Baby Shower

The gang gathered to mark our transition into parenthood. WAGS were invited this time. Great food, interesting blind wines - a great way to celebrate baby Natalie's impending arrival in style

• 1992 Lombard & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Collection Extra-Brut 93 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  En magnum, this was delicious and completely en pointe – a delightful surprise at the start of dinner. 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot, it had a lovely nose with creamy and toasty hints, some light biscuity notes, and then lovely white fruited scents with a little zing of lime zest. Very welcoming. Same could be said of the palate as well - mid-bodied, with gentle, fleshy green apple and lemon notes- very yummy, very nicely rounded, with a fine mousse and soft, supple acidity wrapped around a midpalate full of little complexities - nuances of white meat, spice and lemon zest, and then a long trail of mineral running into a mouthfilling citrus acidity. Very nice, uncomplicated, but certain not simple – this was really lovely.

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• 2000 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses 93 Points

  France, Champagne

  Disgorged in August 2008, this was a step-up from the last bottle we had, - it now comes across as a great Champagne that is very slowly creeping towards its drinking window. On first pour, the nose was really tight, but it opened up beautifully with ripe red apple aromas drizzled with a little honey, a touch of yeast and a little kiss of spice. The palate was still very youthful. The flavours on the attack were a bit one-dimensional - apples and shades of citrus lemons - but the midpalate was just starting take on some complexity with little notes of spice and flint. This had a lovely depth and substance which reflected the 65% Pinot in the cepage, but it was also couched in a fine, luxuriant mousse and speared through by a tight mineral spine and a fresh tension that kept the wine beautifully focused and defined in spite of it weight. A subtly powerful, persistent finish pulled away with lemony notes strung with mineral and a hit of lime zest. Still so very young, this needs easily 6-8 years yet. On the night, it was neither as approachable nor as immediately yummy as the magnum of 1992 Lombard that we had alongside, but this was in its own way the more impressive Champagne.

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• 2004 Domaine Robert Groffier Bonnes Mares 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

  Wow, this was unexpected - a 2004 Bonnes Mares that was absolutely singing. Best red wine of the night for most of us I would think. It had a beautiful nose, with little flecks of 2004 showing in brambly, herbal notes and a nice earthy meatiness, but there were wonderful scents of black cherries and blueberries underneath, with a waft of violet flowers, and a little curl of wood spice alongside - just a wonderful, seductive bouquet. The palate was probably the best on any 2004 that I have had so far - deep, powerful, as you would expect with a Bonnes Mares, yet with a lovely clarity to its broad-shouldered flavours of blueberries and dark cherries, all layered with earthy forest floor notes and gentle tones of wood spice and drifting floral accents - really complex. It had a lovely long, effortless finish too, trailing away with a little meaty, brambly, ever so slightly herbal note. Some said there was a little green at points, but I had no issues with this - it was Drinking beautifully. Bravo - such a pleasure.

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• 1957 Remoissenet Père et Fils Richebourg 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru

  Very nice indeed; not quite as complete as the last bottle we had some years back perhaps, but this was actually rather more charming and complex. The nose was clearly old but had so much character - forest floor, bramble, spice and herb, with lovely drifts of dried flowers, and then matured notes of dark fruited plums and berries, all with a lovely earthy note running underneath. Nice. The palate was really strong for such an old wine; muscular yet elegant, with a persistent stream of dark fruit - dark cherries and sour plums - deeply woven with lovely little notes of spice and forest floor and dried flowers, all still lightly gripped in velvety tannins and lifted by wonderfully juicy acidity. This was so full and alive that the table's guesses centred around the late-1970s to the early 1980s. It ended in a really long, powerful finish too, with meat and earth and wood spice pulling away convincingly. The fruit right at the very end was slightly fading compared to the last bottle we had, but this was a lot more complex. A really charmer - I enjoyed this tremendously.

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• 1994 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

  Disappointing. This was a pretty good wine in its own right, but way below the standards I have come to expect from a mature Bonneau du Martray CC. The nose came across very young, very primary, with vanilla-laced oak notes, sweet cream and ripe lemon and sweet red apple aromas tinge with a bit of spice. There was just the smallest touch of honey that showed a touch of age, otherwise, this smelt like something easily 10 years younger. People were guessing 2005 and 2006 on that nose. The palate was disappointing unfortunately. It did carry some BdM hallmarks - it was creamy and rich, with ripe apple flavours seasoned with a nice dose of spice, riding into a long, honeyed finish undergirded with chalky mineral. Good strength I thought, but this was drinking more like a 1er Cru than a Grand Cru, rather missing in depth, complexity and, most of all, the tension and cut that I would normally associate with this wine. In fact, while not flabby, this was almost a little flat given the lack of acidity. Good, but not great. Perhaps time to drink up as well.

