Our wine group had our Christmas function last week with a splendid line up of wines:
2002 Salon
Drinking well right now. Beautiful texture and persistence. Just a fraction less opulent and also less acid (?) than the 1996 Salon we had a month earlier.
2010 Bouchard Chevalier Montrachet
Initially served a bit warm but then put back in fridge and when served cool it showed the great Chevalier precision. Lemon curd character. Great acidity. Tight and needs more time to unflur.
1999 Rousseau 'Clos du Ruchottes’
Rousseau rarely skips a beat and he clearly did not in 1999. The combination of a great vintage and the magic of Rousseau merged to produce a beautiful wine full of grace and exceptional balance. Great showing by the Ruchottes.
2008 Soldera
Had the 2008 Soldera quite a few times now and this bottle looked amazing. The finesse is beguiling. Truely a Burgundy drinkers Brunello. Pricy now but without peer.
1982 Cheval Blanc
1989 Guigal La Mouline
This was the more mature bracket. And both wines were exceptional in their own way. Amazing aromatics. I have had them in the past but this was the best showing for both of them as far I can recollect. There is a kind of magic in old mature wines and it clearly showed. There was still ample fruit intensity but the way it seamlessly integrated with the fine tannins to produce such beautiful wine is difficult to put into words. Glorious.
1989 D’Yquem
This had the unctuous ripeness of the '89 vintage but plenty of balancing acidity. Looked spectacular.
1977 Niepoort Vintage Port
I like 1997 VPs for their elegance. Not as big or intense as 1970 to '63/'66 VPs. (indeed we had an amazing tasting of 1963, 1970 and 1977 VPs a month ago - each from Graham, Fonseca and Taylor- I will write both them later). This was a supple VP with no harsh edges and medium intense fruit that had properly mellowed. Very nice indeed.