Dan, Non-Stinky Jeff, the partner and I dined at [link2post id=”809″]Hawksmoor[/link2post] earlier. It is a brilliant place to eat and on Mondays they charge a fiver corkage if you want to take your own wines along. We did. Some bloody good wines if I say so myself.
Chambolle-Musigny 2006, Dujac Fils et Pere
The nose is very fragrant and attractive. A lot of fruit here that is very pure and refined. This smells absolutely lovely. The palate is smooth with fine, ripe tannins and a good acidic backbone. Plenty more of that fruit here. This is open and bursting with life, ready for you to dive in and enjoy all of its loveliness. A very good bottle of Chambolle which just begs to tickle your fancy.
Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1998, Chateau de Beaucastel
A highly scented, perfumed nose of grilled meat, dark, ripe fruit and the merest hint of sheep shit. There is also a strong herbal character as well. Mourvedre-based wines like this can smell so complex and interesting, this is no exception. Sure, the palate is quite a mouthful, but it is surprisingly elegant, with a lot of fruit and fine tannins. Throbbing with complexity, too. This is drinking fabulously well now and providing one hell of a lot of pleasure. It’ll keep for many more years, though, if you want to wait. I decanted this two hours before we drank it and this was a good thing to do.
Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1998, Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe
Ah, the different styles of Chateauneuf. This is more fruit-driven than the Beaucastel: lots of soft, ripe plums. Very earthy, too. This is quite a large-scale nose, not refined but bursting with fun and fruit. There are big but ripe tannins on the fruit and more of that soft, plummy fruit. It is pretty complex, though. Delivers plenty of pleasure, and again is quite up for drinking.
Shiraz Clare Valley 2005, Tim Adams
Bang! A serious fruit-bomb on the nose, with some leather and sweaty saddle characteristics. It is big. Very big. The palate is also huge, with massive amounts of fruit, and lots of ripe tannins. There is plenty of oak here. This is a big, broad, crowd-pleaser of a wine, you can see people smile when they smell and taste this. Sure, it may not be the world’s most complex wine, but there is still much to enjoy here.