Sunday, February 28, 2016

Dinner at mine, 22nd Feb

Last week, we had an email from P saying that he'd acquired a useful haul at a recent auction and were we interested in any of it. But of course! And so plans were made for dinner on Monday.

We began with some Palo Cortado as an aperitif, which I've written about before - the Cayetano Del Pino from the Wine Society, which I think is great stuff for £14.50 a bottle. G had found a saucisson with hazelnuts in the Ginger Pig, which accompanied it very well.


Then it was on to the main event - this Chateau Brane-Cantenac 1975. This had an interesting, pungent nose, and G referred to "tertiary flavours" which I think may have been a euphemism for something. It was on the elderly side but had a great finish, and improved with food, so the moral of the story was that it needed a half-hour decant.


With the cheese course, we moved on to this Barolo 1967 from Cantine Villadoria, which came in a bottle that looked like some kind of archaeological relic, complete with little candle attached to the side. Thoughts of the Crossrail excavations sprang to mind.


This turned out to still be drinking and was surprisingly nice! It was old skool, and must have been a total bastard in its youth, but a massive whack of the sugar bag (G thought cane sugar, specifically) meant that it had some sweet fruit in the middle before drying out on the finish. It went well with the cheese and was fascinating to drink. Thanks P for sharing these with us!


Friday, February 26, 2016

Burgundy Portfolio tasting, 16th Feb

Last Tuesday I found myself on an impromptu tour of Highbury before I belatedly found the venue for that evening's wine tasting, the Highbury Library, opposite the Arsenal stadium. I assume that the name is a jolly jest as it didn't look much like a library!

Upstairs seemed pretty lively but I spotted some familiar faces in the downstairs room and headed down to join them where I was greeted with a glass of Chablis by ACC. This was a tasting of 2014 en primeur "Burgundies". The main Burgundy Portfolio en primeur tasting took place back in January at the Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green, which was very enjoyable but difficult to blog about with at least 80 wines being shown. This evening was a more in-depth focus on some of ACC's relatively new discoveries.


The 1er cru Vosgros from Domaine Gueguen was our aperitif, It was drinking already but would keep, with good acidity, citrus and white flowers. It was unoaked and elegant, and seemed popular with everyone.


Then it was on to another 1er cru Chablis, this time from the Vaucoupin vineyard. This seemed more serious, and might need more time. ACC mentioned gunflint. My notes record more detail about the Gueguen's gite for two with swimming pool, which sounds like a great place for a retreat in the Chablis countryside!



We had a bonus tasting of this bottle of Bourgogne Blanc, which was also very good and retained the minerality of the house style.


Then, with a single bound, we leapt from the north of Burgundy to the south, with this Beaujolais Blanc from Domaine des Josephins. This spends 9 months in barrel and was distinctly richer. It was very quaffable and good value for money at £105 for a case of 12 in bond.


This Bourgogne Blanc from Domaine de la Roseraie went down very well. It's made in Puligny Montrachet, by the chap ACC went to visit in October while I wandered round the village taking photos. Only 100 cases were made and apparently a lot of it goes to Parisian restaurants. It wasn't ready yet, still not fully integrated, but Baron McG and I succumbed and decided to split a case between us.



This Viognier from Domaine des Josephins was a little bit different, with white peach, and seemed like a wine that would age well. It was was well-balanced and stylish, something for those who like something different to Chardonnay occasionally.

Food appeared at this point, some charcuterie and cheese, and we cheerfully dived in.


Then it was on to the reds. This Gorge Rouge from Domaine des Josephins is basically a Bourgogne Rouge, made from pinot noir. The name refers to a robin. It had lovely light strawberry fruit and was only 12.5%. I snaffled a case.


The same domaine also makes this Tete Noire - which apparently is some other sort of bird, not the rather unfortunate direct English translation! This is made from the gamaret grape, which is a cross between gamay and reichensteiner. It was much darker in colour and almost brooding. Some detected liquorice. I quite liked it, but suspect it divided the audience.



We moved on to a trio from Domaine de la Roseraie - a Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Beaune, a Maranges and a Beaune "Montee Rouge". These ascended in terms of power and complexity.


The Montee Rouge in particular was very interesting but still quite closed and possibly the sort of wine one would come back to in 6 years. It was serious stuff, complex and concentrated with black cherries going on. Some of us were keen to have a tasting with some older vintages so that we could see how it would evolve.


Overall, it was great to consider some new arrivals in more depth and I look forward to drinking my new acquisitions in due course!

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Lunch at mine, 14th February

Last Sunday, D joined G and myself for lunch at my place.

To start, we drank another bottle of the Meursault 1er cru Gouttes D'Or 2006 from Moret-Nominet which I have written about before here and here. This time I worried silently for a few minutes about whether it was actually all right, but then it opened up and showed its rich, nutty characteristics. We had some goose rillettes on toast with it, which worked really well and brought out its acidity. It had an amazing finish. Nevertheless, I think time is now ticking on this one - probably being in the wardrobe over the winter hasn't done it any favours.


