Always a treat. This bottle was disgorged in 6 July 2009. Popped and poured, this was a bit tight on the nose and needed some time to open up before it showed a typical assertive nose of yeast, slightly oxidative apple scents, with lemons and yellow plum and strong doses of Chinese pears touched by a nice earthy minerality. Distinctive and attractive in very Selosse fashion. The palate came across as pretty rich. Low in number of bubbles yet showing a fine mousse, it had a creamy, almost oily texture to its attack, with flavours of browning apples, lemons and plums moving into a midpalate with so much bite that it seemed almost structured as it moved into a grippy, minerally finish with just a hint of biscuit emerging with time. Great power and intensity, wonderful length, lots of depth, but somehow a tad less lively than the best examples of the wine that I have had in the past. Still though, a Champagne of quality and character - I thought this was a tad better than the Krug MV that we had alongside. Still very young, so it may improve with time in the bottle.

A bottle of Krug is always a welcome sight at the table, but this bottle, while predictably good, was not one of the better bottles of Grande Cuvée that I have had in recent times. I am always a bit perturbed by the fact that the disgorgement date on this bottling is not easily discernible. This wine was certainly rather too young, a bit tight even, so that the nose was a bit unenthusiastic, taking some time to come out of the glass with its deep draws of lemony aromas along with a bit of yeast and a touch of toasty oak. Nice, but it certainly needs time. The palate, while blessed with lovely proportions, was still young as well. There was beautiful balance and lovely texture, with a wonderfully fine, lacy mousse. I enjoyed the lovely interplay between the citrussy fresh lemon, lime and green apples notes on the attack and the deeper earth, yeast white meat notes that emerged towards the long, focused finish. I really liked the tightly coiled core of minerality in there as well. The only issue was that everything, except perhaps the citrus brightness, seemed to be a little muted, a bit buried, so that the wine, like every youngish bottle of Grande Cuvée I have tried in the past, could easily be written off as an underachiever. This needs time though. It was a solidly-made Champagne that really deserved another 5 to 6 years in the cellar to allow it to develop before it could really strut its stuff.

I thought this was brilliant for such a young Pommard, and a 2003 as well - I would never have guessed the vintage if blind-tasting this again. It had a lovely nose dripping with natural fruity sweetness, full of red cherries and strawberries, just a bit candied at the edges maybe, and a whole raft of flowery aromas that were more Chambolle or Volnay than Pommard. It was only the earthy minerality chasing the perfumed scents that hinted at the wine's terroir. The palate was lovely, especially for a 2003, and a Pommard - this had a wonderful sense of finesse and elegance to its otherwise rather rich, ripe, very sappy flavours of red cherries and berries. Rich, but there was a lovely sense of purity and energy here. It was surprisingly fresh as well - I could not pick out the vintage because of the bright, almost lacy acidity that it had. The finish was delicious too, with a little grip of slightly chalky tannins wrapped around a mouthful of red cherries and a hint of herbs like a velvety jacket. A top-class Burgundy, and one that seemed very much in its youth. This is one Pommard well worth hunting down and cellaring if one is not too adverse to its slightly modern sweetness.

A 150th anniversary blend from all of Jadot's Beaune plots - I thought this was a nice little Beaune 1er Cru, especially at its price point. It had a sweet, perfumy 2009 nose of ripe strawberries and red cherries flecked with a bit of earth and a bit of spice. The palate was also ripe with pure, sweet strawberry notes at the fore, but it was nicely fresh and well-structured with fine tannins still coating the back-pakate. It had a nice finish too, lingering with a bit of wood spice and stalky green notes. Still a baby, but I thought this was really good for what it is - a solid Beaune at a fair price tag. One which should improve over the short to medium term too.

Decanted for some time before we got it, this bottle was showing beautifully. I have liked every example of Maume's Mazis that I have tried, and this was no exception. It had a wonderful nose, starting out with lovely lifted florals, and then unfolding in red cherries and earth, mineral and spice, and a little bit of roasted meat. Lovely stuff which could hardly be anything but a Gevrey. The palate was still clearly a bit young, but boy was it lovely, showing a beautiful clear purity to its red cherry fruit flavours. There was a lovely 1999 sappiness to the wine as fruit as well, girded on the midpalate with a good bit of stem-use that showed up in touches of herb, spice and a lovely, minerally earthiness stretching away into the distance. Again, I thought this was pure Gevrey, expressed in a muscular but far from rustic fashion. Delicious with some air even now, I can only imagine this getting better and better over the next 10 years.

This was unexpectedly good - a great example of the longevity of the 1966 vintage. I feared the worse when the cork popped into the bottle with barely a push from the corkscrew. Thankfully, the wine showed really well after quick decanting. It had a beautiful nose that was still recognisably Margaux in its rich wafts of cigar and earthy tobacco notes, vine talks and green peppers and then slightly dried cherries and raspberries riding alongside a drift of flowery accents. Lovely stuff. Unexpectedly, the palate was still very lively, with beautiful silky tannins that belied the vintage, as spice and tobacco notes swirled around a core of preserved plums, red cherries and dried berries and a hint of funky undergrowth. It was a little woody on the finish, which still seemed well-structured and balanced, if just a bit short. That aside, it was actually quite delicious. Bravo.

