09/05/2008 (TNB)

• Piemonte Moscato Frizzante 2006 (Cantine Volpi) Fresh, grapey fruit, gentle fizz, off-dry. A very nice example of the style.

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09/05/2008 (TNB)

• Piemonte Moscato Frizzante 2006 (Cantine Volpi) Fresh, grapey fruit, gentle fizz, off-dry. A very nice example of the style.

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Wine group at M.M's 28/04/2008 (TNB)

• Marlborough Riesling 2006 (Kim Crawford) Dry, decent fruit, slightly green in an attractive way. Top
• Riesling Central Otago Target Gully 2006 (Mount Difficulty) Keroseney, really quite sweet and without great acidity. A bit cloying.
• Macon-Grevilly Genievrieres 2002 (Domaine Guillot-Broux) Quite high-toned and with good acidity. Nice Chardonnay fruit and decent length.
• Macon-Cruzille Perrieres 2002 (Domaine Guillot-Broux) A touch more tropical fruit and pears. A strong effort. Bare
• Macon-Grevilly Genievrieres 2001 (Domaine Guillot-Broux) A broad yet slightly short palate. Rather oaky and a touch odd, yet decently drinkable.
• Macon-Cruzille Perrieres 2001 (Domaine Guillot-Broux) Decent Macon, but a bit straight and unengaging. Bare
• Macon-Grevilly Mollieres 2000 (Domaine Guillot-Broux) More density and balance, a touch of aniseed too. Top
• Macon-Cruzille Perrieres 2000 (Domaine Guillot-Broux) As good as any of this lineup (in which the 01's seem less good than the vintages either side. Good balance and weight. Bare
• Rioja Gran Reserva 1998 (Vina Mara) Ripe fruit and a suggestion of new oak. Goodish wine but not the sort of thing I hope for from a Gran Reserva Rioja in a good year. Bare
• Rioja Gran Reserva 1998 (Torre Aldea) Blackcurrant fruit - quite a modern-styled, international sort of wine. Quite good of its style. Bare
• Rioja Gran Reserva Ygay 1998 (Marques de Murrieta) Seems quite oaky currently (but not faulty like the bottle of this the group tasted a couple of months ago). Good, but not ultimately compelling. Bare but wil perhaps improve.
• Rioja Gran Reserva 904 1995 (La Rioja Alta) A touch of old-fashioned volatility and a fruit quality tending to raspberry liqueur, but very drinkable.
• Rioja Gran Reserva 1994 (Bodegas Lan) Leafy blackcurrant and raspberry. Very soft and easy. Not my sort of thing. In the most laughably overstated heavy bottle that I have ever seen. Top
• Passito de Pantelleria 2004 (Rallo) Fresh and grapey, a pleasingly dry desert wine with ravishing fruit. Gorgeous rather than great perhaps, but lovely. Top
• Vin Santo 1994 (Castello de Paneretta) Bitter almonds. Curiously characterless and faded otherwise. Rather disappointing.
• Taylors Port 1983 Red fruits, quite forward with a touch of chocolate. Largely resolved but some more time would help. Very nice Port but not very typically Taylors. Bare

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03/05/2008 (TNB)

• Champagne Cramant Grand Cru Perle NV (Lilbert) What was once "Cremant de Cramant", beautiful tiny bubbles a bit less fizzy than standard Champers. This is lemony and restrained. Quite dry and very elegant, unassertive but with a good depth and a touch of minerality. Will probably still improve. Top - maybe more

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26/04/2008 (TNB)

• Champagne Bouzy Grand Cru 1999 (C. Saves) Quite substantial, in the Bouzy way, yet with some grace from (I believe) about 25 per cent Chardonnay. Good persistence with a lemony finish. This is rather enjoyable. Starting to approach maturity, probably. Bare
• Kiedricher Sandgrub Spatlese 1983 (Langwerth von Simmern) Very pleasingly mellow, mature Rheingau. Very easy-going. Time to drink up. Scrapes for being so gentle.
• Barolo Cannubi San Lorenzo 1999 (G. Rinaldi) Lovely, pure, raspberry nose, medium weight, fine fruit on the palate with gorgeous succulent tannins. Splendid wine.

