Latour a Pomerol - historic vertical...

After a run of really rather amazing "Jordi dinners" over the last year or so:

40th Birthday
La Tache vertical

Grouse and Richebourg at The Square

Clos des Ducs 1920-2002 at La Trompette

I was especially looking forward to this - a very thorough look at the wines of Latour a Pomerol at Les 110 de Taillevent in London with Edouard Moueix in attendance. I have always had a real soft spot for Latour a Pomerol, now yes there might be a commercial edge to that (I work for the agent) but it is more than that. The estate has made several legendary wines. It is part of a very great collection of right bank estates in the hands of ETS JP Moueix. It still somehow seems to fly slightly under the radar. I think this is for a couple of reasons, it is made as a wine to drink, it tastes well when young but is not showy or uber-extracted. People always tend to think that something must be wrong if the legendary wines of the past have not been replicated, not so. I am always excited to open a bottle, even more so a magnum of course, of Latour a Pomerol.

A few stats and background on Latour a Pomerol

7.9 hectares

90% Merlot

10% Cabernet Franc

Two plots: Firstly the nucleus which is 5 ha from the original Clos de Grandes-Vignes located on the central plateau on gravel soils close to l'Eglise St-Jean. The second plot named l'Ecole is located around the Chateau adjacent to La Grave a Pomerol on gravel soils and produces a slightly lighter wine than the first plot.

Production: Around 2500 cases a year, with no second wine

The team at "110" did well with the wines and the full menu can be seen here (a few pics are at the end of the post).

Pate en croute
Foie Gras canape

Mushroom Tartlet Cocktail

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Duck egg, poached, lardorns, champignos de Paris, baby onions

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Risotto, creamy with a fricassee of girolles

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Turbot meuniere, beurre blanc

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Saddle of lam, roasted with pickled garlic, glove and rosemary

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Le Vieux Comte, 30 mois d'affinage

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Petit Fours

I have resisted the temptation to score the wines in this post. I would find it very difficult and therefore it is rather pointless. When comparing a wine that is young (2005) with a wine that is very old (1929) what do you really achieve with scores?

Bollinger started us off as so often at Jordi's dinners, it was rather apt here as the Moeuix family often serve it. R.D. 2002 en magnum was the choice here, very taut and reductive with a little mocha note, clearly will repay considerable time.

The wines were split into logical flights as below:

Recent Vintages
2005 - So full of vibrant fruit with just a dash of saline. Very moreish and alive, voluptuous but with good structure...excitingly good. As with other 2005's this is just starting to "strut it's stuff".

2000 - A little bit of stink, then opens into a wine that is lovely from now onwards, still primary in fruit but with added complexity. I would love to drink this alongside the 2005 in another 5 years. A little spice to finish. Proper!

1998 - A little more savoury and textured, a little iron on the palate . Very moreish indeed. At a lovely point in its evolution - the beginning of the second phase. The quality of the 1998 right bankers is still not really as well known as it should be. Complete. 

1996 - Quite iodine like, with a little meatiness and then a very slight lack of flesh on the palate (the vintage) compared to what went before. Nice to drink now without profundity coming along. More a wine of minerality than fruit. Solid.

1995 - Really good, a vintage that has somehow not had the profile or praise it deserves. There are proper tannins here with the nicely mellowed fruit to contrast. Will age well for sure but good now. Everything as it should be. Classically Pomerol.

Mature Vintages
1990 - Sadly not a perfect bottle. there was a minty volatile edge but then an overly lean and savoury palate. A shame.

1986 - Meaty but also sweet, elegantly developed, pretty and almost fragile. Surprisingly good for such a "Cabernet" vintage. Really like-able.

1985 - Ever so slightly muted nose initially but then this revealed a lovely red-fruited sweetness and lovely moreish (how many times do I have to say this!) texture. This is perfect now, so wonderfully drinkable, preferably in volume! There is the balance to age further by why would you. Just lovely.

1982 - Some iron-like savoury note then almost sweetness, a little blood but with lovely fresh acidity, expressive, extrovert and slightly high-toned.

It was lovely to see the wines so far had almost perfectly translated the general perceptions of the specific vintages. 

Iconic 1970's
1978 en magnum - Volatile, "bricky", harsh and dried out more like 30 year old Sangiovese than Bordeaux. Edouard commented that this was almost exactly what he had expected from this substandard and very dry vintage. 

