Dinner at Jade Palace

Part of the Loire gang hopped across the road to Jade Palace after a mini-tasting of 2010 Muscadet and Burgundies at Artisan Cellars. Ken joined us, and we made quite a nice dinner of it. Theme was supposed be "wines made with Loire varietals, but not from the Loire", hence the rather eclectic mix. The rarest of things happened though - two bottles of the same wine, blind and BYO, but somehow tasting really different!

• 2009 Calvet Sauvignon Blanc Blanc Réserve 86 Points

  France, Bordeaux

  A very simple but still rather quaffable Bordeaux blanc. It had a ripe nose, obviously from a hot vintage, with shades of ripe lemons and melons, a touch of tropical aromas - think longans and lychees - along with a dose of chalky earth that made me think Bordeaux rather than say New Zealand. The palate was more one-dimensional than the nose, but was still actually quite drinkable. Simple, but balanced, with pleasant enough flavours of ripe apples and lemons and a decent finish, this was a good foil for a fried fish dish.

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• 1983 Gérard Raphet Charmes-Chambertin 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

  A nice matured Burg, this was tremendously enjoyable. It had a very developed nose, with wafting scents of dried flowers, hints of smoke and spice, and some twiggy, leafy, slightly funky undergrowth scents floating around almost dried fruited notes of cherry and preserved hawthorne berries. Very complex and lovely in an old Burg manner. I feared a bit for the palate after that, but it was actually still in very good shape. Here, fine, firm tannins and bright, juicy acidity made me think it was a 1988, but these were chased with rather snappier flavours of matured cherries, red dates and haw flakes, with a little pull stewed tea leaves at the finish. A bit austere at first, it actually got stronger and stronger in the glass, opening up with more red fruited notes met by a kiss of orange peel on the midpalate. Very nice indeed. Not altogether complete by this stage of its aging curve, but certainly still a lovely drink.

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• 2004 Gerhard Markowitsch Pinot Noir Reserve 91 Points

  Austria, Niederösterreich, Carnuntum

  One of two blinded bottles on the same night, it was amazing how much bottle variation there was. This was the rather less developed and perhaps less interesting of the pair. It nosed somewhat like a modern-styled Gevrey, with a drift sweet vanilla oak and gentley earthy touches layered over ripe cherry and red berry aromas. There was a twist of greener vine stem notes in there was well. Rather Burgundian I thought. The palate continued the theme, with its ripe, rather sappy flavours of red cherries and berries, touches of earth and another twist of bramble and spice. While a bit more forward than one would expect from a Burgundy of equivalent age, this was still structured with firm, slightly chewy tannins and lovely gobs of juicy acidity that carried the wine into a good, long finish. A bit primary, a bit lacking in complexity, but there was obviously a nice bit of strength and presence on this wed to some poise and polish. Nice stuff. Going by the other bottle though, this should improve with time.

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• 1985 Château Montrose 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

  Certainly enjoyable, but the wine seemed to be lacking a little something for a Montrose from a strong vintage. I must say that I really liked the nose - leather and meat, some tobacco, layers of rich cassis aromas, all overlaid by some barnyardy funk. Very complex yet archetypally left-bank, this was bouquet that suggested a gentle, noble wine. Unfortunately, the palate was a bit weaker than the nose led on. There was certainly a nice round fleshiness to it at points, but it came across as rather simple, maybe even incomplete. Like the nose, the palate was layered with a touch of almost bretty funk. Underneath that, pleasant flavours of ripe cassis, sweet capsicums and draws of tobacco were wed to a cool, clear balance and very fine tannins tapering into a nice sappy finish with more fleshy cassis notes. Unfortunately, the wine seemed a bit hollow at parts of the midpalate, and rather less well-integrated than one would expect at this age. At certain points the fleshy fruit seemed almost to part, showing an underlying leanness. A bit strange. It may need more time, but I wonder whether this will ever improve to a point where its quality matches its stablemates from other strong vintages.

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• 2004 Gerhard Markowitsch Pinot Noir Reserve 92 Points

  Austria, Niederösterreich, Carnuntum

  I thought this showed very well. Unusually, here we had another bottle of the same wine brought by a second person. Blinded, no one caught it though, such was the degree of bottle variation - this was way more developed than the first bottle. While the former may have been mistaken for a modern Gevrey on the nose, this bottle was a lot more spicy and savoury, almost Vosne-like. It still had some sweet oak and a touch glycerol, but was also marked with a lot of earth and undergrowth nuances, some broiled meat, and than deeper aromas of dark cherries and berries. In fact, we remarked how uncannily savoury it was, almost smelling salty. On the palate, this tasted at least 3-4 years older than the previous bottle. It still had a good depth of rich, sappy dark cherry and blackberry flavours along with clear acidity and slightly raspy tannins granting a sense of youthful structure. However, there was also a lot more complexity on this. The fruit was certainly less primary, less sweet and, on the midpalate, little secondary notes of savoury earth, salty preserved lime and orange peel accents, even a lift of tangerine had developed. Interesting finish too, where some haw-flake flavours were wed to dryer notes of vine stems and black tea. There was quite a bit of character on this. Quite nice indeed, and a lot closer to being at peak than the other bottle.

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• 2007 Château Rieussec 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Really excellent. We hardly drink our Sauternes young, so the fact that four half bottles of this has disappeared from the cellar over the last couple of years says something about how delicious this wine is even in its infancy. Decanted for 3 hours, it had a rather expressive nose, with little drizzles of petroleum over rich scents of raw honey and treacle, white flowers, fragrant chinese pears and lots of sweet tangerine aromas, layered over with a little touch of sweet oak and dessciated coconut. With a bit more time, we even got a little streak of the mineral and spice notes one normally associates with older Rieussecs. The palate too really benefited from the extended decanting, showing more complexity than one would expect from such a young Sauternes, with strong citrus notes on the attack (tons of lemons, orange peel and candied tangerines), opening up into peach and apricots on the midpalate, and then another crunch of sweet pear and lots of honey and brown sugar packed beneath the fresh fruit notes. What really impressed me again though was how wonderfully balanced with fresh, well-integrated acidity this was, so that it was very drinkable even though 20 years too young and still packed with sweetness. It finished nicely too, with a little lick of Rieussec spice - cardammon and cloves - some sour plum notes, and a touch of earthiness at the very base. Delicious. I really must keep the rest of the bottles away, because this has the potential to become a truly great wine in time.

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