Christmas & New Year 2011

Home
Tasted Friday, December 23, 2011 - Monday, January 2, 2012 by SimonG with 779 views

Flight 1 (2 Notes)

  • NV Equipo Navazos La Bota de Manzanilla Pasada 30 1/15

    Spain, Andalucía, Manzanilla de Sanlúcar de Barrameda

    (12/24/2011)

    Lovely deep bronzey yellowy orange. More Manzanilla on the nose than the previous bottle. A touch of iodine, saline notes and fresh oyster on the nose. Smooth, slighty waxy, saline and yet really quite rich and rounded. Very long. Really hard to do it justice with any description. Wonderful. *****

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

  • 2000 Vergelegen Vergelegen

    South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

    (12/23/2011)

    Having had a tasing sample of this last week and thinking it needed a bit longer I thought I'd try again with a full bottle, and actually I think it's a point now. Quite full, dense ruby. A slightly sweet-fruited nose with damsons and a sense of some merlot softening the cab sauv. Quite rounded and reasonably rich across the mid-plate and finishes quite strongly if a tiny bit hot. Still some tannin but this has largely softened and the structure seems to be provided more by the alcohol. This is very decent and made a good match with cote de boeuf. Bare ****

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

Flight 2 (3 Notes)

  • 2005 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis

    France, Burgundy, Chablis

    (12/23/2011)

    Crisp, chalky minerality and texture to the attack, good grip, a little denser and showing more depth than I might have expected, nothing fat or over ripe here. Refreshing and really quite persistent. Lovely. ***1/2

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

  • 1985 Domaine de Chevalier

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    (12/24/2011)

    Nice and clear, full garnet to a touch of ruby still. Nicely understated but distinctively Graves nose all mineral and tobacco. Smooth, minerally, fresh on the attack and through the mid-palate; lacks the weight and complexity up front of an 85 Haut Brion earlier this year, but shows better line from start to finish - very harmonious. Fresh, good acidity and a reasonable degree of complexity. Very nice indeed. ****

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

  • 1986 Dow Porto Vintage Quinta do Bomfim

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    (12/23/2011)

    Bright ruby. Quite subtle, subdued even, nose in the dark fruit spectrum. Smooth on the nose and this follows through to the atatck. medium sweetness and body with a touch of spirit coming on the mid-palate to finish over two or three days in the decanter. Not quite enough sweet fruit of complexity to cover it. Decent and certainyl enjoyable but unsurprisingly this is no wow. ***

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

Flight 3 (3 Notes)

  • 1996 Gosset Champagne Brut Grand Millésime Flawed

    France, Champagne

    (12/25/2011)

    Corked - not enough to be overpowering but enough to strip some of te fruit and weight leaving a woody finish. Shame as this was the least advanced of my three bottles. Still, just as well this didn't make it to Christmas WIMPS thanks to Rainer's DP.

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

  • NV Gosset Champagne Brut Grande Réserve

    France, Champagne

    (12/25/2011)

    A half opened to repalce a corked 96. Two years post-purchase, cork showing some expansion still. This remains a lovely bottle of nv. Freshly cut apple nose upon opening but showing more richness and weight in the glass without losing any elegance. Bright and satisfying. ***1/2

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

  • 2000 Domaine François Lamarche Clos Vougeot

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru

    (12/25/2011)

    Quite deeply coloured. Dark red fruit and a touch of smoke on the nose; similar on attack and through to the mid-palate that shows quite dark fruit and a surprisingly rounded and fuller texture than I'd have expected. So far so good, but finished a little dry and ungenerously for it's front and middle. Decent, but there's a little too much dryness for this to be any more than very good. Unintegrated oak or something a little unripe? Anyway, decent. ***1/2

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

Flight 4 (1 Note)

  • 2001 Yves Boyer-Martenot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Le Cailleret

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

    (12/26/2011)

    Hurrah! Finally this has turned the corner from its taut, mineral but tight stage (bottles in 2008 & 2010) to a wonderfully open, rich, scented, expansive wine with a core of minerality and good line. This is bright yellow in the glass; nose is floral - a mix of white flowers with some richer custard apple and accacia notes, with a touch or wet stone; positive attack, fresh and then rounding out across the mid-palate to show a decent weight (13.5%abv), slight creaminess, and a range of flavours from the more mneral through to the candied pineapple. It holds its line nicely through to the finish which is quite long. Splendid. Lacks a bit cof complexity and persistence for top notch, but this is a very nice drink indeed. Now to catch the remaining bottles before they fall off the perch... ****

