If you look back through this blog there are many people I have been very privileged to drink a lot of great wine with…right up there (easily in "Europe" and probably fighting for the title are two gentlemen who go by the monikers on here of "Newcastle" and "Halifax". Last week I made the remarkably easy - this could become a dangerous habit - trip to Newcastle for a cracking dinner. Both gents were joined by their splendid other halves and much fun was had, as much with the wine as the chat - rugby, racing, golf etc...
We were very well looked after by the team at 21 Newcastle with a lovely menu of; Lobster, Turbot, Beef and Cheeses. The scene need some setting so a few G&T's were used to hydrate before we made our way to the table.
Salon 1988 was a lovely starting place, fully mature now (like some of us) with a orange-rind and yeasty richness, interestingly this got fresher in glass with a bit of air. Salon is always a very vinous Champagne and so it was here, this reminded me a little of a recent bottle of 1983 mentioned at the end of this post. The slightly oxidative and powder elements gave way to freshness. Its an interesting Salon as it is the only one where malolactic fermentation started what makes it more widely interesting is that it never completed.
Next up with the lovely Lobster dish and then a cracking bit of turbot was, that rarest of beasts, a "double monty" with Ramonet and DRC on display. Montrachet 2002 from Ramonet is one of those wines you know you will not get to drink more than once unless your very lucky. I have a little experience of the wines from Ramonet now and love the style. I like to think it is a touch individual, stem ginger seeming to be a bit of a signature. This was a big wine, though I don't know for sure, but I would say both this and the 1986 that followed had a good bit of that Montrachet botrytis richness. We choose, wisely I think, to have this 2002 decanted. It has a slight toffee aroma to start, this coming from the richness and the oak but with only a tiny bit of air the ginger started to come out as did layer upon layer of rich fruit. Absolutely cracking and greater and greater with air, some wine. From there we were onto Montrachet 1986 from DRC. I am lucky to try Montrachet from DRC on release each year and through others generosity to have had it a few times with some age but I have never had the 1986 or even a vintage within 4 or 5 years of that. It was instantly a good bottle. We decided there was no need to decant this. The full textural richness was perfect again the totally mature, decadent fruit, really lovely balanced, a wine you couldn't help but wallow in really. We tried to keen a little bit of each going for a while to try alongside the reds. They were both more just great wines rather than great white wines if that makes any sense.
Time for red now as a vast amount of beef appeared. Soldera 2008 kicked us off, I am biased but this is one hell of an estate. Visits to Soldera are always magical, controversial, inspiring and never dull. I find the wine so easy to enjoy but at the same time as wonderfully complex, as much as the man who makes it. Like so many of the great mono-varietal red wines (Burgundy and Barolo spring to mind but others too) it strikes me as such an error to not enjoy these wines young as well as with age. There is always a note of wet meat (just think of how great raw cool beef smells) as well as a floral red fruit edge before a darker core. Yum!
The next red was Volnay Santenots du Milieu 1993 from Lafon, a great wine to get to try but (and sorry there is a "but") it was just a little overshadowed in this league. Now, I can hear a few readers here saying "it's not a wine Will sells" and they are correct, but I like to think bias and all, I say what I think. This was a good medium weight wine with good balance, well made, nice nose, the "but" and it was the same when I did a tasting - Burgundy pairs 2009 and 2010 - with trade mates a while back is all round whether it is Volnay. I think Lafon makes seriously great whites in many different years and with a great richness. The estate doesn't seem to make great reds, good yes, but true to the Volnay elegance? This is nothing new, D'Angerville and Lafarge are producers I love and they make great Volnay but never hit the heights with the whites they make, nice though they often are. Anne-Claude Leflaive gave up making red…it is just not an easy thing - to do both. Comments welcome on my thoughts here…I can't make red of white so I am a fine one to talk!
So to the last red - Latour 1964 - now this is Pauillac and so mighty fine. Rich but not remotely heavy, blacker fruit but with iron and power, absolutely perfect now. May be tasting a little younger than 52 years but so graceful, so Latour. The only vintage, as we discussed, that you might have confused it with is Latour's very good 1970. It was everything to should have been and frankly so was the whole evening, lots of wine, great chat, a chance to catch up and to laugh.
No evening would ever be complete with a few Negronis would it…chaps, and ladies, I thank you…until next time!
This was a very fun lunch. Mr S co-ordinated us and foursome was completed by Zucca Sam, Mr Mann and myself. Having not seen Sam since the closing (not a dry eye in the house) of Zucca it was a long overdue Lunch. We also had Mr Mann's engagement to celebrate. The venue was to be Macellaio in Exmouth market. Not a place I knew. They specialise in sharing plates with a focus on Tuna (aged 7 days) and Beef (aged 7 weeks). It's a fun place.
Everyone brought a bottle or two and away we went. The starting point was Dom Ruinart Rose 1996 which has a bright colour but certainly more tizer than Salon pink, on the nose it was fruited and balanced no real signs of age barring a certain sense of roundness. The palate was generous and a little lush, the parts having fallen nicely into place. We then moved onto Meursault 2008 from Coche-Dury, a refined nose, focussed and very true to 2008 if almost more like Grand Cru Chablis than Meursault in its drive and elegance, very impressive indeed. There was that dash of reduction but no more than that. Long and elegant and certainly a wine to treat like a great red, plenty of air and plenty of time to appreciate it.
My bottle was next - Ausone 1975. A very kind 40th gift last year from a friend and customer who appears in these pages rather a lot. Sam and I are both 1975er's so it seemed a good moment. We decided to pop the cork, it broke but not badly, and pour straight into the four glasses as you never quite know how these older wines will be. We could in fact have been decanted as it got better in glass rather than fading. There was a ferrous smoothness to the palate, the texture of tannins remained but not dryness. The fruit character was darker than you might expect with a definite Cab Franc character at times. Velvety and whilst fully mature not on the way down.
L'Eglise-Clinet 1985 was the second Bordeaux and reminded me, in quality rather than style terms, of a brilliant bottle of the same estates 1989 some years ago. This was a wine that got better and better with air. Soft and voluptuous but in no way lacking definition. Darker fruits initially that got redder and more expressive with time, a wine at it's early peak. Such a treat, exciting!
Now to a more expected region, given this crowd, Barolo. Two vintages of the same wine - Barolo Sarmassa from Brezza. Brezza are a good producer based in central Barolo with good holdings and well worth a visit. On one trip we dropped in for lunch and had some fun as you can see here. The two vintages were a real treat as well - 1990 then the 1989. I felt they performed as you might expect though this was exaggerated by the 1990 having been double decanted with some time and the 1989 just decanted at the restaurant and served. The 1990 had more opulence and more "mass" the 1989 had more drive, vigour and energy, more definition. Less bruised fruit more saline. I like both but you would always pick the 1989 if being fussy. They both have time ahead but as with all the wines here they are mature.
Mr S wasn't that pleased with the other wine he bought but Sam, Tom and I were all happy enough to drink it - Barolo Villero 1978 from Giacosa (white Label) is a wine he knows well. The nose was a little bruised and aged but the palate had a sweetness to add to the slightly grainy texture. An expressive mature Barolo may be not but a good, interesting, glass of aged Nebbiolo, oh yes!
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| A predictable ending... |
From there things became predictably Negroni based before a beer on departure...happy days. Macellaio's I will be visiting again. Chaps...thanks for the bottles and the laughs.
