Dominus & Napanook 2012

This is a post that I will willingly admit is totally for my own benefit, it must be my brain but I find I have to search this blog more and more to check my notes. I am therefore trying to put more and more of them down on here.  
Yesterday these two beauties appeared on the tasting bench ahead of their release. I have been lucky enough to have my fair share of Dominus over the years...a graceful wine that combines an, almost always, rather wonderful climate with a simple, honest approach to wine-making. Though it is often said that this is like a Bordeaux from Californian...the opposite is true...this is what California should be like...but that is my, obviously biased, opinion. Give me Dominus & Ridge any day...

Napanook 2012

Good rounded fruit, nice bit of fresh greenness then the palate is darker in fruit and more serious than normal. Good fresh finish with mixed red/black fruit. Good to very good. 17.5+

Dominus 2012

Taught, very complete on the nose, silken and appears easy to drink now but there is layer upon layer of perfectly ripe tannins, very graceful and complete (can’t get away from that word). 18.5

Both will be approachable early but thave the balance and grace to age very well.

Not your normal monday...

A text comes through on Saturday lunchtime, "there is a "tasting" on Monday evening and your presence is required!". Now when this comes from one of the chaps on this special trip to Burgundy all you do is clear the diary and hope that there is nothing crucial planned for Tuesday. The theme was 2004 and we were on Bordeaux with the odd interloper from California, Burgundy and Champagne. The venue was one of "the chaps" houses with splendid cellar and even more splendid wife who cooked up exactly what was needed to set us up for the evening.

The dinner wines...

The format was to start with some Champagne and then white Burgundy before embarking on the reds. All the wines with one exception later in the piece are from 2004 which following on from a tasting back in june of Burgundy 2004 ten years on was likely to be very interesting. Ten years is the accepted time to "look in on" a Bordeaux vintage and 2004 has a reputation for being medium in weight, traditional and possibly a little under appreciated. Following the "freak" that was 2003 and then being overshadowed by the excellence of 2005 was always going to be an issue! All the reds were double decanted before serving.

As the team assembled a bottle of Laurent Perrier 2004 vintage was consumed in quick time. The vintage is a good one in Champagne and this was very typical of the style, taught but not closed, youthful but enjoyable now. The white wine was then Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Combettes, E.Sauzet - a couple of bottles of - both showed well. There is a lovely mid-age maturity here, still some citrus and shortbread as well as a little white fruit then a lovely nuttiness on the palate, a lovely time to drink it. Such a good site.

We decided to start the reds with two St.Emilions - Chapelle de Ausone & Troplong-Mondot - the former was mellow and soft, very complete, soft red and black fruits and certainly not more than medium body, a little bit of what I'll call "good greenness" that added freshness, I assume from young vine fruit. The Troplong - an estate I have often found to be "too much" in terms of oak and extraction - was quite toned down. A gentle wine making approach was key in 2004 and this was on good form. Blacker fruited and weightier. There was a small discussion on price and certainly the Chapelle does not warrant 3 times the price. A good start.

The next commune up was St.Estephe. Ormes de Pez & Cos d'Estournel were the representatives here. The Ormes had a nose of slightly reduced beef stock and then after a couple of swirls it mellowed to show more fruit. The palate had red fruits and good freshness with acidity and a little pencil led, an interesting wine and at the price very good value (ranks with Phelan Segur and Lafon Rochet for me). Cos was a more serious package altogether. Deeper and darker fruited with classical cedar elements to a quite savoury nose, grown up and young at this stage, good balance and a promising future...impressive.

Now we popped over the atlantic and had - Dominus & Stag's Leap, Artemis. There was contrast here between the Artemis' opulence, density and open fruit and the more restrained, arguably more elegant Dominus. There was a split vote I think on this. The Dominus would be exciting to own but you also can't knock the easy pleasure and value of the Artemis. These two were certainly as young in developmental terms as any of the Bordeaux...