Beautiful. Quite unanimously the wine of the night amidst a rather challenging line-up. This smelt amazing. Classic Pomerol here, with layers of plums, earth and sweet spice, milk chocolate and flowers. Beautiful on the palate too, this drank wonderfully. It was still rich, still deep, still intense, but impeccably balanced with beautiful layers of milk chocolate, plums, dark cherries, gentle notes of earth and spice, all unfolding across the mouth in wave after wave of Merlot goodness wrapped in wonderfully resolved, seamless, velvety package. It is hard to describe this in a string of words - it was so well put-together that it seemed like one whole rather than a sum of different flavours. This is everything you would want an aged Pomerol to be. Beautiful, seductive, a complete wine at 40 years of age.

This was another lovely old Right-banker. The nose was a bit older smelling than on the 1971 Trotanoy on the same flight, with earthier, more smoky notes riding alongside a sweet core of dark berries, dried cherries and plums with a nice flowery lilt and a green vine stemmy edge to it. A lovely bouquet. It was drinking wonderfully too, with a delicious attack on the palate that started out with touches of meat and earth, bacon maybe, then red cherries and yellow plum flavours that seemed to get sweeter with time in the glass. There was a nice touch of still fresh acidity and fine tannins on the midpalate, but the finish had thinned out rather noticeably unfortunately, lingering away with a touch of graphite and red apple core rather than showing any real conviction or strength. However, that aside, this was a really nice wine that was drinking very well on the night - a very pretty St Emilion in fact, but it definitely should be drunk up soon.

Superb. This had a knockout nose, with beautiful sweet layers of blackberries, black cherries and plums touched by sweet wood spice, licorice and tobacco notes. I could sniff this all day, but the palate was beautiful too. Still young, still primary, but it had a wonderfully drinkable feel to it, with firmly structured yet somehow silky tannins and wonderfully integrated acidity forming a lovely backdrop for pure black fruited notes - think dark cherries and plums - touched by a ring of smoke and mineral as the wine stretched out into a beautiful finish with warm, earthy notes filling the back-palate. Still young, still a bit monolithic, but so well put together. While no harm drinking this now with a lengthy decanting, I would really give this another 8 to 10 years before it enters its proper drinking window. An unusual VCC in that this was more of a "typical" Pomerol with 90% Merlot in the blend (the rest being Cab Sauv), this lacked some of the usual VCC left-bankish Cabernet backbone. However, it was a lovely effort nonetheless. Not any poorer, just different. I would love to try this when it hits the same age as the wonderful 1971 Trotanoy that we had earlier in the night - I think it will be smashing.

A good wine, but neither the most typical nor the best Haut-Brion - definitely not something worth paying First Growth prices for. While there were classic Graves aromas of plums, cassis and black cherries on the nose chased by earth, tobacco and toasty cigar notes, I thought it was somehow unusually ripe and sweet on the nose, with an immediacy in the fruit and a clear flowery waft that rather more brashly modern than what I am used too with Haut-Brion. Lovely though. I wish could say the same for the palate. It was still a bit tight on first pour, but it too was clearly sweeter than usual, with rather sweet, fleshy notes of plums and cassis at the fore. The wine had super fine tannins and well-struck acidity that gave a sense of finesse to its structure. It also had pretty good depth for a 1999, all the way into a nicely detailed finish with a little waft of spice lifting up from amongst the fruit. However, for all that, it came across as rather facile, a bit simple for what it is. Overall, a good wine that will probably improve with time, but a bit of a disappointment from Haut-Brion.

This was our act of infanticide for the night. Clearly an absolutely brilliant bottle of wine, but this was a good 20 years away from being anywhere near ready to drink. It had a deceptively beautiful nose when first poured from the decanter where it had been sitting for three hours or so, gently wafting out of the glass with deep, deep reservoirs of cassis ringed by a touch of violets and then laced with earth, spice and graphite-edged mineral scents. Still very primary, but like so many great Latours, a classic young Pauillac nose. The palate super tight, surprisingly so given the rather welcoming nose. However, it was already quite a wonderful drink, with an incredible amount of depth and substance, sounding right from the start with a deep, deep well of dark fruit riding a bed of earth and mineral. Seamless, perfectly balanced and nobly structured with wonderfully ripe and supple tannins - this was a beautifully shaped, very complete wine with not a jot out of place, from the rich attack all the way into the massively long finish that just refused to quit. Unlike the nose, I would certainly not call the palate with its voluptuous layers of black fruit "classic" Pauillac by any stretch of the imagination. However, while super young and very primary, it was bursting with promise. I am thankful for the snapshot we got of this great wine, but for now it requires patience - lots and lots of it.

A great way to end the meal - an Auslese at just about a perfect place for drinking. This had a really nice nose, with a little drizzle of kerosene and subtle drops of honey dripped over bits of pear and nectarine, some osmanthus aromas and a little touch of peach melba at the background. Nothing too sweet or showy, this was actually really subtle in typical Middle-Mosel fashion. The lovely showed a lot more citrus freshness than the nose would lead one to expect, with lemons and green apples on the attack and then fleshier yellow plums dosed with a another little drizzle of honey in the background on the midpalate. The more honeyed, caramelly notes on the wine were almost subdued by the fresh citrus fruit just before they peeked out again at the very fresh finish. Nice stuff - perfectly balanced and drinking beautifully. An unexpectedly good pairing with a durian desert too.