Dinner with Jeffrey

Jeffrey Chilcott from Marchesi di Gresy, Barbaresco was briefly in town so I organised a dinner for him and friends at the excellent Hippopotamus Restaurant, Wellington.

All wines were served non-blind, except for those indicated below.

• 1996 Duval-Leroy Champagne Femme de Champagne

  France, Champagne

  Served blind, but a Champagne seemingly very much in the Duval-Leroy house style. Like a lot of ’96 Champagnes at the moment, drinking beautifully. From Montrachet glass, an expressive, spicy, biscuity bouquet, with apple florals, citrus and minerals. The bouquet is dominated by green apples. In the mouth, fine and elegant, with sparkling ’96 acidity evident. Great energy, but also nuance and detail with layers of green apple, lemons, baking spices, minerals and a little cream. In its optimal drinking now I thought, but you could easily cellar it to see where secondary development takes it.

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• 2007 Rippon Riesling

  New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Lake Wanaka

  Served blind. The deep colour suggested evolution and I was initially thinking this Riesling was a late 1990s Alsatian. A lovely, developed Riesling nose of muted kerosene, citrus, river boulders and metals. Nicely evolved on palate. Attractive, bright, racy acidity. Lemons, limes and minerals. Rich, with good weight, but well balanced. Off-dry in style. Drink in the next few years.

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• 2013 Kumeu River Chardonnay Hunting Hill

  New Zealand, North Island, Auckland, Kumeu

  This Kumeu River Chardonnay is much awarded but I'd not previously had the opportunity to taste it ... This dinner seemed like a good opportunity to taste it up against a couple of quality overseas Chardonnays … I thought it was a good, but not an outstanding, example from this house … Light gold colour. Very reductive on opening (decant or open it well in advance). A bouquet of pear and other orchard fruits, lemons and honeysuckle but, overall, dominated by sulphide minerality. Nice and taut on palate, with good acidity. The flavours were white fruits, citrus, minerals and almonds. It seemed reasonably well balanced, except in giving an impression of excessive fruit sweetness. Ripe fruit is good, but I wondered ‘Where will this wine go?’. However, it is young. I plan give my other bottles 5+ years in the cellar.

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• 1995 Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay Art Series

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  Served blind. Deep gold colour, like Rauno’s other Chardonnay. Under cork (Rauno said it was mashed and had to be pushed into the bottle). A bouquet of honey, grapefruit, spices and a little pineapple. Its development was expressed as a slightly Brie-like, oxidised note. On palate, superb, the best of the three Chardonnays. I need regular reminders as to the quality of mature LEAS Chardonnays. Honey combed and blanched almond flavoured, with citric and orchard fruit elements. Nice bright acidity, not however as racy as the Carrillon. I thought the LEAS was a white Burgundy although, with hindsight, the acid profile and the quite opulent fruit, should have told me it was from the New World. This LEAS should outlive the Carrillon (if your cork holds out). Drink or hold (depending on how developed you like your Chardonnays).

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• 1996 Louis Carillon Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Perrières

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Served blind. An attractive bouquet with a base of steel and wet river gravel but with some more developed elements people (variously) expressed as toffee apple, golden syrup, nougat and blanched hazelnuts. In the mouth, the first impression was of the evolution obvious here, and the second was of the ripping acidity. The acids initially made me think of Chablis before settling on 1996 1er Côte de Beaune. This bottle was towards the end of its peak drinking with maderised fruit and toffee elements becoming prominent. However, it paired well with my Parfait de Foie de Canard. Good but drink soon.

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• 2002 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay 1er Cru Clos du Château des Ducs

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

  Served blind. Ruby red, slightly less deep than the Grivot. Aromas of soil, red and some dark cherries and other mainly red fruits and orange peel. Some rusticity and a bit of warmth on the palate had me in the Côte de Beaune, not the Côte de Nuits. On palate, the Lafarge was more in the red fruit spectrum than the Grivot, with lots of plum and other red fruit, with some earth, underbrush and minerals. Good structure, concentration and relatively refined tannins. Now in its drinking window but with years ahead of it of course.

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• 2002 Domaine Jean Grivot Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Boudots

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Served blind. A beautiful, expressive nose that had me in Gevrey, definitely not in NSG. Lifted florals (with a touch of VA), red berries, mixed spices and an old leather saddle element (I had initially thought might be brett, but was convinced otherwise). I preferred the darker fruited and leathery Grivot to the Lafarge on palate. It was lush with more velvety richness and finesse than the Lafarge. On the palate, I was thinking more about Vosne than NSG. Again, drinking well on the night but there is no hurry needed.

