31/12/1995 (RJB)

• Taittinger NV Elegant, bready, pleasing round fruit. 87.
• Tokay Vielle Vignes 91 (Zind-Humbrecht) Amazingly concentrated for an off vintage. Complex, yummy. 91.
• Savenierres, Trie special (Baumard) 90 Grassy and honeyed, good concentration. Hard to evaluate at this age 88+.
• Champagne Joseph Perrier 82 Pleasant old champagne flavours, perhaps marred a bit by slight oxidative character due to overheating? 85.

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At the Three Horse Shoes, Madingley 28/12/1995 (RJB)

The first two wines from the restaurant list, the Port from a private source.

• Gracher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinet 1989, Ernst Loosen Good mature, light and dry, Riesling flavours. A very good pre-dinner and first course wine. 87
• Rocca Rubia 1991 A Sardinian Carignan-based wine. Robust cherry fruit that needs a couple of years to be at its best. 86
• Fonseca 1960 Port After dinner. Medium bodied and drinking perfectly. Pencil lead nose.88

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26/12/1995 (RJB)

• Kistler Durell Vineyard Chardonnay 1993 Suffered compared with the Newton - the fruit not as concentrated. Tasted the next day it had opened out a bit, with some nice citric acidity. 88
• Newton Unfiltered Chardonnay 1993 Classy and drinking well now. Good use of oak, and superb fruit quality. 92
• Moet et Chandon Brut Imperiale 1986 Disappointing. A rather odd stagnant nose (maturing oddly, or sulphur problems?). Hard to see this going anywhere, but it would be interesting to try another bottle. 83?
• De Venoge Millesimme 1989 Brut Full-flavoured Champagne with slightly coarse acidity. Should age well for a few years, although it already has some bottle age characteristics. 88+
• Julienas 1993, Domaine les Fiefs Cuvee Prestige, Michel Tete Spicy 'sharp' nose, rather Rhonish in character. Goodish for Beaujolais, but not a wine that greatly excites. 86
• Domaine de Chevalier 1983 (red) Drinking nicely, but with time still ahead. Oak quite dominant at present, but with good cedar and currant aromas. 90
• Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 1990 Biggish warm wine that needs time to open out. Good fruit, but the style suffers against the Dom. Chev. above. 89
• Muller Catoir Mussbacher Esselhaut Rieslaner Auslese 1992 Sweeter than might be expected from most ausleses, but this is a biggish wine given elegance by acidity. Delicious. 90
• Newton Unfiltered Merlot 1993 Structure not obvious initially, hidden by the plummy Merlot fruit. After a while in the glass the wine revealed a soft-tannin backbone. 90
• Pauillac 1992 (The third(?) wine of Latour) A reasonably respectable light to medium bodied 'luncheon' claret. 84

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22/12/1995 (TNB)

• Couhins Lurton 87 From a half. Good colour. Lost some fresh fruit, but gained style and (some) complexity. First thought was that it was a shade past it, but it has a lovely honeyed finish. Drinking well, but probably for consuming soon. 86.
• Ladoix les joyeuses (Mallard) 83 Good colour, showing some maturity, but very healthy. Nose quiet, but good mature pinot flavours. Nice raspberry fruit in the mouth, it's sweetness masking the slightly harsh tannions of the vintage. Nicely mature burgundy, drinking nicely. 87

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Drinks at SPC and odds and ends 20/12/1995 (LJM)

