Matts Sommelier celebration and Mums xmas present weekend

Mum and Matt visiting for the Decanter fine wine encounter, with the Alvaro Palacios masterclass. Before that I decided to show them The Sampler in south Ken and work through their enomatic machines. after was lunch at Chez Bruce before they headed home. It didn't suck.

• 1990 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain 92 Points

  France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru

  (2/17/2012)

  This develops after opening, I would recommend at least 30mins of air as it took a little time to get into its stride. Yellow straw coloured, strong legs. Quite a subtle nose with yellow apples and a touch of caramel toffee develops. It's fairly viscous in the mouth. More burnt sugar toffee on the palate, baked apples, baked cream, apricot, a bit of ginger spice and a citrus acidity thats still alive and keeps it quite crisp. A good long and quite dry finish. Not a powerful wine, but elegant and clean, would be great with some lightly spiced east asian dishes.

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With the man himself giving the talk, he certainly has the passion, but in classic spanish style wasn't over aware of the time, which meant the last wines were a bit of a rush unfortunately

• 2008 Descendientes de José Palacios Bierzo Villa de Corullon

  Spain, Castilla y León, Bierzo

  (2/18/2012)

  medium deep purple body and lighter edges, a bright fruit nose with some minerality, a little violet. very fresh in thwe mouth, medium grain tannin, sour cherry, blueberry, quite long

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• 2008 Descendientes de José Palacios Bierzo Corullon Las Lamas

  Spain, Castilla y León, Bierzo

  (2/18/2012)

  slightly deeper than the village wine, a ripe and open nose. fresh into the mouth but riper and the fruit has better definition than the village, the tannins are finer too, quite long

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• 2008 Descendientes de José Palacios Bierzo Corullon Moncerbal

  Spain, Castilla y León, Bierzo

  (2/18/2012)

  This is a deeper and more brooding Mencia. the nose is quite juicy, red cherries and recurrants. its very smooth into the mouth, balanced acidity, boysenberries and tart cherry, long

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• 2007 Descendientes de José Palacios Bierzo Corullon La Faraona

  Spain, Castilla y León, Bierzo

  (2/18/2012)

  deep but not quite opaque. ripe and sweet red fruits on the nose. soft and very fine tannin. its a mouuthful of soft rip fruit. strawberry, cherry but with a streak of minerality which is really mouth watering. very long. My WOTD. If there is an easy and obvious comparison, Bierzo is the burgundy to Priorats Bordeaux (or possibly Rhone)

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• 2009 Alvaro Palacios Priorat Les Terrasses Velles Vinyes

  Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

  (2/18/2012)

  fairly dark and opaque. stewed plums and vanilla nose. Quite a bit of tannin left to resolve. cheery and mineral character, medium length. a blend of 60 vineyards.

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• 2009 Alvaro Palacios Priorat Vi de Vila Gratallops

  Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

  (2/18/2012)

  Dark and opaque. More minerality here than las terasses. fuller fruit in the mouth, tannins are a bit finer, longer and better definition. the village blend.

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• 2009 Alvaro Palacios Priorat Finca Dofí

  Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

  (2/18/2012)

  this is a young vines single vineyard. slightly lighter than the village wine of gratallops. ripe and full fruit nose, its quite expansive. sweet juicy fruit on the palate with a tart edge. tannins are a little drying in the after taste, length is ok. has the hallmarks of a young vine wine but enjoyable none the less.

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• 2005 Alvaro Palacios Priorat L'Ermita

  Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

  (2/18/2012)

  only 800-1600 bottles/year produced, which helps explains the price. 75 year old vines in a single vineyard bottling, about 90% granache and 8% cab sav, the rest carignan, this was the last vintage that contained cab sa. opaque from the core, the deepest wine of the day, deep to the rim. The nose is deep and sensual, some blackcurrants. almost bordeaux like in concentration and elegence. really fresh, deep fruit of black currants, very fine tannin, very long, delicious.

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wasn't too bad.

• 1978 Maison Roche de Bellene Volnay 1er Cru Santenots Collection Bellenum 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  (2/17/2012)

  Under the capsule there was some liquid and the cork was soaked right through, which was worrying, but once the wine was open for 10ins or so the very slight corkiness blew off. Bricked right through and quite light in colour. The nose shows all the gaminess of mature burg you need, with still a hint of the fruit showing. Once it hits the palate you get classic volnay, silky smooth, slightly sour cherries and lovely crisp acidity, maybe it could be longer on the finish, but it is a delightful bottle of wine.

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• 1970 Federico Paternina Rioja Conde de los Andes Gran Reserva 91 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  (2/17/2012)

  Medium light bodied, not quite bricked all the way through, but close. Pipe tobacco, old leather and sour cherry on the nose, they follow onto the palate with quite fresh acidity for its age, a fairly good finish. It's a very traditional mature Rioja, light on its feet, concealing real poise, balance and some power, maybe lacking a little fullness in mid body.

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i think we paced ourselves well, the finale at Chez Bruce was an amazing surprise