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A reception 24/04/2008 (TNB)

• Soave Colli Scaligeri 2005 (Filippi) Touch spritzy, honeysuckle fruit, quite rich in the mouth.
• Coteaux du Languedoc blanc La Clape 2004 (Chateau de la Negly) Yeasty, floral, pleasantly dry. Very typically South of France. Pleasant. Bare
• Chateau La Gontrie 2005 That unfashionable thing, a wine from the Bordeaux fringes. Touch of capsicum, lifted blackcurrant fruit. Sensible, enjoyable wine. Bare
• Dolcetto d'Alba Fontanazza 1998 (Marcarini) Rather mature blackberry fruit, the aged characteristic not unlike something Spanish. Curious in some ways, but enjoyable. Bare
• Dolcetto d'Alba Rocchettevino La Pria 2004 (G. Accomasso) Great depth, lovely tannins. Excellent Dolcetto. Bare

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20/04/2008 (TNB)

• Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Les Chaffots 1998 (H. Lignier) Tasted quickly while passing J.M.'s place. Really good, showing that meatyness of the vintage (not unlike the 93's, although a little less good on the whole). Starting to drink nicely. Bare
• Sancerre La Grande Cote 2000 (F. Cotat) Initially quite varietal, but with great depth as it opens out in the glass. Hints of apricot perhaps in a finish that goes on and on. Excellent.

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18/04/2008 (TNB)

• Chateau Faugeres 1998 Very fruitcake St Emilion, a bit gummy (something I just noticed that I said last time I tried this too). There's a bit of minerality too on the fruit. Pretty strong effort without being captivating.
• Champagne Cuvee William Deutz 1996 White bread, passion fruit, possibly the touch of gin on the nose that I noted last time. This seems a slightly better bottle than that - nice feel in the mouth too. Very pretty, creamy wine, now drinking very nicely. Excellent balance, that I think means it will still improve. Bare

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With MR 15/04/2008 (RJB)

• Chablis 1990 (Daniel Defaix) Perhaps just on the way out, but still a big oily and gently nutty wine which is pleasurable to drink. Lacking some acidity, but with a good length.
• Chateau La Lagune 1990 Completely brilliant. A wonderfully fragrant nose of violets and berries that just exudes class, and a perfectly balanced palate which combines elegance and depth. This is drinking beautifully now, but it will last. One of those wines you could seemingly drink for ever without getting bored. I just wish I could get the chance to test that theory out. A very easy
• Chateauneuf-du-Pape La Bernardine 1994 (M. Chapoutier) It was always going to be difficult for a wine to follow the La Lagune, but even so this seemed rather feeble. Dilute and unforthcoming with seemingly little stuffing.

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The M.D. Charity Dinner 12/04/2008 (TNB)

• Champagne Extra Dry 1988 (Pol Roger) Great farmyard straw nose and palate. (Where does this character come from in Champagne, I wonder?) Pretty rich and flavoursome, becoming honeyed with time in the glass. From a magnum. Bare
• Chateau Laville Haut Brion Blanc 2000 Very graceful, lanolin and wax, lovely fruit. Quite forward (from the vintage I guess) but it has the balance to improve at least over the medium term. Very lovely.
• Chassagne Montrachet 1er cru Vergers 1992 (Ramonet) Bandagey poultice nose initially. Slightly oily, lemony fruit. Plenty of richness, creamy and good length. Gets more complex with time in the glass.
• Chassagne Montrachet 1er cru Ruchottes 1992 (Ramonet) Ripe peachy nose with Ramonet ginger on the very classy fruit. A little higher-toned than the Vergers and a little more stylish. Bare
• Grands Echezeaux 1983 (DRC) Slightly metallic, "smell of the sea" sort of Burgundy nose - really gorgeous. The palate is complex and delicious - quite smoky - yet there is the slight edginess so common in this vintage from the rot problems. Bare
• La Tache 1983 (DRC) More exotic than the Grands Echezeaux, deeper and with a slightly burnt edge to the fruit. Sexy, silky, and only the merest hint of 83 edginess. A touch longer than the G.E. also. Very fine. Top
• Chateau Leoville Barton 1966 Excellent colour, classic Claret nose, cedary, a touch of iodine. Nice density with sweet, ripe fruit. Just exactly as a good mature Claret should be - but I doubt many (or even any) of today's wines will be this good at 40 years old. From a magnum Top
• Chateau Latour 1970 Fantastic walnut and fruit nose. On the palate, great minerality and an astonishing sense of great power without the slightest heaviness. This is just coming round to drinking well I would guess, but will improve. Great wine. Top
• Chateau Suduiraut 1967 Slightly green rim. The palate centres around barley-sugar, but with great complexity and a lovely nutty character. Top Sauternes.
• Bual 1934 (Rutherford and Miles) Slightly smoky with more richness on the palate than a lot of Madeiras - bananas and Rum ("a West Indian wine" according to one of us) and a touch of coffee. Very fine Madeira.
• Roederer Cristal 1981 Apricot nose. Quite dry. Rounded suave wine, very elegant and poised. Rather lovely - it repays attention and time in the glass. Bare
• Krug 1981 Still a touch of brioche on the nose. Dry, and there is a sense that there is a bit more to give here - it just hints at the mint-chocolate of older Krug. Very sophisticated and lovely.