• Fontanafredda Barolo `La Delizia', 1982 . Quite an elegant wine with flavours of cherries and perhaps violets and refined structure. Not a huge amount of fruit but still a very pleasant drink. Ideal with Bollito Misto. 87
• Quinta da Noval, 1970 . Still tastes quite fresh. Medium weight with good fruit and balance, quite pleasureable, but quite simple. 86 (RP84)
• Grahams, 1983 . This has been open since summer term apparently and shows some signs of losing its edge. However, it is still clearly very complex and interesting and still has very good depth of fruit and structure. Much much better than the quinta da Noval despite being open for so long. Confirms my impression of Grahams being the best port producer that I've tried. 91 (RP95 which is almost certainly the case when freshly opened)
• La Tour du Haut Causson, 1990 . Ripe fruity claret that has enough weight and structure to stand up well at dessert after drinking port. It is not particularly refined but very enjoyable at the price (about 6.40 at '91 prices). Will still improve with time. (RP88)
• Ch Poujeaux, 1988 . Another good value well built Cru Bourgeois that has good ripe fruit and structure. Will go on. (RP87)
• Ch Roumieu, Sauternes 1990 . Impressive weight and concentration. However its a touch on the heavy and inelegant side lacking a lift from balancing acidity. (86)
• Clos Windsuhl, Hunawihr, Zind Humprecht 1991 , Threshers 10.69. I assume the varietal name is Hunawihr as there is no other possible varietal name on the bottle. (I think not. Ed.) Very dry for ZH. The bouquet is good, but the first sip tastes slightly ugly. That disppears almost immediately and follows into a wine with very fine structure. The fruit flavours are not so elegant perhaps. I'm not too sure about this one. 82-88

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19/12/1995 (TNB)

• Mas de Christine, Muscat de Rivesltes 91 Odd whif of sherry-type oxidation at first. Gives way to dense muscatty fruit. Big and impressive in a way, but I can't get that excited. 87. (OFW 9.99 -- gets a huge Parker score, if this is the right wine.)

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at Noel Young Wines 18/12/1995 (RJB)

• De Venoge 1990 Blanc de Noirs (23.99) Sharp, yeasty, creamy nose, good length, flavoursome champagne with good bottle age. 89
• Chateau de Fuisse, Pouilly Fuisse Cuvee Premiere 1992 (11.79) At present rather watery and lacking fruit (closed?). Some lees character, little or no oak. Good acidity and some length. 86
• Brown Brothers Family Reserve Riesling 1991 (9.79) Glorious golden colour, waxy petrol (diesel!) nose. Big wine with a touch of sweetness from the alcohol and a bit of botrytis. Perhaps too big for its own good. 87
• Weingut Brundlmayer Chardonnay Auslese 1994, Austria (14.99) Noel strikes again! Sweet soft Chardonnay nose; slight spritz, toffeed and youthful. A touch unbalanced at the end. Probably best described as a cross between a Viognier and a sweeter style Alsace Pinot Blanc.Unsure just how good it is. 85-89
• Devil's Lair Cabernet Sauvignon 1992, Australia (12.29) 85% CS, 15% Merlot; Blackberry-and-plum-pie nose; soft and warm for current drinking. 83
• Cline Syrah 1992, California (10.50?) The blind wine of the evening, and pretty obviously a Rhone Ranger. Soft with some zingy fruit. 86
• Bosquet des Papes 1990, Chateauneuf du Pape (12.99) Deeply disappointing; colour worryingly brown, fruit a bit tarry and oxidative. Drying. Noel wondered whether this was from a late bottling of the wine. 81
• Ceretto Barolo Bricco Rocche Brunate 1990 (20.79) Quite a mature brown orangy colour (there was a certain amount of debate as to whether this was acceptable in a Barolo of this age). Spicy and warm with some violet aromas. Good acid and a reasonable amount of ripe tannins. Will it last? 89+
• Bonny Doon Orange Muscat Vin de Glaciere 1994 (9.99) Mandarin nose with loads of citric acidity (overdone?); a slight spritz. Not for the long term, but needs a few more months. 88

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16/12/1995 (TNB)

• Syrah Estate 92 (Bonny Doon) Astonishing inky red. Nose of crushed blackberry leaves with mushroooms/chestnuts. Huge in the mouth, high alcohol (legs like gothic arches, as Michael Broadbent says of 83 Palmer), tannins hidden beneath a wall of fruit. Very impressive. If one were to criticise, it seems slightly soulless. 90.

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at Mark's 15/12/1995 (RJB)

• Belle Epoque 1985, Perrier Jouet Light floral nose. Very elegant wine with a whack of unknit acid. Needs time.89+
• Condrieu 1993 Les Chaillets Vielle Vignes, Yves Cuilleron Disappointing, dull nose and flabby on the palate. With time in the glass there were inklings of things developing - the usual viognier apricot nose.Probably ethereal, but at present just seeming a bit washed out. Presumably needs some time. 84?
• Riesling Abstberg Auslese 1989, Maximum Grunhauser, Von Schubert. Stunning. Textbook sherberty, petrolly Riesling nose with a pinpoint clarity. The sweetness at the end needs time to integrate with the main body of the wine. Lovely now, and can only get better. 95
• Clos de Tart 1985 Gamey and beetrooty. Velvety with New World weight and sweetness.Superb wine that will peak in a couple of years I guess.92
• Kistler Cuvee Catherine 1991 Pinot Noir Big plum skin fruit. Not a style I particularly enjoy. Pleasant enough.Not a keeper.89
• Saintsbury Carneros Reserve 1990 Pinot Noir I thought this to be a good youthful Burgundy. Quite closed with good acid, this needs a few years (at least) to be at its best. 90
• Riesling 1983 Frederic Emile Vendange Tardive, Trimbach From a half. This lacks the definition of the Schubert Riesling tasted earlier - the fruit is all there but the wine is heavier. Good, but still needs plenty of time. 91
• Matusalem Oloroso, Gonzalez Byas Lovely balance of oxidative flavours, sweetness and acidity. Incidentally, this coped very well with a very rich chocolate dish. 90

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OFW Claret Tasting 14/12/1995 (TNB)

• Bahans Haut Brion 89 Quite complex, smokey/gravesy, nice fruit, but lacking the density to be first rate. 87.
• Dom de Chevalier 88 Intruiging, complex, high-toned. More appearing the more one tased. Coming back to this at the end, it had a distinct aroma of toast. Classy. 91.
• Vieux Ch Certan 86 Unevolved, big wine in need of a lot of cellaring -- it has the strong tannins of the vintage. Obviously has the makings of a great wine. 92
• Brane-Cantenac 82 High acid, with reasonable quantity of round sweet fruit. The acid will keep this looking OK, but the fruit will fade without ever gaining complexity. 82.
• Leoville-Poyferre 82 Very dense, unevolved colour. A great wine in its infancy. The high acidity is balanced by a good density of ripe fruit. Very long. 93
• La Mission Haut Brion 81 Sheer class -- lovely smokey, cedary nose, with suprising fruit concentration and a good long finish. Amazing balance. Lovely. 92.
• Leoville Las Cases 79 Looking good, reasonably concentrated mature claret, but nothing very exceptional. 86
• Ch La Rame Reserve 90 Suprisingly different from last time I tasted - much more botrytis evident , and more like Sauternes -- not so bubble-gummy. Good concentration, but it stops a little in the mouth, suggesting it is not really a keeper. 89

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10/12/1995 (RJB)

• Jansz NV, Heemskerk, Tasmania Odd sparkling wine. New World pineapple fruit flavours evolved in the glass, with a lot of acidity on the palate. Rather unknit. 83
• Pinot d'Alsace 1990, Zind-Humbrecht Drinking wonderfully well with buttery flavours. Sweeter and not as evolved as the half I had a few weeks back. 89
• Cotes du Rhone 1988, Guigal Very much like a scaled-down version of a Guigal Cote Rotie. Silky with mushroomy aromas. Drinking close to peak, but no rush. 88

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09/12/1995 (RJB)

• Gewurztraminer Herrenweg 1992, Zind-Humbrecht Quite a youthful spritz to this wine, and still pretty closed. I don't think it is quite the monster that the 1990 was at this stage. Still pretty big, but with more elegance and less residual sweetness. Definitely needs some time to open up. 89+

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09/12/1995 (TNB)

• Mountadam Chardonnay 90 Big and rich. The more I drink Mountadam, the more I think it is not an improver. A food wine. 89.
• Oltrepo Pavese Luzzano Rosso 90 (Fugazza) No idea which bit is the name of the wine. Good colour, spicy chocolate, prunes, cherries on the nose and good mouthwatering cherry fruit. High acidity, but some soft tannins. Impressively long. Apparantly a blend of Barbera and Pinot Noir. 90 (RFW 14.00)
• Wehlener Sonnenuhr 83 Spatlese (Deindard) Showing very well. 87.

