Served blind. Wonderful effervescent nose. Blanc de blanc? Palate - doesn't quite match up - apple, green apple - there's a hint of groweriness about this? Confirmed that it is champagne and it is vintage - reckon 14/15 - definitely not 08/12/13. Revealed - most certainly not B de B - 71% Pinot Noir. On the reveal - start to like it more? Definitely the sherbety Roederer nose. More than decent and a good start to proceedings.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
Served blind (having been decanted for an hour). On pouring - reductive nose - GCSE chemistry called and it wants its rubber hose back. On the palate - lovely breadth - clearly Chardonnay, almost certainly Burgundy - is it a top producer from one of those remote villages producing something awesome - like a Ferret Pouilly-Fuissé? We were told no - it's a well known village...this is proper kit, maybe less acid and linearity than I'd expect from a relatively young Chassagne but...a lovely drop.
Served blind. On the nose - cats pee? Gooseberry? It's not a super obvious Sauv Blanc but there's something about it there...on the palate - good grief the acid, but also a floral note - if not Sauv Blanc then what? Muscadet? A weird unripe gewurtz? Revealed as the renowned Devon Minnow - I'm not going to say the emperor has no clothes but this did not speak to me. Better palates than mine disagree but. No.
Served blind but by me so I knew what it was. Interestingly, this was bigger, perhaps sweeter, certainly oakier than the wines it was tasted alongside. It was just as good as I hoped it would be but for balance I might have chosen an older one. With that said - this really is the nuts.
Served blind. Lovely rich nose - clearly claret - maybe graves - with some age and earth to it. Colour - garnet and not very clear - lots of matter in suspension. It's not bordeaux? It's clearly not N Rhone, lots of discussion then...the reveal. Yeah! This is awesome. More mature than I'd expect - definitely on the again / pauillac side of the Trevallon equation. A real treat and privilege to taste this.
Served blind. Lovely earthy nose - old new world cab? Something SA? On the palate - there's a structure there but it's kind of two dimensional - like a kind of pressed card printing or something. No tannin or acid - just the echo of what might have been. Revealed as a 20 year old Washington cab - I can totally get this - a treat to be able to drink this type of wine, but really (a bit like english sparkling wine) it's mostly of interest to locals, and doesn't age terribly well.
A reserve bottle very kindly opened when something was needed to go with the cheese. The wine rarely outclasses the cheese quite so convincingly. Lovely earthy nose, and it's all going on on the palate. There's still structure there - tannin and even some fruit, but a length to it too. A lovely end to a lovely evening.
2014 Louis Roederer Champagne Vintage Brut
France, Champagne
Served blind. Wonderful effervescent nose. Blanc de blanc? Palate - doesn't quite match up - apple, green apple - there's a hint of groweriness about this? Confirmed that it is champagne and it is vintage - reckon 14/15 - definitely not 08/12/13. Revealed - most certainly not B de B - 71% Pinot Noir. On the reveal - start to like it more? Definitely the sherbety Roederer nose. More than decent and a good start to proceedings.
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2018 Xavier Monnot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru En Remilly
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
Served blind (having been decanted for an hour). On pouring - reductive nose - GCSE chemistry called and it wants its rubber hose back. On the palate - lovely breadth - clearly Chardonnay, almost certainly Burgundy - is it a top producer from one of those remote villages producing something awesome - like a Ferret Pouilly-Fuissé? We were told no - it's a well known village...this is proper kit, maybe less acid and linearity than I'd expect from a relatively young Chassagne but...a lovely drop.
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2021 Castlewood Vineyard Bacchus Devon Minnow
United Kingdom, England, South West, Devon
Served blind. On the nose - cats pee? Gooseberry? It's not a super obvious Sauv Blanc but there's something about it there...on the palate - good grief the acid, but also a floral note - if not Sauv Blanc then what? Muscadet? A weird unripe gewurtz? Revealed as the renowned Devon Minnow - I'm not going to say the emperor has no clothes but this did not speak to me. Better palates than mine disagree but. No.
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2010 Ridge Monte Bello
USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains
Served blind but by me so I knew what it was. Interestingly, this was bigger, perhaps sweeter, certainly oakier than the wines it was tasted alongside. It was just as good as I hoped it would be but for balance I might have chosen an older one. With that said - this really is the nuts.
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2009 Domaine de Trévallon
France, Provence, Alpilles
Served blind. Lovely rich nose - clearly claret - maybe graves - with some age and earth to it. Colour - garnet and not very clear - lots of matter in suspension. It's not bordeaux? It's clearly not N Rhone, lots of discussion then...the reveal. Yeah! This is awesome. More mature than I'd expect - definitely on the again / pauillac side of the Trevallon equation. A real treat and privilege to taste this.
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2000 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon
USA, Washington
Served blind. Lovely earthy nose - old new world cab? Something SA? On the palate - there's a structure there but it's kind of two dimensional - like a kind of pressed card printing or something. No tannin or acid - just the echo of what might have been. Revealed as a 20 year old Washington cab - I can totally get this - a treat to be able to drink this type of wine, but really (a bit like english sparkling wine) it's mostly of interest to locals, and doesn't age terribly well.
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1998 Château Bouscassé Madiran Vieilles Vignes
France, Southwest France, Madiran
A reserve bottle very kindly opened when something was needed to go with the cheese. The wine rarely outclasses the cheese quite so convincingly. Lovely earthy nose, and it's all going on on the palate. There's still structure there - tannin and even some fruit, but a length to it too. A lovely end to a lovely evening.
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