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Back home 08/04/2008 (TNB)

• Champagne Special Club 2000 (Launois P & F) Lemony fruit with a touch of yeast and an underlying stonyness - quite rich and still a touch hard on the palate with good persistence. Very nice and will get better. A good

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At La Cave de Mougins 07/04/2008 (TNB)

Chateau d'Estoublon also make some lovely Olive Oils, including some fascinating single variety ones.

• VdP Les Alpilles blanc 2006 (Chateau d'Estoublon) Rich, Chateauneuf-like white with some exotic fruity touches and a hint of oak about it. Striking wine - very good.
• Jeunes Vignes Rouge Les Baux de Provence 2004 (Chateau d'Estoublon) Piquant, quite a lot of gamy Mourvedre character, very nicely made, very drinkable medium-bodied wine. Very attractive. Bare even.
• Rouge Les Baux de Provence 2004 (Chateau d'Estoublon) Rather grander, structured and tannic with 10 percent Cabernet and the (one, two and three year old) oak giving a framework to the high-quality pure fruit. Quite hard still, but will be interesting in a couple of years. A good
• Perrier Jouet NV In good condition, autolytic, quite elegant, frothy fizz. Nice easy-going balance.
• Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque 1999 A touch of that wet straw character that D.P. has in this vintage. More richness than the NV as you would expect, but still nicely balanced. Starting to drink - probably not a keeping vintage. Very nice.

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Mougins, yet again 06/04/2008 (TNB)

• Bandol Rose 2006 (Le Galantin) Synthetic cork, which I don't much like. Quite deep, sweetly ripe rose-petal fruit. Quite dry and a touch of tannin makes it a grown-up wine rather than just a Summers day crowd pleaser. Good wine.

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And more Mougins 04/04/2008 (TNB)

Just finished last night's Galantin Bandol. It seems less anonymous with pure fruit and a bit higher toned than yesterday. I may have been a bit mean to it when suggesting it was tending to international style.

• Bandol blanc 2006 (Tempier) Very South of France (again), a bit lighter on its feet than the Clos St Joseph yesterday. Elegant, almond and peach flavours, very nicely balanced.
• Cotes de Provence Cuvee Carignan 2006 (Domaine de la Cressonniere) Just a taste in Cave de Mougins. Quite lifted brambley fruit with a touch of Italinate bitterness. Medium weight and nice balance. Pleasant drinking but could do with a year in bottle. Rising towards a good

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More Mougins 04/04/2008 (TNB)

• Bandol 2002 (Le Galantin) Silky fruited, well-made wine with characterful fruit. It tastes as though it has been in barrique though and over all the effect is a bit "modern" for my palate. Others will like it more. Of its type it is quite good value. Top

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Another evening in Mougins 02/04/2008 (TNB)

• Cotes de Provence, Villars-sur-Var blanc 2006 (Clos Saint-Joseph) Recommended by the excellent Cave de Mougins, this comes from just north of Nice. Very South of France, with the usual mix of grapes: a hint of elderflower on the nose and a broad palate with lots of interest and substantial texture. Good concentration too. I really enjoyed this and it would hold up well to not being drunk on a sunny balcony. Perhaps even makes

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In Mougins 31/03/2008 (TNB)

• Chateau Simone Rose 2006 Very nice, gentle fruit with real vinousness like a pale red wine. Not (as the awful phrase has it) at all fruit-driven, but very sophisicated, smooth, top rose. Top wine even without making allowances for its being pink. A good
• Bandol Rose 2006 (Tempier) Also real wine, yeasty, notably harsher than the rather suave Simone above. A touch of apples in the fruit, good length too. Might just need to settle down in bottle for a while. Bare

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Wine group hosted by Z.M. 18/03/2008 (TNB)

