Roulot...a good look...

From the moment this was inked in the diary, and thanks to MS for organising, I had been looking forward to it. The format was a tried and tested one...bring a bottle of a producers wine, Roulot in this case, and we can taste and discuss the wines before breaking for a glass of Champagne then drink the wines with dinner. A few of us had taken a red so that we could  move to those bottles once our "work was done".

The whole show was orchestrated in the upstairs of Medlar which as these posts show is a spot I am somewhat familiar with. I just wish it could be nearer work (Tower Bridge) or home (Muswell Hill) but it is worth travelling for.

Those assembled are an experienced and satisfactorily opinionated bunch from the trade. Many of them where at a few of the below tastings, done over the last few years:

Burgundy 2004 ten years on

White Burgundy 2010s

Two very different vintages

A fun crowd to be amongst, if demanding of wines. I am probably more easily pleased than a few but then that's just one of those things. We tasted the wines in six pairs. Squabbling as we went.

Roulot is not a producer I am overly well versed in. I know of it well, and of it's reputation, I have probably had six or seven of their wines but never done anything like this or visited. The Domaine is actually named Domaine Guy Roulot. Guy died in 1982 and Jean-Marc Roulot took over fully from 1989. This estate was, as far back as the 1970s, the main driving force behind bottling lieux-dits (non classified but specific plots) by themselves rather than everything that was not a 1er cru going into a generic Meursault Village as was the habit at the time. I have listed the Meursault holdings below. This seemed the most conclusive listing I could find, size, site, year of planting:

0.26ha  1er Cru Perrieres (1964)
0.16ha  1er Cru Boucheres (1980)
0.28ha  1er Cru Charmes (1942)
0.25ha  1er Cru Porusots (1959)
-
0.85ha  Tesson Clos Mon Plaisir (1961)
0.49ha  Tillets (1974)
0.26ha  Narvaux (1960)
1.03ha  Luchets (1948,'61,'74,'76)
0.95ha  Meix Chavaux (1929,'47,'57,'75,'83,'96))
0.67ha  Vireuls (1956)
-
Other holdings: Monthelie 1er Cru Champs Fuillots 0.19ha (1989), Bourgogne Aligote 0.77ha (1922,'96), Bourgogne Blanc 2.64h (1955,'88,'90,'92,'96,'99).

So on with the wines, which I have chosen to score out of 25, just to help set some sort of pecking order:

Meursault Meix Chavaux 2010 - Deliciously complete nose, very focussed and dynamic but with breadth too. Waxy, textured, white flowers, dashes of both spice and reduction but so complete, so moreish, slightly saline, very fine, long, excellent. 23+

Meursault Meix Chavaux 2011 - Very closed, almost muted nose then much broader and more extrovert on the plate, slightly apple fruit (not bruised apples!). The acidity and finish don't really match the nose. A couple of people wondered if this was a perfect bottle, certainly it wasn't corked. It struggled against the 2010 but I'd give it 18 on its own and on this showing.

Meursault Tillets 2009 - Salty, spicy, delicious, rich, quite decadent, generous green (ripe green) and white fruits...almost like a warm vintage but high class Chablis. Impressive. 20-21
  
Meursault Tesson Clos Mon Plaisir 2009, En Magnum - Lovely lovely wine, easy to enjoy, oily, waxy, long and persistent, a wine to make you smile, ripeness and just a hint of gold and sun. 21-22

Meursault Tesson Clos Mon Plaisir 2006 - Butter and lardons, a little lactic and creamy, nuts on the finish, very 2006, gourmande and generous. With the right food this could be a lot of fun, Drink soon though. 18

Meursault 1er Porusot 2009 - Clearly this domaine did very well in 2009. Citrus and zesty energy, lemon rather than lime. Still quite primary and I think there is more to come here. Be excited to own this. 20-21

Meursault Vireuls 2008 - This was very much an '08 to my mind, that dry honey character, old school style, lanolin and wax, cheesecloth, moreish though and my overriding impression was that I could have drunk a lot of it...always a good sign. 20

