2011 Simple Series VI: Dave's Birthday

Dave's birthday this time round, and the kitchen team at Imperial Treasure really outdid themselves with some fantastic cooking. As always, the suckling pig was the star, but the rest of the dishes (including a brilliant crayfish in truffed egg-white dish) were not far behind.

The wines were all double-blind. With the theme of WOTN, each of us were supposed to bring a bottle that we thought might take first place. I have arranged the notes roughly according to varietals. To the credit of TM and Dave who arranged the wines, this was actually not too far from the actual order on the night.

• 2009 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Spätlese Auction 93 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Obviously good, but even though it was opened more than 24 hours before we came to it, it was still far, far too young to assess properly. The light white gold colour with flecks of green spoke of the wine's extreme youth. The nose was shy but attractive, with white tea, chamomile flowers, chalky flint and gentle white fruit spiked with a little lime note. Guessed it as an Egon Muller Spat, but thought it may have been a 2008 instead given the beautifully delineated acidity. The palate was even more shy than the nose. Rich, powerful, lots of tingly mineral on the attack, and then just little hints of white fruit and limes on the mid-palate. Really young. It was on the back-palate and the onto the sneakily long finish where the quality of the wine really came through though, with mouthwatering freshness and great delineation and focus as it pulled away with a flinty, minerally tail, almost piercing minerality here, with a touch of spritzy line and floral notes at the very edges adding a bit of levity. Guessed it as an Egon Muller Spat, but thought it may have been a 2008 instead given the beautifully delineated acidity. A lot to be impressed by, but just not all that much that was immediately enjoyable. Would love to revisit this in a decade or two.

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• 2009 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Spätlese 93 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Very good, but not quite as good in its extreme youth as one would expect given both the wine's reputation and its price tag. Like the auction bottle that preceded it, this was showed rather grumpy and infantile even though it was opened a good 24 hours before serving. On first pour, the nose had an awkward, almost Sauvignon Blanc like grassy, gooseberry note layered over some mineral and earth. I can't say it was the most attractive nose in the world. Thankfully, the grassiness went down over time to show rich white fruit scents, some lemons and limes, drops of petrol and some musky white flowers accents. The palate had the rich sweetness of the 2009 vintage, along with tons of flinty mineral and dollops of aggressive acidity spread across a mid-palate that showed some limes and sweet lemon flavours. This was even more clearly an Egon Muller than the auction bottling. Tons and tons of depth and intensity here moving into a long, grippy finish that coated the mouth with dry extract. Very impressive, but more in a distant, intellectually admirable way than many of its more immediately pleasing 2009 Spatlesen brethren from the Mosel or even the 2009 EM Kab. Give this at least a decade before approaching.

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• NV Equipo Navazos La Bota de Palo Cortado 21 "Jerez" 94 Points

  Spain, Andalucía, Jerez-Xérès-Sherry

  Beautiful stuff, and a fantastic pairing with suckling pig. Unfortunately, there were not that many sherry lovers on the table, so this was rather underwhelming for most, but I enjoyed my double-pour! It had a beautiful nose. Some caramel, sweet almond creme, dried figs, yellow flowers, brandy-lke rancio accents, smoky peat hints and some stewed tea. Haunting stuff. The palate was seriously mouth-coating, with layers of dried figs, nuts, a little woodiness and a touch of spice that stained the mouth and refused to let go. The super-dry, fresh acidity was almost a surprise after the intensity of the nose and the attack, and it certainly needed food to bring out its best. Otherwise, a brilliant wine. The finish lacked a bit in terms of fruit, but lingered away with notes of black tea, oolong, dried figs and spice. Love this.

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• 2007 Domaine Tortochot Chambertin 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

  Pretty good. We guessed this as a 2007 Gevrey Grand Cru, but could not quite pinpoint whether it was a Chambertin, a Clos-de-Beze or maybe even a CSJ. Nevertheless, it reflected its terroir and vintage pretty well even in its youth. The nose was really floral, along with some jasmine accents and then lots of ripe red fruits - raspberries, maraschino, sour cherries - and some musky, spicy woodiness. Very Gevrey in its red-fruit notes, and this was picked up o the palate too. Rather rich and ripe for a 2007 on the attack, but it showed the bright acid and lovely transperancy of the vintage, with more bright red fruited notes of high-toned cherries, raspberries and a layering of sweet oak. The mid-palate showed a bit less depth, but had nice notes of stony mineral flecked with some metal notes alongside the sweet fruit. Nicely structured, very nicely balanced with superb acidity, this was quite enjoyable indeed. The finish lacked just a bit of length and strength, closing out with a load of woody spice. Otherwise, this is a very decent effort for a difficult vintage and should make pretty good drinking across the mid-term.

