1980 Wine Lunch

An early celebration in anticipation of my 40th year with WK and gang. Grateful for the generosity and resourcefulness of my friends to dig up all these wines from a less than heralded vintage.

• 1980 Faiveley Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos de la Maréchale 91 Points

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

  An old charmer. Clearly not from the strongest vintage, but still very enjoyable. I really like the nose here, with its lovely mature Burgundy aromas of earthy sous bois, savoury meat, black tea, and then sweeter scents of sur-mature red berries, toasty spice and just a hint of perfumy flowers. The palate was not the thickest or richness, but had a lovely freshness and energy to it, with bright acidity and the finest tannins dancing around a lovely transparent core of sweet strawberries and cherries. The finish was a bit dryer, but showed a nice linger of spice and mineral on the back-palate. Really charming. Lovely time to drink up too.

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• 1980 Domaine de Montille Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens 90 Points

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

  Fading a little, but a charmer nonetheless. I really liked the nose - it had lovely drifts of red cherries and strawberries, some bloody, ferrous mineral, and then a funkier undertone of meat and soil. The palate was rather thinner than the nose promised, with rather skinny flavours of red cherries and strawberries on the attack at first. With time, it started putting on a little more substance, sweetness and weight. There was certainly a lovely purity and freshness to it throughout though, with bright acidity and fine-boned tannins carrying the wine into a surprisingly satisfying finish, this seasoned with a blush of earth and spice. Really quite enjoyable - I liked this.

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• 1980 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru

  Very nice - the strongest of the trio of 1980s that we had. It had such a lovely nose, with a beautiful drift of Dujac’s whole cluster spice and bramble, along with gentle layers of earth and stony minerality, and then a kiss of sweet blueberry aromas. The palate was just lovely too. The tannins had melted into a robe of velvet, and the acidity was still bright and lively, all this wrapped around a lovely core of bright cherries and blueberries. There was then a nice bit of earth, spice and a lovely long tail of stony minerality stretching into a long finish. Still really strong and substantial for a 1980. This was lovely stuff.

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• 1978 Camille Giroud Clos St. Denis 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos St. Denis Grand Cru

  A touch rustic, but still white nice. While not the most refined, this showed the strength of its vintage. It had a strong nose, full of meat, earth and forest floor, along with a touch of dark fruit. More savoury than sweet though. The palate had a rich fullness to it, with deep notes of dark cherries patted down with a good bit of meat and earth. There was still a good chew of tannins and acidity leading into a full finish. Not the most refined, but this was nevertheless a juicy and satisfying wine.

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• 1978 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia 93 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Absolutely lovely. It stood out from amongst a lovely field of Burgundies, but not quite as much as one would expect. The nose was lovely, with a blush of roses, sweet dried cherries and strawberries, earth, bramble and smoky spice. There was a sweet thickness to those aromas, along with a lick of American oak that set this apart from the Burgs. The palate was lovely too, with a gentle glow of mature sweetness showing in its flavours of dried red cherries and strawberries, haw flakes, earth and spice, all unfolding into a beautifully full, sheet finish. Really nice purity here. There was still a nice peck of structure too, with a kiss of tannins and a lift of juicy acidity, but this was clearly a rounded and mature wine. A lovely drop.

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