Meursault Tesson Clos Mon Plaisir 2008 - Toffee'd notes, rich, quite broad, slightly over-dry on the palate, good but more evolved. A little rancio character. Drink. 19-20

Meursault Vireuls 2007 - Zip, inviting and very '07 in character, nice focussed length, very pure, some citrus, a little muted. More to come. 20

Meursault Tillets 2007 - Apple acidity, lovely palate has an even more '07 crispness to this. An intense wine, may be tense is actually a better word for this. Serious, grown up. Long-lived for sure. 21

Meursault 1er Porusot 2011 - Good crisp drive to this, citrus and then some toastiness but all very restrained from its youth. Generous in flavour on the palate, a little green spice, lovely now but clearly quite some future to this. Very good. 22

Meursault Boucheres 2011 - Just a level behind the Poursots but that's no real criticism, moreishness to the fore, long...my adjectives were clearly used up by now but this was a good to very good wine. 20-21

There was one last Roulot and that started dinner after a glass of good Champagne, the name of which I stupidly did not take down, and that was Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru 2013, this was a pure, open Pinot with red fruit to the fore, pretty but not with great depth, simple would be too harsh.

Conclusions: The Roulot tasting was fascinating. There were only two wines that I felt disappointed a little and those were Meix Chavaux 2011 and Tesson Clos Mon Plaisir 2006 neither of which were bad and drunk in insolation with food would have been decent bottles but this was not that format. Two out of ten in white Burgundy at the current time, reasons for which I am not getting into now, is a good showing. The general consensus post-tasting was that there weren't quite the highs people had hoped for. I can see this argument and the wines are expensive (we're in the £100-200 a bottle range) but two or three things hit me. Firstly, these are drinkers wines rather than show off wines, very little reduction and new oak so youth is not necessarily going to show them at their very best where age will add layers to the undoubted purity and drive that exists as a real strength. With food I loved them a notch more. Secondly, the one 2010 - Meix Chavaux 2010 - we had was stunning. Thirdly, the 2009s way outperformed the general perception of the vintage. Both these points are interesting in my view. 2010 is seen as an exceptional vintage with only a few 2005s, some 2012s and then 2014 rivalling it in my view (comments please). The 2009 "victory" is something that more and more producers seem to have done, those that picked early and made sure the winemaking was understated have clearly excelled in a vintage many perceive as three or four star for the whites. Anyway, I now feel I know what to expect and that Roulot is very much worth ageing. The finest white Burgundy producer not to have Grand Cru? If you look back to the 2004 post mentioned at the start then you'll see the note below which I hope helps my point about maturity and time:

2004 Meursault Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir, G. Roulot

A little bit of brine on the nose, a tight and taut wine. I expected more of the 2004 whites to be like this. Very impressive. There was a grapefruit core with a long finish that had a very classical “proper” profile. Some people were less excited but I thought this had real class. 18.25 (out of 20 then)

Time now for the food and having gone off piste last time I was at Medlar I made sure to return to the straight and narrow and had the Crab Ravoli with several of the whites, it was absolutely perfect with the Meursault Tesson Clos Mon Plaisir 2009 which was convenient as that was the only magnum!.

The Medlar signature - Crab Ravoli

I then pretty much insisted on a blind red which was Contrada Porcaria 2012, Tenuta di Passopisciaro. 100% Nerello Mascalese from on Etna it seemed to go down pretty well. I almost hoped there would be more divided opinion but may be we were tired from squabbling over the whites. Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Epeneaux 2006, Comte Armand followed which was sturdy, in a proper way, a little funk from youth, some spice, a wine to leave a few more years but a good one. Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots 2010, Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg is one of the very best NSGs I have ever had and certainly shows the vintage, simply delicious, if you don't like this sort of wine then red Burgundy is not for you. Purity combined with density, delicious. Echezeaux Grand Cru 2012, Domaine Coquard Loison-Fleurot was lovely too, sadly my note only extends about that far. More intense and tight now being a 2012, a vintage it'll be fascinating to follow, good good wine. Finally Flor de Pingus 2009, this might seem like an odd choice but it fitted in well at the end. I think the quality and structure of Flor means that other than at age 2-4 years it is best left for ten years, certainly the 2006 is a beauty now. The 2009 showed class in a slightly muted way.

