I was a bit hesitant about bringing this bottle given its age, but it was universally well received over lunch. Almost everyone guessed Champagne, and we all agreed that it actually had the chops to go on in the bottle for a bit yet. It had a nose of ripe apples and a whiff of quinine along with a touch of minerality – quite an attractive bouquet. The palate was a dead-ringer for a Champagne of equivalent age, with sweet apples at the fore chased by lemon zest and bittersweet mineral notes, all this held in fresh balance and with a fine mousse. With time, a little touch of spice peeked out at the finish. The age of the wine showed in the nice mellow roundness it had in the mouth, but it still had a bit of youthful zestiness that bodes well for the immediate future. Neither the most complex nor the deepest wine, but this was very pleasant.
A pretty solid Meursault village, but this seemed a bit of a blunt tool in comparison to the stylish, elegant wines that I am used to from Fichet. The nose was very forward in a warm, sunny way, with creamy Meursault aromas wed to sweet notes of yellow peaches and honey and some toasty popcorn and vanilla oak accents. Pleasant, but this could well have belonged to a Macon or even a new world wine with all that fruit and oak. The palate was rather less sweet than nose, but it still had a rather huge mouthful of yellow fruit, especially for a village wine, with peaches, pineapples and nectarines framed by lowish acidity that lent the wine a heavy, creamy mouthfeel. It is not as if it was out of balance, but this lacked a bit of subtlety in its full-on power, particularly on the attack. It did feel a bit more delineated and better cut past the midpalate and towards the finish though, with sweet citrus fruit, lemon peel and a hint of minerality cutting through the fleshier tones. All in all, a solid, well-crafted and a pleasant enough wine with quite tremendous depth for a village, but not quite what I would have expected from Fichet.
Every time I think I am way over the fruit-driven modern Aussie Shiraz, along comes one that really surprises me by how yummy it actually is. There was no doubt what this was the moment it hit our glasses – the nose alone was a telltale, with rich wafts of plums and blackberries seasoned by some brambly herb, dried earth aromas and twists sweet eucalyptus. Unmistakably Aussie. The palate was as rich and sweet as the nose suggested, with a whole mouthful of ripe blackberry and spice flavours touched by more of those herb and eucalyptus accents on the finish. For all its fruit though, the wine was actually well-balanced and nicely structured, shaped as it was by juicy acidity and fine tannins that kept it quite delicious to drink. This is so rich that it probably needs decades to shed its puppy fat and put on real complexity though. Not quite the style of wine I favour, but this was well made and pretty enjoyable.
Really unusual – a Pinot Noir from Patagonia, Argentina made by one of the scions of the Sassicaia-owning Incisa della Rocchetta family. Unfortunately, while a decent enough drink, this was no great shakes. Served blind, we could just about make out the fact that it was a new world Pinot Noir of some sort, but the origin was just about impossible to pinpoint. The nose showed sweet dark cherry aromas and some flowers along with a little funky twist of earth and Chinese herb. It felt quite well-constructed on the palate, coming across clean and fresh, with nice silky tannins; but otherwise, this was quite simple and frankly a little nondescript, with cherry and raspberry fruit seasoned with a little blush of spice and bittersweet herb and then a touch more of that funky character picked up on the nose. Not bad, but not great either.
Italy, Trentino Alto-Adige / Veneto, Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT
This was really interesting. A botrytised wine from Faedo, in the alpine regions of Italy, made from a strange blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Kerner. The nose tumbled out of the glass with wafts of exotic tropical tones, mango, passion fruit, almost jackfruit-like at points I thought, along with sweet, honeyed tones of peach, nectar and flowers. The palate was okay rather than great. Sweet, with honey, peaches and preserved kumquat notes, but not quite as exotic as the nose suggested, it was decently balance in spite of what seemed like rather lowish acidity. All in all, a decent enough sweet wine to place on the table, but not one I would be in a hurry to seek out.
