31/07/2005 (RJB)

• Cote Rotie 2000 (Patrick & Christophe Bonnefond) Occasional glimpses of bacon fat and raspberry, but some coarseness and awkwardness.
• Soave Classico 2004 (Pieropan) A slight spritz on opening. Lihtly honeyed and with hints of blanched almonds.

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Wine group at E. McC's 25/07/2005 (TNB)

• Piesporter Goldtropfchen 1989 Spatlese (Reuscher-Hart) Sherberty rich, drinking very nicely as it has for a while and will for a few years yet. Long and delicious. Top
• Reserve Chardonnay 2000 (Saintsbury) Rounded, forward fruit - pleasant but ultimately fairly simple. Bare
• Sbragia Chardonnay 2000 (Beringer) Rather overwrought - huge alcohol - rather flabby fruit (although superficially there's decent acidity). A substantial wine that perhaps I just wasn't in the mood for. Top
• Estate Chardonnay 1997 (Joseph Swan) Gamy, rustic, high-quality fruit. Interesting, quite complex, characterful. Guessed this might be Swan. Top
• Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1997 (Villeneuve) Good fruit. Nicely balanced. Good concentration. Good
• Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1997 (Pegau) Baked, tarry fruit. Very tannic - serious (perhaps overly so). Others will admire this more than me.
• Chateauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes 1997 (Marcoux) Jammy, solid, quite raisiny. Very substantial wine - I find it a touch heavy going at the moment. I suspect it will improve and be rather impressive.
• Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1994 (Vieux Telegraph) Refined, concentrated, almost high-toned. Just beginning to drink well. Lovely.
• Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1994 (Beaucastel) Nice - similar in style but a shade weaker all round. Good
• Chateau Guiraud 1990 Very dark colour. Very marmaladey. Ultimately not so complex and clearly upstaged by the Filhot.
• Chateau Filhot 1990 Light colour but in fact quite botrytised. Quite high-toned. Grippy. A very good wine for the property.
• Port 1989 (Burmeister) Very pruney and rich. Really appealing fruit with some hot edges. Probably for drinking now, and pretty pleasant in its way.
• Taylor 1980 A bit drier and more mainstream. Still a shade closed, very good. Bare ?

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In Maresfield with TNB 23/07/2005 (RJB)

• Champagne Cuvee William Deutz 1996 (Deutz) Possibly seems a bit older than it is. Good acidity and some tannin at the end of a fairly full bodied, old-fashioned entrance. Needs some time to resolve itself.
• Champagne Cuvee de Reserve (Gallimard) More floral and open than the last bottle I had of this. Well made fizz for drinking young.
• Champagne Cuvee Creation 1996 (Vilmart) Fairly vinous and with good, sharply focused acidity at the end. A champagne that tastes like a good young fizzy Burgundy. This needs time, and could be stunning.
• Meursault Poruzot 1989 (Jobard) Possibly not in the best of condition compared with a recent bottle that Toby had. The flavours are a bit dull and it is more oxiidative than might be expected.

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Bollinger dinner at Harvey Nichols 21/07/2005 (TNB)

• Champagne Special Cuvee Brut NV (Bollinger) Weighty, meaty nose - autolytic plus apples. Similarly with the palate, but not at the expense of balance. Apples again, a suggestion of tannins. Long, quite complex, perhaps a touch young - I'm sure a year or two in cellar will be beneficial. Scrapes
• Champagne Grande Annee 1997 (Bollinger) Really quite forward - touch of vanilla - long and enjoyable but doesn't seem to have the guts to be a real keeper. Bare
• Chapagne 1995 RD - disgorged March 2005 (Bollinger) Only a year or two delayed versus the standard vintage. Still very fresh, nutty and autolytic - really yeasty on the nose. Drier and tighter than the GA 97 too - lower dosage probably and perhaps the vintage too. Complex finish. Lovely. Scrapes
• La Cotes aux Enfant 1997 (Bollinger) Red wine made from Pinot Noir, of course. Fairly complex nose, bone dry - seems a bit flat and old on the mid-palate. All the interest is on the nose. Rather dull in the mouth. If fizz could be made with these grapes, then this is a bit of a waste except that it gives some insight into the nature of fruit that makes good Champagne. Bare
• Chapagne 1990 RD - disgorged Spring 2005 (Bollinger) Very mushroom and truffle - and hinting at maderisation. Curious indeed, and not entirely positively. Old beyond its years - is it an odd bottle? The guy from Bollinger says not, but seemed to have decided this before nosing mine. Perhaps having this after desert was a poor idea (I did think of leaving my pud until later) and I wouldn't be surprised if there is more to this wine than I found. For now, the interest on the nose scrapes

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A summer fizz 17/07/2005 (RJB)

• Santo Stefano Prosecco, Valdobbiadene (Ruggeri) Lovely delicate summer drinking with almond and white fruit flavours.