A cracking evening all round, generous bottles and a lot of fun...what next for this group?

A "1996" dinner…two decades on

A note came round, a couple of months back, about the idea of a dinner to drink some 1996's. The logic (as if one is needed) being that for the majority of those who might come along would have started in the wine trade around the time that the 1996's, in most regions, were released. We ended up as eight people which is probably a good number for sharing a bottle. I did a brief sum and recon we had about 150 years of wine trade experience amongst the group. For another version of events have a look at this blog from a regular vinous sparring partner of mine, the often contrary Mr Fowler - Vinolent.

The venue was the, always good, Medlar Restaurant which does good wine service and is open to these sorts of evenings in the spacious room upstairs. Several of this group had been involved in the below dinners and tastings before.

Two very different vintages 2001 Grand Crus and 2003 1er Crus

Burgundy 2004 ten years on...

White Burgundy 2008s - 1er and Grand Crus

White Burgundy 2010's

So 1996: I was half way through a Sport Studies degree and already with Mrs H, it was a good year from memory. Winewise it is one of those vintages that seemed to be good everywhere. The point of difference from other "all rounder" vintages like 2001 and 2010 is that in 1996 the Champagne was top notch which certainly can't be said of 2001 or 2010.

The Menu, well what I chose, is below:

Crab Raviolo with Samphire, Brown Shrimps, Fondue of Leeks and Bisque sauce

Rump of Lamb with Gnocchi, Pied Bleu, Wild Garlic and roasted Baby Gem

Cheese - comte

Chocolate Pave with milk ice cream, peanut brittle and salted caramel

The format: Wines were served blind, mostly in pairs chosen by the sommelier. The fact that we knew the vintage highlighted to me that when I taste blind I try to assess age first, of course rather pointless in this scenario but almost unavoidable.

Having just mentioned Champagne that was were we started with two superb and wonderfully contrasting wines. Bollinger Vieilles Vigne Francaise Blanc de Noirs 1996 and Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 1996 were both exactly as you might hope from a Blanc de Noirs and a Blanc de Blancs. The Bollinger, I'd never had VVF before and may never have it again, was the drier and more intense of the pair, nutty with a saline and sherried character, it reminds we of top notch white Rioja in the fruit character but then has a classy texture and gorgeous mousse, this is a serious wine. The seriounesss of the Bolly is contrasted by the openness and easy enjoyment of the Comtes. This is less dry, more floral and a little more citrus, delicious. The Bollinger continued to evolve in glass and to me is a food wine. The Comtes slid down a treat. It was a fabulous pair to kick off with.

Only one white Burgundy showed itself which I guess is understandable. The one we had was Meursault Tessons 1996 from Pierre Morey, the bottle was in good shape. A lovely nose of reduction with a little ripe citrus in the background gave way to a more unctuous and slightly less refined palate but still a good one. This was in great shape for what it is, technically at least, a village wine albeit that Tesson is a pretty top end Lieu dit.

The second white we had was a unique bottling - Pinot Gris Hommage a Georgette Trimbach 1996 from Trimbach - which I have not managed to find out a lot about but can only imagine was a one-off tribute to the named. This was good, certainly not bone dry. The fruit character was apples, pears and a little apricot to start that then as air got in there there was a definite lychee character. This was delicious with that typical Alsace Pinot Gros character of weighty spice. A flexible wine to serve at almost any stage.  

We then had the first of several full on pairs of blind reds. First we were in Burgundy via a conversation where we tried to convince ourselves we might be in the northern rhone.

Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras 1996 from Ghislaine Barthod was a little stalky with a note of cheesecloth maturity. This is a quite stern wine, not offering flirty Chambolle fruit, more like Gevrey in character. It was good but possibly a shade lean. The other wine was Clos Vougeot Grand Cru 1996 from Grivot, this was richly pungent and much more dense, a good example of Clos Vougeot character. A shade reduced but in a good proper way. A nice pair without either suggesting, as seems to be the case, that there is a lot of sweet fruit about 1996 red burgundies.

Bordeaux was always going to figure strongly in this tasting. The next pair turned out to be Ducru Beaucaillou 1996 and Leoville Barton 1996. Sadly the Barton was the only bottle on the evening that was not quite right. It was not corked but was very muted and a little metallic, a shame as it's a good wine when bang on form. The Ducru was very good, rich, full, quite lush and juicy, a little volatile (no bad thing in my book) and with a good bit of Iron to it. It tasted how I imagine the Ducru's made today will taste which is good. I was a big fan.

Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon 1996 went up against the Flor de Pingus 1996 that I took. This was an interesting pairing the Dalla Valle was/is not an estate I know at all. The wine was bold, quite glycerol without being over the top, an edge of tarry savoury character. The Flor was a better balanced  wine (the general view, not just my bias) with a little more poise, nobody got it as Spanish. I have had it a few times before and since and it's a lovely wine.

And so to our last pairing. I think consensus had it that Pichon Lalande 1996 was the wine of the night. So classically left bank in nature, gunpowder, dark fruits, some saline and lovely deep but balanced texture. The wine it was "up against" was the Dunn Vineyards Howell Moutain Cabernet Sauvignon 1996 which had a deep power about it some of the tar of the Dalla Valle as well as licorice and a slightly syrupy feel. It was good and would have been all the more lovely if not up against the powerful grace of the Lalande.

Whilst we had a nice squabble over the wines we drank a bottle of Latour a Pomerol 2009 which slightly suffered by comparison with more mature wines but is good from the previous tastings I have had if not quite at the level of the 2010. In fact 2009/2010 became one of the main discussion points. All in all, and from this small sample, 1996 remains a good all round vintage for the serious wine lover.

I just want to thank everyone for their generous bottles and Mike for organising the evening so well. What next?

A "must have" - the Crab Raviolo with Samphire, Brown Shrimps, Fondue of Leeks and Bisque sauce

Domaine Leflaive and Dominio de Pingus at The Cafe Royal...

This is was a special dinner for a couple of reasons. It was a chance to welcome Brice de la Morandiere to London as head of Domaine Leflaive and at the same time a great chance to taste two iconic estates together in a complimentary fashion. The choice of venue was crucial and the team at The Cafe Royal did us proud. We had used the venue once before for a Gazin Dinner with Nicolas de Bailliencourt.

Through the evening Brice spoke very well and emotionally about Domaine Leflaive, about the loss of Anne-Claude Leflaive who was for so long the driving power behind this great estate. He interestingly observed that Biodynamics must be seen as a "means to an end" and not a "means in itself". When it was Peter's turn to speak he was thoughtful and modest, as ever, describing a little about how Pingus started and what he wants and hopes to continue achieving.

We had an aperitif of Mâcon Verzé 2010 to get proceedings off and running. Mâcon Verzé is a wine I know well but sadly, due to the really small 2012 and 2013 crops, do not get to drink as much as I'd like. This 2010 is steely and fresh, very youthful with little or no toastiness at all. Still a baby of a wine but deliciously moreish.

