
Friday, 28 May 2010
Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe blanc 2006

Meerlust 'Red' 2005

The Meerlust estate is a world reknowned estate located in the Stellenbosch region of South Africa, famed for its excellent examples of Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinotage.
The Meerlust "Red" is a Bordeaux Blend of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc, which has been matured in barrel for 18 months before bottling (40% new French oak, 60% second fill barrels)
Colour: Deep, purple, inky black. Intense
Nose: Intense aromas of blackcurrant and other black fruits with surprisingly enough quite a nose of blackcurrant leaves with slight herbaceous notes.
Palate: Again quite powerful aromas of black fruit, chief amongst which blackcurrant. The 14% alcohol is hardly noticeable; it shows the wine has been very well crafted. Long long lingering finish with coffee aromas on the aftertaste. Deep, powerful, long-lasting wine.
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Veuve.A.Devaux Cuvée D de Devaux 2000

Devaux champagne is based in Bar-sur-Seine, in the Aube departement (the south) of the Champagne region where a great deal of all Champagne's provisions of Pinot Noir are from. The Grand Réserve NV by Devaux is normally an 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay blend although this is more a 60/40%. The 2000 vintage was a decent year in Champagne, not the best, although far from the worst with little mildew and rot in the vineyards producing a quality wine. Not as hot as let's say 2003, which means that the champagnes still have a good adicity. This champagne is aged on its lees for much longer than most - 7 years (which is 4 years more than stipulated by French AOC law for a vintage champagne)
Robe: Pale golden colour, slight green. Still youthful for 10 years old.
Nose: Not a typical champagne - not overly yeasty or biscuity but citrusy and big aromas of mango and slight vanilla.
Palate: Slight acidity but not harsh, crushed lime on the tip of the tongue, gooseberries and physalis are also present on the aftertaste. This champagne is not yet in its prime although it is drinking very well, further ageing to smooth it out even further would not do any harm.
La Revue du Vin de France: 15.5/20 (although I'd give slightly more)
Monday, 22 February 2010
Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill Cuvée 1998

Krug NV

Dom Pérignon 2000

Louis Roederer Cristal 2002

Saturday, 14 November 2009
Langmeil GWH Viognier 2008

Monday, 9 November 2009
Beaune "Cent-Vignes" - Madeline Boillot 1979

Hugel Gewurztraminer SGN 1989

Thursday, 5 November 2009
Le Dôme Vertical

Monday, 2 November 2009
Domaine Saint-Dominique, Côtes du Rhône Blanc 2006

Thursday, 22 October 2009
Mâcon Villages 2006 - Joseph Drouhin

Well after the Pinotage (I didn't drink it all-don't worry) I had to see what else I had in the wine rack/fridge. Luckily in the fridge was one of my favourite everyday drinking whites - this little Mâcon-Villages by Joseph Drouhin.
For those in the know - Drouhin is a very large négociant in Beaune, on Burgundy's Côte d'Or. The range of wines from this very famous producer is immense and the price/quality ratio is without competition in my opinion.
Drinking the wine chilled but not too cold - the nose reveals aromas of white flowers and slight hints of cashew nuts. On the palate we find a rich wine, nutty but not too overpowering.
One would expect a big, opulent Chardonnay packed with butter and hazelnuts as one would normally get from a Meursault or Chassagne-Montrachet. The Mâcon has this to a certain extent but not too much, which renders the wine far easier to drink. A class wine.
Ghost Tree Pinotage 2005

Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Banyuls - Michel Chapoutier 2007

Monday, 19 October 2009
3 Stones Riesling

Friday, 16 October 2009
Morgon - Domaine Charles Jenny

For years Beaujolais has had a bad reputation over recent years, what with Georges Duboeuf, the so-called 'King of Beaujolais' dragging down the already quite down-trodden reputation of the wines of the Beaujolais by selling inferior quality wine and trying to fool his loyal clients into buying shoddy versions of his once great cuvées and with the annual release of the not-all-too-great-beaujolais-nouveau. This particular wine comes from the Beaujolais Cru 'Morgon', perhaps the greatest and most certainly the longest-lived of all of the ten crus beaujolais and from the Côte de Py area of Morgon, perhaps the greatest area of this appellation. A surprisingly rich, dense wine, which one wouldn't normally associate with the wines of this region, nor of the Gamay grape variety, the grape, which makes up 100% of this wine.
On the nose we find a very flowery, perfumed wine - fragrant notes of irises and violets and once tasted, dark cherries and a slight pepperiness spring onto the palate. We tasted this wine ever so slightly chilled in order to firm up the tannins and we were glad to find a wine with a low ABV. Well 13% is low nowadays with Australian and Chilean blockbuster reds packing a huge 15% ABV in some instances.
This wine could easily substitute for a light Burgundy, one from the Côte Chalonnaise rather than those of the Côte d'Or or the big, chewy wines of the Côte des Nuits, a light Mercurey, perhaps. A nice wine, easy to drink, easy to open a second bottle....and a third....
Keith
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
Champagne Tasting.....

Ayala Blanc de Blancs 2002: Ayala is a champagne house, which was founded in 1860, but which has been recently bought by Bollinger (also based in the village of Ay, (pronounced 'ai-ee') and hence the name AYala). This is Pinot Noir country yet this prestige cuvée is 100% Chardonnay. And strangely enough, Ayala doesn't think to put the words 'Grand Cru' on its label despite the fact that all the Chardonnay grapes for this wine are of Grand Cru status (50% from Mesnil-sur-Oger, 25% Cramant and 25% from Chouilly). This is, therefore, a very serious wine from a very serious vintage.
A very pale robe with a slight lemon hue with an almond and brioche nose. A fine persistant trail of bubbles also mark this champagne. On the palate, the Champagne shows less acidity than expected, almost creamy - undoubtedly through the malolactic fermentation not being blocked and it has good length in the mouth. A rich and opulent chardonnay with the steeliness of a decent Burgundy. Puligny-Montrachet with bubbles!
Veuve.A.Devaux Blanc de Noirs N.V:
Moving completely to the other end of the champagne spectrum this time with a 100% Pinot Noir Champagne. Veuve.A.Devaux is a champagne house founded in 1846 (originally where Perrier-Jouët now stands) but now based in the Aube, the most southern area of Champagne, in Bar-sur-Seine. The Aube is a huge supplier of Pinot Noir to the larger champagne houses in the more northerly Marne, Veuve Clicquot and Piper-Heidsieck to name but a couple, so it goes without saying that the black grapes here are second to none.
On the nose a typical Aubois Pinot Noir nose with red berries, bitter black cherries and aniseed.
On the palate, a big round, yeasty wine as one would expect with minty notes towards the end and almost a powered sugar sensation on the tip of your tongue despite the low 11g/l dosage.
Excellent.
Louis Roederer Carte Blanche Demi-Sec NV:
From the great Champagne house in the Marne from whom we have Cristal, Roederer is one of the few grandes marques who produce such a quality medium-sweet cuvée. We used this as a dessert, almost a digéstif towards the end of the evening and rightly so seeing as it has a huge 45g/l of residual sugar thanks to the dosage. A powerful, intense wine. On the nose we find apples and pears followed by a liquid pear-drop sensation on the palate. Caramalised quince flavours were also dominant through the lightly frothy mousse. This could quite easily substitute a medium sherry as a Christmas mid-morning drink and would work quite well with a tart fruit dessert.
Champagne tasting over but more to come, I can assure you.
Santé,
Keith
Saturday, 10 October 2009
Future Events....