1993 Schramsberg Vineyards Reserve 91 Points
USA, California, North Coast
I was a bit hesitant about bringing this bottle given its age, but it was universally well received over lunch. Almost everyone guessed Champagne, and we all agreed that it actually had the chops to go on in the bottle for a bit yet. It had a nose of ripe apples and a whiff of quinine along with a touch of minerality – quite an attractive bouquet. The palate was a dead-ringer for a Champagne of equivalent age, with sweet apples at the fore chased by lemon zest and bittersweet mineral notes, all this held in fresh balance and with a fine mousse. With time, a little touch of spice peeked out at the finish. The age of the wine showed in the nice mellow roundness it had in the mouth, but it still had a bit of youthful zestiness that bodes well for the immediate future. Neither the most complex nor the deepest wine, but this was very pleasant.
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2009 Jean-Philippe Fichet Meursault Les Chevalières 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault
A pretty solid Meursault village, but this seemed a bit of a blunt tool in comparison to the stylish, elegant wines that I am used to from Fichet. The nose was very forward in a warm, sunny way, with creamy Meursault aromas wed to sweet notes of yellow peaches and honey and some toasty popcorn and vanilla oak accents. Pleasant, but this could well have belonged to a Macon or even a new world wine with all that fruit and oak. The palate was rather less sweet than nose, but it still had a rather huge mouthful of yellow fruit, especially for a village wine, with peaches, pineapples and nectarines framed by lowish acidity that lent the wine a heavy, creamy mouthfeel. It is not as if it was out of balance, but this lacked a bit of subtlety in its full-on power, particularly on the attack. It did feel a bit more delineated and better cut past the midpalate and towards the finish though, with sweet citrus fruit, lemon peel and a hint of minerality cutting through the fleshier tones. All in all, a solid, well-crafted and a pleasant enough wine with quite tremendous depth for a village, but not quite what I would have expected from Fichet.
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2005 Wild Duck Creek Shiraz Springflat 92 Points
Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Heathcote
Every time I think I am way over the fruit-driven modern Aussie Shiraz, along comes one that really surprises me by how yummy it actually is. There was no doubt what this was the moment it hit our glasses – the nose alone was a telltale, with rich wafts of plums and blackberries seasoned by some brambly herb, dried earth aromas and twists sweet eucalyptus. Unmistakably Aussie. The palate was as rich and sweet as the nose suggested, with a whole mouthful of ripe blackberry and spice flavours touched by more of those herb and eucalyptus accents on the finish. For all its fruit though, the wine was actually well-balanced and nicely structured, shaped as it was by juicy acidity and fine tannins that kept it quite delicious to drink. This is so rich that it probably needs decades to shed its puppy fat and put on real complexity though. Not quite the style of wine I favour, but this was well made and pretty enjoyable.
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2012 Bodega Chacra Pinot Noir Barda 88 Points
Argentina, Patagonia, Río Negro
Really unusual – a Pinot Noir from Patagonia, Argentina made by one of the scions of the Sassicaia-owning Incisa della Rocchetta family. Unfortunately, while a decent enough drink, this was no great shakes. Served blind, we could just about make out the fact that it was a new world Pinot Noir of some sort, but the origin was just about impossible to pinpoint. The nose showed sweet dark cherry aromas and some flowers along with a little funky twist of earth and Chinese herb. It felt quite well-constructed on the palate, coming across clean and fresh, with nice silky tannins; but otherwise, this was quite simple and frankly a little nondescript, with cherry and raspberry fruit seasoned with a little blush of spice and bittersweet herb and then a touch more of that funky character picked up on the nose. Not bad, but not great either.
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2006 Pojer e Sandri Essenzia Raccolta Tardiva Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT 90 Points
Italy, Trentino Alto-Adige / Veneto, Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT
This was really interesting. A botrytised wine from Faedo, in the alpine regions of Italy, made from a strange blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Kerner. The nose tumbled out of the glass with wafts of exotic tropical tones, mango, passion fruit, almost jackfruit-like at points I thought, along with sweet, honeyed tones of peach, nectar and flowers. The palate was okay rather than great. Sweet, with honey, peaches and preserved kumquat notes, but not quite as exotic as the nose suggested, it was decently balance in spite of what seemed like rather lowish acidity. All in all, a decent enough sweet wine to place on the table, but not one I would be in a hurry to seek out.
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