The Menu:

Warm Dover sole and salmon mousse, dill, carrot and shallot essence

Roast quail, Parma ham and grapes

Denham estate venison, braised shoulder and butternut squash purée

Selection of French and English cheeses

The first course was accompanied by a lovely pairing, both from magnum.Puligny Montrachet 1er cru Clavoillon 2010 and Puligny Montrachet 1er cru Les Pucelles 2007. The Clavoillon was really showing well. It is the Domaine's largest 1er Cru holding and almost a monopole. Brice described it as often being masculine, almost a "Meursault in Puligny-Montrachet". It had an expressive nose with a touch of reduction, it is youthful but lovely now, with good, but not dominant, acidity. The Pucelles as a vineyard was described by Brice as "Feminine" and needing some time to open up. The nose was lovely, oyster shell, oil, minerals, a lovely waxiness then on the palate there is a Grand Cru-like ripeness. Pretty special; richness of Cote D'or and the minerality of Grand Cru Chablis.
These two were followed with Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru 2000. This had developed into the next phase of life, also a reflection of a warmer more opulent vintage than the refined classicism of 2007 & 2010. The nose had a complex nutty side, a little less waxy. This is ready now in my opinion. There is a good decadence, almost a Toffee character.

Then as Venison came out it was time for the reds:

Flor de Pingus 2010

Flor de Pingus 2008

Pingus 2008

Peter commented how both 2008 and 2010 were what he termed as Atlantic influenced vintages where there had been good rain in the preceding winter. Flor de Pingus comes from 28 hectares of vineyards and Pingus just 4 hectares. The Flor 2010 has good concentration, immediately shows itself to be a young wine. Mulberry and cool climate back fruits, tobacco and a little leather but vibrant and densely youthful, the wine saw only 30% new oak. Flor 2008 by contrast is a little more evolved, leather and tobacco show far more, there is an earthy degraded character. Then a lovely sweetness to the finish...this is good now although it will continue to develop, guaranteed by that lovely sweetness. It is a great pleasure to get to drink Pingus, the 2008 has what I scribbled down as "fresh depth", it manages to be both opulent and expressive but also taut and tight. It is a vast wine that will be best in 5-10 years and well beyond, exciting.

Rather than have, what we thought would be, the biggest wine of the night (Pingus 2008) with cheese why not use the cheese course as a good chance to have some more white and ideally from a warmer vintage like 2009. So we had Meursault Sous le Dos d'Ane 2009 from Magnum. This is spot on now, enough zip to counterbalance the yellow and almost tropical fruits of the vintage. It went well together, the textures being complimentary. In bottle I would drink the 2009 now, no pressure with mags but when it is decadent like this I say drink away.

An evening that managed to be both special, poignant and incredibly fun...

Day to day...

Having a quick look at the blog over the year so far I realise quite how privileged I have been terms of tastings and trips in the last few months. However, I also notice that I've only really been writing up bigger dinner and events and not really documenting the wines I come across at the many lunches and dinners I am very lucky to enjoy, in a relaxed way, with customers, producers and friends. Many of the former two have become the latter which is one of the real joys of the wine trade. I also have to say that as my memory gets worse I use this blog more and more to remember if I have had certain wines...so a bit of a recent run of meals...

Relaxed luncheon at Otto's - both the other "Lunchers" had dinners that evening so this was a lovely relaxed lunch with lots of good chat. One white and one red. We started with Meursault Clos de Mazeray 2012 from Domaine Jacques Prieur a Domaine I am getting to know really well. This was lovely and rich but with a saline edge, it's a good wine from a good vintage. The red, Barolo 1967 from Accomasso Giovani - was rather at the other end of the age range and showed wonderful sweetness and complexity, earth and ash as well as flowers and a shade of red sweet frazzles (if that makes any sense). The food at Otto's did us proud. A thoroughly enjoyable lunch.

The next lunch, actually the following day, was at Zucca with a mate in the trade who writes, buys and sells. A great new starter has made it onto the menu - Squid Bruschetta with squid ink used in the bread making. It is delicious and strongly recommended. The use of squid and octopus is becoming a real signature for Zucca. The wines we had were a good complimentary pair, Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese 2004 from JJ Prum and then Le Vigne de Zamo 2000 by Ronco dei Roseti. Prum is for me one of the most flexible white wine producers with and without food, the variety of sweetness and ripeness and the texture of the wine as well as the lower alcohol really give you lots of options. This Auslese in 2004 has real precision and freshness. The red was a wine I had never had before, it is a Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc blend, having it blind I was half minded towards Bolgheri as there was a black fruited, bell-pepper note about this but less weight than you tend to get from further south. Friuli is known for whites but on this showing, reds too.

