WELCOME HOME PETER! - Park Palace, Grand Park Hotel (31/10/2014)
We missed our buddy Peter when he was away in Melbourne with his family, but time really flew by and he was back before we knew it. There was no better way to welcome him back then with one of our usual blind BYOs at an old haunt.
WHITES
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1990 Taittinger Champagne Artist Collection - France, Champagne
Very nice - this was drinking near peak. It had a nicely matured nose, showing mellow honeyed tones and warm scents of brown pears, apples and herbs laced with floral and mineral accents. Nice. The palate still had a certain freshness to it, along with a nice creamy mousse, but it was also clearly mellowed with age, with more of honeyed tones picked up on the nose wed to Chinese pear flavours. While it showed enough sunny ripeness for us to guess the vintage, and enough oomph to spot the Pinot-heavy blend, this was actually nicely rounded and integrated at this stage in its evolution, and a great drink to start the evening with. It age just showed up a bit more towards the finish, with some bittersweet Chinese herbs, almost reminiscent of gui leng kao (turtle jelly) with honey at points, seasoned with some spice and mineral notes. A nice, matured Champagne. (92 pts.) -
2011 Suavia Trebbiano Soave Massifitti - Italy, Veneto, Soave
Hand-carried back from Italy, I found this to be a very nice Trebbiano. It had a very perfumed nose, full of lovely floral notes - roses and white flowers and beeswax, dancing around sweet scents of fresh green pears and green mangoes, with a little grassy kiss at the side and just a whiff of slate below. Very attractive. The palate started out where the nose left of, with a little grassy lilt, then more fragrant flavours of green mangoes, some guava and sweet white peach flesh below couched in a slightly oily texture. Past the midpalate though, and this leans up entirely, showing a linear, focused beam of juicy, zesty acidity and slatey minerality that grew into a long, stony finish. A really interesting wine, with lots of gently complex notes. It still needs some time though - it will be interesting to see where this goes in two, three, four years’ time. (92 pts.) -
1986 Remoissenet Père et Fils Montrachet Le Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru
It is always a bit touch and go with these old bottles of white Burg - this one was very nice without quite being superlative. It smelt old, with very matured tones of caramel and honey and cream, with a touch of soy and browned pears and apples suggesting at just a touch of oxidation. The palate was quite lovely to drink though, lots of ripe red apples at the forefront wrapped up in creamy textured weight, and then a rich, warm midpalate full of butterscotch and caramel and golden honeyed tones with a spicy inflections of nutmeg and a dash of cloves, all carried in some pure, sweet lemony acidity that still kept the wine fresh. It lacked a bit of conviction in the finish, with some lacy minerality drifting away into a mid-lengthed tail. That aside, this was very nice overall. This bottle was probably better a couple of years ago, but it was at a good enough place to drink on the night. (92 pts.)
RED BURGS
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1998 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Cherbaudes Vieille Vigne - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Pretty nice, but this showed some of the bad sides of the 1998 vintage - about time to start drinking up I think. It had a lovely matured nose, starting with wafts of mushrooms and earth and meat, a little spice and some stony hints, and then moving into lush dark fruited aromas of plums and black cherries lifting into brighter red fruit territory with time, all this laced with little woody touches. The palate flattered to deceive somewhat, starting out on the attack with a semblance of the round, plump fruit promised on the nose - plums and black cherries I thought. However, these quickly faded into the background, leaving behind more secondary notes of earth, spice and mineral riding on a structure that still showed a bit of lean, sinewy toughness, with a little bite of stern tannins and bright, grapefruity acidity. It finished a little leaner too, with a touch of capsicum and brambly herb and spice. Quite pleasant generally, and pretty good with suckling pig, but just on the verge of drying out I think. Drink up. (91 pts.) -
1979 Domaine Robert Groffier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
2 years down the road from the last bottle and this was clearly fading. It was still a charmer, but came across as clearly old and tiring, needing the pairing with a roast duck dish to lift it somewhat. The nose still had some lovely floral notes - we all to guessed Chambolle on that basis - but these were accompanied with slightly port-like dried fruit hints and slightly sauvage, meaty tones alongside a touch of minerality and fragrant little shades of spice. Still quite pretty, but with a good dose of funk thrown in. The palate was starting to thin slightly. The fresh acid spine on the wine stood out pretty clearly on the attack. Thankfully, this bloomed into some faint, but charming red cherry and raspberry notes n the midpalate (especially when paired with the duckd dish) and, past that, a haunting linger of lovely floral perfume alongside notes of orange peel and wood spice on a fading finish. This still had a real sense of purity and charm to it, but the tannins had gone, softened into a silken rustle, and it was only the acidity left to keep it on its toes. Enjoyable while it lasted, but really time to drink up. (91 pts.) -