• Champagne Le Mesnil 1979 (Le Mesnil) Quite evolved and maderised. Rich, mushroomy and long, but not in great condition.
• Monthelie blanc 2002 (Potinet-Ampeau) Slightly masked nose at first. Very dense wine (old vines, perhaps). Closed at the moment but will be excellent for its appelation.
• Puligny Montrachet blanc 2002 (Potinet-Ampeau) More lemony, Again densely-textured with none of the showyness of "Chardonnay". Long and mineral. Very good indeed for a village wine. Bare
• Monthelie blanc 2001 (Potinet-Ampeau) Again lemony, and in the flight of 4 whites served blind most of us were inclined to pair this with the previous Puligny. Very elegant but with slightly less stuffing than the previous wines. Rising to top
• Puligny Montrachet blanc 2001 (Potinet-Ampeau) This split the table to some extent. On the one hand it seemed a little softer than the other wines and tending to flab. On the other hand it had a great texture with gorgeous, creamy fruit. All of these four wines were quite different from much modern white Burgundy, and all the better for that. Rising to top
• Meurasult 1er cru Charmes blanc 1982 (Potinet-Ampeau) Slightly cheesy on the nose at first. Fantastically complex wine, drinking perfectly now. Bare
• Meurasult 1er cru Charmes blanc 1966 (Potinet-Ampeau) What an eye-opener. In the days when most producers seem to be incapable of making wines that develop over a decade (or in many cases even last a decade), here is a 40 year old wine that is completely fresh, with all the complexity of age and lovely herb and cream-tinged fruit. No sign that one needs to hurry to drink this. A star.
• Chianti Classico Riserva 2001 (Villa Rosa) Lovely creamy, bright fruit. To judge form the later wines in this flight, this will be excellent. Bare even
• Chianti Classico Riserva 1991 (Villa Rosa) Creamy again (in that Brunello way), a touch of smoke too. Some mature character but still very fresh. Delicious.
• Chianti Classico Riserva 1975 (Villa Rosa) Another revelation. Gorgeous fruit, quite tertiary now with meaty notes. Smoky again. Bare
• Caberlot 1998 (Podere Il Carnasciale) Rather soft, terribly suave fruit. Concentrated, quite complex, but to my palate a bit internationally-styled. A cult wine, apparently.
• Bruno Rocca 1990 (Montefili) Fine wine, quite meaty and drinking rather nicely now.
• 30 year old Tawny (Niepoort) Lovely green rim, good acidity, touch of chocolate and quite rich. Fruitier perhaps than a comparably aged Colheita because (I assume) there is some younger wine in the blend as well as some genuinely old stuff. Lovely.

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Verset dinner in Edinburgh 01/03/2008 (TNB)

