau - Was just as you can imagine, rich, brooding and full. So very long...should have paid more attention...

Chewy and I managed to avoid the drinks trolley on the train home but I am sure we talked some right old nonsense rather loudly...

A legendary day...when's the next one?