'Casa Ray' offline

Five of us gathered Chez Q for an informal offline, conveniently doubling up as a birthday bash for Hugh. Don's excellent homemade spinach, ricotta and parmesan tart (more cream and butter than anything else I'd wager) and tomato focaccia started us off, followed by some steak pies and salad, cheese and then Nigel's wife's excellent lemon tart to finish with. An excellent evening and, for a school night, an unusually late finish with minimal wine wastage. Brief notes / impressions below, but no doubt Nigel's extensive notes will follow...

• 2007 Domaine Georges Vernay Condrieu Les Terrasses de l'Empire

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu

  Lovely nose of apricot stones; very Viognier. A little lighter and less full-on palate than I expected. Really nice with decent length and some interest though I do struggle with the grape variety a bit. ***1/2

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• 2005 Le Clos du Caillou Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  Slightly darker, mid straw. Full, waxy, oily, slightly smokey nose. Viscous, quite minerally palate. Good length. Not my type of wine but very good if a little hot on the finish. ***

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• 2002 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Big, mineral almost slightly meaty nose, oatmeal. Full, minerally, long. Still quite tight. Subsequently decanted and returned to after a couple of hours. Nose calmed down a bit and mor etypical of the northern Rhone. Again, not my preferred style of white but thi sis good and will probably develop well for many years. **(**)

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• 1989 Château Haut-Bailly

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Double decanted 31/2 hours. Gorgeous nose of tobacco and cedar. Beautifully smooth, some sweet fruit with spice and tobacco. Really lovely and just the right amount of development. ****1/2

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• 1995 Château Haut-Bailly

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Double decanted approx 2hrs. Fuller, richer nose, dusty mulberry fruit, cedar notes starting to evolve. Sweet and full palate. Quite fat and leggy. This tastes younger than I remembered it. More cedar and tobacco on the nose after a while. Still some fine tannin on the finish. Nose becomes a little riper and the fruit sweeter with a touch of vanilla too after an hour or two. For me this needs another four or five years though obviously enjoyable now. ***(*)

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• 1999 Viña Sastre (Bodegas Hermanos Sastre) Ribera del Duero Pago de Santa Cruz Gran Reserva

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Smokey, interesting nose. Dense dark red fruit, mulberry, black olive, some spice. Tight crisp fruit, very focused attack, dense fruit. Still quite chewy. Decent. Opens up a little but still needs time. 10 yrs? A fraction hot on the finish. **(*1/2 to **)

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• 1999 Viña Sastre (Bodegas Hermanos Sastre) Ribera del Duero Regina Vides

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Lush, densely-fruited nose. Really quite intense with a slight dustiness to it. Yikes, huge grip, oaky, supercharged. De trop. An Otto special! Calms down a little but still very hot on the finish. After an hour or two the nose starts to show some honeyed notes. Very difficult to judge. For me this is almost undrinkable now, just a few sips really, but what will it do - will it age and mellow or is the alcohol always going to shout? *(**?)

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• 1980 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Sweet, gently spicey old syrah nose. Rounded and smooth. Lovely poise and balance. Very similar to keith's 82 at the blind Challenge although with less obvious acidity. A lovely mellow old wine. ****1/2

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• 2000 Bodega Catena Zapata Malbec Catena Alta Angelica Vineyard

  Argentina, Mendoza

  Blue fruit, malbec nose. A little hot. Ripe fruit, alcohol, moderate length, glycerin. Quite hot. Crying out for a steak. ***1/2

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• 1999 Bodega Catena Zapata Nicolás Catena Zapata

  Argentina, Mendoza

  Wow, so much bigger than my impression of this from the previous bottle from the same case 3 yrs ago. Last one opened and poured, this one double decanted 24hrs (Hugh reported that it tasted better/more restrained upon initial opening). Dark red and blue fruit. Smokey, savoury, black olive tapenade nose. Again, a very big wine. Maybe it was still closed last time but is now opening up?! Feels massive and in need of a lot of time. The Alta Malbec more manageable today. Seems very classy and dense and plush, but hard to judge. **(**) if the alcohol doesn't dominate.

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• 1995 Oremus Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos

  Hungary, Tokaji

  Deep bronzed orange. Good orange fruit, wonderful freshness and acidity, lovely and long. Intense, intense and good acidity that effectively hides some of the sweetness and prevents it being as cloying on the attack as some 5/6putts can be. ****

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