And now downstairs to the cellar for the St.Juliens - Lagrange & Leoville Poyferre. Lagrange was very "proper", a balance between decent enough fruit and a savoury side, neither a disappointment nor exciting, a "steady" wine. The Poyferre was very typical of this estate, quite extrovert and open, rich but not heavy and archetypal cool vintage Cabernet fruit, neither too young nor is there a rush to drink this, open and ready now, unpretentious but that is not to say simple at all. Good.

At this stage our host started to throw in some very generous curve balls. The first that was served blind to everyone except me was Cheval Blanc. With the odd nudge the tasters got there pretty quickly. I was impressed, the Cabernet Franc had a really edgy freshness and very poised red fruit (almost red currant) that really marks this estate. It is tempting to think it will only age in the mid term but I think this could just be a wine with a very big drinking window. One to watch.

Briefly back on the original planned line-up it was Pauillac time - Clerc Milon & Pontet Canet. May be it was the class of the Cheval Blanc and Poyferre that preceded it but the Clerc came across as a little crude and "blunt". Absolutely nothing wrong with it but a little foursquare and hard. The Pontet Canet was one of the most obviously young wines of the evening, rich and black but not over the top in extraction. Good but it left you feeling it will repay a couple more years.

There was a comment at some stage in the evening that we had omitted Margaux as a commune so our host took up the challenge and opened a bottle of Palmer. This had a serious and smokey nose as well as a persistence of red black fruit, not quite the elegance of the Cheval but I think given a few more years the smokiness will meld into the wine and this will take on the Margaux fragrance. It is certainly a good deal more serious than the 2007 I has recently. Very good, quite serious.

So with one wine to go, the non 2004, what did I think of the vintage? Well these wines had all clearly been well stored and we had no cork issues whatsoever which is always a relief. I was impressed, I expected the wines to have less in common with each other but there was a similarity of weight and stage of development. The wines did not seem too light but at the same time there was no over-extraction. The wines were all appreciable now but I think they will age nicely before ultimately mellowing gracefully. I think that if you own the wines you've got classical claret to be enjoyed from now on.

As talk turned to the trip that might follow the Burgundy Bonanza, mentioned above, our host had one last trick up his sleeve - Yquem 1994. This was decadent and full, not as sweet as Yquem can be, I think blind I would have had it as 80's rather than 90's. There was a creme brulee richness and some apricots as well as spice. A brilliant evening of many laughs...

If only every Monday...

Only the Yquem 1994 was is missing...

The perfect beef...

Your normal Monday scene...

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?

Medlar...the gang has finally done the big three...

There are quite a few restaurants that have become wine trade haunts over the years. I'd like to think it is a good sign when the wine trade like a restaurant, it tends to mean that the food is good, the service unstuffy and the attitude to wine and corkage a positive one. About a year ago a group of us decide to have impromptu dinners at three of the most popular restaurants that fitted this bill. Namely Zucca, Trinity and Medlar. Thursday just gone was the final leg at Medlar. I had been once before but that was just after it opened. As the team arrived it was time for a glass of Manzanilla, such a good way to start on a warm and slightly muggy evening.
The real action started with two contrasting white Burgundies Puligny Montrachet Les Combettes 2008 from Sauzet and Puligny Montrachet Folatieres 1999 from Leflaive. Both were showing well. The Sauzet showing a good dollop of that Combettes richness, I often think Combettes has the weight to be a Grand Cru. This was a lovely expression, not too big but starting to drink really well, refined. The Leflaive I was excited about as I have had a lot of joy with Leflaive 99's. There was the "struck match" reduction and quite a generously serious nose, this was a little more evolved than Pucelles 99 is at the same stage, dense and complex but not too heavy, delicious.
From white Burgundies we were onto a pair - Trotanoy 1997 and Dominus 1987 - that made a lot of sense together as they are made by - under the control off - the same man, Christian Moueix. Now it is often said that Dominus is a Bordeaux-like Napa wine but actually that is something Mr Moueix has a bit (he is a very gentle yet firm man) of an issue with, he has always said Dominus tastes how Napa valley wines should. The Trotanoy had a bruised fruit character, good balance of fruit and savoury, poised. Just enough sweetness to make it very complete, perfect now, it is a good 1997, a tricky vintage for a Chateau like Trotanoy where masculine power is more the terroir's style. The Dominus was a gentle wine of real savoury complexity; iodine, inky spiced bovril and a little bacon, not frazzles yet, it was a soft wine on the palate and very graceful if possibly starting to fade a little, a fun pairing.
Over to italy now, Barbaresco Asili Riserva 1996 from Giacosa was arguably the wine of the night. Just such a gentle yet firm and proper nose, the right amount of clean fruit and bruised loveliness, alluring, thrilling and almost so good to smell you didn't need to drink it. The palate though had grip and a more 1996 shape about it. The question, as with almost all serious wines in northern Europe made in 1996, is will the structure ever soften enough to allow the fruit "over the top"? Who knows but this was stunning. Brunello di Montalcino 2001 from Sesti was good, intense, rich with black fruits this wine has a way to go, an exctiting future. It was good to have it along side the Giacosa as it was so different that it did not suffer by comparison.
With some cheese and then pudding we had a couple of sweeter wines. The Hocheimer Domdechaney Rielsing Spatlese 1997 from Kunstler was evolved soft and seriously enjoyable, I drink a lot of Mosel and need to remember to get some Rhinegau. It was spot on now. The Raymond Lafon 1989 was rounded and slightly rancio in style, a dense and not overly subtle sauternes it did the job nicely. We didn't really get too geeky with the food but the three courses, we opted for the two starter tactic, I had were very good:

