K & J's Wedding Dinner

Kelvin managed to negotiate a BYO policy with the hotel and set all of us together, so this was one wedding banquet where the wines did not suck. I really enjoyed almost everything we had actually - for an impromptu wine dinner, this was really a good night. Congrats K & J!

• 2002 Guy Bocard Meursault 1er Cru Charmes 92 Points

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

  This was good. In spite of being served a tad too warm, it still showed really well. It had a nice nose, with classic Meursault notes of butter, cream and fleshy white fruit scents lined by a nice strong seam of chalky, minerally aromas. The palate was quite ripe, quite rich, but was well balanced by a good amount of acidity and more of that serious minerality running through ripe flavours of lemons, apples and rich white fruit. These were accmpanied by a touch of toast, nuts and spice at the long finish. A good Meursault at a nice place at the moment - I see little reason to wait any longer with this wine.

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• 2003 Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru 93 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru

  This was clearly infanticide - a baby QDC that had not yet shed its primacy or taken on the complexity of age. But even then, it was clearly an excellent wine, and all was quite forgiven given what an incredibly good pairing it was with a couple of dishes - first a deep-fried dish of scallop coated with taro, and then a Hong Kong style steamed fish in garlic and superior soy sauce. Even on the nose, it was clear that this was still really young, in its infancy really, but good stuff nonetheless. Lovely rich bouquet here, with classic lanolin, wool and honeyed notes, some dried tropical fruit aromas, maybe mango, maybe longans, sweet appley flesh, and then some oyster shell notes. Really nice, but one got the feel that it was just starting to unfurl. One could probably say the same about the palate. It was rich, treacly, honey-comb-like, with flavours of caramel apples, longans, maybe candied pineapples layered over the rich mid-palate. Lovely, complex stuff, but still rather primary. It finished with a final nip of lanolin and cotton wool dripped with honey and clove-led spice notes, and laced with just a bit of seashell salinity. This may have just been a snapshot of its future potential, but it was already a lovely drink. Like I said earlier, great with the scallop in taro, but when paired with steam fish with superior soy sauce and garlic, quite mindblowing, with all lots of beautiful peach and apricot notes emerging rather surprisingly from the depths of the wine. An unusually ripe vintage maybe, but this should go on to be a really nice wine in another decade or so.

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• 1997 La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904 93 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Excellent stuff - this was one of the two or three best wines on the night I think. It had a dropdead beautiful nose, just bursting with dried flowers, earth, loam, a touch of sweet spice, and lots of matured red fruited aromas - think cherries, dried strawberries, raspberries, a touch of umami. Lovely, complex stuff, and it actually got more and more sweetly perfumed with time, opening up into wild aromas of flowers, cherry fruit, crushed rocks, chocolate, truffles, stewed meat. Just wow. The palate, while not quite as stunning, was nevertheless at a lovely place too, with a beautiful mouthful of dried strawberries and red cherries, a bit of haw-flake, all laced with bright, crunchy acidity. The finish was neither the longest not the most powerful, but it had a nice lingering feel that was extremely charming, with a silky glide of tannins framing orange peel and preserved lime notes with just the slightest hint of smoke and spice at the very edge. With time, a whole melange of flowery flavours bloomed in the mouth behind the red fruited notes. A lovely wine, full of charm and character. Great now, but I can only see this getting better over the next few years - that is if I can keep my hands off the last bottle.

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• 1999 Maison Leroy Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Guettes 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru

  Very good indeed - this ran the Rioja close as red wine of the night. It had a rather sweet, richly scented strawberry nose, with a bit raspberry ripple maybe and flecked with hints of Leroy's characteristic stemminess. The palate was a bit tight at first, slightly muted, but it had a really nice feel to it, with freshness, ripeness, power and finesse all rounded together into a dark cherry and red fruit flavoured palate spiked with touches of earth and mineral. It opened up very nicely with time, taking on pure, sweet strawberry notes framed by fine tannins and fresh acidity that made it a lovely pairing for a roast duck dish. This needs time yet, but it was quite lovely even on the night.

