My Birthday Dinner

A small birthday dinner in the Library at Crown built around an excuse to open my first-ever Latour 1959. As usual, no-one was backwards in coming forwards with great contributions and to Greg & Sayo, Runny & Miki and Kevin & Margaret - thanks guys.

• 1988 Pol Roger Champagne Vintage Brut 94 Points

  France, Champagne

  Medium gold Sauternes-like colour. Generous but transient mousse. Tiny langorous bubbles. Lovely nose of hazelnuts and honeycomb. Sharp, precise plush palate with lovely sharp long length and a velvety, biscuitty finish. Gorgeous fully mature Champagne.

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• 2004 Domaine Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Surprisingly pale, almost Sauvignon Blanc colour. Gentle seductive and beguiling nose of lemons, citrus....lots of high notes, very gentle. Wow....on the palate it is sharp, crisp, grippy with a distinct spine of refreshing acidity, green apples, celery, oyster shells, gunmetal...very minerally and extremely precise, leading to a great buttery, lemony finish that gets more buttery and with traces of Crunchie bar with extended time in the glass. From magnum. This was quite wonderful and a glass left untouched was still extremely vibrant and impressive when drank several hours after pouring.

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• 1971 Penfolds Grange Flawed

  Australia, South Australia

  Still deep red colour and transparent but with no sign of bricking. Very open and attractive complex nose of plums, prunes, black liquorice and memories of your grandparents' living room, still quite a lot of alcahol-driven high notes. Palate of acidity, burnt rubber and prune stones but not much fruit as previously tasted, suggesting a less than perfect bottle. Initially long and ethereal if a little thin on the back end but then everything collapsed within fifteen minutes.

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• 1985 Château Léoville Las Cases 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Deep purply transparent colour with no bricking. Superb open and multi-layered nose of gravel, minerals, cedar, cigar box and distinct graphite which was quite pronounced for a St. Julien, with blackcurrants coming through at the end of the nose. The palate was similar with distinct graphite, pronounced but poised acidity, deep rich blackcurrant fruit, wet granite, very minerally, elegant....with grippy dry tannins on the back end. Good length. This drank beautifully and, whilst now probably fully mature, it has many years ahead of it.

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• 1986 Penfolds Grange 96 Points

  Australia, South Australia

  Deep, deep black/purple colour.....not even translucent. Coffee and wet earth nose with remarkable length and resonance in your head, although still quite unevolved. Fantastic deep, deep palate of warm road tar and new bicycle inner tubes that still have the french powder on, giving into caramely, chewy tannins, toffee, glycerin, grippy and still a bit acidic but harmonious and with everything moving towards balance. Huge, huge length which sends you into opium-like reveries. Still a very young wine but it is really hard to fault it.

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• 1959 Château Latour Grand Vin 97 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  A black/red colour that has not even started to develop translucency. Shy nose (despite a 7-hour decant): rubber and very reticent brooding red and black fruits. Thick glycerin in the glass. Thick, jammy and extremely closed on the palate but glimpses of enormous depth slowly offering hints of deep, deep intense blackcurrants and cedar but crowded out by fresh boxwood that you normally associate with a 3-4 year old top Bordeaux. However, the length is just incredible: immensely resonant and just mind-expanding. At the moment I'm not even sure a 12-hour decant would have had much effect but one day this will be a 100 point wine.

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