Dinner at Moomba

Really nice, casual Friday night dinner with a few good friends and some new ones. Alex, Fiona, Zhi and I joined Kelvin and Joyce and James. Edwin and friend happened to be at the next table, and we shared our wines around. As usual, all wines were served blind and, as often happens, we ended up with a fortuitous line-up with three very different Chards and four very different Bordeaux blends, with an interesting old Chianti wedged in-between.

• NV Ville de la Reine Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut 92 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  First of three very different Chardonnays on the night, and my last bottle of this bubbly. Thankfully, this was an excellent showing. Lovely nose, very fruity and attractive, with yeast tones and a little white meat wed to flowery tones and fruity red apple scents. Some sweetness on the bouquet suggested that this was not entirely dry - an impression that was taken up on the palate. As always, this was nicely balance and had a lovely sense of elegance on the palate, with a fresh verve and a light frothy bead. Lots of Chardonnay apples right from the attack, with a yummy, almost cider-like fruit-sweetness to it, along with ripe lemons and a touch of flinty mineral that strecthed out at the finish, where the Brut dryness of the wine finally showed a bit. I must say that the wine showed altogether lovely fruit though. It may not have been the deepest or most complex Champagne, but this was all about lightness, balance, charm and deliciousness. I really liked it.

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• 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Puligny-Montrachet 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet

  I liked it quite a bit the last time I tried it, but boy this has slid in my estimation. Not bad, but not to my taste for sure. Nose opened with tons of toasty, nutty pop-corn and butter notes mingling with really ripe, almost tropical yellow fruit, a whiff of flowers and some candied almonds. Incredibly new world, and the palate picked up on the theme. Ripe, almost sweet, with more yellow fruit nestling amongst what seemed like vats full of butter and cream, moving into almost buttersotch territory at the finish. Balance was certainly there, so that it was big and fat, but not flabby, but this did not taste anything like a Burg to me. In fact, both Kelvin and I thought it was a Pierro Chardonnay from Margaret River at first, but changed our minds on the basis that it was not precise enough. Overall, a decent new-worldly Chard. Nothing more.

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• 2005 Wyndham Estate Chardonnay Show Reserve 92 Points

  Australia

  Really quite a stunner. Between the Mischief and Mayhem Puligny and this wine, I picked this as a modern-styled Chablis, and the former as a new world! Nose showed a lot of saline, sea-shell character, some chalky mineral and rather ripe, but subtle white fruit with a touch of vanilla and butter, which grew with time. Lovely palate, very clean, great acid and lots of focus, with more of that minerality and saline edge to its white fruit and citrus lemon flavours. Good depth of flavours, very nicely balanced too, all the way from attack to finish, where a touch of smoke wafted around. As the wine grew warmer, more sweet buttery vanilla notes popped up, but this always came across as nicely restrained and focused. A really nice wine - what a surprise from Wyndhams! Best Chard of three on the night.

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• 1984 Antinori Chianti Classico Santa Cristina 89 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  An old Bordeaux wannabe - strangely Cab Sauv like in flavour profile, with just the acid and tannin structure of the wine saying otherwise. A bit over the hill I think, but so very pleasurable. Nose had plenty of earthy musky sous bois tones, paired with some leather and dark cherry and cassis tones. Pleasant enough. Palate carried on pretty much the same vein - still lots of lively acidity running through clear, vibrant dark cherry and cassis notes paried with little hints of leather, earth and herbs. The tannins had completely smoothened out, so this was silkily gliding across the palate, but it did lack some grip and structure, especially towards the finish. Otherwise, a real pleasure to drink.

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• 1998 Château L'Evangile 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  A right-bank masquerading as a left-bank! Still though, this was excellent, and absolutely delicious on the night after short decanting. The nose opened with a lovely deep whiff of tobacco and cigar box, with a little bit of sous bois and savoury meaty notes mixed in. Lovely pure, high-toned dark cherries and plums and some mocha accents spoke of a highish merlot content, but there was also a whiff of cassis in there somewhere. Very Pauillac on the nose. Palate was less so. Luscious, plush and smooth, with really fined-boned tannins still giving a little grip, but generally really refined. Fresh acidity lent a really nice balance to the whole package. Flavour-wise, again, dark berries, a bit of plums, some cassis, and more of that haunting tobacco tones, especially as the wine glided into a serious finish with whiffs of cigar and earth and a little tail of gravel and graphite. Very serious even though it was delicious - almost masculine. I thought this was a softer left-bank style, Pichon-Lalande was my first guess given the flavours spectrum and the softness of the wine, and I was quite surprised to see it was a L'Evangile. Overall, this was really nice now, but there is lots to it yet. On this showing, I think it will only really hit its stride in 5-6 years' time. 93+

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• 1998 Parker Coonawarra Estate Terra Rossa First Growth 93 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Last bottle, and boy this was a good showing. This is about as good a new-world Bordeaux blend as any, combining the best of two worlds - exuberant Aussie fruit paired with Bordelais balance and finesse. Lovely nose had pure, almost crystalllined cassis and plum scents, melding with a little toasty mocha note and a little touch of tea leaf and roasted capsicum. Lovely palate had lots of rich depth across its whole spectrum and a lovely juicy acid profile, all forming a backdrop for joyous cassis and plum fruit. Bright, ripe, exuberant and very yummy, almost hedonistic, and yet never once articifially sweet or candied - just a whole lot of honest to goodness fresh, juicy fruit. There was still a serious sense of structure although the tannins had softened out, so that this was all presented in a plushly wrapped, but very well-built package. Past the mid-palate and towards the finish, rather Pauillac-like flavours of tobacco, capsicum and bramble started emerging, just before more toasty mocha and a touch of vanilla peaked out at the very tail. What a lovely wine. It stood toe-to-toe with an excellent 1998 L'Evangile and did not blink an eyelid. Like chalk and cheese, but both were equally good, and equally enjoyable. While the last bottle of Terra Rossa First Growth I had seemed at peak, this could easily have gone on for another half-a-decade or more. Especially good with a rib-eye steak!

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• 1988 Torres Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Coronas Reserva Mas La Plana 90 Points

  Spain, Catalunya, Penedès

  Could not quite place this unusual wine when served blind. It was clearly from a mediterranean region, but I could not place the varietal - to its credit, it really spoke of terroir more than grape. Nose had distinctly Southern European herbs and garrigue, together with some dusty earth and whiffs of tobacco and leather, all riding on a bed of dark cherries. Very attractive I thought. Palate was not the most complex, but had nice, clean cherry and cassis expressions, a nice fresh feel and a decent finish that showed a sprinkle of coffee grounds and some warm spices. This was rather overshadowed by the two excellent Bordeaux-blends that preceded it, but a nice little wine nonetheless - altogether an elegant effort.

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• 2004 Château Pape Clément 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Good enough wine, especially if you like your Bordeaux on the modern side, but it needs time. Not completely to my taste though. I miss the old Pape Clement style. This wine was 54% Cab, 46% Merlot spending 18-20 months in 100% new oak - and it told. Lots of vanilla and mocha notes on the nose, almost like fresh coffee grounds, along with whiffs of rich plums and cassis. Far more modern than the L'Evangile we had alongside, and even more modern and oaky than the Aussie Parker Terra Rossa First Growth. Palate had plenty of refinement in its smooth, plush tannins and lush balance, but was clearly on the richer, voluptuous side, with rich blackberry, cassis and plum wed to touches of tobacco and pain grille. there was a bit of Graves minerality here and there, but it was the fruit that spoke the loudest on the day. There certainly was quality though, which the nice length and power on the finish attested to. Here again, there was more mocha and vanilla. A bit primary at the moment, all oak and fruit, but it should make for a really good drinking experience a decade or more down the road. No rush with this one.

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