Pomerol Dinner to mark the publication of Neal's book

The Square, London
Tasted Friday, January 25, 2013 by SimonG with 680 views

Flight 1 - Canapé (Foie gras on toast) (1 Note)

Flight 2 - Cauliflower Arancini with Parmesan and Spring Truffle (2 Notes)

  • 2000 Château Guillot 87 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Quite high toned, but on reelection that could have been the glass as pretty much all the glasses turned out to have a detergent taint. Dense and quite plush on the nose. Earthy, slightly woody through the finish. Vintage richness upfront but a bit astringent on the backend. Needs a bit more time. Ok. ***

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  • 1998 Château Bellegrave (Pomerol) 86 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Again, a little pinched and slightly glossy high toned (probably the glass/detergent issue). Ripe and quite rounded dark red fruit through the attack. Still quite dry and chewy on the finish. Nicely sweet blackcurrant fruit in here but it's a bit dry and surly in between. Bare ***

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Flight 3 - Mushrooms on Toast (3 Notes)

  • 2001 Château Certan de May 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Rich on the nose. Quite lush through the front end. Still plenty of bite. Nicely dusty licorish fruit through the finish. Needs time. ***(*)

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  • 1990 Château Certan de May 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Similarly rich nose as the 01. A touch more meat. Sweet fruited, quite lush, but there is a freshness here too. ***1/2

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  • 1986 Château Certan de May 88 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Recognisable on the one in the context of the flight.a little leaner but with earthy blackcurrant coming through. Nice and fresh and savoury.possibly a little rustic on the finish - some discussion of corkiness. It does start to thin and become a little astringent on the finish with air.

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Flight 4 - Roast Pyrenean Lamb with a Gratin Daphinoise (3 Notes)

  • 1989 Vieux Château Certan 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Fresh, nicely mineral, long and elegant. Opens up to some coffee and spice. A nice freshness here. Long and lovely with typical measured restraint. ****1/2

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  • 1989 Château La Conseillante 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Lusher and richer on the nose than the VCC. Really quite lush through the front end. Drier on the finish. Much better than my previous experience of this, but still not a top bottle apparently. ****

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  • 1990 Château La Conseillante 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Rich nose. Lots of roasted coffee here on the nose. Rich and rounded and lush. Retains some mineral freshness through the finish. Attractive in a more buxom, obvious way. Lovely. ****

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Flight 5 - Rib of Aged Beef with Oxtail Spring Rolls and Marrow (4 Notes)

  • 1966 Château Gombaude-Guillot 85 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Mellow roasted coffee, quite plush, mellow and deep on the nose. A little less together on the palate, and seems to break up a bit. A bit here and there. **1/2

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  • 1971 Château La Fleur-Pétrus 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Mellow, coffee scented, quite rich. Very smooth through the attack. Depth and complexity here. Complete and satisfying. ****1/2

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  • 1955 Vieux Château Certan 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Deep red fruit, almost a slightly artifical cherry scent initially, then relaxes in to a mellow meatiness on the nose. Slightly high-toned, but that may be the ongoing glass issue. Lovely on the palate, again mellow, rounded, gently spicy, more relaxed obviously than the 89, but one gets a sense that that could go this way too. ****

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  • 1964 Château L'Evangile 87 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    A bit more loose knit on the nose. A touch muddy too. Cloudy. A bit more focus on the palate but in this company it's a bit more miss than hit. ***

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Flight 6 - Truffled Brie de Meaux (3 Notes)

  • 1995 Château Clinet 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Dark red fruited o the nose, far cleaner than many of the previous wines. A nicely plummy spice to this. Structured and youthful. ***(*)

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  • 1995 Château Lafleur 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Again, clean and fresh, more cherry fruited and a little higher toned. More lift. Quite structured. Tobacco starting to come through on the finish. ***(*)

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  • 1996 Château L'Eglise-Clinet 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Incredibly florally scented, roses and then a bit of damp geranium. Dark red fruited. Still quite dry around the edges. ***(*)

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Flight 7 (1 Note)

  • 1964 Château Latour à Pomerol 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Served blind. Mellow, coffee-mocha nose. Gently spicy but with a richness that reminds me of some of Conseillante earlier in the evening. Older though, maybe 85? Oops. 64 Latour a P. Mellow and long. Graceful and complete. ****1/2

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Closing

A very interesting selection to mark the arrival of Neal's new book. The wines were slightly hampered by a persistent and pronounced chemically glass taint, and with fourteen of us sometimes the pours didn't quite overcome that background aroma. I drink very little Pomerol, mainly only VCC, but there were some really lovely wines that were paired very well with relatively straightforward, well executed wine-friendly food. A lovely evening; thanks to all for their generosity, but especially Thomas and Jordi for their extras that topped and tailed the evening.

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