Dinner in St.Emilion...not just any dinner...

The "Shelfie" to end all...

As a break from the rigours of tasting the En Primeur 2015's we got a very kind invite from a friend and customer who lives in St.Emilion a fair bit of the time. He's no stranger to these blog pages either. Having been once before we knew it would be a treat, especially when combined with Ian's brilliant cooking. We were ten in total with half that number being colleagues, there also being a rather famous Danish winemaker...by the name of Peter (no prizes for guessing that one) in attendance.

To kick off it was Pol Roger Cuvee "Sir Winston Churchill" 1996 En Magnum this was delicious with Anchovy and onion tartlet. The wine is clearly all the younger for being in magnum, I would have said far younger if served blind. There was a toastiness but not a heaviness that you often get with "Winnie". Blind tasting became a theme from here with every other wine except the Sauternes served in blind "themed" pairs! 

Pair 1 - whitesThe first theme was the vintage - 2010. I had remembered a discussion with our host so had a firm feeling that there would be a Raveneau and there was, the Chablis 1er Cru Montee de Tonnerre 2010 being simply delicious, just entering drinking territory with that lovely beeswax and stones nose...I loved it. The next white producer I have been expecting was Roulot but with the theme being 2010 and the way the Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru En Remilly 2010 from Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey En Magnum tasted I was fairly sure it wasn't Roulot as that would have been like a rapier. Joe (Muller) got the producer, the C&B team groaned as we'd be hearing about this forever. The En Remilly was delicious, open, generous without lacking drive at all...very fine with a long life ahead of it.

Pair 2 - first Reds
The vintage was again the theme but already there were disputes over right bank of left bank. I suggested we nail the vintage first. Clearly it was set as a trap because it was one of those vintages known to be good on one bank over the other but the wines from the "wrong side of the tracks" was clearly an over performer. We reduced it down to being 1996 (left bank vintage) or 1998 (right bank)...wrongly we went 1998 first as it was 1996. The two wines being  - Palmer 1996 and La Conseillante 1996. The Palmer was simply superb, primary in a way, just what it should be, dense floral fruits and exactness, a lovely wine to drink over the next two decades. The Conseillante was impressive, a lovely opulence, not the depth of the Palmer but that would be unfair. A nice pair.

Pair 3 - two younger reds
Now we were firmly put on the spot with two glasses in front of us and a "right then, what are they?", all we were told was that there was a theme and they were younger than the 1996's. Nebbiolo got a shout, Burgundy was certainly in the mix. Possibly fortified by the delicious Chicken liver parfait my competitive - "can't let Muller win the day" - nature kicked in and I decided to follow a hunch and said Red Burgundy on the left and Brunello on the right...I was correct and should have stopped there. I then said so it is 2001 or 1999 - right again! I went for the hat-trick and said 1999 but alas it was 2001. I did though get that it was Poggio de Sotto. There was then a battle for the red Burgundy, Joe and Peter ganged up together and were fairly sure there was a de Vogue mark on the wine, they were right and eventually got the Bonnes Mares.  So the two wines were:

Bonnes Mares Grand Cru 2001, De Vogue - so very elegant and primary, pretty, good acidity, red ripe fruit, long, moreish and so blooming drinkable!

Brunello di Montalcino 2001, Poggio de Sotto - a cracking bottle of wine, such lovely gentle but vibrant red fruit with little black cherry, great acidity and lift and a tiny dash of Saline. Wine of the night for one of our number not known for his love of Italy (he's learning).

Pair 4 -  the pair that wasn't
There had been a fair bit of chat through the dinner about the fun one can have with genuinely "off" vintages - even Marsan 1991 got a mention (do some research!) - so our kind host decided it was time for one last pair with the delicious wine friendly (not easily done) cheeses. The first wine was delicious, lovely right now, not dense but mature and complex, it was Haut Brion 1993...alas it's partner in crime, Latour 1993, was corked. The Haut Brion alone though made the off vintage case very well. Terroir shows as much, if not more, in the lesser, more difficult, vintages. There was another bottle grabbed and served. It confused us because we wondered if we were still supposed to be on the "off vintage trail", the confusion coming from the fact the wine was so good. It Lynch-Bages 1982 and clearly we were NOT on the off vintages. I had the very wine from magnum recently and this was every bit as good!

A stunning lemon and almond cake followed for pudding and with it the Coutet 1988 worked a treat, a great time to drink this with just a bit of development showing...and with that we had to head back to Bordeaux...to have taken a break from the tasting to drink these great wines with lovely food and great company was a real treat. This is the finest wine drinking address on the right bank! Thank you!!

A Chateau Coutet tasting with Aline Baly

Rather splendidly Aline Baly (whose family have been Chateau Coutet since 1977) came in this morning to show four vintages Chateau Coutet and the second vintage of the estates "new" dry wine - Opalie 2011.

Opalie 2011
They are only ever going to make a maximum if 4000 bottles of this wines and in 2010 it was 3000, for this 2011 just 3600. Where this wine differs from many dry wines produced by Sauternes or Barsac estate is that this is a designated dry wine from a particular site. The blend is 50% Semillon and 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 45 % new wood is used for 9 months. The wine is a really good balance between subtle but persistent fruit, good minerality and texture and a nice backbone of acidity. The oak is played perfectly - the wine benefits from it but you can't taste it. I nice thing to own. 16.5-17/20.

Coutet 1997
Opulent, generous but focused, the nose is towards oranges and marmalade but not over the top, the palate is then a mellow combination of apricots and ginger, it has a lovely balance and I'd say is just right now. A slightly different blend from normal (as seen for 08/09/10) with this being 75% Semillon, 20% Sauvignon Blanc & 5% Muscadelle.
17-18/20.

Coutet 2008
A less opulent nose but with great balance, perfect as an aperitif, the fruit is soft white fruit with a medium sweetness, really drinkable. A very small yield in 2008. The blend for this and the next two was the same - 75% Semillon, 23% Sauvignon Blanc & 2% Muscadelle.
17/20.

Coutet 2009
A very slight whiff of cheese rind about the nose that disappeared very fast, then a beautiful expressive but fresh and clean nose, a more opulent and viscous texture than the 2008, pineapple and toffee but not cloying. I can't see this wine closing down, I think like most things 2009 it will remain generous. 17.5-18/20.

Coutet 2010
Serious style of wine, considerable density, a little rancio in style, a mighty length and the sort of wine to tuck away, many layers to come in the future. Really very good. 18-19/20.

We discussed how long the bottles can stay open in a fridge (3-10days) and  whether to decant (yes!). I did also ask a little bit about Cuvee Madame an ultra rare, ultra selection only made 13 times since 1943. It spends 3 years in barrel and then 10 years in bottle before release and is made from 100% Semillon pretty much selected on a grape by grape basis. The most recent three releases being 1995, 1997 & 2001.

Bravo Aline!