D had been requested to bring a medium-bodied red to go with roast chicken, and delivered the goods in the form of this 1968 Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley. It had an amazing nose of baked fruits, described as "bewitching" by G, and was soft and smooth on the palate. We detected poached strawberries, which faded to reveal more traditional cabernet notes of tobacco and cedar.


At 12% alcohol, it was a perfect lunchtime wine, with great elegance and finesse. "It's not attacking you," said D. I was strangely reminded of the trio of wonderfully pure Beaujolais that I've had over the past year. It's remarkable that D has any of this left - and very kind of him to share it with us.


With pudding, I produced this Chateau de Fargues 1986 which I got at auction last year. It had been sitting in the wardrobe waiting for the right opportunity, which had finally arrived! It was a beautiful amber colour with apricots (G suggested Elvas apricots, just to raise the pretentiousness factor) and possibly frangipane on the nose.




The palate was congruent and not too sweet, in fact it was quite restrained, which made it very easy to drink. We had it with the most expensive berries in the world, which G had bought from Selfridges, and it also went very well with the Stichelton. A bottle went down between three of us with no problems whatsoever.


In fact, having drunk three very approachable wines, we found ourselves still going strong, so G nipped downstairs to get this bottle of Croft '63. "No harm in that" say my notes. It was a lovely lightweight port, pretty and delicate with hints of violet, turkish delight, cinnamon and victoria plums. "Filigreed" said G.


Lunch lasted seven hours and there were no ill-effects the next day. Clearly drinking fine old wines is the way forward!

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Boal dinner, 11th Feb 2016

On Thursday night G hosted his annual Madeira dinner.

Reports on previous years can be found here:

As I walked down Brook Street I thought of the piece I'd heard on the radio earlier in the week about the restoration of Jimi Hendrix's flat. The person being interviewed said that in the late 1960s this part of London was quite run down. It's hard to imagine that now. I could see a throng of happy-looking people through the window of the Savile Club.


The theme this year was Boal. As usual, G and I had held a pre-tasting a few days earlier to assess the wines, determine the running order, and allow time for bottle-sickness to fade, so I already knew we were in for a good evening. Most of the photos here are from the pre-tasting as there's nothing more irritating than a blogging she-person getting in everyone's way with her camera at an event like this.

We tasted seven wines before dinner, and six more with dinner.

1. Boal 2005 ABSL (Barros e Sousa), bottled in 2011.


G tells me that new rules mean that the vintage can be put on the bottle even though it's not a riserva which would have to have spent 20 years in cask. So, this is a single harvest wine, which was bottled because the Barros e Sousa brothers were retiring. It was quite a pale brown colour and dryish on the nose but sweeter on the palate. It was perfectly nice and there was nothing wrong with it, but it could have been anything, really. Not many boal characteristics to speak of. G's father seemed to be enjoying it but "pointless" was T's verdict.

2. Henriques & Henriques 2000 single harvest, bottled in 2012.



This was a darker colour and seemed more interesting, even pungent, on the nose ("like a nasty tonic water" said T). We felt it wasn't quite altogether integrated - it delivered a hit to the back of the throat when you swallowed it, like drinking some wine followed by some brandy, and it was obvious that it had been fortified. On the night, G thought it had improved with time open. Apparently it costs about £45. I don't think I'll be rushing to buy it.

3. Endeavour from Perreira D'Oliveira, bottled around 2006.


This is a vinho da roda i.e. has been around the world (cue unfortunate East 17 song now playing in my head). The good ship in question was called, guess what, Endeavour. It was made from a 1980s/90s solera and fairly pale in colour and knowing the Inverse Law of Labels one might have had high hopes of this one, but sadly it was not to be. I found it similar to the first wine i.e. there was nothing technically wrong with it as such but it was just a bit meh.

4. Unknown 1952 solera, bottled around 1970.


This bottle had the Junta Nacional do Vinhos (JNV) seal and G thought it was bottled around 1970. It looked fine but was relatively pale - G tells me that this is an indicator of it being a relatively early bottling. Bual is a white grape, so a darker colour indicates greater time spent in cask. At the pre-tasting, on the palate, I found it quite dry, and interesting, but there was a possible slight hint of our old friend, the alcoholic vomit. This seemed to have gone by Thursday, but there was still something a bit strange about it. T, who can spot Terrantez at 100 paces, thought there might be some in here, and we all felt it wasn't 100% boal.

5. Boal 1977, HM Borges, bottled around 2010.


Now we were on to the good stuff! Well, some of us thought so. This was a proper riserva. It looked good, a clear reddish brown, and at the pre-tasting had an interesting tropical fruit salad nose - pineapple? mango? - remiscent of some wines from a certain Burgundy producer we love. That's more like it! I wrote excitedly. Sadly the exciting nose had disappeared by the time we tasted it again on Thursday, but a highly acidic finish remained. It was quite dry on the palate but definitely the real thing. T thought it was soapy and bitter but D and I agreed that it was more complete than the previous four. Apparently it costs £60-70 on the island. I'd consider it worth that.

