Last night we had a dinner party. Quite a bit of wine was got through.
Riesling Spätlese Oberhäuser Brücke 2004, Helmut Dönnhoff
Lovely fruit, quite round and ripe for a 2004. Good balancing acidity made this a very nice drink.
Chardonnay Champagne 1996, Pol Roger
A charming nose of bread and ripe apples. It seemed fairly complex. The palate had plenty of ripe fruit and great acidity. It was extremely well balanced and very interesting.
Estate Marsanne 1995, Michelton
Very dark orange. The nose seemed a touch oxidised, but very botrytic. It had a bit of life on the palate, but it was quite oxidised. Better than expected.
Hermitage Blanc 1994, Jean Louis Grippat
Corked, curses!
Volnay Premier Cru Champans 2000, Domaine de Montille
Very pale in colour. The nose has beautiful, elegant fruit. Very charming. Perhaps it might have been a bit closed, the palate seemed a bit tough considering the copious amounts of fruit. It was very good, though.
Pommard Premier Cru Rugiens 2000, Domaine de Montille
Again a pale colour. The nose seemed a touch more open than the Volnay. The fruit was wonderful. It tasted a lot softer than the Volnay, it was really up for drinking. I greatly enjoyed both of these.
Châteauneuf du Papes 1998, Domaine de Clos Saint-Jean
A nose nose of surprisingly pure fruit. The fruit was very bright and not heavy. The palate was quite plummy and round with a bit of pepper character.
Messorio 2000, Le Macchiole
A 100% Merlot from Bolgheri in Tuscany, Italy. This is quite an expensive wine, shame it wasn’t really of a quality that matched the price. It was reasonably alright, with plenty of fruit, a bit of Italian bitterness, some length, but it didn’t really have the complexity to be a fine wine. There was also a hint of green-ness about some of the tannins. This made it really quite rigorous.
Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel Oberhäuser Brücke 2004, Helmut Dönnhoff
A brilliant, balanced, bright wine full of life and loveliness. This had great sweetness, real style, complexity and length. Lovely.
Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos Szt. Tamas, Royal Tokaji Wine Company
This was surprisingly fresh and lively. It was very sweet with great length and complexity. I really enjoyed it.
Morey-Saint-Denis Premier Cru les Loups 1999, Domaine des Lambrays
What can I say? It is an old favourite. I always enjoy this wine. Now all gone, alas.