Bi G was up to host the annual Walter Bourke Memorial options game last night but had to pull out at the last minute. Greg showed all of his Military training by stepping up, mobilising the troops and pulling together a fabulous set of wines with only a couple of hours notice. We are most grateful to Anthony as many of the wines were generously offered from his cellar. Anthony is most grateful to us as we triaged a few oxidised and corked bottles, a set of 03’s and some of his beloved Gevreys from his cellar.
Michael supplied two excellent Champagnes to kick the evening off.
1985 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Charlie: Disgorged in 2000 this wine was developed but showed well. It was rich and nutty with a light drizzle of honey and some tarte tatin flavour. There were also notes of yeast and strawberry and it was full with good length.
1985 Krug: Took a while to get going but ended up being wine of the night for mine. Has some mushroom development along with aromas of grilled nuts, citrus and biscuits. It is rich and creamy in the mouth with great detail and precision. Length of flavour is superb.
A bracket of 2007 whites had us scratching our heads, there was so much bottle variation with the humble village Chassagne showing the freshest and the best of the bracket.
2007 Etienne Sauzet Chassagne-Montrachet: Has some mineral reduction on the nose at first, Very bright and fresh with a huge squeeze of lemon and plenty of minerality. Good line in the mouth.
2007 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet ‘Les Pucelles’ 1er Cru: Rich and honeyed with some exotic fruit notes. Layered in the mouth, gently oaky. Has some spearmint cream flavour that I generally associate with Ramonet. A good wine but on the cusp of being a little too developed.
2007 Etienne Sauzet Batard-Montrachet: Full and rich, plenty of oak. Some nutty, caramel oxidation that just got worse and worse in the glass. A powerful wine that has been blunted by oxygen.
2007 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet: Ripe and peachy, just going a little nutty and has the power and depth of flavour you would expect but not the focus or fidelity of great Chevalier. Again some oxidation has planed off the wine’s detail.
The first bracket of reds was a set of 2003 red Burgundy. The wines were all dark in colour and there was certainly raw power to most of them. They generally lacked nuance had had almost Rhone like fruit profiles. I think this is a vintage to forget for several decades and hope they come around.
2003 Gros F&S Grands-Echezeaux: A little raw with some liniment and cedar on the nose. There is some floral spice. It is sweet and dark in the mouth with plenty of liquorice to the flavour profile. It finishes just a tad soupy.
2003 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux: The oak seems obvious on the nose and it reeks of camphor. There is some pine needle sap and dried flower lift to the aroma as well. In the mouth it is loaded with creamy blood plum fruit and has some aniseed spice. It is just a tad boring and is the first time I can ever remember tipping the remainder of a glass of DRC into the spittoon.
2003 J-F Mugnier Bonnes-Mares: Certainly the prettiest wine of the bracket and lightest in colour with a jube like sweetness to the fruit profile and plenty of sarsaparilla root action. It was sweet and vinous in the mouth with plenty of aniseed and liquorice.
2003 Comte de Vogue Musigny V.V: This is a dark, brooding, surly, muscular Musigny with notes of soot, iron, leather, meat and black cherry. It is dense and creamy with an animale edge. It is a wine that demands to be left alone for a couple of decades.
2003 Armand Rousseau Chambertin-Clos de Beze: Spicy nose with some pine needle sap, sweet cedar and black cherry. It is dense in the mouth with fruit that is slightly raisined. Big D thought it was ‘ducky’ showing plenty of meat and a little game.
2003 Armand Rousseau Chambertin: Previously this has been one of my favourite wines of the vintage and it was the red wine of the 2003 bracket for mine. It was pretty, floral and spicy. It was silky and plush in the mouth with good intensity, great energy and balance and excellent length.
A bracket of 2002 red Burgundy was up and down like a toilet seat at a mixed party.
2002 Jean Grivot Vosne-Romanee ‘Les Brulees’ 1er Cru: Understated with a floral perfume and delicate cherry fruit. Crunchy and full of minerals in the mouth. Good detail and finesse.
2002 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanee ‘Les Beaux Monts’ 1er Cru: The whole table thought this was a 2004, it was quite green and spicy on the nose and a little skinny in the mouth. Paul did not like the wine, I actually quite enjoyed it. The nose offered up some sandalwood and floral spice. It was red fruited and crunchy in the mouth, compact and lean with decent cut to the finish.
2002 Jean Grivot Echezeaux: Badly corked.
2002 Mongeard-Mugneret Grands-Echezeaux: This is silky and meaty but also marred by tca although it is not as bad as the previous wine.
2002 J-F Mugnier Musigny: Red berry fruit has jube lolly like sweetness. It is full, round, sweet and long. It has good concentration and is quite complete.
2002 Armand Rousseau Chambertin: I have seen this wine a few times before and this bottle wasn’t a great representation of what it should be. It seemed raw and overtly oaky. It was sweet and vinous with good depth but I suspect some low level tca was f*cking around with the wine.
A Sauternes and Aussie Fortified were a nice way to close a most enjoyable evening.
2001 Chateau d’Yquem: The aroma has plenty going on with some marmalade, honey, apricots and a hint of volatility. It is sweet, rich and textured in the mouth and finishes with some savoury elements. This was a good but not great bottle, perhaps again not showing the detail that you would expect from it.
1964 Stoneyfell Vintage Port: Michael put his ‘rhymes with block’ on the block one option question into this wine and absolutely nailed it. It is a delicious old Aussie fortified with some Indian spice, raisins, chocolate and earth on the nose. In the mouth you get similar things following onto the palate and the fruit has a red taste. It is full, gentle and ethereal with good length.
Andrew Blake did a sensational job with the food, the Leek soufflé in a lobster bisque with lobster & broad beans was particularly good.
Cheers
Jeremy