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• 2000 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques 94 Points

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

  A lovely wine, still young, but starting to drink very nicely. It had a lovely nose, very pretty, with beautiful sweet red cherries, lots of flowers and a little touch of herbs. Seductive stuff. I thought it was a Gevrey, but most of the others called it a Chambolle, and I can see why too. The palate was really fresh and lively for a 2000, again really, really floral, with wonderfully pure red fruit - high-toned sour cherries and fresh strawberries here - riding on a perfumy, flower petal background. There was a nicely ringing fruit sweetness on the mid-palate and into the long finish, where some sweet spices and characteristic CSJ ferrous mineral mingled cherries and flowers. Beautiful stuff, really well-defined, focused, balanced, with a classy caress of refined tannins - this was quite the complete wine with lots of finesse to boot. While drinking nicely now, there was still a lot in reserve - I can only see this getting better and better over the next 4-5 years. Solid stuff, just edged on the night by an outstanding SQN Syrah Papa.

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• 1994 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune 1er Cru Grèves Vigne de L'Enfant Jesus 89 Points

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

  Okay wine, but rather an under-perfomer given its pedigree. I thought it was a grumpy 1994 from one of the less favoured parts of Corton, perhaps in the hands of a second-rate maker, when blinded. It had a sweet nose, a bit of glycerol, some caramelised slightly candied cherry scents and a hint of crushed flowers. I was not sure whether I liked it or not. The palate also had somewhat sweet flavours of earth, cherries and raspberries. Decent depth for a 1994, but came across as a bit austere across the midpalate, with the remnants of firm tannins giving the wine a slightly rustic feel. The balance was alright, and there was a good freshness to the wine, but it all came together in a rather grumpy, slightky disjointed way at the finish. This wine still needs some developing and a bit more time to integrate. It was certainly still a bit primary on the fruit, but I am just not sure it will outlast the austerity on the structure. After a string of surprisingly good 1994s, this showed the poorer side of the vintage loud and clear. Overall, decently drinkable, but not great.

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• 1999 Tertre Rôteboeuf 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  I thought this was very nice. It had a beautiful nose of loamy earth, roast duck fat, some game and dark fruited cherries and plums, with just the slightest hint of sweet spices and dark flowers all framed with a touch of oak. Lovely stuff. The palate was rather less full-on seductive. The attack was actually a bit austere, with firm but fine tannins making their presence felt, but past that it was clas all the way. Not the brightest acidity, but there was a nice touch of freshness framing pretty dark cherry fruit flavours all the way into a long delineated finish with touches of sweet spice. Very elegant, very precise, so that this was completely at home amidst a flight of red Burgundies. Drinking pretty well now, but a few more years to develop more complexity will probably take the wine up a notch.

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• 1978 Château L'Evangile 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Just a bit over-the-hill, but this still gave a lot of pleasure. It nosed almost like an old Rhone, with leather, meat and earth scent mingling with plums, some brighter red fruit scents and some tobacco and Chinese herbs. On the palate, fine tannins had softened into a silky robe, upon which a sweet mouthfull of red cherries, tobacco and leather played together in a slightly weak but still very bright harmony. The finish was very fresh, very lively, but just a bit shortened with a little spicy lilt before the wine tailed away. Time to drink up!

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• 2004 Château Palmer 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Pretty good, but boy this was modernly styled. Ripe plums and cassis scents on the nose were accompanied by a hint of earth and a dose of sweet oak hints of oak. There was a nice gummy quality to the cassis and plum fruit on the nose, with a nice ring of purity, but the wine seemed more about heft, depth and weight than elegance at this point. Balance was okay barring some heat towards the end, but this does need time to unfold. Right at the finish, there were some drying, slightly powdery tannins along with very modern sweet vanilla and mocha notes. Good but not great at the moment - this would be interesting to revisit in 10 years' time.

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• 2002 Chateau Musar 90 Points

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  A very interesting wine - we could not decide whether it was a Rhone or Burg, or a new world blend! Not short on quality either though. It had an interesting nose of grassy earth, plum fruit, mulberry and cooked cherries along with a rich, almost liquered background with some glycerol and licorice along with a whiff of rubber. The palate picked up on the richness showed on the nose. It was big and weighty, perhaps lacking a bit acidity for a wine of its size, but it had a nice purity in its expression of red cherries and raspberries. Nice long finish too, with metally mineral fading into a dried fruited tail replete with red dates and black tea framed by a layer of layer of firmish tannins. Not perfect, a bit rustic maybe, but overall actually very yummy and full of character. By far the cheapest wine on show, but certainly not the weakest. Good show.