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Cambridge University Blind Tasting Team 'Bring a bottle of red' blind tasting 03/12/1995 (RJB)

• Tassenberg Dry Red Wine, South Africa A blend based on cinsault - I guessed it as Stilton. 70
• Ch. Mouton Rothschild 1964 According to Parker, pity anyone who bought this wine. If anyone feels pitied then please send the bottles to me! Lovely violet-scented mature claret nose with some gamey overtones. Colour quite brown but still alive. Palate quite sweet, but with reasonable length. This wine had just 'suffered' a bicycle ride through Cambridge - perhaps it travels well. I think I can easily give it 34 points more than Parker. 89
• Rex Hill Pinot Noir 1993, Oregon One dimensional with plummy fruit and sweet oak. 82
• Petite Verdot 1994, Casale del Giglio, Italy Interesting to try a straight petite verdot. Pencil shavings with spicy oak and a fair dollop of acidity. 84
• Mont Gris Merlot 1994 My wine, an unfiltered merlot. One of the best wines I've tasted from Chile. A bit over reliant on the sweetness of American oak, but good plummy merlot fruit. 87
• Henry of Pelham Baco Noir 1993, Ontario, Canada Smells of quite classy toasted oak but not of any particular grape. 80
• Wynns Coonawarra Estate 1993 Shiraz I was impressed by this wine. Big tarry liquorice nose with peppery end-palate. I thought it to be a well made Gigondas. Needs time. I would like to retaste this, but until then 90.
• Mont Disa Pinotage 1993, South Africa Rather like a jammy pinot noir. OK. 85
• Cape Mentelle Zinfandel 1993 A big, big wine with gummy oak, good acidity, high alcohol and brambly fruit. 88
• Gewurztraminer Ausles 1989, Britzinger Sonnhole, Winzergenossenschaft From a half. Soft, lacks acid, touch of botrytis. Rather like a Muscat. 82
• Brusson Champagne NV As a palate cleanser, not tasted blind. Nice acidity and good fruit. Well made. 86
• Chateau Palmer 1972 With dinner, not tasted blind. Drying out but passably interesting drinking. Brown and sweet. 80
• Chateau Lynch Bages 1982 With dinner, not tasted blind. By this stage palate fatigue may well have been setting in! However, this wine was not showing as well as it has. Closed up and not as extrovert as in the past. Clearly classy though. 90+

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A tasting for Cambridge Food & Wine Society 02/12/1995 (RJB)

• Seppelt Great Western Brut Good value fizz (4.99) but wouldn't really want more than one glass of it. 81
• Casablanca 1994 white label Sauvignon Blanc, Chile Evolved Sauvignon flavours beginning to emerge. Easy commercial drinking, but stick to New Zealand in this price range (4.99). 81
• Pinot d'Alsace 1993, Zind-Humbrecht Initially smokey and toasty with esters and spritz; later, it opened out. Should be very good in a years time. 90
• Traminer spatlese halbtrocken 1993, Alois Kracher, Austria drinking nicely, with marmalade and rose petal flavours. A touch too alcoholic for balance perhaps. 88
• Julienas, Domaine des Fiefs, Michel Tete Impressive Beaujolais with secondary flavours beginning to emerge. Textbook gamay nose. A darker colour than one might expect. 86
• Tignanello 1991, Antinori Warm, cigar-box aromas with spiced fruit. 89
• Maglieri Shiraz 1992, Maclaren Vale Big blackcurranty Shiraz with lovely acidity. Probably not for keeping. 87
• Torres Gran Sangredetoro Reserva 1989 Lighter than I remember, I think it's beginning to fade. 83
• Cote Rotie, Brune at Blonde 1990, Guigal Closed but fragrant, seemingly a bit light but I think this is just a phase. Should be good with time. 90

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02/12/1995 (TNB)

• Clos Floridene 90 This bottle at least still had most/all of the fruit I remember. I would not say it is improving, but it is still v. good. 89.
• Brunello 1990 (Lisini) Possibly a bit closed at present -- plenty of structure -- good colour and plenty of fruit -- chestnutty overtones. One would exppect this to be better than the 89, and perhaps it will be (RFW) 89+

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01/12/1995 (RJB)

• Les Cotes Sauvage 1991, Edmunds St John, California Peppery, mushroomy and spicy nose with a grenache zing. Palate closed but with good acid. Give it five years. 90

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