Dinner at Andrew's place
Tasted Sunday, January 1, 2017 by HowardNZ with 600 views
Introduction
All wines other than the two Champagnes and the PX served blind.
Tasted Sunday, January 1, 2017 by HowardNZ with 600 views
All wines other than the two Champagnes and the PX served blind.
1988 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 96 Points
France, Champagne
Served non-blind. Golden colour, a small bead. A bouquet of toffee apple, smoke, almond croissant, with oxidative notes and yeasty autolysis. Slightly lactic fragrances, a touch of Époisses. Drinking well as a mature Champagne. Creamy and lactic with grapefruit and other citrus, toffee and chalky minerals. Quite nuanced and layered. Lovely texture and racy acidity. Fully mature but does not look like it is in danger of falling over soon.
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1988 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 98 Points
France, Champagne
Served non-blind after the Comtes and it's no contest. The Comtes was lovely but this Krug is clearly on another level. A similar colour to the Comtes. A fresher, much younger nose, far less oxidised. Lovely aromas of freshly cut lemon, white florals and chalky minerals. Superb texture. Totally à point. Seemingly a much younger wine than the Comtes. Fresh and refreshing acids. Beautifully balanced. Layers of citric, mineral, honeyed and other flavours. Very detailed. Drinking beautifully but this bottle had many years ahead of it. Perhaps my Champagne of the Year (2016). Nick said that he had to wait 10 years after release for the acids to recede sufficiently to enjoy it.
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1998 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Clos du Bourg
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
Served blind. Brought back from the Loire by Thierry. Deep golden colour. An attractive bouquet of preserved lemons and grapefruit, straw and hay, with a slight lactic edge. A lot of phenolic grip to this wine. A pleasant apricot kernel bitterness, with pineapple, limes and some lactic acids. Green apple malic acids yet to fully integrate. This is quite a big structured wine that has evolved but still has a long way to go potentially. I picked it as a 1998 Chenin, due to the bouquet. A nice mature wine but no hurry needed here. Edit: Thierry has said that he believes this wine was the 1999, not the 1998.
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2010 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
I've had this Bonneau du Martray many times in recent years but did not, at all, pick it here. A classy Corton-Charlemagne. Some struck matchstick reduction, then an attractive bouquet of citrus, pears, blanched almonds and whipped cream. A little spicy oak still present. On palate, a lovely, creamy, honeyed-seeming texture. Clearly Grand Cru White Burgundy fruit weight and structure. There is some oak yet to integrate. There were no signs of premox, hopefully the house has fixed those issues ... This bottle was looking a little more unevolved than previous recent bottles I've had. Given that it is a 2010, it would be surprising if it were now shutting down, but you never know ... In any case I'd hold for 3+ years.
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1998 Pierre André au Château de Corton André Clos Vougeot
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
I was in 1990s Morey-St-Denis with this wine. The nose was spicy, lanolin, damp forest floor, dark berries and earthy. The palate was consistent with this. Dark fruit, tarry and earthy, with some cacao and a slightly lactic edge. I was slightly underwhelmed by this Vougeot.
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2013 Ca' del Baio Barbaresco Asili
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Mike introduced this "interest wine" with classic Barbaresco perfumes of raspberries, cherries and other red fruit, roses, dry earth and a touch of tar. In the mouth, that red fruit and some dry brushwood. Quite approachable now but it probably would cellar. Fairly traditional seeming, no oak in evidence. Youthful, straightforward and a little rustic. An enjoyable wine but comprehensively outclassed by the Rinaldi, of course.
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2012 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Tre Tine 95 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Tasting this wine was a good reminder of how important context is in wine tasting. I served this wine blind with the Ca' del Baio and that made for a very interesting comparison. Visiting Rinaldi earlier in the year, I tasted the 2012 Tre Tine with the 2013 Brunate. With the Brunate as context, I described the Tre Tine as "refined", "precise", "[e]thereal and finessed", which it is. However, compared with the dense and grippy 2013 Brunate, I underestimated the serious fruit weight, structure and power in the 2012 Tre Tine. The Tre Tine a beautiful, serious wine. And it's no shrinking violet. Aromatic with lifted perfumes of violets, tar and dark berries. Some nice fruit sweetness on entry, and lovely, silky texture, but that real depth and concentration (not present in the Ca' del Baio). Dark fruited and liquoricey. It's enjoyable to drink now but should really be cellared for 8-10 years.