6. Cossart Gordon Duo Centenary Celebration Boal, bottled around 1990.


This was an additional bonus wine generously contributed by Michael Pater. We hadn't pre-tasted it but it had been double-decanted in accordance with G's precise instructions. It was a murky colour and rather dumb on the nose. On the palate, it was unexpectedly sweet and again we felt that it wasn't straight Boal. G suspected that some Malmsey might have been added. Apparently the person running Cossart Gordon at the time was consults libel lawyer  not necessarily as conscientious as some of his fellows. G described this as being an English interpretation of what people thought Madeira should taste like in 1985, "back when five people in England were interested in Madeira." Four of whom were in present company, ho ho.

7. Henriques & Henriques 1954, bottled around 2005.


This was a much darker colour and the nose reminded me of fruit pastilles, particularly blackcurrant. I wasn't expecting that! I was pleased to find it still had that distinctive nose on Thursday. It was big, rich, powerful, fruity and sweet, almost port-like, smooth and delicious. A bit flash, not subtle. Drinking well now, but no rush. It will still be going strong for many years, and if one had a spare £300 one would be tempted.

At this point, we sat down to eat, and the next two wines were served with an excellent chicken consomme.

8. Bual 1952, Cossart Gordon, bottled 1977 to commemorate HRH's silver jubilee.


This wine had spent 25 years in cask before being bottled in the UK. It was a lovely dark brown colour but slightly bottlesick at the pre-tasting. It had come round by Thursday and seemed quite soft to me, dry but with a certain richness.

9. Boal 1968 from D'Oliveiras, bottled 2010.


This wine is an old friend, as Waitrose used to sell it, and every now and then when they had a sale on, I'd stock up, For several years I gave my father a bottle for Christmas which was always very well-received. It was a clear, darker brown colour and had an intense nose, which made me think of potting sheds and varnish. On the palate, it was more about toasted nuts and log fires. It was quite rich but with a dry finish. I've always loved this wine and if Waitrose still sold it, I'd still be buying it, but it's now £120 retail. It's probably worth that.

We had some claret with our main course and then the final four wines were served with pudding and cheese.

10. Boal solera 1845, Berry Bros & Rudd bottling, bottled 1969.


This 1845 solera was bottled by BBR in 1969. G explained that the rules of the Madeira solera mean that it can only be refreshed 9 times and only 10% of the existing wine can be taken out each time, so at least 10% of the wine we were drinking was from 1845. He was pretty sure that the wine was from Cossart Gordon as they were founded in 1745 and started a solera in 1845 for the centenary. It was a nice reddish dark brown colour and the nose was great. On the palate, it had a certain creaminess which reminded me of creme brulee. It was very fine, accomplished and smooth, with a beautiful weight. "Very fine, but not transcendental Madeira" said G at the pre-tasting in this week's bid for Pseud's Corner. On Thursday he commented that it had a deftness that was the result of putting younger wine into older wine - the younger wine refreshes the older and produces a very harmonious result.

11. Bual 1948, Blandy's, bottled 2004.


This had great legs indicating high viscosity. It was relatively dark in colour. It had a burnt caramel thing going on but wasn't excessively sweet, and had a lovely finish.  Apparently it costs £300 in the UK. I can see why - it was serious stuff.

12. Boal 1861, Shortridge Lawton, bottled 1980.


This was another vinho da roda, made by a small house. Apparently it was all sold in the early 80s to Sherry Lehmann, the New York wine shop. This was fabulous. It was elegant, refined and very well-balanced, and the finish went on forever. The general consensus was that this was the wine of the evening. A stunner. It cost £900 and I think we were all very grateful to G for sharing it with us and letting us all be members of the Extinction Club.

13. Boal 1900, Manuel de Sousa Herdeiros, bottled 1978.


Apparently Manuel was not a wine-maker but more the Madeira equivalent to a negociant. This was in cask for 78 years. It was intense and fairly sweet with a black treacle, prune and star anise thing going on, and great length. At the pre-tasting I loved it, and on Thursday too, although others found it almost too much and some thought it might have been better 5 years ago. Apparently 1900 was a big vintage and there was a lot of this around in the day. Not any more, sadly. It clearly had a rum base and made me think of flamboyant pirates ("arrrr" say my notes), but strangely, T had never heard of Captain Jack Sparrow. Why is the rum gone?

The final line-up...

Not a wicker basket in sight
As usual, some of retired to the courtyard with the leftovers afterwards. Looking back at my notes from previous years, there's no doubt that the hit rate this evening was exceptionally high. T said "I think it may have been the best ever: there were no duds but we went from entry level to the very very top and in an obviously single style." Thanks to G for another exceptional tasting.