1975 - Corked (gutted as this is both Jordi and my vintage)

1971 - Stunning, so easy to enjoy, lovely now, so persistently sweet and fine. A cracking Pomerol vintage. Delicious notes of pure ripeness. Supreme...Wow!

1970 - Corked (a real shame as Edouard spoke very highly of good bottles of this)

Transition to ETS JP Moueix
1966 - A little more gritty and grainy and truffled than the 1971. I initially wondered if this might fade in the glass but it did the opposite getting more focused, there is a lovely nuttiness, not normally a positive in reds. There is a sweetness. Very fine.

1964 - Sightly briney, almost a note of bill-tong and pepper, lovely body with good texture and considerable power, a fully mature but not fading wine. Masculine and intriguing.

1962 - Really impressive, fully mature, precise, really lifted, pretty special, almost a mocha note towards the end, stood up well in the glass. A treat.

1961 - Corked, a rather collective sigh, but then one shouldn't meet their heros.

Madame Loubat
1955 - Really lifted, extrovert, superb, manages to be refined in a mellow way at the same time as being unreservedly hedonistic. Is there a better vintage for Bordeaux? My experiences of the 1955 vintage are almost universally spectacular. This was so good that I don't know I would want to have it again, if that makes any sense.

1953 - I think this suffered from following the captivating 1955 because in every other way it was glorious, a little creme brulee richness on the nose. Decadent. 

1952 - Clearly a cooler vintage, bricky and a little lactic, a very slight Bual character, just a well-bred wine that is getting weary.

1949 - Quite high toned and a shade volatile, a little madeirised and delicate.

1945 - Decadent notes, dates in the mix, delicious, good acidity, lifted (the acidity) but also dense, really lovely. 

1937 - Butch and rich but then disjointed not quite sure what this was, very dry and did not really fit with the other wines. 

1929 - High and dry, a little pithy, the palate is clean but totally dried out, rasping. The acidity means it is drinkable but astringent. By all accounts a very small crop with heat in September.

Climens 1942 - Sweet cep nose, mushrooms and brioche, oranges and now quite dry. weirdly would have made a good appetizing aperitif as well as a fascinating ending.

So what would I say in conclusion or summary? Well, Latour a Pomerol certainly has a great past but it is the present and the future that were the learning for me. I think everyone around the table, with the possible exception of Edouard who already knew, was very pleased to see how beautifully the younger vintages drank. Any site that can make wines as brilliant as the 1955 and 2005 but 50 years apart is exciting. There is a grace and elegance to Latour a Pomerol that can almost work against it in terms of standing out around En primeur time or in amongst other showier, glossier wines at tastings. To me Latour a Pomerol remains a very very good Pomerol that portrays the character of a vintage very well and drinks so splendidly...long may it continue! Thanks for the opportunity to taste these Jordi!

Duck egg, poached, lardorns, champignos de Paris, baby onions

Risotto, creamy with a fricassee of girolles

Turbot meuniere, beurre blanc

Saddle of lam, roasted with pickled garlic, glove and rosemary

Produttori del Barbaresco - a vertical of Pora...

This was the first dinner/tasting I experienced with a group known as the "Rabelaisians" run by Rob and Sara. The idea is a simple split the bill scenario with a theme - horizontal or vertical - for each dinner.

As the title gives away this was vertical of the "Pora" Cru from Produttori del Barbaresco. A little bit of background that is shamelessly botched together from the "net" follows.

The arrival of Cavazza in 1881 in Barbaresco put the spotlight onto the region and in 1894 he founded the Cantina Sociale di Barbaresco with a group of nine growers. Though the quality of the nebbiolo grown in the region had long been recognized, the newly founded Cantina is generally recognized as the birthyear of ‘Barbaresco’. Two World Wars and the subsequent poverty in Italy had a profound effect on the region and revival only started in the 1960s and 1970s thanks to a generation of young growers such as Angelo Gaja, Bruno Giacosa and the cooperative cellar of Produttori del Barbaresco, the successor of the original Cantina Sociale di Barbaresco. Barbaresco became a DOC in 1966 and a DOCG in 1980.

