Misc at home 14/05/2012 (TNB)

• Sauvignon 2005 (Kante) Like all Kante's whites, very pure and precise. Understated, in the Italian way with whites. Delicious - full of varietal character without that in-your-face gooseberry that can be so tiresome.
• Terrano 2004 (Kante) Very high-toned with very high but altogether attractive acidity. This won't be everyone's glass of wine but I find it a lovely refreshing glass of red. Very classy fruit quality too. One to buy a bit more of.
• Sassaia 2009 (La Biancare di Angiolini Maule) Natural wine: I have a love-hate relationship with it. I thought on opening this would be a "hate" because it is distinctly fizzy and quite a lot of that familiar apple aroma of "natural" whites. But with decanting the fizz clears and the apples don't have any of that almost volatile quality that sometimes appears. Instead, with this one I became keener and keener on it with drinking. One of those that makes the case for the idea that in this sort of wine one tastes grapes as opposed to conventional ones where one tastes winemaking. I remain a little ambivalent, but let's say
• Meursault Les Tillets 2004 (Roulot) Back to the mainstream, but very good indeed. Definite minerality and light on its feet, as usual for Roulot. Lovely. Top

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At home 21/04/2012 (TNB)

• Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile 1990 (Trimbach) Seems a little tired at first, but it's just that cellar temperature is too cold. As it warms up, lovely, refined mature riesling character emerges. Bone dry, refined, good intensity: it goes very well with food (in this case with garlic chicken). Bare

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Both of us at Hedone 12/04/2012 (RJB)

This was a rare outing of the two of us together for a splendid meal in London. Hedone (in Chiswick) produced a memorable meal: very innovative but not falling over the boundary in to being contrived. Halibut in a shrimp broth was amazing because of the purity and shrimp flavour and duck in beetroot and cranberry sauce was stunning. While the savoury courses in the tasting menu ranged between excellent and memorable, the two dessert courses, while very good, didn't excite to quite the same degree.

Well worth trying, if you haven't already. The wine list has a lot of good stuff on it at mark-ups that are pretty reasonable. The wines are those of a set flight to accompany the tasting menu.

• Saint-Bris Fie Gris Corps de Garde 2008 (Dom. Goissot) At a lovely stage of development. Fresh, attractive fruit with a touch of evolution. Refined Sauvignon blanc with just a touch of minerality. A strong
• Cairanne 2010 (Domaine de l'Horatoire St Martin) Fairly light on the nose, but with a nice, broad white-Rhone palate. Good intensity. Bare
• Pinot Auxerrois Vieille Vigne "H" 2008 (Josmeyer) Pleasant enough, but rather light and a bit short. Neither of us was so impressed by this.
• Hautes-Cotes de Nuits Vieilles Vignes 2009 (Olivier Jouan) Very pure beetroot and plum skin pinot fruit. Not that complex, but very attractive and excellent with the food (duck). In context, possibly
• Gevrey Chambertin En Pallud 2006 (Maume) Quite bright, still pretty young. High-toned fruit but drinking well now although it will improve. This is always an excellent wine from this grower. Bare
• Muscat de Rivesaltes, Les Enfant Sauvages 2011 Essence of grapeyness, with something about it that suggested a fruit-based spirit. Quite light on its feet for the style. Hard to justify, but perpaps even
• Munsterer Rheinberg Auslese 2009 (Goettelman) Quite young for riesling, with a "dessert" sweetness level. Well made, but doesn't shout much beyond that to us. Perhaps it is just a question of time, but it is hard to say. Top

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Lunch with TNB in Cambridge 15/04/2012 (RJB)

• Zobinger Heiligenstein Riesling Alte Reben Trocken 1994 (Brundlmayer) Lovely middle weight Riesling showing good maturity but with years still ahead of it. Good minerality and purity of flavours – clearly old Riesling without being overpoweringly so.
• Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 1988 (Chateau de Beaucastel) It turns out I last had this in 1999, when I suggested that it needed to open out a bit. I was rather disappointed at the time. Well it has opened out, but is still far from showing anywhere close to being over mature even thirteen years later. Rather lovely – not quite one thing or the other, but then again I don’t get to drink a huge amount of old Rousanne. Some custard powder on the palate, and good length. I think this might still get better, but top for now.
• Nerello Mascalese Nonna Concetta 2007 (Calabretta) A new winery to me and a new grape variety for me also which according to Wikipedia is related to Sangiovese. It certainly has the smoked salmon nose I often associate with Chianti or Rioja, which probably doesn’t mean much to others, but which is the trigger smell that works for me (in a good way!). The fruit feels warm – as one might expect coming from the slopes of Etna - without being alcoholically hot and the wine is drinking well now. Lovely with food: porchetta in this instance.

  And finishing off the day (and the porchetta) once TNB had left and a friend had arrived to finish off the remnants of the whites above . . .

• Blanc de Noir Spatburgunder Trocken 2011 (Mayschoss) Brought by said friend that very day from Frankfurt. A light spritz, and a good palate cleanser and refresher. Would be a rather good summer evening wine.
• Les Tourelles de Longueville 1999 Drinking very well and keeping to textbook Pauillac. Years ahead still. A good

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With LJM 31/03/2012 (RJB)

• Champagne 1989 (Gosset) I’m pretty sure that this was the 1989, but the label had fallen off and no one had been thoughtful enough to print the date on the cork. Anyhow, this is lovely old Champagne with the fizz jut beginning to fade a touch. Elegant and refined with the darker notes of age.
• Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 1989 (Kerpen) Almost top notch, but it had that slight apple wood flavour that some old Riesling tends to get and, of which, I’m not a great fan.
• Chambertin Grand Cru 1997 (A. Rousseau) Why is good red Burgundy so hard to describe? With other wines I would be droning on about complexity, with this one it is the pure simplicity that makes it great. It is the perfect chord: a flavour that sings in complete harmony in the mouth. A joy.
• Chateau Leoville Barton 1986 Rather closed on this showing. Good and no rush to drink up.
• Chateau Bastor-Lamontagne 1988 From a half. I still have a few of these knocking about, and they are still just fine for the end of a meal. Exactly what one would expect of reasonable Sauternes that is ageing gracefully. A top
• Warre’s 1963 Vintage Port, Dolamore label Weaker than I was expecting in colour and in depth of flavour. Otherwise fine, rounded and drinking well.

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At Home recently 21/03/2012 (TNB)

• Carricante 2007 (Calabretta) Splendid stuff. The fruit doesn't scream about particular fruits thank goodness, but it is dense and intriguing. Good concentration and an attractive trace of bitterness. Drinking wine. Top
• Barolo Riserva Vigneto Rocchette 1996 (Accomasso) I recall this in its dense, tannic youth. It's opening out nicely now - lovely traditional Barolo, tar and roses. Still on the climb I think but thoroughly enjoyable. Bare

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