 - Sea bream carpaccio with sauce vierge, cucumber, seaweed purée and a tempura prawn.
 - Crab raviolo with samphire, brown shrimps, fondue of leeks and bisque sauce.
 - Under blade fillet with café de paris snails, salad, triple cooked chips and béarnaise.
With Dinner done it was round to the Sporting Page for one last drink and a cigar. Three smokes were fired up: Partagas Serie D No4, Partagas Short and a Bolivar Royal Corona. The Later was the one I smoked, rich if a little under filled, after so much good food and wine it was nice to have a smoke with some decent body and not too much complexity....until next time!

2013 Paulee at Bovey Castle, 7 wines for dinner and 39 for lunch...

Not the worst setting...

I was lucky enough to get an invite to what I believe was the 10th annual Paulee organised by Jeremy Rata and Ron Morton. This used to be up in Yorkshire at the Devonshire Arms (mentioned in a few blogs) but is now held at Bovey Castle down in Devon a truly glorious setting. We were very well looked after for food and hospitality. Things started with a dinner on the monday evening:
Pre-dinner it was Salon 1996 which is still a puppy. I have been lucky to have this several times and it needs in my view 5-10 more years to be properly "drinking", there are elements of lemon sherbet but it is all firmly "in-check". The wines at dinner were all served blind and much conversation followed, consensus, over region/grape, was reached fairly easily and the wines revealed before any of us could make fools of ourselves.
First was Riesling Schlossberg 1988 Grand Cru from Weinbach. It was slightly, overly, dry but was waxy, oily and unctuous, coming out more in glass as time went on, enjoyable. One bottle of Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume 1986, L.Michel had an outing and was oxidised so the idea to serve it was binned but later the other two bottles were tried and were a truer reflection of the wine, nose clinging on and interesting, palate not really still there. The first red was introduced as an "experiment that should be knackered", it wasn't at all, femininely aromatic with plenty of poised and crisp red fruit, the introduction made it hard to guess at but I would have been in mature Volnay it turned out to be Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge 1er Cru Les Boudriottes 1983 from A.Ramonet, delicious and one of the best surprises in a long time, delightful.

A pair of Rhones followed both from Jaboulet. In truth they performed the opposite way round, in quality terms, to how they would generally be billed. The first Cote Rotie Les Jumelles 1985 showed a great balance and blend of gentle maturity and a little spiced elegance, impressive and very good. The second Hermitage La Chapelle 1983 was a funky, rich but savoury monster, a wine whose nose had you guessing and interested and palate that grimaced a bit, a hard wine, not very giving. The dinner was finished off with Climens 2003 which really confused the assembled, the nose and finish tried to convince me it was Sauternes but the palate was very delicate and freshly floral, I kept questioning myself, it might be a slightly bi-polar wine but it was good.

