Lunch notes (blind tasting)
With spot prawns in pirirpiri sauce
2003 Alain Voge St. Peray Fleur de Crussol – this white made from 70 year old Marsanne and iven5 months in oak was reall exceptional. Lots of colour, and a lovely old Marsanne nose with wax and peach. Smooth and almost viscous on palate, with very good acidity, this is the best white St. Peray I can recall tasting.
With steak tartare
2004 Ponsot Chambolle Musigny Les Charmes – another interesting one from an excellent producer. This had a nose that showed blood, iron and cherries in the nose, and while there is still significant tannin it has good development and drinks well now. Good acidity.
1995 Jade Mountain Mourvedre – this turned out to be pretty interesting as wwell as a bit of a poser, though I didn’t expect them to get it. Mint, black currants and rose petals in the nose, smooth and with good length in the mouth. Needs to be drunk, but still in good shape and showing more complexity than the other 99% that was probably drunk up in the first 2 years.
with duck confit, breast and purple potato gallette
1999 Clos du Mount Olivet Chateauneuf du Pape – oddly enough almost all of us swore this must be Italian based on the very nebbiolo nose. The edges showed some lightening, and it was medium weight, good balance, with a long juicy finish and good structure, ready to roll. Outperformed expectations.
1990 Dominus – this bottle was so French that when we were told it wasn’t, we (that includes myself) floundered around the rest of the world before even thinking about California. Excellent fruit, well balanced, some cedar and currant in the nose, and smooth and long on palate. I could easily have believed it was a Bordeaux of the same vintage. Modest tannin and good acidity.
with cheese
1976 Monimpex Tokay Essencia – sweet Maderised nose and the colour of old amber, tailing into light brown. Sweet but also had lots of acidity so it drank very well.
1977 Warres Port – from a half bottle, this was getting rather pale and sadly was showing a hint of what 2 of us were sure was TCA but others thought was just mustiness. Either way, it detracted from what the wine could have been. Not bad though. I must pull a whole bottle of this sometime soon (assuming I can find it) to compare.
1994 Fonseca – I also have this in full bottle (this was also a half) and I’m glad I do, although this was veritable infanticide. Quite a ripe nose, dark wine, not too sweet, I got a lot of different things in the nose including mushroom and anise. Quite raisiny. Needs time but will be very good.