WINES FOR THE SUPER 15 FINAL - (8/4/2014)
Thierry was to provide the venue but, sadly, had to be subbed off due to ill health. Mike and Cathy kindly stepped in and facilitated an excellent dinner where each of the participant’s wines were served blind. A great evening notwithstanding the result of the Final …
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2000 Drappier Champagne Grande Sendrée - France, Champagne
Light gold with good mousse. A nose of minerals, river stones, almond brioche and lemon, with a prominent saline element. Relatively sweet and rich on bouquet. Good complex flavour profile including blanched almonds and citrus, showing some autolysis character. A very nice Champagne, but not a wine. Still plenty of years ahead of it. -
2012 Hubert Lamy Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chaumées - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
A nice bouquet of river boulders, fresh white flowers and minerals, also with a little sulphur hanging around. A sweet entry, followed by stone fruit, wet stone, citric and mineral flavours. Rich and dense, with good volume, but fresh, showing nice acidity and focus. Good depth, detail and length. The guys have this initially as a Puligny and are surprised, at this quality, it is a Chassagne. Drinking very well now, I’m not sure this will make old bones. I’d drink in the medium term. -
2011 Domaine Bernard Moreau & Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Maltroie - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
A gorgeous bouquet of lifted spice, pears, peaches and minerals. This wine is drinking beautifully, I thought it was a Puligny '10, with no one immediately thinking Chassagne. On palate, toasty, richer and broader than the Lamy, with some sweetness but with good focus provided by the acidity. Flavours of orchard fruit and minerals. The elevage was reasonably prominent and the alcohol stood out a little to me. Again a high quality Chassagne, but seemingly a wine for the medium term only. -
2007 Bouchard Père et Fils Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
Decanted for 4+ hours. Quite a primary, red colour with purple highlights. A lovely Gevrey-like bouquet (I thought) of spice, red berries with some darker fruit and funk. A fresh nose, with ripe fruit, showing some oak, but in proportion to the fruit. On palate, a relatively sweet entry of ripe, but very primary red cherries and other red berries, with earth and some spicy oak flavours, moderately complex. Good fruit weight and concentration, with bright acidity. A very nice example that really needs 5 + years cellar time. -
2008 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
Again a primary colour with a purple tinge. Ah, the bouquet takes you right to Morey, slightly stinky, feral, barnyard dark fruit aromas with wet earth and sous bois (all of these as positive descriptors). An intriguing nose of ripe darker fruits, with that Morey funk. On palate, there is a lovely texture and caressing mouthfeel. But, as a 2008, the wine is very primary and quite backward. There is good ripe fruit and real matière here and ripping, gorgeous 2008 acids. Real precision and focus, with sleek, fine grained, impressive tannins. Good length. I would expect this wine to blossom into something truly special in 5-10 years. -
1995 Domaine Jean-Michel Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru Les Grands Épenots - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru
I ran out of time and popped and poured this wine on the night. Doing it again I would give the wine at least a few hours air time ahead of serving. Older colour, beginning to brown. The nose was initially pretty closed, it began to open with spicy, soil and preserved red fruit notes, with a dried herbs component (not out-and-out greenness). The next day the bouquet was even better, with mellow aromas of warm earth, pipe tobacco, dried plums and cherries, old leather and raked up dry autumn leaves. On opening, the palate was initially fairly closed, opening to soil and brown spice flavours with dried and preserved red berries and a little savoury Porcini. Good fruit weight and power. The next day the flavour profile was as mellow as an old leather couch with flavours of warm earth, rusty autumn leaves and dried herbs. Really attractive savouriness, the tannins and acids are now fully integrated. Lovely. This wine is smack bang in its drinking window. Drink in the medium term. -
1989 Domenico Clerico Barolo Ciabot Mentin Ginestra - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
An evolved colour, with an evocative, older Nebbiolo bouquet to match. Aromas of dark fruits, balsamic vinegar, a little soy with some melted road tar, Porcini mushrooms and espresso. Also some dark florals. On palate, this is a fully mature Barolo, drinking beautifully. The flavours are in the dark berry spectrum, particularly black cherries and prunes, with umami, brushwood and savoury flavours. The tannic structure has softened and mellowed but, for a 25 year old wine, it retains surprising, and pleasing, acidity and freshness. Power and serious fruit weight are still present but smoothed down by time. On the evidence of this bottle, there is no hurry to drink this 1989. Mike said it was drinking even better the next day. -
2002 Château Climens - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac
Colour golden with a brown tinge. An attractive bouquet of spice, honey, toffee, orchard peaches and creme brûlée showing some oak, botrytis and oxidation. Very sweet on entry to the palate, with flavours of honey, golden peaches, dried apricots, ginger and marmalade. Voluptuous, tactile and fairly broad showing the effect of the botrytis. It has sufficient acids but lacks a little precision or focus to be top level Climens (like the 2001 I had two nights earlier). Still, very hedonistic and enjoyable. Not cloying or overblown it just lacks the complexity or cut to be really top class. As usual for a Climens, there is no hurry to drink this vintage.
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