Slaking the Mid-week Thirst

The week started out quite stressfully for me. Thankfully, Kelvin C, Kelvin T and Janice were available for a impromptu midweek dinner. What a nice time too - great food, interesting wines and good company. I needed that.

• 2010 Tahuna Sauvignon Blanc 89 Points

  New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

  A bit of shock to the system after a whole weekend of Loire SBs, but this was nevertheless pretty nice, even when we drank this a tad warmer than we should have. It had an ultra fruity Marlborough nose - gooseberries, passion fruit, tropical fruit punch. Really attractive, and not overtly grassy either. The palate had tons and tons of acidity. Just a bit on the high side so that the wine really needed food to tame its rather tart edges. Other than that, it had a nice open feel to it, with expressive tropical fruit flavours of kiwi, guava and slightly green gooseberries and a hit of lime on the mid-palate. The palate was not quite as together and attractive as the nose maybe, but this was still a very fun and drinkable wine. Good QPR for what it is.

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• 2005 Château Mourgues du Gres Gard Terre d'Argence 89 Points

  France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Gard

  I had cleaned forgotten that I tried this wine last year. Impressions this time round were quite similar to the first outing. The nose, showed a lot earthier and weightier scents than the super high-toned Sauvignon Blanc that we had just before this, with mineral scents sprinkled amidst white fruit, sweet pears and apples maybe, then sweet lemons and a touch of green herbs floating around. Some beeswax and spice scents at the edges nods towards the Rhone, but I thought it might even be Chard at first. The palate showed lots of minerality but also plenty of ripe yellow fruit and a very light flowery in the background. There was that hint of spice picked up on the nose again towards the finish again and some honeyed tones as the wine was served a bit colder. As with the last time, there was some heat floating around, but overall balance was pretty good. I have a feeling this will take a bit more time to integrate, but it was still a very decent drink on the night - went quite well with food too.

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• 2006 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Le Corton 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

  Again, excellent. Not quite as superb as the last 375ml, which had the benefit of a splashy decanting (this half was just popped and poured) but neverthless an all out beautiful wine. It had a lovely, lovely nose. Still quite a layer of young oak there, with sweet vanilla scents wafting out of the glass, but underneath that there were beautiful scents of perfumed flowers and loads of fresh red cherries. Really pretty stuff. As would be expected, the palate was still very primary, but it was so delicious to drink, with sappy fresh cherry flavours mingling with a touch of earth, bramble and spice. Full, substantial, yet joyfully alive with freshness. Again, there was a cloak of milky, vanilla oak there, but the lovely juicy quality of the fruit and the way it was wed to the great balance and classy structure of the wine made for a beautiful drink. Great pairing with claypot rice too. Yum. It will be hard to keep my hands off the last of three 375mls which is now nestling deep in the cellar. However, I can only imagine this having a wonderful long life ahead of it.

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• 2004 Château d'Aiguilhe 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux

  Pretty good stuff, definitely punching above its weight. Lovely nose was straddling modern Bordeaux and controlled new world - ripe plums, some earth, tobacco hints, spice, rubber and herb scents all swirling around milky-chocolate oak notes. Much the same on the palate. The lovely balance with a nice wash of fresh acid pulled us towards Bordeaux, as did a nice spice and bramble aspect that accompanied the pleasant dark berry flavours across the mid-palate. Nice depth there. But again, there was a very modern layer of milky oak and a noticeable ripeness that suggested otherwise. Overall, a well made wine that gave quite a bit of pleasure. Should get even better with a touch more age on it.

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• 2008 Voyager Estate Shiraz 88 Points

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  My least favourite of the night. Not that it was a bad wine - this was actually pretty decently put together - just that I really did not appreciate the style. The nose was super sweet and very candied, with lots of confected berry and cherry scents along with a touch of Western Australian bramble. A bit better on the palate in that it was not quite as sweet as the nose put on, but still a touch on the spoofy side for me, with a mouthfull of sweet oak and a ton of fruit - blueberries, cherries and just a bit of flowers at the finish, where some oaky spiciness showed up. Decent balance, nice plush tannins, so pretty well made, just that it was very one-dimensional fruit and oak stuff.

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