• Pernand Vegeleses blanc 1988 (Rollin) The cooking wine in fact, but wirth trying. Dry, ungenerous, but certainlty alive. Needs food. Bare
• Viognier de Rosine 2006 (Ogier) Fragrantly flowery, nice peachy fruit. Typically low acid. Dry and restrained. Relatively straightforward but rather enjoyable. Bare
• Condrieu 2004 (Gangloff) Richer fruit, quite cunningly tarted up with some new oak. Very interesting, pretty serious, but in some ways I almost prefer the previous wine. I enjoyed this more last time I tasted it, perhaps because it was with something more oaky rather than less! Top
• Cornas 2005 (N. Verset) Very pure framboise (and hints of cassis) fruit. Great length, although it closes up a bit on the palate currently. Will be great.
• Cornas 2004 (N. Verset) Rather lighter than the 05, more mineral, more advanced, animaly and gamy. There's a hint of edgyness about it too. Comint to top
• Cornas 2003 (N. Verset) Slightly lower register than the 05, greta fruit overlying some marked tannins. Quite spicy. A touch less mainstream than the 05 but will also be great.
• Cornas 2002 (N. Verset) Some animality emerging. It may be great, but there is also something slightly curious on the nose that I have ixed feelings about. Evem leaving that aside, there's not quite the hit of the top vintages. with reservations
• Cornas 2001 (N. Verset) Great purity and poise, this has the pure framboise fruit of the 05. Quite structured and with good length.
• Cornas 2000 (N. Verset) Back to the lower register, although not quite to the extent of the 03. Close to resolved gamy raspberry fruit. Very attractive. Top
• Cornas 1999 (N. Verset) A touch of that poultice nose one gets on old Rioja. Very meaty, Bovril-like raspberry fruit. Excellent.
• Cornas 1998 (N. Verset) Very, very, reductive. Undrinkable for me at first, but after 2 hours in the glass it's delicious. Say a top
• Cornas 1997 (N. Verset) Seems very light at first, yet attractively pure, if a bit soft. Yet it seems to put on weight in the glass. A bit of an enigma. A bare perhaps.
• Cornas 1996 (N. Verset) Good quality fruit, lighter than the top vintages but gamy with a real sense of terroir. I think this scrapes a bare too.
• Cornas 1991 (N. Verset) Coming towards resolved yet still a touch hard. Pure and balanced. Lovely.
• Cornas 1989 (N. Verset) Beatiful tone, completely balanced, complex and delicious.
• Cornas 1988 (N. Verset) Gamy and delicious, but delivering a little less on all fronts than 85 and 89. Bare
• Cornas 1985 (N. Verset) Back to those poultice hints in the nose, terribly civilized wine yet the asauvage terroir shows through too. Gorgeous. Top
• 2003 by Bollinger Frothey and exotic. Bollinger do not seem to think this is a proper vintage Champagne and neither do I. Cloying and dull, I am amazed that the house (who are clearly trying to push themselves into the elite) released this wine even under the evasive title. Somebody suggested they did this because the wine wasn't good enough to put in the NV, and I am sympathetic to that idea.
• Champagne Special Club 1985 (Bonnaire) Touch of mushrooms, nutty, with creamy fruit and honey on the finish. Lovely. Bare
• Port 1970 (Gonzales-Byass) Very evolved, quite tawny-like. Tobaccofalvours too. Pleasant but not great. Bare
• Port 1960 (Gonzales-Byass) Drier, more piquant, perhaps a bit more faded although the overall effect is more fresh and overall it is more interesting than the 70.

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Wine group at A.D's 25/02/2008 (TNB)

• Viognier The Maverick 2006 (Bellingham) Unctuous, rich, oily. A touch lemony. Lots of oak. Cloying.
• Viognier 1996 (Calera) Odd chocolate palate. Very curious, Possiply just past it. Not very nice.
• Chardonnay 2004 (Thelema) Pretty pleasant, sharp -(probably acidified) finish.
• Chardonnay 2004 (Eikendal) Better balance. Not greatly remarkable. Bare
• Chardonnay 2004 (Glen Carlou) Nice enough - I gave a score but didn't make any notes - perhaps I just did not find anything to say. Top
• Chardonnay 2004 (Hamilton Russel) Also pretty decent but not exciting. Top
• Rijo Gran Reserve Ygay 1998 (Murrieta) Slightly edgy and varnishy. Others say they have had better bottles.
• Rija Gran Reserve Prado Enea 1998 (Muga) Ripe, round, nice fruit. Strong effort.
• Rioja Gran Reserva Imperial 1998 (CUNE) Very balanced quite easy - margaux-like. top
• Rioja Gran Reserva Imperial 1996 (CUNE) A little thinner on the palate than the 98.
• Rioja Gran Reserva 904 1994 (Rioja Alta) Slightly more modern, hints of volatility on the finish.
• Rioja Gran Reserva Vina Tondonia 1985 (Lopez de Heredia) The real thing - better I think than the earlier wines will ever be. A touch balsamic. Lovely fruit. Bare
• Monteluce Passito 2003 (Sella and Mosca) Dubious balance - hot finish. Odd
• Passito vin de la Fabriseria de San Rocco 2000 (Tedeschi) Quite pretty, middle of the road, very pleasant. Top
• Rutherglen Muscat, 12 y old (Stanton and Kileen) Delicious, very rancio very nice. Top
• Full Fronti 20 y old (Pertaringa) Really good old liqueur Muscat, despite the silly name. Bags of character. Bare

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12/03/2008 (TNB)

• Bourgogne Rouge 2002 (Anne Gros) Splendid, rich, gorgeously fruity Burgundy with some structural underpinning too. A fantastic effort for a plain B. Rouge.

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07/03/2008 (TNB)

• Champagne Special Club 1996 (Jose Michel) A rich, meaty mouthful, still a bit hard. Will make a very nice mature bottle. Bare

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05/03/2008 (TNB)

• Condrieu Vendange Tardive Les Eguets 1993 (Yves Cuilleron) Pleasant enough, mature peachy fruit. Was once sweet I think, but this is ameliorated by age. Too simple to be worth more than

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