The Drapers Arms
Tasted Wednesday, July 9, 2025 by NickA with 104 views
Darren had recently got married, Jerry was about to, so our tasting group had a little paulee-style party to celebrate them and their respective favourite grape varieties :-)
Burrata, beef heart tomato, basil & crispy shallots
Courgette, parmesan, pine nuts & mint
My wine - and another lovely bottle of this. Seems to have passed a developmental threshold, with plenty of butter joining the lime, although there's still a pleasing, compensating bitterness on the long finish. Shows the power and balance of the vintage, and went down well on the evening.
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Lean but not austere, so it came across as light on its feet. A nice combination of zesty and exotic fruit. Tasty!
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Notably yellow colour. Wow, it's not dry - which wasn't apparent from the bottle, or the petroly nose. A bit disjointed and I'm unsure of the finish. Alsatian wine just doesn't seem to be my thing.
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Now this is an off-dry Riesling I can support. Fantastic, aromatic nose. Creamy yet refreshing, full of zesty fruit, wonderful poise and balance.
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Soft, slightly smoky nose. There's lots of extract and a gentle note of cereal, then a clean finish. It's a nice wine, though blander than I'd like given the age and price point.
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A lovely lift - it's rather ethereal. There's a gentle (and, for the avoidance of doubt, pleasant) soapiness, and some lime zest. Balanced yet characterful - nicely done.
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A complex nose: sage, lemon pith, a touch of cream. So clean and refreshing, as though drinking the wine is actually good for your health. Excellent length too. Pleased to try this, and to own some myself.
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Powerful nose! There's some petrol as well as (lots of) the typical Riesling fruit. It's then cleaner and crisper on the palate than you'd expect after smelling it, in a lime cordial register. I enjoyed this, but it's probably too austere for some.
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Roast chicken & creamed mushrooms
Seven-hour shoulder of lamb, marinated peppers, Kalamata olives & caperberries
Holy crap - what a wine! Intensely fragrant - the sort of nose that makes it obvious a wine is in its sweet spot of maturity. Just a touch of fruit left. The palate is really intense, with invigorating acidity and deep notes of liquorice and balsamic. I was previously a sceptic about Vietti, having two many monolithic, brooding disappointments, but I'm wavering from that position...
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Intense, jammy fruit, starting creamy and finishing with more of a bite. Rather good, but overshadowed by the wines I had either side.
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This seems to be the wild essence of Nebbiolo: feral, powdery, a bit funky and - yes - sexy. As Allemand is to Cornas, so this is to Serralunga. There's a delightful note of tomato vine, and a deep, intense finish. When these are on, there's not many better (and indeed this was my WOTN).
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Seemed very primary, and had plenty of VA. Lots of dark fruit. Blind, I would probably have guessed this was a 2017. Still unconvinced by the stolid nature of the 2010s.
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A powerful, concentrated wine. There's a lot here, but it's in rather a stewed fruit register, and reminded me of eating crumble. It's ponderous and doesn't seem ready (a bottle in 2021 showed well, but another in 2024 showed similarly to this one).
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This is (once again) more to my taste than the 2010: it has sweeter, redder fruit, a floral side, and the whole package is seductive. There's a touch of watermelon, too. Only the drying finish lets it down. Very nice.
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A soft, strawberryish nose, which felt clean and airy and was prettily interlaced with white flowers. Then much greener and more peppery on the palate, which had succulent fruit. Nice to have this and the GLC as a chilled interlude before the dessert wines.
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Softer than the Burlotto, with pleasing (but not particularly prominent) acidity as well as good weight of well-defined tomato and strawberry. Bright and energetic, and very easy to enjoy.
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Served very cold - too cold, most likely. So lean and crisp. Hard to tell if this needs more time, or is just not quite warm enough. Did I mention it was crisp? It really was.
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Half. Wow, this is full-on, perhaps even OTT (dare I say cloying?). Very, very honeyed. I would like more acidity. Glad to have tried, but... hmmm.
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So charming. It's creamy and caressing, though does have sufficient bite and structure. Wholesome and vivacious, this is so easy to enjoy - and probably deserved a more detailed note!
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Great depth of flavour (orange peel, pear drops, tarte tatin...), and a sense of precision. Certainly ready to enjoy. I've slightly gone off VdC given price rises, but it certainly has its place in the sweet wine pantheon. A lovely finish to proceedings.
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What a lovely evening! And what a lot of wine.....
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2008 Boizel Champagne Grand Vintage 93 Points
France, Champagne
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NV Hofgut Falkenstein Pét Nat 89 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
The 26-24 version of this. Cloudy, like a lambic beer, and tasted quite like one too. Super refreshing on this warm evening, but sadly a little too much bite to be truly pleasurable. Will more time help?
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NV Louis Roederer Champagne Collection 242 89 Points
France, Champagne
So sweet after the Falkenstein! It's a pleasant wine, but a bit middle of the road... if you've had a nice Champagne then you know exactly what this tastes like. Probably another couple of years before this starts developing more complexity.
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NV Sekthaus Philipp Bender Mosel Riesling Sekt Brut 90 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
2021 base. Floral and quite heady bouquet, with a pear drop note. It's not entirely dry, and quite fizzy, like drinking a peachy spritz. Good fun!
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