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2005 Domaine Michel Lafarge Beaune 1er Cru Les Aigrots
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
Blackberries, dark chocolate and black spices on bouquet. Also dark fruit, black soil and some iron, at the core, on palate. Firm but reasonably fine grained tannins. A lot of structure here but, still, reasonably accessible on the night. I was surprised, on the reveal, that the wine was a 2005, as it was relatively open. Ideally, I'd still give it 5+ more years.
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2008 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
A big step up in quality from the Lafarge. Compared with the Lafarge, a more iron, mineral bouquet but with notes of dark fruit, dark earth, smokey game meats and damp underbrush. A classy Grand Cru Burgundy, with plenty of blackberries and black cherries, minerals and some funky, gamey and earthy Morey-St-Denis elements. It's got serious architecture and power, but the tannins are fine grained and sleek. The 2008 acids are brisk, but not out of proportion or balance. Drinkable now but it'll improve, I'd expect, with 5-10+ more years in the cellar.
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2004 Cavallotto Barolo Riserva Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Brought back from Piemonte by Andrew. Badly corked. The wine seemed to have good underlying fruit.
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2001 Cavallotto Barolo Riserva Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe 95 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
My bottle, also brought back from Piemonte, was pristine. I've had a couple of bottles of the 2001 San Giuseppe already in the last year and it's in a beautiful spot right now. One of my Wines of the Year (2016). A savoury, complex nose of creosote, earth, dried brushwood, fresh and dried red berries and rose perfumes. On palate, quite youthful-seeming (people had it as a 2010 or 2009). Juicy, gorgeous fruit with complex, savoury layers of flavour, consistent with bouquet. Beautifully integrated tannins and acids. Well balanced. The complete package. "Not messed around with" said Nick. Years ahead of this Cavallotto, of course.
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1998 Germano Ettore Barolo Cerretta
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
The last two Baroli were presented as "interest wines". The Germano Ettore was clearly the younger and better of the two wines. Dark, fairly primary, colour. A pure nose of black cherries, liquorice, tar and new leather. In the mouth, also pure and clean. Very Serralunga. Dark fruited, with creosote and iron ore. Integrated, svelte tannins and resolved acids. Lovely texture. About there now for drinking.
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1982 Gigi Rosso Barolo Arione
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
A browning colour. Aromas of fallen leaves and rotting wood, mushroomy and clearly oxidised. Quite raisined, decaying and lactic on palate. This bottle was pretty undrinkable. Worse than the other bottle of this wine we had in Piemonte in 2016.
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1946 Bodegas Toro Albala Don PX Convento Selección 98 Points
Spain, Andalucía, Montilla-Moriles
This Pedro Ximénez was made from the grapes harvested after World War II in Montilla-Moriles DO, Andalusia. Taken from cask in September 2011, produced in batches of 825 hand numbered bottles, batches numbered 46.1, 46.2 etc (this bottle from batch 46.6). (So far, Bodegas Toro Albala has produced at least 13 batches, so that is over 10,000 bottles to date I understand ...). This PX was one of the first three sherries scored 100 points by eRP. ABV 17%. Does it live up to the hype? In my view, yes. Layered colour, quite bright for a 70 year old wine. A hugely complex bouquet. Coconut, vanilla pod, chocolate lammington cake, mint, molasses, toffee, espresso, cinnamon, camphor etc etc. Every sniff reveals a new nuance. On palate, it's vibrant and very alive. Pure and clean. It's viscous but not heavy, dancing across the palate. People saw different things in the flavour profile. Someone described a stout-like quality to the PX. Another person mentioned a herbal aspect. "Minty" said someone else. Flavours of raisins, Christmas cake, cinnamon, brown sugar, figs, espresso, almonds, spices etc etc. Great balance between sweet and umami. Very detailed and very long. The bottle disappeared very quickly in our small group. I imagine that this PX will outlive anyone reading this note.
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