Casual Saturday drink

Kelvin and Joyce popped over to return a key to the wine locker, and we took the chance to share a quick drink and watch a DVD. Much thanks to Kelvin for the Burg, which I enjoyed tremendously.

• 2006 Alain Paret Condrieu Lys de Volan 90 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu

  From Gerard Depardieu's winery. This was far, far better than the last time I had it. Still very modern, but that oppressive layer of oak had receded somewhat to reveal a pretty decent Condrieu. This time round, the nose was actually a little muted, with some spice, beeswax, some neutral white fruit, a bit of earth, and some floaty soapy flower scents, all with an oxidative edge that may have been a result of the bottle having been opened several hours before I got to it. Palate was rich, just a bit oily, and was really honeyed, with tons of Condrieu spice and a sweet perfumy underlayer. It was wrapped in a little shroud of woody oak, but this was certainly not the oak monster that I encountered two years ago. Finish had a nice sweet lemon oil flavour, along with a rather obvious spike of heat. Pity. This had low acidity as usual for a Viognier, but the balance was actually quite decent. A good wine overall. I would have liked this quite a bit more if not for the heat I think.

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• 1989 Faiveley Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Damodes 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru

  This was a treat. Not a perfect wine in any sense, but I have not had so much fun with an old Burg for some time - there was just so much going on. Lots of metallic notes on the nose at first, otherwise a little muted - got me worried about the shape of the wine. With a bit of time though, all sorts of meaty, leathery nuances started showing up, along with mature Burg notes of black tea, some red fruit and preserved plum powder. A bit later, it got positively beefy, with little bits of spice floating around. Palate started out a bit shy at first as well, but as it unwound, it showed a rich texture, rather thick, but still with lots of fresh tangerine orangey acidity lifting rich red cherry fruit flavours on the attack, along with some orange peel and lots of spice. There was plenty of meaty goodness on the midpalate, with veal stock flavours echoing the beefiness on the nose. Past that, I got bittersweet black tea wrapped in velvety tannins still showing a bit of firmness right at the finish. Not really a complete wine, with ups and downs, highs and lapses as it developed in the glass. There was a wash of heat at back end at first, which got me a little worried again, but this receded with time. It never completely dissipated, but it became more of an irritating buzz in the background rather than a serious flaw. Other than that, the wine really substantial, very full in the mouth throughout the hour-and-a-half or so that we nursed it, and was still going strong all the way to the last glass. It actually gained some elegance with time. As it opened up, I got more dark fruit and some wet stony minerality, a lot power here still, but all with a nice sense of poise and definition. Towards the last glass, and served a little colder, we started getting some plummy flavours and haw flake notes, and towards the long finish, dark cherries, earth and a distinctive Faiveley herbiness. Really complex, tons of character, a real intriguing wine - we sure caught this at a good time.

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