Produttori del Barbaresco was founded in 1958 by a local priest Don Fiorino Marengo to retain Barbaresco’s young farmers in the area. Today it is recognized as one of the leading producers in the region and its members own one-sixth of the vineyards in Barbaresco. Winemaking in the cellars is very traditional with 28-day fermentations and ageing in large casks. Produttori del Barbaresco Website

Pora

Pora is widely considered as the flagship wine of Produttori. It was at one time owned by Domizio Cavazza and among the first single vineyard wines to be released by the cooperative. It is south-southwest facing, bordering Asili on Calcareous blue marl. The single vineyard’Pora’ bottling is always a Riserva and today aged for three years in botti. 

I was very excited by this tasting as I have always looked to buy the Produttori wines and in fact have blogged about some examples before

2005 - Montefico and Asili
1970 - Barbaresco

The venue will surprise nobody - Zucca, the menu is below:

Salumi Misti

Buffalo Mozzarella with roasted pumpkin

Vitello tonnato

Taglerini, rabbit ragu and crispy sage

Slow cooked pork shoulder, porcini and yellow polenta

Chocolate and salted caramel tart, hazelnut ice cream

Taglerini, rabbit ragu and crispy sage

The wines were served in three flights of four wines each.

Flight 1

2005 - Rich, lovely, precise, has a bit of bite, black cherry, quite bold but clean, blacker fruit that normal. 17

2004 - Ever so slightly closed, slightly airy which is just an expression of it seriousness I guess. There is an intensity about it's texture. It seems an odd comment but this is very clean and precise, long also, I am guessing this will be quite something. 18+

2001 - Slightly disappointing...saline and leather, very masculine, tasting 5-10 years older than it should be. A little too degraded. I have a feeling the bottle was not perfect, it just seemed a little heavy. No score.

2000 - You can tell this was a warm vintage, it has that slightly bruised fruit and a slight lack of precision. A tiny bit dry at the end and without much upside in terms of cellaring, you could keep it but why. All that sounds negative but actually as a wine to drink now it's a good glass. It's just a bit more Monday/Tuesday night Spag Bol than Thursday night truffle pasta if that makes sense. 15.5

Verdict - overall I think people liked 2004 then 2005 with the other two a little behind and general agreement that 2001 wasn't "spot on".

Flight 2

1999 - Some maturity coming, clean, intense, tightly wound, a slight bricky red fruit, Iron and lifted herbs. Really pure and for the purist also. Excitingly correct and proper, just what it should be! 18.5

1997 - Almost a slight greek yoghurt nose, deep and sweet, a slight aniseed edge, degraded but with some strawberry fruit, of the same style as the 2000 but with more to offer. 16.5-17
  

1996 - A little bit of "swimming pool" (not a bad note oddly) then some pine and resin, soy and a little spice but essentially very lean and a little angular, a slight wet-hay greenness. There were a few who thought this corked, I didn't. It was just mean to me, very 1996 in a way. 16

1995 - Initial nose reminds me of caramel, good acidity and nicely complete wine, there is richness and a little salinity (never quite managed to be salted caramel). There is not masses of fruit here but this is good. 17.5

Verdict - No real consensus, many preferred the 1997 but it was third in my book, interesting differences, a flight that slightly lacked fruit given it is not old yet. I'd have that 1999 in my cellar any day (wouldn't last long mind you)

Wine of the night? Only just...

Flight 3

1985 - Beautiful, persistent, elegant, saline, red fruit, simple stoney minerality, the only other vintage it could have been was 1982, absolutely lovely. 18 

1978 - Some stink (sewage even) that passed very quickly then some degraded fruit, good acidity is coming through, sweetness is there and then some soy, this is at a lovely stage and is really quite decadent. 18

1971 - "Swimming pool" initially this passes and leaves trademark salinity thereafter you have archetypal aged nebbiolo, fruit of which some is red, then you have a savoury edge, bovril and soy...really delicious. Complete 18.5

1970 - Some spice, rich, blacker fruit, may be the youngest tasting of this flight, amazing texture and darker colour. There really is something different and special about the 1970 vintage, several wines I have had have this deeper darker body, with some there is a specific reason (Monprivato). Superb 18 

Verdict - A dream of a flight, more because all wines showed exactly what you would want them too in terms of the perceived vintage characteristics.

A real fun evening, well organised and Pora showed very well...buy it when it is released!

Thanks to Rob and Sara...

The tasting of a lifetime...

This is the second post from the biennial meeting of the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti agents from round the world, the first one, a tasting of the 2012's can be found Here. This tasting is very probably the most special and unique tasting I will ever do. I thought long and hard about whether to post this as I do not want it to appear remotely like an attempt to show off, on balance I just thought that wine is for enjoying and to not post it would be silly. We had been "warned" at a light lunch (see next post) that there was a special tasting coming in the afternoon but I don't think anyone dared think it might be what it was.