Ready for battle

A very decent nights sleep and a proper breakfast set things up for a 12.30 meet on the lawn to start the Paulee. The drill is that everyone brings at least two bottles or a magnum (many brought more) of a wine they enjoy and then pours it round the assembled, which was 24 in this case split over three tables of eight. The early morning fog had cleared to give us a cracking bright sunny but fresh day. On the lawn we had Bollinger 1999 RD from Magnum. In short I didn't really like it but this is almost certainly me. I am a fan of Blanc de Blancs and of bottle age over late disgorgement so it would never be "my bag" so to speak. It was nutty but not lively and I didn't drink much of it. The first wine of the lunch was served totally blind by the winner of the blind wine competition last year (Chewy, see previous but one post). It turned out to be - St Peray Cuvee Rousanne 2010, Dom Tunnel - I liked it in a waxy yet fresh and floral way, a little simple as it is so young but good.
The first Paulee white was Juffer-Sonnenuhr Auslese 1990, W.Haag, and it stayed in my glass (everyone has six numbered glasses that you need to rotate and clear regularly) for a long while which is a good sign. It had a lovely element of dryness from age but still fruit richness, loved it. Chablis 1er Cru Vaudesir 1981, L.Michel came round hot on Mr Haag's heels and was a combination of coffee bean and toffee, in good shape, a little sweaty, decent. The Pinot Gris Jubilee 1996, Hugel was a weird wine, my notes say, nicely dirty, sweaty cheesecloth, ceppes, dry...on reflection it was passed its peak but I enjoyed it, warts and all. Capuchino 30yr old Palo Cortado, Osborne is a funny wine to have amongst so many others and I would love to try it again, the smell on pouring was wonderful a fine example if hard to evaluate amongst these others. You could slightly say the same about the Vina Tondonia 1976 because wines with deliberate and complex oxidative notes are never going to shine amongst wines with fruit in my opinion. I would love to try this again and have no problems with oxidative wines at all, here I just got yeast and dryness which is not a fair assessment. Pouilly-Fume 1999 Cuvee Majorum, M.Redde followed and behind a subdued nose was a green fruit and mellow completeness, not exciting but good.
The Cote d'or whites then followed leading off with Chassagne-Montrachet Villages “Morgeot” 1999, Marquis de la Guiche This was a little smoky and reduced and reminded me of other 99's I have had. I really liked the small glass of it, I wondered if I could drink a lot of it but that was never going to be an issue here, impressed.   As we were on Foie gras (the food did us very well, especially a brilliant bit of beef I will forget to mention later) a bottle of  Coutet 1983 came round it was pure clean, fresh and with only a little age showing, very complete and really good, Sauternes as I like it. I was delighted that the next wine was not blind as I would not have been within a decade or in the right continent for the Peter Michael Chardonnay Cuvee “Indigene” 1991, Magnum. It was both refined and focussed, probably saw little new oak (great news!) and had a very complete feel, never earth shattering but mellow and lovely. Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru  Morgeot 2009, Ramonet was next, it had aromas of both grapefruit and grapes, was fresh crisp and an infant, a good mid-term wine to drink while waiting for '07, '08 and '10's to open out. Pavillon Blanc du Chateau Margaux 2001, from magnum was next up, it changed quite quickly from that "nailpolish", in a good way,  freshness to more saline and oyster shell like, a funny wine that might have been between young and old. The next wine was back in the infant world - Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 2009, L.Michel - tight as anything, a little apply spice and purity but very closed.

Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2001, Ramonet was unctuous and a little less refined than I had expected, darker and broader, good fruit though. Hermitage Blanc Chante Alouette 2004, Chapoutier had a nose of honey and greek yoghurt, then I felt fell a little flat before showing some melon...it was good but in truth is not really my thing. Latour Martillac Blanc 2005 was all there but some how a little too subdued, balanced and decent just not exciting. And so to the Corton-Charlemagne 2002, Louis Latour this was good, broad for C-C as I feel it was a little over-oaked, with a few exceptions this seems a common problem in C-C as people give it the same treatment as the Grand Crus from further south and, in my view, it needs gentler treatment. It was a good rich white Burg with a way to go but not, for me at least, a great Corton-Charlemagne, a good one yes. 