The hat-trick of lunches was notched up with a Friday at 1 Lombard Street near bank in the city, a spot I know well. Peter Sisseck was in town having been at the dinner given to celebrate Alvaro Palacios getting the Decanter Man of the Year award. We had Psi 2010 from bottle followed by Psi 2011 from Magnum, both showed well, possibly the 2011 just edging it for focus. Peter explained how this project worked, essentially protecting old vines by having a co-operative approach to buying their fruit. We then went to the estate that Peter is best know for - Pingus and had the Flor de Pingus 2006 which was showing superbly, yes it is young but it has such brightness that it's lovely now. To pair the 2006 we also had Flor de Pingus 1996 which I was always under the impression was the first Flor de Pingus, in fact we heard from Peter that there had been a little bit of Flor made in 1995 (the first year of Pingus) but as with the Pingus it ended up in the bottom of the Bay of Biscay when the boat went down. The 1996 has always been a great wine at taking some famous scalps and is fully mature now but still so good. We then just had time, before Peter dashed off to get a plane, for us to try the first two vintages of Chateau Rocheyron 2010 (Magnum) and 2011. The 2010 has a great reputation of course but this is very much a work in progress for Peter and the 2012 are really showing that as is the 2014 I tasted last week in Bordeaux. He will not release 2013 as Rocheyron, instead it will appear only under the second label of Fleur de Rocheyron.

An invite came through the following week to attend the Uk launch of Dom Perignon Rose 2004 and not knowing the wine well I though this was not a chance to pass up. Dom Perignon "normal" is, in my opinion, one of the few examples in the wine world of mass production and high quality. Dom Perignon Rose 2003 - the release before the 2004 and richer, a little darker, a little more opulent. It was then time for the Dom Perignon Rose 2004 which showed more focus and refinement, may be showing less of the Rose elements just yet but that will come.

The next lunch was a Friday at Zucca, contrary to popular opinion I rarely "lunch" on a Friday as I like to finish the week off. The visit was the very first for a customer/friend and we had agreed to bring a bottle each - I went down the JJ Prum route again with Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese 1997 which showed really well, a little richer and more unctuous than the 2004 but still very fresh and a great accompaniment to the variety of antipasti, or Italian tapas as I like to think of them. It was then time for Costa Russi 2000 from Gaja, this was very Gaja and very 2000, quite bold and full, very good but youthful and may be without the razor sharp acidity you can get in other vintages, the last glass was really singing. As it was a friday and there was still much to discuss I asked for the list and selected Barolo Sarmassa 2009 from Brezza. I like these wines and think they are certainly under-appreciated, think "really good second growth" or a Domaine in Burgundy that makes great wines but doesn't quite have the Grand Cru holdings it deserves, rich, full but also pure. I am very pleased to own some Brezza wines.

And last but by no means least it was back to Otto's (yes boring aren't I). Two customers who used to work together in the city - some great stories - very kindly suggested Lunch and knowing they have lovely cellars I said I'll bring a white and  pay for the food. So we started with Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Folatieres 2011 from Francois Carillon. I really like the Francois Carillon wines, I am biased but think he's really nailing it with zingy, elegant wines that drink well from early but will age well, he wisely went easy on the new oak in 2011 and the results are lovely. The three reds we had were deliciously different. Gruaud Larose 1982 was fully mature but still rich with dark fruit, a good dose of blood and iron (in a good way of course). The Burgundy pairing was both kind and fascinating 
Charmes Chambertin Tres Vielles Vignes 1995 and 1997 from J.Roty. I have always found there to be a masculine style to the wine at Roty but somehow they are never hard, there is a specific texture, a dash chalky. The 1995 was rich, savoury, some soy and sweet stock but then refined and persistent, young but totally appreciable now, good, very good. The 1997 was by a slight contrast open and ready to go, still the same family of flavours - soy, bruised fruit and savoury sweetness but just looser and sweeter, less brooding, lovely now but no rush, medium weight...we then had some cheese and Rieussec 2003 from a half. This was drinking nicely, good balance and a little bit of rancio coming in. I think with the pricing of Rieussec having all gone a bit "wrong" of late that a lot more of it will simply get drunk at lunches and dinners...all in all a good thing.