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• 1988 Monthélie-Douhairet-Porcheret Pommard 1er Cru Les Fremiers 90 Points

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

  Pretty good. Given the vintage and the terroir, I was afraid that this may have been a hard, rather tannic brute when poured, hence I kept nagging poor AH to open the bottle early on in the dinner. I must say it was surprisingly drinkable though. The nose opened with a good dose of Burg funk - I got wet forest floor, loamy earth, wilting flowers, along with more tertiary aromas of mushrooms, stewed tea and dark fruit. Old-school Pommard bouquet - not for everyone maybe, but I kinda liked it. The palate was decent. It had a touch of the hardness of the vintage still, with firm tannins in the background, a bit of woodiness, but also a nice ring of clarity in its dark cherry flavours. Good, fresh acidity carried the wine into a decent finish, where another touch of woodiness lingered alongside some dried red fruit tones. It eventually opened up rather nicely with time to show more clear, clean red fruit notes dosed with earthy tones. Not great, but pretty nice.

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• 1989 Château La Fleur St. Émilion Grand Cru 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  A good wine, clearly a St Emilion from a strong year when blinded (I thought 1990) - so it caused quite a stir when B first told us that it was a 1989 Lafleur and our minds all jumped to the (far more expensive) Pomerol property - it was certainly good, but not quite that breathtaking! There was a nice right-bank nose here, with scorched earth, a touch of sweet dark cherries and berries, some cocoa, smoke and spice, classic stuff. This was another wine that was at a nice place on the palate as well. Here, the mouthfeel had nicely resolved into a cloak of fine, velvety tannins wed to still nicely bright acidity which formed the backdrop for nice flavours of dark cherries and a seam of limestoney minerality. Quite complete actually, with the wine pulling away in a long finish with flecks of stone and earth and spice and smoke. Not terribly complex, but very pleasant indeed. A good wine.

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• 2001 Schiavenza Barolo Broglio Riserva 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  A good Barolo with everything in place except age. Still very young, but this came across as a wine of good potential, a Barolo that leaned towards the traditional without being rustic or hard. The nose was very Piedmontese and very nice, with floaty scents of strawberries and blueberries, a toss of earth, a whiff of truffles, and a nice dose of roses and violets. Attractive stuff, rather feminine actually, leading me to guess that this might have been a Barbaresco instead. The palate did nothing to dispell the notion. There was a nice elegance here, where fine but firm tannins and bright acidity that lent a fine sense of freshness and structure to clean, clear, rather primary red fruited flavours. These too spoke eloquently of Piedmont, as did the long finish where smoky tar notes mingled with nice flowery lilt. This was very young, it needs time, like a decade or two, but it had a good amount of quality to it.

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• 1998 Domaine de Beaurenard (Paul Coulon et Fils) Châteauneuf-du-Pape Boisrenard 92 Points

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

  Popped and poured. I thought this was a very solid bottle, just that it was a in a rather awkward, shut-down phase akin to several other 1998s I have had in the last year or two. It had a lovely CDP nose. Still very young in that it was very Grenache-led, almost primary, with notes of cherries and red berries, along with incense, dried flowers and garrigue. A bit tight, but nice and very Provencal - something that I enjoy in good CDPs. The palate was even tighter. A little unyielding on the attack, with just hints of smoke and mineral at first, but the midpalate showed just a bit of how good the wine was, with a layer of juicy, gummy cherry fruit wed to darker berry flavours as the wine moved into a nicely detailed and certainly longish finish flecked with spice, garrigue and dried flowers. Not quite traditional, but this was nevertheless a prestige cuvee from a bygone era, where top-end CDP wines were not all about power, viscosity and hedonistic fruit. The balance was great, tannins were nicely fine, the fruit was nicely focused, but this was clearly in an in-between stage. 5 more years I would think, and then it should make a very nice wine.

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• NV Villa Jolanda Moscato d'Asti 89 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Moscato d'Asti

  A very solid Moscato - I enjoyed this quite a bit, especially after a longish night with plenty of more serious wines. It had a very nice nose, with musky notes of white flowers, white fruit, a good bit of minerality, a bit of yeast, solid stuff, which resounded mroe or less similarly on the palate, where the musk and fruit flavours showed nice balance and good depth. Lots of interest here, so that this came across as a good wine rather than just a run-of-the-mill bimbo Moscato.

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