And so to the reds (if anyone is still reading?! I realise this is more for me that anyone else at this stage). Why not kick off with a Grand Cru? Romanee-Saint-Vivant 2002, J.J.Confuron fruit was 40% red to 60% black, there was spice and intensity a little cinnamon and a little dryness, if this develops well it could be a gem, is there a danger it will be a little over structured though? Volnay 1er Cru Fremiets 1999, d’Angerville had a dash of cheesecloth and was tight and ungiving to begin with but got better and better with time. Clos-St-Denis 1996, Dujac was a weird one as one less good bottle went round but the better bottle was delicious, not over structured as some 96's can be but good and very together, good stuff. A more mixed array of reds now started some Bordeaux, some American and some Italians.
Cantemerle 1998 magnum, hard but rich and impressive, savoury and grown up, not a soft wine but almost better for it. My two offerings followed as I wanted to get them served near the Burgundies both Barolo Cascina Francia 2005 and 2007, from Giacomo Conterno showed just as I wanted them to. The 2007 fresher and younger and very primary, the 2005 (which was double decanted) being more deep, tighter and ultimately more serious to my mind. Vieux Chateau Certan 2004 I really enjoyed, plummy fruit and very Pomerol in texture and weight, I could have drunk a lot of it. Dominus 1989 was a little toffeed and medium bodied, I had never had the 1989 before. Dominus is never heavy or extracted and always drinks well as a result. Bahans-Haut-Brion 2005 magnum was very decent but not overly exciting, straight forward and with years ahead of it. Like any 2005's now is just not the time to open it.

Brunello di Montalcino Il Poggiolo in Riva al Fasco from Roberto Cosimi was sadly the beginning of where my notes got very short. A nice wine that possibly suffered in comparison to some more lush wines that preceded it. Often a problem with Italians that are so great with food. I would love to taste again as I feel it was probably right up my street. Vega Sicilia Valbuena 1996 was impressive, perfect from now onwards, good tannins and a perfect balance of fruit to go with them. Echezeaux Grand Cru 1999, Dujac was a real star, classy, delicious fruit, elegant but with a way to go, top stuff. Lynch-Bages 2000 in magnum was a classical Lynch all those things you expect, cedar, graphite, black fruit, good ripe tannins, made you wish you had some for 5-10 years time. Cos d’Estournel 1995 was very "Cos" high toned and little exotic but with biggish tannins, just getting into its stride, nice (if you see the 1996 buy it!). Arzuaga Riserva 1996, got a note of fruit meets oak meets air, nice but a little one-dimensional. Tenuta di Trionoro 2008, magnum, showed as it is, super charged almost off dry, big and probably hard to evaluate in this company. Mouton 1986, was exotic and high toned as ever, really good, very mouton and not very 1986...a generous bottle for this many people.
Sa’etta Chianti Classico 2007, Monte Bernardi came across as a lovely drinker, serious? no, profound? no but enjoyable. L’ermita 1998, A.Palacios a little monolithic, will the fruit outstay the structure? If it does then it'll be a great in 5-10 years time, if not then drink now and enjoy it for its Priorat density. Guiraud 1964 was delicious, Tarte Tatin in a glass, baked apples and wonderful fresh richness...so drinkable and enjoyable. Fonseca 1966 (J&B bottled) was really lovely, spiced and fruited, tastes like Christmas in a glass with a dash of black pepper. It sparked a discussion about different bottlings, some being better that others but to my mind this was delicious.
So as is "normal" at Luncheon on such occasions it was time for "nearest the pin". Bovey has a very good golf course, from what I can see, and one of the holes is an island green not too far from the lawn, let's say 175 yards or so. I was happy with my 6 iron but even more happy that Ron gave me a Cohiba Robusto to enjoy. I was then most disappointed to look at my watch and realised that it was 4.55 and with a car coming at 5pm I would have to dash off before treacle tart!! There's that saying about leaving while you're having fun...I'll be back, if selected!

Nearest the pin!