1993 Horizontal - The Papies at year 20!

We have been carefully snapping up 1993 vintage wines for some time now, not an easy task given the vintage was tricky in most places, to celebrate our anniversary at some point.

And what better landmark than our 20th!

Bresaola & Olives from Puglia
Gazpacho with a twist

• 1993 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon 96 Points

  France, Champagne

  Such a great surprise. We had 2 bottles on the night, sourced from different merchants, and both performed very well. So much life in this wine so much vitality and energy and does not seem to be loosing its edge. The nose if full of toasty notes, yeasty, good ripe fruit, light pear and citrus notes. On the palate it is so firm and alive we would never have picked it for a 93. Lush, full on, great depth and so complex. A real joy and highly recommended. 96 drink now but will last for another 10yrs!

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No Papies dinner is ever complete without Fois Gras

• 2000 Lesko Tokaji Aszu Eszensia

  Hungary, Tokaji

  From tiny little bottle to accompany fois gras and shocked to see a 9.5% Alc on the label. This is sweetness to the next level. Needs food as the acidity is not there in a level enough to balance out the sweetness ( these puppies can go to 700+g/l we believe) . Noble rot aromatics dominate the nose, ripe apricots. Glycerine feel on the palate, lush and big with lots of depth . Lots and lots of substance here but again the sweetness at times goes unchecked. An experience to say the least!

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Trilogia of Scallops followed by fontina&white truffle Plin with black summer truffle small plate

Palate Cleanser of Mochi filled with Mango & Chili ice cream

• 1993 Cantina Terlan Chardonnay Rarity 96 Points

  Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Alto Adige, Terlano

  Another great show from this magnificent wine. We did not decant. Good golden colour, glossy, vibrant. As with our past TNs on this it is great to see full of rich ripe fruit element but in the absence of oak, pure fruit full of character balance and complexity. Lush, vibrant on the palate and nowhere near showing signs of tailing off with good ripeness and length. We said it before and we will say it again. Magical. 96

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Roast Leg of Lamb with Pommes Boulangaire and a headache from Heston Blumenthal

• 1993 Château L'Eglise-Clinet 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Good colour, still dense core but the rim is bricking and shows its age. The nose is ever so classical, open, delicate and full on secondary. Light leather, earthy , tobacco and with still a decent amount of dark fruits. Light floral, herby side too. On the palate the wine shows its age but still very nice and with presence. Light fruit, almost a burgundian feel at times, well evolved and round. Not dry or with hash edges just a beautifully well aged beauty. Among the best reds we have come across for 1993. 94 and well deserved

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• 1993 Serafin Père et Fils Charmes-Chambertin 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

  On open the nose was full of strawberry notes! This relaxed and developed more of a secondary character as we left it in the bottle to rest. At time it had oxidised notes, but not sure if these were remnants of a hot august in the Cote d’Or or just oxidation from the 2 hours it stayed in the bottle. In any case we would avoid a long opening time. On the palate it is delicate, secondary and in a way very classic wine, full of secondary touches and light fruit. At times it felt fragile and definitely this is one to drink now. Still very interesting wine full of purity and class. 92-93

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• 1993 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Ornellaia Vino da Tavola 92 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Vino da Tavola

  The wine needs time to develop post opening. The first notes had a sweet light cooked fruit which worried it us and thus avoided decanting but with the benefit of hindsight careful decanting would have helped the wine evolve. As time went by it relaxed in the glass, shed it heavy fruit notes and showed a more balanced side of it. The fruit is still there, a touch on the heavy side as expected but not dried and unlike the Ca’Martina 93 (Papies -90) that followed this didn’t have the lactic remnants of oak abuse in its elevage. Silky tannin, well round and one to enjoy sooner than later. 91-92

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• 1993 Querciabella Camartina 90 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  We did not decant (didn’t have the time) and definitely the wine liked a bit of aeration to open up. Dark in colour still, dense. Quite a lot of fruit at times with burnt notes light port feel on the nose. The palate is full of ripe fruit still and we wonder if 93 was such a hot year in Tuscany. In general this is a very enjoyable wine however it has not been able to shed the abuses (still a lot of lactic notes on the nose for example) of both extraction and over-abuse of oak in its elevage. Clearly this was supertuscan experimentation time and more of everything was better….. The wine has not evolved much and maybe this goes to show that time/age is not always a helping hand neither can it provide false hope that the overpaid and overrated wine one bought didn’t taste up to potential at year 9 because it needs more aging. Spanish modernist winemakers should pay attention here. The good news is that this still has a lot of life in it and is not dry at all. 90-91 from us.

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• 1993 Château d'Yquem 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  We were worried about what we would get here read many notes about off putting smells. No issues with this bottle though. An orange ting to the colour to remind you this is not a young puppy and from then on the wine tells beautiful story of purity, balance and structure. Full on alive, vibrant and with good acidity held its own well and proved once again that vintages come and go but Yquem is Yquem. And we will leave it to that! 94-96

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