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• 2011 Tenute Cisa Asinari dei Marchesi di Grésy Barbaresco Martinenga Gaiun Flawed

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Hand carried all of the way from Piemonte but … sadly, the wine was corked. A warm, spicy nose reflecting the vintage and seemingly plenty of ripe, rich fruit on palate. However, the aromatics were dumbed down and the palate length was severely clipped by the TCA.

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• 1996 Gaja Langhe Nebbiolo Conteisa

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC

  Double decanted six hours earlier. Opened softer and broader than the Sperss. Impenetrable dark colour. A gorgeous nose of spices, tar, dry earth and dark fruit. A sweet entry. Generous and relatively open. Lovely balance. The oak seemed largely consumed. It was however evident in the sleek, glossy mouth feel. Gorgeous, ripe fruit, with no pruniness. No real secondary, savoury development yet. The flavours were espresso, dark cherries, Asian spices, warm earth and tar. Reflecting its La Morra provenance, broader and seemingly softer than the Sperss. Still, very good, perhaps give the Conteisa another 3+ years.

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• 1996 Gaja Langhe Nebbiolo Sperss

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC

  Double decanted six hours earlier. Another level above the Conteisa on opening, sterner, brooding and better balanced. Colour equally deep and dark as the Conteisa. A precise, restrained bouquet of dark berries, menthol, musk and some dark florals. Laser-like focused and precise on palate. Still a little austere but very driven. Packed with Serralunga muscle. The superb ’96 acidity was much more obvious in the Sperss than in the Conteisa. Again, the oak is in balance and the detail and complexity is just beginning to emerge. It’s very sleek and elegant but with this serious structure and dry extract you can see that there’s much more to come in 5+ years. Clearly superior to the Conteisa, it paired very well with my beef dish.

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• 1988 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino 95 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Double decanted seven hours earlier. On opening, austere and a little varnishy. Ruby red very slightly browning. With seven hours’ air a beautiful, more nuanced and seductive bouquet of red and dark berries, musk and dusty earth had emerged. The bouquet also showed the wine's evolution with notes of black tea, soy and balsamico notes. A lovely wine on the palate, that had the misfortune to be on the table beside the superb 1990. Showing some development with excellent acidity. John said (and I agreed) that the 1988 was ‘quite a way behind the 1990’ in quality. Savoury and secondary flavours: leather horse saddle, earth, plums, espresso, mushrooms and dry brushwood. Fine grained tannins. Good concentration and structure. Based only on this example, I’d be looking to drink a 1988 in the next few years, if I had a bottle.

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• 1990 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino 99 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Double decanted seven hours earlier. Better balanced on opening than the 1988. Deep ruby red. An evocative, multi-dimensional perfume, from memory even better than for the entrancing 1985 of a month or so ago. A beautiful wine. Pure and driven. Superb balance and gorgeous acidity. Perfectly ripe fruit. Complex and nuanced. Flavours of black and red berry compote, spices, warm soil, dry underbrush, minerals, florals etc etc. Layers and layers of flavour. Seamless. Serious structure and incredible length. Ideally, I’d give this wine 5+ years. A great wine, for me about as good as wine gets.

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• 2003 Château Rieussec 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Served blind. Dark, deep gold. Freshness and acidity, and not a lot of botrytis, suggested by the bouquet. Apricot, crème brûlée and toffee apple notes. I didn’t think it was Rieussec as I didn’t spot any evident Rieussec signature brown sugar flavours. Packed full of apricots, barley sugars, orange marmalade and cinnamon. Unctuous and tactile. Not monolithic, reasonably detailed. Rich and full, but, in fact, lower acid, making this a good, but not a great, Rieussec. Drink or hold.

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We discussed the four vintages of Monfortino we’d had in the last month. I rated them in the order 1985, 1990, 1995, then 1988. The only disagreement was with the first two places, with Nick and some others rating the 1990 marginally ahead of the 1985. I thought that some of the secondary nuances gave the 1985 a slight edge over the 1990. However, any assessment is no doubt bottle dependent and very subjective. On its own, or up against other less elevated Baroli, the 1988 could well have been an epiphany wine ...

A great evening, enjoyed by all!