When we entered the room and saw the set up it was instantly exciting, then it became clear it was to be:

10 Vintages of Romanee-Conti

There was an instant feeling of something simply unique. In terms of the details, the wines we all served in Reidel Burgundy glasses, poured and tasted as we went, unlabelled bottles at the perfect "cool" temperature.

The only wine in this range I had ever had before was the 1971 when Aubert received the Decanter Man of the Year. After each vintage there is the date of picking and then the yield.

1971
27^th September

22hl/ha

Aubert noted that this was a small harvest where tweezers were used to select the good grapes.

There is some Bovril brown to the colour but it has the vibrant colour of young Bual Madeira. The nose has a beautiful degraded sweetness, so clean and vibrant. There is an amazing primary note to the fruit, red fruit but not light red. Initially on the palate the nose is confirmed, fruit again but a dash of white pepper freshness, persistence on the tongue, such life. This is a vibrant and lively wine almost exactly a third fruit, a third savoury and the final third is a saline, mineral structure. There is good focusing acidity.

The length is superb, minutes long and fresh, almost more fruit as time goes on, so elegant yet so firmly persistent. There is nothing you would change about this wine.

On re-visiting at the end of the tasting it had mellowed and melded together even more. Almost a raisin and red fruit combination.

1966

5^th October

35hl/ha

Aubert’s second year at the Domaine.

Similar to the 1971 in colour, a shade more tea like and a little paler to the rim. So pretty, my initial reaction is to say this is more feminine that the 1971. There is a touch more salinity on the nose, very fresh and very airy fruit, weightless. Such persistence and rigor to the nose. Both the nose and the finish have such exceptionally wonderful fruit. A shade bruised and degraded but pure. The palate, in-between is more rich and has a savoury depth. With air a few more meaty and stock-like notes appear. Long again, the finish changes from fruit to tea and herbs. Superb.

On re-visiting at the end of the tasting I found wonderful fruit, almost citrus, orange and tangerine. So lively.

1964

4^th October

38hl/ha

A more saturated or thicker colour, not quite as pure in colour either, quite bold and thick to the rim. Initially there are more tertiary notes and more animal, less red fruit but still has an amazing vibrancy. It is at a different stage, there is a tiny bit of spice, some sweet leather. Then there is fruit, the palate has a monstrous complexity but still a fundamental lift, there is a “bricky” tea leaf element. With air there is a lot of degraded sweet fruit. A long finish and one that goes from savoury to fruit.

On re-visiting at the end of the tasting I found more degraded sweetness, real intensity, lift but depth, some caramel-like sweetness.

1961

7^th October

25hl/ha

Similar colour to the 1964 but with a little more purity. The nose has a note of mushroom then with air a heady, spicy fruit with a saline and berry fruit lift. Initially on the palate there is such amazing sweetness, a little lively note on the tongue, a lighter almost rosewater finish follows, this is delicate and tender, the finish is a perfect foil for the sweetness of the attack. Almost a green pepper note, but it is one of life and intensity, really special. 

On re-visiting at the end of the tasting it was a little more herbal, spicy, smokey almost a shade nutty.

The most famous cross in the wine world

1959

26^th September

40hl/ha

A shade deeper in colour in the middle. The nose is only describable as “WOW”, so much life, caramel in abundance, extrovert, sweet and showy.  Power and prowess, so hedonistic. Very difficult to describe, such is the density of the sweet almost fudge-like nose. There is fruit but it is sweetly degraded. In a way this is like a warmer older brother of the 1971. There is more weight to this that any other vintage in this tasting. I think it is fair to say it does not have the multi-dimensional complexity of some. It does though show the intensity and ripeness of the vintage. The biggest yield and earliest picking date of this tasting.

On re-visiting at the end of the tasting it was just confirmed that in the nicest possible way this is a “Freak” of a wine.

1955

14^th October

30hl/ha

Clear and pale but definitely a tanned colour. Following the 1959 is rather difficult, but this has unbelievably persistent fruit, and lots of it, airy light fruit that dances, this is so elegant on the nose. The palate is a little more savoury but the fruit returns quickly, little or no saline edge. I would imagine this has always been elegant and pure…tea aromas, splendid wine.