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• 1983 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain Vendange Tardive 92 Points

  France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru

  A good wine, but this really suffered being served next to the gobsmackingly good 1990. This had a beautiful nose, with drips of honey, orange blossoms, apricots and a ring of spice - very pretty. The palate started out round and fleshy, with honeyed tones of apricots and nectarine, and then a crunch of red apples with some caramelly hints on the midpalate. However, it leaned out a little past this point so that it was hardly sweet at all towards the finish, which showed an almost dry, complex little melange of spice and mineral. A very good wine, but it pales in comparison with 1990, showing less depth, less cut and lower acidity, so that this came about almost lacking in the verve and energy of its younger cousin. Time to drink up.

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• 1990 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain 94 Points

  France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru

  A wonderful wine, and just a beautiful pairing with deep-fried Soon Hock fish in superior soy sauce. While not quite as complex and developed as the last bottle I had a year back, this was still a show-stopper. It had such a wonderful nose, showing wafts of malt honey and orange blossoms, sweet aromas of dried mangoes and apricots, mandarin oranges, then dried flowers and spice and mineral. Wow. The palate was less showy, but perhaps even more impressive. It had a profound depth, with rich flavours of red apples and mangoes and mandarin oranges - a whole mouthfilling spectrum of fleshy fruit - drizzled with honey and wreathed with orange blossoms on the creamily-textured midpalate. Yet for all that, this was so beautifully balanced and wonderfully integrated that it came across effortlessly elegant, with a crystal clarity that shone through its delicious depth. Quite remarkable really - if you blinked, you could easily missed how deeply-wound and wonderfully complex this wine was. It had a lovely finish too - long, insistent, with toasty bit of spice and mineral winding their way through a linger of honeyed fruits. A great wine, and it is only starting to drink well now - give it a few more years, and it should develop even more complexity and nuance. I loved this.

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• 2004 Bodegas Neo Ribera del Duero Neo Punta Esencia 92 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  I thought this was a pretty good wine, but made in a very modern style which was not quite my thing (Robert Parker 96 points, Jay Miller 98, so go figure). The nose showed classic Tempranillo smoke, earth and a little rubber, but underneath that were ripe aromas of dark berries and cherries and dark flowers. Decently attractive. The palate was rich, ripe and spicy, with sweet, almost preserved black-fruited notes, with plums and blackberries packed in with some menthol hints and a shade of oak at a long finish. It was round and plush in a rather modern way, with fine tannins and decent acidity completing the package. Good, if a little soul-less at the moment. This could still do with a good 6-8 years though - there was a still a lot of puppy fat on the wine even after a few hours in the decanter.

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• 2004 Rudeles Ribera del Duero Selección 91 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Made from a selection of 90-100 year old Tempranillo and Granacha grapes, this was a decently good wine. Rather less plush and polished a wine than the JC Conde Neo Punta that preceded it, but this was perhaps more interesting. It had a rich nose too, with cassis and blueberry aromas tossed up with some earth, mineral and a touch of menthol. The palate was full of those same black-fruited tones, with plums and cassis - very round, very full, but still in the grip of fine but firm tannins. The midpalate was met with some savoury earth and mineral before drifting off into a long finish with puffs of cigarette smoke curling around its dark fruited notes. Still very primary, still a bit tough even after a few hours in the decanter, this is one of those wines I would put away for a decade more before approaching again.

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• 1995 Château d'Yquem 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  This was very, very good indeed. A great end to dinner. We all thought it was a d'Yquem until HM (who contributed the bottle) tricksily gave intimations that it may not be. It had the classic notes of coconut and caramel on the nose, along with apricots and figs drizzled with honey and spice aromas. Really lovely. The palate was still very youthful, but absolutely delicious - rich, round, viscous, but superbly balanced, it was redolent of fleshy sugar-apricots and sweet mandarin paired with brown sugar honey and spice, all bouyed by some superbly-integrated acidity. I really liked the feel of this wine. It had a very good finish too, with bit of mineral and spice winding their way through the fleshy, honeyed tones. I think this was a bit better than the bottle we had some 4 years ago. The sweetness has gone down a bit to reveal a very nice balance that was rather missing at that point of time. Very yummy - this will be absolutely delicious in 8-10 years. While not a truly great d'Yquem, it is a very good one indeed.

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