With many thanks to Alex Rychlewski and his wife Christine for their kind hospitality, we tasted a range of wines:
On Thursday night:
Ramonet Chassagne Montrachet Les Vergers 2007 – Beautifully balanced and nuanced wine with citrus, butter, minerals and a cleansing backbone of balancing acidity; really good to drink now and probably over the next 5-6 years
Hubert De Montille Pommard Pezerolles 1995 – In no-man’s land, unexpressive, with a somewhat chemically sheen; clearly in an awkward place, judgement reserved
Allemand Cornas Reynard 1998 – lively, intense, with cherry, raspberry, pepper, gamey – and vegetative notes – I got some burnt cabbage – so I did not like it quite as much as the others.
Friday
At the estate:
Pauillac De Latour 2009 – good even for a second wine let alone a third, quality of the vintage shows through, classic and classy Pauillac
Les Forts De Latour 2006 – very well crafted wines with hints of black and red fruits, cassis and lead pencil, a long way from drinking
Ch Latour 2004 – dense, brooding and noble; graphite and lead pencil dominate, still in its infancy, flawless wine making, great wine in the making, more than a decade from being ready
Lunch
Gloria 2007 – modern, unexpressive – it had been in one of those pub machines...
At the estate:
Pontet Canet 2010 – reaching for perfection, deep opaque, inky colour with faint wisps for berries, smoke, violets and minerals and a more prominent crème de cassis, thick and mouth coating (as well as glass staining), long, long finish
Pontet Canet 2008 – it had a more accessible bouquet, more leather and earth elements, a long rich wine, the tannins a little more noticeable and less polished on the finish, very good nonetheless.
At the estate (Gruaud-Larose):
Gruaud Larose 2007 – Forward, attractive wine with a good equilibrium; cedar, spice, fruit and oak in harmony. Drinking really nicely already
Gruaud Larose 2001 – Bigger wine, with a denser mid-palate, showing very well. Again a fine claret with good balance. These wines are more about finesse and equilibrium than raw power
Sarget De Larose 2002 – Big surprise – had more cabernet (80%) than the grand vin (70%); a really good, accessible and delicious second wine – this was a relative bargain at 23 euros against 70 for the 2001 GV.
Camensac 2005 (double mag) – Tasted a little bit dilute/disjointed despite the vintage; disappointing in context of the vintage?
Chase Spleen 2000 (double mag) – a nose to die for and a delicious wine surprisingly a tad on the thin side on the mid palate
Haut Bages Liberal 1998 – a nicely balanced wine with good mid palate density and fine balance. I loved this.
Ferriere 1996 (Jeroboam) – Fully mature, a bit funky classic Margaux berry traits. Delightful.
Friday night
Coche Dury Meursault 2008 – minerals and citrus and oak elements not yet fully integrated; great purity and integrity, needs time, the Ramonet provided more enjoyment, both will be fab if not premox afflicted.
Chateau Baret 2006 (half) - good honest rustic and tasty Pessac ideal foil for cheese
Saturday
Ch Canon (Canon De Fronsac) 2008 – forward plumy textbook Fronsac
Convent De Jacobins 2004 – Silky delicious textbook St-Emilion made by a 76 year old nun
Saturday night chez Alex
With foie gras and smoked salmon
‘Sauternes’ – (Second wine of Ch d’Yquem 2007) – this wine is reserved for the estate workers and is not on sale to the general public – it is a delicious wine with good acidity; it is perfect with foie gras; lacks the richness and unctuousness of d’Yquem, but d’Yquem is hardly an everyday wine.
With duck:
Mystery wine A: Mount Eden Vineyards Santa Cruz Pinot Noir 2000 – got this horribly wrong. The excessive oak could initially be confused for a gamey rhone. The wine is blighted by excessive oak even if it is not over the hill.
Mystery wine B: initially similar to wine A, could be a rhone. But rather than being over-oaked these are genuinely animal notes in a wine that is just starting to take on some secondary characteristics. Well made wine that improved over the night – obvious after the fact of being unmasked...Frederic Mugnier Musigny 1996.
Mystery wine C: More obviously a Bordeaux, delicious wine with some alluring green pepper and modest brett, delicious and though fully mature it had plenty of vibrancy. It was Lynch Bages 1985.
With lime meringue pie
Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle – super match; impressive verve and acidity in this champagne.
On Sunday
Chateau Cantenac St –Emilion 2007 – opened up well, trademark plummy notes with some mineral complexity
Chateau Brown, Pessac 2005 – a bit too much burnt oak initially which blew off
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