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

Flight 5 (1 Note)

  • 2000 Domaine Jean Grivot Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Pruliers

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

    (12/27/2011)

    Deep garnet. Lovely nose, meaty, quite deep dark red fruit and a ragrance best described as spring meadow - somehow encapsulates the sweeter aspects of hay, wild flowers and a warm spring breeze blowwing through the hedgerows. Retains a nice core of fruit on the attack, rounding out to more mature sous-bois flavours. Long. Lovely at celalr temperature and a little warmer but loses its definition when getting up to room temp so keep cool. Very nice indeed. ****

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

Flight 6 (1 Note)

  • 2002 Château Léoville Barton

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

    (12/29/2011)

    Half bottle. Decanted 1 hr. A deep dark red to almost black in colour. Nose of cigar boz and dark fruit. Still young and full, good fruit on the attack and mid-palate and then a good thwack of tannin balanced by good acidity. Decent length. This is starting to open up and show quite nicely - went well with a large raw steak. I almost wonder though whether it's got the weight of fruit for the structure long-term or whether it might be better to drink it on it's fruit which may seem a little dilute in time. Very nice though. ***1/2

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

Flight 7 (1 Note)

  • 2009 Domaine Leflaive Mâcon-Verzé

    France, Burgundy, Mâconnais, Mâcon-Verzé

    (12/30/2011)

    Pale white/yellow. Very clean and fresh on the nose, suggests something quite bracing to come. It is. Very crisp, limey, mineraly attack. Clean and quite linear across the mid-palate and finishes freshly and with a slightly chalky texture. None of the flab or excess alcohol I sometimes get in the Chalonaise. Very focused and bracing, could do with putting on just a bit of weight. **(*)+

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

Flight 8 (2 Notes)

  • 2005 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Blanc de Blancs La Bolorée

    France, Champagne

    (12/31/2011)

    Pale colour. Quite a gentle, creamy mousse. Benefited from larger glasses. Mineral, chalky, vinous but with top notes of something more exotic, approaching pineapple, developing over a couple of hours. Some substance here but with a lightness and elegance wrapped around it. Quite intriguing and lovely. ****

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

  • 1997 Domaine Ponsot Morey-Saint-Denis Cuvée des Grives

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey-Saint-Denis

    (12/31/2011)

    Sweet, decaying Autumnal fruit with a dose of damp hedgerow thrown in. Mellow, soft, inviting and kept fresh with some nice acidity on the medium length finish. Very satisfying and consistent with previous bottles. ****

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

Flight 9 (3 Notes)

  • NV Bodegas Hidalgo Manzanilla La Gitana

    Spain, Andalucía, Manzanilla de Sanlúcar de Barrameda

    (1/1/2012)

    Probably not the freshest bottle (15 months from purchase and stored in a warmish place. Pale colour. Fresh, saline nose, all seaside on a Spring morning, a slight breeze coming onshore. Similar on the crisp attack and light across the mid-palate to a fairly long and saline finish. Not particularly comes but refreshing and reviving. ***

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

  • 2004 Duval-Leroy Champagne Blanc de Chardonnay Brut

    France, Champagne

    (1/2/2012)

    pale. Fine stream of bubbles; fesh creamy mousse, light and fresh on the attack with freshly cut green apple scents and a more mineral and slightly yeasty flavour. Light and refreshing and perfectly pleasant. Good aperitif material. ***

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

  • 2008 Wither Hills Pinot Noir

    New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough, Wairau Valley

    (1/2/2012)

    Two bottles with consistent notes. Served reasonably cool. Deep ruby to cherry. Quite polished dark red fruit on the nose, also conveying a sense of ripeness. Crisp and quite crunchy on the attack, opening up to a reasonably silky and ripe mid-palate with some weight but good definition to the fruit. Positive finish and overall a pleasant surprise - not jammy or overblown. ***

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

×
×