Wedding in Bali - the After Party

After what must be the Best Wedding Ever, with a service in a sunset-lit glass chapel, followed by an intimate dinner perched a cliff-front, and rounded off with a lovely firework display, we ended the night in the best way possible - a group of good friends camped out under the pavilion in a luxurious Balinese villa, enjoying great bottles of wine that we each carted over from Singapore, before stumbling back to our own rooms to rest before the next day's festivities. What a selection of wines too - from Burgundy to Bordeaux, from Barolo to Tuscany, and with a side-trip to Spain thrown in.

• 1996 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru

  From a magnum, this bottle really divided opinions - some thought it was on its way down, others thought it needed a lot more time. I am leaning towards the later camp. I found it a very nice wine on the night, very enjoyable, maybe with a little missing something, but hopefully time will fill that up. The nose here did start out a bit strange, with a slightly dried-fish pong mixed in with a bit of crushed-beetle. Not all that pleasant really. Thankfully, that peeled away to show a very Morey nose of earthy aromas flecked with ferrous mineral, some leafy sous bois hints, some somewhat damp, wilting floral notes, and a gamey, meaty, tripe-like note, all rimmed with hints of dark fruit - think blue and black berries, maybe dark cherries. Certainly complex, but this being a Ponsot CdlR, en magnum, and from a famously tight vintage, it was unsurprising that it was rather subtle at first, only opening up into little layers of sweeter fruit, spice-box and flower aromas with time in the glass. The palate was surprisingly expressive after that though. Bright and juicy with 1996 acidity, and framed with a solid but very fine structure, this was wonderfully integrated with clear, ringing notes of dark cherries and berries seasoned with spice and lined with more seriously stoney minerality, all playing upon a savoury earth, meaty backdrop. Surprisingly nice here, and drinking quite well indeed. Past that, the super long, minerally, spice laden finish was once more pure Morey, clinging to the mouth with licks of pure limestone. This had quite a certain brawniness to it, yet it was always well-focused and defined so that it came across as masculine yet not lacking in elegance - on the night, a solid wine indeed with seemingly many years ahead of it. This was perhaps a bit narrow at the moment and still showing a bit of 1996 leanness and, very much like the 1995 we had a few weeks ago, it started to open up very nicely after half an hour, only to shut down hard and fast after another 15 minutes in the glass. The jury is still out with this wine, as the other notes on CT show quite well. I hope it does take the trajectory that this bottle seemed to promise - this is one to shut away for another 10 years before broaching again. A bit frustrating, but I do suspect it will make a very nice wine indeed.

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• 2003 Tenuta Rocca Barolo 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Surprisingly good at its age, even more surprising given its price tag. This had a drop-dead gorgeous nose. Violets and dried flowers, tar and smoke, dark cherries and spice, earth and meat - just a lovely, classic Piedmont bouquet. The wine was still clearly young though, with the palate still marked by a noticeable layering of powdery tannins. However, these were met with delicious flavours of ripe, dark cherries tossed with earth, meat and spice on the mid-palate and moving into a really fresh, juicy finish. There was such balance and welcomingly voluptuous fruit here that this was very nice now, even though the palate was still not quite as developed nor as welcoming as the bouquet. I think this is a wine that will continue to grow over the next decade or so, and should only hit peak past 2020. Very nice stuff.

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• 2009 Marchesi de' Frescobaldi Tenuta di Castiglioni Toscana IGT 88 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  Decent enough - a well made, very drinkable wine, but really quite young, rather under-developed and, most of all, not quite my favourite style. I will explain more below. It had a rather attractive nose - very fruit forward, lots of cherries and blackberries spiked with some earth, meat and spice. Very Italian, and quite the crowd-pleaser with that bouquet. It was the palate that I did not quite enjoy as much. It was very decent for sure, but just not in a fashion I appreciate. Really modern, rather fruit forward, it had sweet cherries and berries aplenty at the forefront, which slowly melted away into a touch of rubbery earth and spice. Not the strongest finish, but for a wine of this level, it was pretty well-made, with a solid balance to it that made it so very drinkable. I just wish there was a touch more control to all that primary fruit-forwardness. To be fair though, it should get better with some time and a bit of food - maybe pizza or something along those lines.

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• 1998 Château Rol Valentin 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  From a magnum, popped just an hour before serving, this was rather more backward than the 750ml I had last year. Still good, but it was clearly in need of either a long decanting or many more years in the bottle. Lovely nose here, all rich plums and cassis mingling with sweet floral scents and fragrant spice and ringed with cigar aromas with a toss of dried earth thrown in for good measure. Really nice. The palate was rather less giving however. It had a richness redolent of both the 1998 right-bank vintage and of the wine's garagiste background, resounding across the attack with deep flavours of sweet plums and berries that stretched on into layered midpalate, and then into some earth and tobacco as the wine drifted away into a long finish seasoned with plenty of Merlot spiciness. This was lifted by a little flowery lilt as the wine opened up with time. There was plenty of depth and weight to this, yet it was always very nicely balanced and well proportioned. A very nice wine indeed, but from a magnum, it needs plenty of time yet. It should be perfect in another 10 years.

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• 2005 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5° 94 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  This was simply excellent. My favourite amongst the dry-reds on the night by a country mile. Not for the first time on the night, we had a wine with a beautiful nose. This was ultra complex, with layer after layer of orange peel, dark earth tones, mineral and dark fruit wreathed with a lovely ring of cigarette ash. Pure tempranillo goodness here, with lots of savoury depth to that bouquet that suggests layers of hidden complexity that only time in the bottle will uncover. The palate was even more obviously youthful, but it was surprisingly drinkable for all its youth, with little layers of chocolate, dark cherries, savoury earth and smoke filling the mouth before drifting away into a long, satisfying finish. Really nice, delicious stuff - perfectly integrated, brilliantly balanced and nobly structured - and yet still in its infancy. I can only imagine how good this will be in time.

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• 1999 Castello di Monastero Vin Santo del Chianti Lunanuova 94 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Vin Santo del Chianti

  From a 375ml. All I can say is wow - I certainly was not expecting something this good. It was marvelous stuff, starting from a beautiful bouquet with lush scents dried figs, plums and apricots wed to a little earthy underbelly that was just so Italian in the way it smelt, with dried herb and wood hints wed to a lush, truffly, mushroomy umami accent. I could go on smelling this all night, but the palate was equally great. It had a pitch perfect balance that so few Vin Santo acquire, with barely a hint of heat and some lovely freshness running through absolutely delicious flavours of dried figs, rasins, apricots and slightly sweeter cherries all melded together into beautiful integrated whole that just melted across the mouth. Lovely finish too, redolent of liquered cherry chocolates, it just want on and on, always lifted by a mouthfull of wonderful freshness. I loved this. As long as the night was, and as much wine as we had, I could not help downing a large glass as we made our way back to the room. As an aside, it was a surprisingly good pairing with traditional Balinese blood and spice sausages.

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