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A summer fizz 17/07/2005 (RJB)

• Santo Stefano Prosecco, Valdobbiadene (Ruggeri) Lovely delicate summer drinking with almond and white fruit flavours.

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Recent bottles from the cellar 12/07/2005 (TNB)

• Rioja 904 Gran Reserva 1985 (La Rioja Alta) Fragrant, mellow, eminently drinkable. Fresh but a suspicion of drying at the end suggests this is not for keeping beyond another five or so years.
• Gevry-Chambertin 1er cru Les Goulots 1999 (Fourrier) High-toned, a bit of cranberry, a touch of underlying meatiness and excellent fruit. Lovely but without the va-va-voom of the Combe aux Moins from the same producer and vintage tasted recently. Still scrapes
• Barolo Riserva San Giuseppe 1989 (Cavallotto) Lively, quite complex, proper tarry Barolo and more or less "a point". A bit coarse-textured to be worth more than however.
• Barolo Riserva Speciale 1967 (Scanavino) The things one finds when cataloguing the cellar - an auction purchase of a couple of bottles I seem to recall. I opened one with trepidation but no need: actually a healthy light colour and a lovely, fresh, tar and roses Barolo nose. The fruit had that underlying sweetness that good Barolo has and which with the fragrance sets off the firmness of even mature tannins. Not terribly complex but really very enjoyable drinking.
• Bucciato 2000 (Ca Rugate) I have oscillated a bit about this 100% Gargenega wine. It is Ca Rugate's interpretation of what old Soave might have been like, I seem to recall. It has a deep colour (from skin contact, I think) and a broad, flat, mouthfilling palate after a honeysuckle nose. It reminds me a bit of one or two other Italian producers who are pushing things in a similar direction: Massa Vecchia and Gravner. It is rather less grand than either (and a bit cheaper) but I like it, and I think time is making it more interesting.
• Beaune 1er Cru Greves 1998 (Lafarge) Intense strawberry nose, solid, concentrated fruit, quite dry as often with Lafarge. A touch of Italianate bitterness and quite firm tannins make it rather a food wine at the moment. I hope that rawness wears off - I think it will.
• Antique Oloroso (Fernando de Castilla) Surprisingly high-toned almost Amontillado-like nose. Palate has warm raisiny character and a nice texture.
• Cote Rotie La Landonne 1991 (Rostaing) Very pure, raspberry fruit. Now completely resolved and drinking very nicely. I think it lacks the real edge of terroir at this stage, or something to add complexity. Drinking pretty nicely however.
• Cote Rotie Brune et Blonde 1985 (Guigal) Smoky raspberry fruit, begining to show its age a bit but still fresh. Very drinkable but not super-exciting.
• Chablis Grand Cru Grenouille 1994 (J-P Droin) Quite fat and mouthfilling - I haven't drunk this producers wines or Chablis from this vintage much so I'm not sure about the cause of this rather atypical richness. Still, this has a lovely honey-influenced palate and enough underlying minerality to be very enjoyable. Absolutely at peak. From a half. Top
• Cotes du Rhone La Sagesse 1999 (Gramenon) I seem to remember having mixed feelings about a bottle of this, but this one is lovely - completely drinkable medicinally-edged concentrated Grenache. Excellent.
• Corton Charlemagne 1992 (Rollin) Herbs and spices, with rounded green-pea and other vegetal flavours. Quite individual but really, really good.
• Chassagne Montrachet Les Champgains 1996 1er cru (Niellon) Another 96 from my cellar, opened partly to illuminate the controversy about this vintage. Healthy colour, fine fruit, creamy texture and excellent acidity. This seems just a touch subdued right now but is definitely very good.

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