2007 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
Very good, but also very young. This was one of the rare 2007s that does not seem to be drinking well in its youth. The nose was typical young Vogüé, with sweet oak notes showing in tones of creamy vanilla and coffee hints, almost giving off a bit of raspberry ripple when wed to the red fruit and cherry aromas that wafted out alongside the oak. Some bramble and spice and a litter of rose petals came out with time, completing a very pleasant bouquet. The palate had nice creamy texture with fine tannins and good freshness along with its sappy fruit. However, there was also an obtuse stubbornness to it, a certain monolithic feel that I have not gotten on many 2007s - perhaps a nod to the Musigny terroir - showing pure but very primary flavours of red cherries and raspberries moving into darker blueberry tones, all with a little dash spice and more of those creamy vanilla notes towards the finish. It did not having the greatest stuffing for a Vogüé Chambolle 1er Cru, but there was good depth, decent grip, and a nice length with a bite of tannins past the midpalate leading into a mouthful of spice in a softer finish. More depth and structure here indeed than many 2007s. With a bit of the time, the fruit actually receded, and the acidity of the vintage stood out more and more. This was clearly a good wine, but it needs plenty of time yet. I would give it 7-8 years more in the bottle before drinking, and it will probably keep going for much longer. (92 pts.) -
2001 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Clos Vougeot - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
Quite decent. But unlike the 2001 RSV from Arnoux which was absolutely singing when I had it several months back, this still seemed years and years away from being ready. Served blind, the nose showed a mix of black fruit, mineral, wood spice and brambly, tree-bark tones that could only have come from Burgundy, and quite distinctly from the Southern parts of the Cote de Nuits as well. On the palate, chewy acidity and slightly drying tannins formed a sinewy frame for masculine flavours black cherries, earth and mushrooms sprinkled with a liberal amount of wood spice. At first taste, I thought this had nice proportions, but that it needed plenty of time yet, especially at the spicy finish, where a bit of hardness showed up. It did open up with time though, especially when paired with meaty dishes, which brought up higher toned orange peel and black fruit notes on the back-end. All in all, pretty good, but it is still clearly in a rather austere, slightly awkward phase. Give it 5-6 years more in the bottle and it should come together nicely. (91 pts.)
OTHER REDS
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1990 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
I don’t quite know how to place this bottle. While still clearly very good indeed, it was so marked by Brett that I could not quite enjoy it completely. Served blind, some on the table adored it, voting it wine of the night, others were less thrilled. Personally, I thought it was perhaps the poorest of the few smashing bottles of the 1990 I have had over the years. The Brett just hit you on first pour - with lots of funky smells, reminiscent of barnyard and gym sock, floating over more pleasant tones of dark plums and black cherries laced with a lovely fragrant spice - cumin and menthol and cloves - and then a nice interplay of savoury mushrooms and sweet violet florals. The palate was clearly Brett influenced as well, but was thankfully less funky than on the nose. While there were savoury, meaty notes and a little sauvage edge, these were in the background rather than dominating the palate. Beyond that, the wine was actually very fine indeed, with the brilliant balance and fine, silky tannins that have always given this vintage an almost Burgundian feel. There were lovely flavours in there too, with a pure expression of sweet dark fruit - black cherries again, and blackberries - mid-bodied at first, then opening up and taking on depth and a subtle power. Lovely stuff. Very strong, very complete, and while the Brett came out rather distractingly again after time - with a great long finish where the black fruit was kissed with savoury meat and earth and a long trial of white peppery spice. I should have decanted this rather than popping and pouring, and I wish there wasn’t that much Brett, but it is a testament to how good the wine is that it still showed this well even with all this going on. (93 pts.) -
1996 Azienda Agricola Montevertine Le Pergole Torte Toscana IGT - Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
I enjoyed this very much - I thought it was a lovely example of Sangiovese with a bit of age on it. It still needs time though - some 6-8 years more perhaps. The nose still carried shades of coconutty oak amidst it violets and plums and blueberries chased with some rose flowers and then typical Sangio notes of blood and mineral with a little funky, barnyardy edge. There was lots of death and structure on the palate, with clean, open and very generous expression of dark fruited black cherries gripped by fine tannins and nice, chewy, tomato acidity. Great with food. The finish was just a tad on the short side, ending though with a lovely
of spice and some bloody iron notes. That aside, this was very good. Give it some time in the bottle, and it should develop more complexity and nuance. (92 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker