2011 Simple Series III: Dinner with Mark Robertson of Goedhuis

Mark Robertson of the UK merchants, Goedhuis, was in town, and we hosted him in this, our third dinner of the year. We had an eclectic mix of very fun wines on the night with the always reliable food in Jade Palace. Quite by coincidence, AS was in the next room, and he kindly shared glasses of the Clos Vougeot and Muersault Perrieres. We ended up with quite a bit of Burg, white and red, so I have organised my notes along those lines rather than on our food pairings. Quite unusually, the wines were not served blind. Almost all the wines were good though, with a few outstanding ones - the Chevalier-Monty comes to mind, as does the superb 1999 Pegau and the surprisingly enjoyable Maybach Materium. It was the Schloss-Lieser BJS Aus GKA taht stole the show though. That was a brilliant wine.

• 2009 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese 91 Points

  Germany, Nahe

  This bottle was just not showing well. Still a good Riesling, but it lacked the magic I come to expect from a Donnhoff from this plot and the balance I have enjoyed in so many of the top 2009 Spatlesen - this drank more like a 2007, or 2006, with sweetness somewhat approaching Auslesen levels, and not quite enough acidity to give it cut and elegance. Bottle shock maybe I hope the next two bottles in the cellar will show better. I must say that this had a beautiful nose, with nectar, white plums and some rich stone fruit in there somwhere. It was on the palate where the wine came apart slightly. It had a rich opulence to it, and a creamy, almost oily texture. I got a sense of rich fruit on the attack, with nice flavours of nectarines, orange peel, candied tangerines and sweet lemons all demonstrating lots of ripe weight and decent balance. Unfortunately, moving into the mid-palate, it came out a little on the flabby side, with a sweet sugary aftertaste on the finish. Still solid, with plenty of dry extract, but it lacked a bit of the tingly liveliness that Donnhoff achieves with the NH on almost every other vintage I have tried, including the very big 2007. Let's see how the other two bottles show. This was good, but a bit awkward and disappointing given our sky-high expectations.

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• 2008 Schloss Lieser Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 95 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Wow. This was even better than the last bottle I had. It more or less blew an under-performing 2009 Donnhoff NH Spat out of the water. Very nice nose here - pure Mosel - with Lots of earth, mineral, slate and gentle white fruit scents hovering around in the background. The palate was gobsmackingly awesome stuff. It had weight and concentration aplenty, but has such fabulous balance that the wine seemed to dance effortlessly across the palate. It seemed sleek, elegant and classy on one hand, yet on the other, it was choked full of zesty energy as it spread across the mouth with crystalline flavours of passion fruit and grapefruit, pink guava, sweet lemony tones and white flowers bringing up the rear. As complex and multi-faceted it was, this was all so integrated that it always seemed one impeccable whole from the lively attack into the long finish that pulled away in the mouth. Absolutely brilliant stuff - this was the definition of perfect balance.

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• 2007 Michel Colin-Deléger et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Way too young, but really good stuff. This was tight and rather cloaked with oak notes at first, but opened up at a glacial pace through dinner until it showed solid quality right before we were about to leave. On first pour, there were lots of oaky vanilla scents, some toast and tons of butter on the nose. But beneath that, there were pure Monty scents with layers of savoury earth, button mushrooms, chalky and gunpowdery mineral and gobs of rich white fruit hanging in the background. It took awhile to coax out, but there was plenty going on in there. There was a solid core of concentration in the wine's creamily textured palate, but this too was rather buried under a layer of creme fraiche, salted butter and butterscotch, with clearly rich white fruit beneath that struggling a little to show-up. However, underneath the buttery oak, this was clearly classy stuff, with a sure sense of Chevalier definition, balance and poise. With time, the cloak of oak slowly opened up to reveal some lovely clarity in the wine, so that it was clean, clear, almost ringing with purity in its sweet lemon and white fruit notes framed by fresh acidity. Love the precision here. There was great length too, with lots of concentration to boot. However, this too was doused with butter at the moment. This wine needs quite a bit of time, but it was clear that it was packing a lot of quality, with just pitch perfect balance that should see this aging gracefully for a long time. Solid.

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• 1990 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  A very nice aged Burg, with nice Meurasult stylings. The nose was a bit funky, earthy, even with a whiff of cheese alongside ripe yellow fruit scents and some gunpowder and toast. Very developed. The palate showed quite a bit younger though. There was some ripeness given the vintage, with sweet lemons, yellow fruit and dried limes showing quite a bit of palate-staining intensity on the attack, but the wine still remained fresh and focused in spite of that ripeness and weight. On the mid-palate, there was a nice mouthful of red apples with just a touch of oxidative browning at the side, and then bits of spice and toast mingling amidst caramel and honeyed tones that showed the age of the wine. The finish was exceptionally impressive - long and clinging, with a dose of ripe lemons and cinamon spice. A fitting ending to a nice wine.

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• 2007 Lucien Le Moine Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  A really suprising performance for a 2007 - I really enjoyed this. I thought it drank far better than the Le Moine 2007 Vosne Romanee Malconsorts that we had a month or so ago. Lovely nose here. Beautiful roses, chanterelle mushrooms, sous bois, red fruits and a little touch of damp wood and spice spice. Very lifted and complex. The palate was very fresh and lively, not great structure or depth, but impeccably balanced with no lack of sappy red fruits spreading around the mouth. I thought this was ringingly clear and very delicious, with a wonderful sense of terroir wrapped it in a perfumed silkiness. It was drinking beautifully at the moment, with only the longish finish showing some overt youthfulness, with blast of spice, a bit of bittersweet vine stems at the end and a hint of toast that got more obvious with time. All in all, I enjoyed this very much. It is perhaps better on the nose and the attack than the finish at the moment, but I see no reason why this will not remain a fresh, lively, immensely drinkable wine in the short-medium term. Quite the epitome of what a well-made 2007 can be.

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• 1996 Sylvain Cathiard Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Aux Murgers 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  This was a big, muscular 1996. Clearly some quality here and I liked it quite a bit, but much of the table found it a bit too brooding and grumpy at the moment. If anything, it showed a little poorly next to an exuberantly youthful 2007 Lucien Le Moine Gevrey 1er Cazetiers. Nonetheless, even though this was a lot tighter, I thought it still had a beautiful nose - all earthy, meaty, sous bois scents spike with ripe vine stems, a twist of licorice and layered over a bed of dark plums and dark cherries. Think NSG spiked with some Vosne wood-spice. The palate was cloaked in nice smooth tannins, quite developed here, but they still provided some grippiness. The flavours were a bit tight though, with subtle tones of dark fruit set against a savoury earth background showing weighty depth and muscular concentration, but not tremendous complexity. There was obviously fresh acidity to hold up the weight of the fruit, which I liked, but this was not the strident 1996 acidity that still shows in some wines from the vintage. In fact, this wine had quite a delicious balance. The finish was long, but also not showing all that much, just some mineral and another twist of stems. Still very young here I think. Compared to the open, giving nature of the Le Moine, this was hard to enjoy fully. Yet I feel that there is just an extra edge of quality here that will take time to unwind. Visit again in 5-6 years' time.

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• 1999 Domaine de L'Arlot Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  Pretty good. This was poorly received by some professional critics after release, but it was showing quite decently indeed on the night. It had warm Vosne nose of dark cherries and plums, low tones of dried earth and a twist of wood spice. The palate, had a nice richness and a good amount of 1999 substance to its dark cherry fruit. There a nice clarity though, with a ring of freshness that I do not usually associated with 1999. There was a bit of mineral at the finish, growing into a very Vosne wood spiciness with time. The tannins here were just starting to uncoil, but were still grippy, and the wine as a whole showed lots of muscle and power. It was perhaps a bit on the wrong side of rustic, and there were hints of brambly vine stems in there that not everyone might like, but overall, I found this a nicely satisfying drink with a good show of its terroir. Drinkable now, but I have doubt it will be a far better wine in another 3-4 years, and continue aging for far longer after.

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• 2002 Bouchard Père et Fils Clos Vougeot 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru

  I love the 2002 red Burg vintage, and this wine reminded me of why. Strangely enough, it has not moved much since the last time I tried it, but was very nice nevertheless. Lovely nose. Well integrated scents of spice, flowers, earth, dark cherries, black berries and ripe vine stems tumbled out of the glass. Wow - this was really inviting. The palate still has some room to catch up though. Lovely depth with dark fruited 2002 back berries and black cherries here. Not exactly rich or sappy, but there was a delicious sense of presence and weight wed to clean acidity. Finish showed lots of spice, earth and a touch of woodiness. All in all very round, luscious, yet with a slightly rustic Clos Vougeot feel. It was just a touch hollow on the finish I thought, but that may fill up in time. Lovely stuff, this will be a really nice drink in 5-6 years' time I think.

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• 1999 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 94 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  Super-stuff. It sounds a bit strange, but this was all flowers and manure, yet it was a wonderful wine. I thought the nose had clearly Bretty notes, with loads of barnyard, leather and wet fur. However, there were also fresh red cherrie scents, a touch of garrigue and some flowers under the stink. Not the pleasant nose in the world, but not quite unattractive either. It was on the palate where the wine really shone though. Obviously a lighter vintage of Pegau. There was no lack of concentration here, but it was clean, clear, high-toned and super fresh, with gloriously transparent red cherry flavours dancing around the mid-palate alongside a touch of meat and reams of spice. Delicious, fruity, yet so very, very elegant. It was almost feminine in spite of the stinkiness that always hung around at the edges. The long finish rounded the wine off perfectly. All perfumy, with flowers, garrigue, incense, spice and menthol nestling amongst the stunningly clear, high-toned red fruit, all so fresh and juicy that one sip of the wine just called out to another and another and another. Yum! For those who care, this was batch #2 of the 1999 Pegaus.

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• 2003 Sesti (Castello di Argiano) Brunello di Montalcino Phenomena Riserva 92 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Good stuff, especially for a 2003. I did not know this was an Argiano wine, but it makes sense that it is - 5 years in oak, it was a bit on the modern side, but still showing a good respect for tradition. It had a very attractive nose, very Tuscan. Dark cherries, earth, Italian herbs, stony mineral. Not showy, but oozes quality. The palate was rich, with a nice ripe sweetness and dusty tannins framing sweet dark cherries, some plums and a layer of earth. At the finish I got a touch of herbs, vine stems and spice with a layering of mocha-oak. This was very young, but clearly had good bones. Nicely weighted, it was not the freshest of wines, but was surprisingly well balanced, especially for 2003. No overt toastiness, cooked fruit, flabbiness or aggressive tannins anywhere. In fact, young as it was, this was actually quite a friendly drink. Would love to try this in 7-8 years' time, when it should be a much better wine.

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• 1995 Château Léoville Barton 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  This divided opinions around the table. I for one really liked it. It had a lovely left-bank nose of wet leaf, damp earth, sweet cassis and just a touch of rolled cigar. Could well have been a Pauillac. You could say the same thing about the palate, where the scents on the nose were taken up in the mouth - it was only the round sweetness of the cassis fruit that spoke more of St Julien. There was a nice sense of concentration to the wine's clean, clear flavours and a nice sense of structure. The tannins were still there, still frim, but they have just started to soften, so that the wine seemed very well behaved for a 1995. Finely structured, but not brawny or tough. The finish had a satifying warmth to it and a nice bit of length. Very young still but very nice. I feel that this will be a surprisingly good wine in another 5-6 years' time.

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• 2007 Maybach Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Materium 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  Really good stuff. Poured through a Vinturi and decanted for 2 hours, this was so very different from everything else we have had (all old world), yet was no less a solid wine. This was Loud and Proud, declaring its presence with a Jumbo nose that had loads of vanilla, sweet plums and cassis. There were bits of earth and tobacco in there, but it was clearly the fruit at the forefront. Likewise, there was no doubting what this was on the palate. Clearly Cali Cab, this had layers of sunny fruit - cassis, plums, crushed black berries - woven together with a ream of smoke and earth. Tons of intensity and concentration here. I found this delicious, yet not so much because of all the yummy sunny fruit and oodles of black depth, but more because of the lovely balance on the wine that kept it poised and focused throughout. Quite incredible given all the concentration and intensity on the wine. In fact, after some time, it was the balance of the wine that stood out for me as much as the fruit. The super-long, well-integrated finish was a case in point. It had great length and power, a dose of oak and a powerful expressions of plums and prunes, yet all this was so fresh and juicy that the wine came across as ridiculously yummy. Solid stuff, super-young, I think this has the bones to age very nicely with time. Whatever happens in the next two decade though, this was clearly very impressive on the night.

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