Lawrence's Birthday Lunch

A happy little birthday celebration - good friends and good wines. What more could one ask for to end the week? Rarely, not a Burg in sight, but the trio of Bordelais wines, serendipitously one left-bank, one right-bank and one sticky. No complains though, strong vintages and lovely wines all round.

• 1998 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett 92 Points

  Germany, Nahe

  Very nice. Beautiful nose, slightly creamy scent, with drops of rubber, nectar, sweet peachy fruit, white flowers, nice minerality, and little bits of creamy mushroom. On the palate, lots of spritzy freshness, along with plenty of cut and definition. A bit more austere than recent vintages I thought. Saying that though, there were nevertheless plenty of fresh flavours, with ripe lemons at the fore, a bit of a peachy undertone, just very slight, a fine minerally seam, and a longish finish with a dash of spice. Not the most profound, but lovely to drink, with a quite ethereal elegance. I would have probably liked it a little more with one or two more years down the road for it to pick up some depth, but this was certainly entering into its tertiary phase and was quite ready to drink.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1998 Château Canon-la-Gaffelière 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  What a charmer of a wine! I really enjoyed this. Really tight and a little unyielding when I first opened it, it really blossomed after an hour in an opened bottle and another hour and a half in a decanter. Beautiful, unmistakably right-bank nose exuded a pure sweet cherries and plum bouquet, seasoned with mocha hints, perfumed flowers and some sterner stuff with lots of graphite notes along with some earth and tobacco. Wow. Lovely lightness across the palate, not high acidity, but pretty decent balance, with a whole range of flavours from more graphite notes, to pure dark fruit expressions of cherries, cassis and plums, all wrapped in a soft, plush robe of fine tannins. Very nice on the finish too, with plenty of merlot spice peeking through. All in all, very clean, pure, filigreed, with bits of modern richness and mocha just showing at the fringes of the wine. Clearly in its adolescence, this really deserves another 5-7 years at least. Still though, quite joyous to drink even now.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1996 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Réserve de la Comtesse 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Really good, fantastic for a 2nd wine. Popped and poured, which probably went some way to explaining why this bottle was not quite as impressive as the last bottle I had. The nose though was incredible. Lovely, lovely Pauillac stylings on this one, with scents of leather and earth, whiffs of truffle, cigar-box, cedar wood, tobacco leaf and a hint of bacon bits, all savoury aspects woven through with a subtle cassis tone. Gorgeous. Palate was very respectable as well, clean, pure cassis flavours with lovely fruit sweetness on the attack, some spice, cigar, all gliding through the mouth in a silky ride. Finish was really fresh, with more of that delectable cassis tone. Absolutely delicious. Not quite the depth of the Grand Vin, which was fabulous in 1996, but this really shared a clear family resemblance.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2003 Château Coutet Barsac 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

  An en primeur half-bottle from Lawrence. Really surprised that this was a Coutet when it was revealed - I really liked it, far better than any I have tried. Golden yellow in colour, looking a little older than it was. Nose had lots of botrytis, with lots of honey, crushed flowers, sweet yellow fruit, drying apricots, orange blossoms and little whiffs of latex at the edges - a huge range of expression I thought, and very nice. Palate had lots of botrytis too. Clearly from a ripe year. Rich, honeyed, with drops of caramel, lots of spice, more yellow fruit, expressions of dried peach, apricots, caramelised apples. Very yummy, yet not a bit imbalanced. Finish was longish, with lashings of brown sugar, some citrus notes, more orange peel and orange blossoms, rounding up with a nice sprinkling of spice. Not completely integrated at the moment, not the highest acidity either, so it came across a bit clunky at points. However, the complexity and deliciousness of the wine, coupled with the fact that it was essentially in balance made that easily forgivable. I have no doubt that it will develop into a lovely, lovely wine with in a couple of decades under its belt - a testament to how strong a Sauternes / Barsac vintage 2003 was.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No