On re-visiting at the end of the tasting I found the fruit was still so poised, some of the fruit character is a little more orange like, a very complex wine.

NOTE: I felt that the 1961, 1959 & 1955 were like three siblings with very different characters.

1961 – A late bloomer.

1959 – The school boy hero…captain of the rugby team.

1955 – The quiet achiever.

1952

29^th September

24hl/ha

The first vintage after the tearing up of the vineyard, the vines therefore were only 5 years old. There is a sensible argument made by Andrew Noblet that the bunches in this vintage profited from the “mulch” that resulted from the soil being fully turned over during the replanting.

Deeper in colour than the 1955, full tawny with no red at all. The nose is a little more muted than many. There is a more resinous note and it is a little pine like. The texture is lovely and it is “all there” just a little closed. There is a herbal edge and a persistence.

When coming back to this at the end it had become a little darker and with more soy.

1943

8^th October

Yield not known

This was the last vintage before the grubbing up of the vines and was a difficult vintage. Some tobacco then almost perfect mushroom aromas, like soaking dried mushrooms in boiling water.  Again a touch of soy. Very, very classy and precise, herbs did show as well. Very persistent and fine, more breadth than depth. A little Asian spice and a long, long finish, I really like this.

On re-visiting there was more and more life and more and more cep.

1935

15^th October

Yield not known

Very pale with hints of copper. Tea leaf and life with a dash of Sercial character. There is complete maturity here as you would expect. So light in colour but so flavoured and strong. There is a note of coconut and dry pineapple. This does have a tangy, slightly orange-like character. The aromas change every time you put your nose in the glass. You could just drink and enjoy this or spend 3 hours writing down all the nuances. A beautiful wine.

Alpine notes, herbal on re-visiting.

1919

2^nd October

23hl/ha

“Bright” brown, almost a hint of rose about the very light but clear colour. A “manure” nose initially with very farmyard aromas. There is no madeirisation at all, very mellow indeed. It does have very gentle fruit sweetness. With every swirl, and on coming back after a few minutes it is far less farmyard and more complete. Prettier and prettier. Amazing for a 96 years old!

A truly wonderful tasting that I will never forget, it that more than showed off the staggering beauty of this Cru.

Clos des Ducs 1920-2002 @ La Trompette...

What a line-up

A Grande way to start!

This was an a unique opportunity, set up by the hard work of Jordi Orriols-Gil to taste so many different vintages of the Clos des Ducs a 1er Cru monopole belonging to Marquis d’Angerville. It was wonderful to have Guillaume d’Angerville there. Guillaume is the 6^th generation of the family to head the estate that by common consent is the pacesetter in Volnay. The Clos des Ducs itself is a 2.15 hectare site (Volnay 1er Cru is 110 hectares as a whole) and has a unique exposure in Volnay being the most northerly of the vineyards and facing East-South-East.

The dinner was held at La Trompette in Chiswick, the service and food really worked well. We started with Bollinger Grande Annee 1982 from Magnum – A little spritz on the attack then the wine gets quite mellow pretty quickly. Some toffee and richness, dry but nutty, quite a foody Champagne, very much Pinot based. Good.

Flight 1

Pot roast pheasant , root vegetables and chestnuts - A beautifully clean dish with just the right about of flavour, reminded me how much I love chestnuts in things.

Legend in the making?

2002 – A dash of cheesecloth, very red cherried purity, some lovely minerality to the palate, showing very well if dense and taut. Serious wine with really lovely balance. If you own it you’ll be best off being patient and excited!

2000 – A little darker in the fruit character than the 2002, with a little spice and black pepper, very typical of 2000 red burgundy in being balanced, easy and really quite accessible, there is a warmth. Nothing like the seriousness of the 2002 but a lovely bottle.

1999 – The last wine of the first flight. I often, almost always, prefer the 1999’s to the 2002’s. This had a very vibrant red fruit core with a little grip to the finish, serious for a 1999 when often they show less structure. Possibly not quite the potential of the 2002 but nicely different and very good.

Flight 2

Hand rolled macaroni with Vacherin mont d’or, ceps and burgundy truffle – A rich dish with flavours that complimented the age development the wines are starting to show.

1996 – Richness here and density but as with many 1996’s is there charm? I think the room was divided, I like the strictness of the wine but I think it is something of an acquired taste, may be my Nebbiolo obsession helps here. There is a nervous intensity, if it were a person it would be an academic.

