The real Jeff Erhardt / Mahaffy offline

Jeff provided us London offliners with the excuse to gather once more, this time for the simple but delicious pleasures of Rôtisserie Jules. In addition to its many merits, this venue is 2 minutes walk from my house as well as Charles', so clearly a venue we'll be using again!

As I walked out of my flat, packing a couple of bottles as well as a bag full of stems, I was followed by several attractive women (blondes, brunettes, redheads - fill in the blanks), who were clearly shocked and dismayed as I veered off into the cosy Bute St. only 55 seconds later.

Upon reaching the venue, most of the attendants were already present, including:
Nigel "has a slight (non contagious) throat infection but would not let that stop him" Williams
Jeff "good senses and sensibility" Warren
Phil "thought he'd heard of every cult Aussie Shiraz" Wilkins
Russell "Champagne meister / where's Sema?" Faulkner
Doug "veteran London offliner even though he's from Toronto" Mahaffy
Adrienne "this is almost as high-end as The Square" Mahaffy
Charles "our gracious organiser/host and fellow cheese enthusiast" Morgan
Dan "almost missed this offline too due to last minute stuff" Bailey
Jeff "offline raison d'etre / on a pit stop from Mumbai" Erhardt
And me, your humble scribe, determined to tell it like it is...

• 1996 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Cuvée Creation 88 Points

  France, Champagne

  80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir, this has a lovely chalky nose and floral aromatics with a hint of biscuit and nice fruit. On the palate, however, it is very young, very lemony and monolithic, its racy acidity hiding any additional complexity. Small, fine bubbles, but very few of them. This seems like a champagne that hasn't emerged from its shell - I would be very curious to taste it again in 5 years. Now 88/100, but potentially much more than that in the future.

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• 1990 Laurent-Perrier Champagne Grand Siecle 90 Points

  France, Champagne

  Nice mousse, with yeast and melted butter on the nose.A very supple, round Champagne but with a nice underlying structure. Somewhat muted on the palate with a short-ish finish. Very nice but I wasn't wowed.

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This flight was off to an interesting start - as soon as the wines were poured we noticed that the optics were the opposite of what one would expect- the youngest wine being darkest in colour, and the oldest wine lightest in colour.

• 1988 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Vieilles Vignes 84 Points

  France, Alsace

  Pale gold in colour. An enticing nose of melon and flint was followed by a hugely disappointing taste - completely flat, no fruit, watery and oaky. Shame.

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• 1994 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Vieilles Vignes 94 Points

  France, Alsace

  Now this is what it's about! Gold coloured, a gorgeous nose of apricot, fresh figs and honeydew melon. Beatifully balanced on the palate, with mouth coating sweetness and fine acidity, apricots and caramel notes, and a great finish. Excellent.

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• 2000 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Vieilles Vignes 90 Points

  France, Alsace

  Dark gold (darker than both the 1994 and 1988!). A slightly lifted nose, a bit more alcohol than I would expect. Notes of burnt caramel and peaches on the nose and palate. A nice wine but I wouldn't count on aging it for too much longer.

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• 1988 Faiveley Chambertin-Clos de Bèze 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru

  Double-decanted before the offline, this was initially reticent and took 20 minutes or so to start showing its true colours. Strawberry red, with very slight signs of bricking. Notes of sous-bois, dired herbs and red fruit on the nose. Nice fruit on the attack, high-toned palate with round tannins, silky texture and very elegant balance. Drinking beautifully now.

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• 1998 Dominique Laurent Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches 86 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru

  Deancted for 2 hours. Dark red, with a slightly offputting nose of burnt tar, as well as some dark cherries. On the palate there is some nice dark fruit, but it is overwhelmed by toasted oak and dry, overly harsh tannins and a slightly bitter finish. I don't believe this has the concentration and fruit to overcome these faults with more time.

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• 1999 Domaine Annick Parent Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru

  Solid ruby red. Crushed berries just jump out of the glass, and the wine has a very nice velvety texture and good primary fruit, with medium length. However, I found to be rather "new world" in style. An expression of Pinot Noir, certainly, but lacking some of the complexity and earthiness I'd expect from a 1er cru Pommard.

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• 1975 Bodegas y Viñedos del Contino Rioja Contino Gran Reserva

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  Light red with some bricking, this suffered from some mild TCA taint. I could tell this was a well-made tradition Rioja, perhaps a little past its peak, but everything else was rather muted. Not rated.

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• 1995 Fernando Remírez de Ganuza Rioja 88 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  Dark and opaque, blackberry, cedar and meat aromas. On the palate I found this somewhat oakey, very international in style, monolithic and not really recognisable as a Rioja. Good finish with dry tannins. This is a nice wine but I found it difficult to get excited over.

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• 1996 Fernando Remírez de Ganuza Rioja 87 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  Very similar to the 1995, but more oaky and tannic.

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• 1998 Torbreck The Steading 90 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  Dark ruby, with a nose of hung meat, dark berries and exotic flowers (lotus). Mouthfilling fruit, explosive and a little overwhelming, it lingers with a sweet finish. A huge wine, but I've often wondered about fruit bombs like this - if being able to drink a lot of a certain wine is a measure of its quality, then this type of wine fails it. Maybe I'd like it better in 10 years?

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• 1995 Torbreck RunRig 89 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  Dark and impregnable, this oozes crushed dark berries. A monster of a wine, it is very monolithic, a bit tiring on the palate and with a finish I can only describe as cured meat. I could only have very little of this wine.

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• 1998 Torbreck Descendant 91 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  My favourite of this flight, this had crushed raspberries, thyme and slight hints of vanilla on the nose, and a nice, fresh and fruity palate. Long and sweet finish, but not as overwhelming as the other Torbreck wines (perhaps the Viognier in the blend helped here).

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• 2001 Viking Wines Shiraz "Grand Shiraz"

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  I was looking forward to trying this, a cult Shiraz made from old vines under the supervision of Rolf Binder. This was decanted for 4 hours. Dark purple-black. Quite a lot of alcohol on the nose masked for me what other people were suspecting - that it was corked - but alas, it was... :-( Not rated.

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Instead of desserts, we moved over to Charles' place, a 3 minute walk, where a spread of cheese was laid out. I did not take notes on the cheeses, but the Cheddars were particularly good (Charles feel free to elaborate here).

• 2001 Alban Vineyards Grenache Alban Estate Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley

  Actually a blend of 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah, this had a strong and persistent odour of sulphur. Nice dark fruit, very peppery and with good underlying structure, this is clearly a wine that needs a bit more time. 89 now, but probably more with some age.

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• 1970 Dow Porto Vintage 92 Points

  Portugal, Douro, Porto

  Very ripe sweet plums, dark cherries and dates on the nose. Beautifully delineated on the palate, very precise with just the right amount of spice, a nutty quality and velvety texture. Slighlty hot on the finish, but otherwise a great Port.

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A mixed bag of sorts, with varying quality of wines. WOTN for me would have to be the 1994 ZH PG VV, with the Dow Port and Descendant as joint seconds. Glad to have met Jeff E., as well as seeing the Mahaffys and the rest of the gang again, and it was a very short walk home!