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• 1988 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 84 Points

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

  Over the hill, badly-stored or suffering from rot Hard to tell, but this bottle was a fry cry from the gently fading beauty that we had in Sydney last year. This had a strange, super-herbal nose, almost like a traditional Chinese medicine remedy, with angelica root, tree bark, gingko nut with woody streaks layered over a touch of preserved red dates and some dried cherry scents. Awkward, and the palate was even more so. The fruits had dried out significantly, leaving some metallic mineral and a squeeze of tea leaves at the short back-end along with some spice, heat and a little rot. Not undrinkable, but almost everyone tipped their glasses after a few sips. Pity.

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• 2006 Spectacle Vins Montsant Espectacle 93 Points

  Spain, Catalunya, Tarragona, Montsant

  Wow - this was a big wine. Not my preferred style of wine and definitely too young, but there was a lot of quality to it. The nose showed you exactly what you would get with this - sweet licorice, liquified cherries, hints of simple sugar, bits of earth and garrigue. I thought it may have been one of those spoofy 2007 CdPs. The palate was Huge. This was a monster of a wine, with loads of depth and massive concentration in its flavours of mashed-up cherries sprinkled with lavender sprigs moving into a really, really long finish. What really surprised me that in the midst of all that concentration, there was actually really good balance, a nice sense of structure lent by fine, silky tannins and a very noticeable purity and clarity to the wine. This was certainly not one of the undrinkable 2007 CdP monstrosities. Very impressive stuff. I would love to try this again in 10 years' time.

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• 2006 Tua Rita Syrah 93 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  Objectively a really good wine, but it just seemed to be lacking something. It had a scarily dark purple colour in the glass - perhaps a portent of what was to come. Lovely nose though. All sorts of dark fruits - plums, mulberries and crushed cherries layered with sweet oak and mocha. The palate was rather expectedly rich, sweet and powerful, but had a good amount of balancing acidity that framed concentrated flavours of prunes, plums and more mocha and dark chocolate tones along with a touch of spice at the back-end. Good purity, really long finish - this was technically very good, almost perfectly made, but somehow I felt that it lacked a little soul. Still very young of course, it will no doubt improve with time.

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• 2003 Sine Qua Non Syrah Papa 95 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast

  These SQN bottlings are quite an enigma for me. In many senses, they represent everything I do not like in modern, spoofy wines, yet I have almost always found them outstanding. This, for example, was quite clearly the wine of the night for me in the midst of some really excellent old world stuff. It had a lovely nose, with earthy herbs, bright red berry fruit, touches of meaty umami and some smoky incense and rubber hints. Wow. The palate was every bit as impressive, if not even more so. It had a lovely, plush, velveteen mouthfeel, with an amazing amount of depth, concentration and intensity from the caramelly attack into a mid-palate replete with dark plums and cassis, and finally to an incredibly long finish with smoke, spice and mocha notes emerging to accompany the dark fruited depths. Yet for all that weight and richness, it was not the fruit that got me, but the super balance and fine structure of the wine, so that there was not one hair out of place. This was all poise, integration and control, so that it came across not only as a hedonistically enjoyable wine, but also a classy one. Most importantly though, unlike the other example of techincally perfection in the same flight, the 2006 Tua Rita Syrah, this had real soul and I enjoyed every sip of this. A beautiful captivating wine. The years have been kind to this bottle, but I am interested to see how well something like this will age in the long term, if only someone will be kind enough to pop one for me 10 years down the road.

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• 1976 Freiherr Heyl zu Herrnsheim Niersteiner Brudersberg Riesling Beerenauslese Goldkapsel 93 Points

  Germany, Rheinhessen

  Very nice stuff. It nosed quite a bit younger than its age, with just little bits of rubber and petroleum floating alongside yellow fruit scents, some apricot and peach, and a little whiff of musk and dried flowers. Given the ripeness on the palate though, both TM and I guessed it as a 1976 BA. It still had some sweetness to it, but the ripe apricot, peach and yellow fruit notes had mellowed into a beautiful balanced package. A long finish with lots of musky notes and another flourish of dried flowers alongside rubber and spice notes rounded the wine off. A lovely pairing with our salted egg-yolk and custard bun dessert, and a great way to end a great diner.

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