1995 – This was a surprise package, balanced and approachable, really lovely actually, just easy to enjoy, there is structure but it has started to mellow.

1991 – This bottle had a little seepage and on tasting sadly it showed, not fair to comment really as there had been definite oxidation. Other reports on the wine from those who have tasted recently were glowing so a shame.

1990 – Deep colour and rich texture, the most savoury yet. I could see the 2002 developing this way. There is power but also hedonistic opulence, very impressive and very true to the vintage.

1993 – This was a late addition and a splendid one. I had the Taillepieds 1993 recently and really enjoyed it. This had a similarly, al be it more concentrated, feel to it, red currant fruit and crunchy freshness, really lovely right now, almost crisp which is amazing for a wine of 21 years old.

Flight 3

Fillet of John Dory with smoked lardo and creamed potato– A fish dish that didn’t really behave like one, delicious use of texture.

1989 – Quite savoury with an opulent texture, hazelnut, chocolate and mocha all appeared on the nose, amazingly different in style. There is fruit but it is secondary, a sexy vintage and a very impressive wine. The 1980 vintage flight as a whole was very strong.

1988 – To my mind this was not a perfect bottle, a dusty slightly metallic nose. With the flight being so good though, I just moved straight on…

1986 – A strange nose initially that reminded me of cucumber water, disappeared with a swirl. Thereafter the wine settled into a secondary aroma of cep and other mushrooms with an undertone of oyster shell, impressive.

1985 – Delicious even given the high expectation, lovely balance of fruit and a savoury sweetness, in a lovely phase right now…a little chestnut shows on the nose…special

1983 – Sweet leather and spice, brown slightly degraded fruit, good volume, very fine. A tricky vintage on the face of it but this really outperformed that…very complete, may be the pick of the flight for me but it had competition from ’89 and ’85 – a lovely problem to have…

Flight 4

Suckling pig belly with golden turnips – lovely dish with great fat that worked well…

1976 no1 – the first of two bottles of 1976, a crazily hot vintage, referred to as a “sauna” vintage by Guillaume (a phrase I plan to “steel”) who commented that Clos des Ducs never suffers hydric stress as there is a natural well in the Clos and when you combine this with there being woods above the site as well there is always a natural retention on moisture. This first of the two 1976’s was a little more subdued than…

1976 no2 – quite opulent and open, lovely now, just enough sweetness, slightly resinous, from all the chat around the table it would appear this has taken a while to open up.

1972 – Cocoa, mocha and a brown fruited nose, some people saw this as over-mature and on the palate I can see their point but on the nose is just very tertiary and a shade madeirised but fascinating, with ones eyes shut you could almost image this was old sauternes. I loved it.

1971 – Instantly good and enjoyable. Sweet and in impeccable condition manages to combine lightness of touch and a persistent brilliance of balance, very pure and with red fruit still there.

Flight 5

Pressed shoulder of Pyrenean lamb with Jerusalem artichokes

We then had 1953 Champans and Clos des Ducs served side by side – we were asked to guess which way around, amazingly it was fairly clear that we had Champans first and then Clos des Ducs.

1953 – Champans – Super, lightness of touch, a little dash of Soy which is just a slight sign of age but a good bottle.

1953 – Clos des Ducs -  Depth, even quite bold, my note says “becoming quite farmyard, delicious”, impressive definition. What struck me here was that the wines from this site age so well but never with a feeling that they needed to be big in youth to age, there is a balance at all times.

1920 - memorable to say the least

1947 – This didn’t quite show as well as expected by some, caramel, quite bold and opulent with decent concentration but it quite quickly started to tire.

1920 – This was served blind and comes with a fascinating story about how Guillaume acquired a “few” bottles of the 1920. The wine showed so well, full of life, the fruit was orange rather than red but that is as expected. The nose had an amazingly fresh aroma of tangerine rind but even the empty glass had a lovely sweetness and life…a truly memorable experience but not a novelty as these old bottle can be.

With some cheese we had the last wine of the evening – Meursault Santenots 1990– this was by far the oldest stage at which Guillaume has tasted his white wine. The nose was unctuous and nutty after a little air, it showed well and worked with the cheese.

And sadly a wonderful evening had to end, I think even those who came with high expectations, always dangerous, left very excited. There were many anecdotes and wonderful comments…exactly what these great evenings are all about! Bravo Guillaume and Bravo Jordi!