Peter Sisseck and his line of travel...

Around this time of year each year Peter Sisseck pops into the office to show the upcoming vintages of his wines as well as the last release. This was a really good tasting and one in which the questions flowed. As one colleague commented often winemakers say "tell me what you really think of the wines" and for whatever reason you often don't or feel may be you shouldn't. The opposite is true of Peter, you know he wants the feedback and doesn't think he is necessarily right. I think the success he has had does mean he can be more confident with trying things and less fearful of getting things wrong.  To my mind this come across in the Pingus wines especially.

We started elsewhere with only the second vintage - 2011 - of Peter's St.Emilion property Chateau Rocheyron which will be released soon. The 2010 was a great success and you can see why this estate has a great future. The estate will be bio-dynamic from 2013 and uses the same consultant for this as Pontet Canet. The 2011 saw only 30% new oak, Peter has also started to fine the wine with egg whites as well (something we spoke of at length). The 2011 will be bottled in June 2013. The colour was a redder colour than you might expect, a good thing, no over extraction here. Lovely refreshing acidity and cherry fruit, lovely tannins that are soft but not too soft, a remarkable length and most importantly a wine that has not tried to over egg, pardon the pun, things. Impressive.

We then headed south for Peter's Ribera wines. The Psi project is all about retaining old vine fruit against the greedy commercialisation and higher, less interesting, yields that have started to become commonplace in Ribera.
Psi 2011 is a fresh and red fruited wine with cherry and almost blueberry fruit, proper tannins and a very primary feel, good grip. This is a wine that Peter is happy really reflects the way the Ribera wines should be, great now but better in 1-3 years, not overly polished. The 5th vintage of Psi and may be the best? Mind you 09 and 10 are pretty damn fine...

Flor de Pingus is a wine made from separate plots to Pingus so NOT a second wine. It is made from 22 hectares, 7 of which are "En Fermage", in La Horra and on a range of soils. Over the time from the 2006 vintage to this wine the % of new oak has dropped (a theme in Peter's wines) from 100% to 40%. Tasting the 2011 & 2012 side by side was fascinating as comparison is tricky when one is essentially an early cask sample and the other not far from bottling.
Flor de Pingus 2011 - A creamy texture on the initial taste, fruit is redder and crunchier than I remember of Flor, less coffee. A complex and serious wine already. Good acidity, amazing length.
Flor de Pingus 2012 - Lusher and darker but still on the red fruit spectrum as opposed to black, some damsons too, stunning, really lovely, long.

From Flor we moved to Pingus where arguably the biggest changes have been made with the a drop in new oak to only 10-15% and the increasing use of whole bunches, almost 40% in the 2012. Now this is not supposed to be about oak but it is a very interesting point. Peter doesn't feel less oak changes the wine ultimately as that "shell" of new oak fades anyway but it allows a slower maturation of the wine in cask and to my mind makes for a more true and honest translation as well as adding elegance.
Pingus 2011 - Kirsch and mulled intense fruit, dense but not heavy, staggering texture in the mouth, big structure but not overpowering, great lift, very long...seriously everything...
Pingus 2012 - Amazingly pure and primary - a baby - bold but not harsh, couldn't be any more fruit in there...I'm already looking forward to tasting this next year...it sounds daft to talk about a wine like Pingus going up a gear and I realise I am biased but it feels like that is what is happening

Exciting...