So last Friday night a Gent by the name of David play generously invited us to his house to host wine and food, no need for Uber as we all crashed at his house. The wines, for the most part were slow o’d or decanted for a period of time.
As were mingling we started with:
04’ Pavillon Blanc Margaux- Had these with fresh sourced oysters off the beach- I thought this to be way to young, showing vanilla oak and a hint of citrus… A serious wine for sure it needs 10 more years to uncoil. Others were more impressed, I just thought way to young.
00’ Chave Hermitage rouge- Whiff of smoke comes first with dark berry, black pepper and bandaid. The palate is lithe with darkish fruits, amazing acid and a finish that went on. Good wine that was slow o’d for about 8 hours. This needs about ten more years in the cellar.
00’ Marcoux CNP VV- This was fun as I can’t stand CNP anymore in my life having traded away over 20 cases 10 years ago. This was fresh with sous bois, ripe cherry and oak notes. some thought this was too big and some over the hill, to me it seemed right in it’s window, I wouldn’t age this longer.
as food was cooking we peaked into the wines that were in the decanters:
05’ Maybach Cabernet- It was fine, dark fruit a little pruney that was straight forward.
97’ Scavino Canubbi- Everyone raved about this bottle… It was delicious with roses, tar, licorice and ash… I can certainly see where it gets a bad wrap in it’s new oak upbringing, the palate was polished and had a little sweetness. Overall good wine but needs 10 more years…
82’ Durcu Beaucaillou- Perfect, cassis, bayleaf, thyme, touch brett, hardly any signs of age but the fact that this is exactly where it should be. Great on it’s own, amazing with the lamb (of course). I’m not doing it justice but a wine I would search for and buy if I could. still has a long life ahead.
97’ Torbreck RunRig- The wow wine of the night… This showed why David Powell was a great Shiraz maker, it had a Northern Rhone streak but firmly in Aussie land with black pepper, dark fruit, green pepper and a touch of oak… It was wow because most people thought this would be a dud, but it was surprisingly delicious… Failed horribly with the food, the sweetness came out and wasn’t that great, but on it’s own delicious.
and if that wasn’t enough, down to the cellar for Burgundy!
93’ Albert Morot ‘Beaune cent Vigne’- This wasn’t fair as it was a PNP straight from the cellar that could have used a good Slow O. Throwing lots of sediment and the appearance of cloudy, it none the less had great raspberry fruit, amazing acidity and a good core of earth. Just entering it’s secondary stage of life.
and for dessert, bring on the whites!!
01’ Humbrecht ‘Brand’ Riesling- All mineral and stones with peach fruit, lemon-lime fruit, dense with amazing viscosity, not sweet at all this wine was a perfect palate cleanser.
01’ Donnhof ‘Ober Brücke’ Spat- Boy o Boy, I love this wine… I haven’t had it in 10+ years and it seems just as young as it was then. A little secondary note cropping up, this is all about lovely and lively fruit, dark cherry and vanilla cream. A great treat to revisit.
and if all that wasn’t enough David says ‘It’s time for a grenache off!’ He disappears for a couple of minutes and arrives with:
01’ Clos Erasmus- Now this just wasn’t fair as it was late, we’ve had a ton of wine and this wasn’t slow o’d or decanted a straight PNP- But it was great, showing dark fruits, iodine, slate and a touch of oak… Would really have like to have seen it decanted for a while. Who says these wines can’t age…
11’ SQN Grenache-O.K, I have had a handful of SQN, they have been hit or mis with me and this one just didn’t do it… I did say I no longer like Grenache so take this with a grain of salt… Full on grenache, gravelly raspberry and rich ripe fruit, it seemed very foursquare not giving much.
All in all a great wine night and fun had by all…