Last Supper of 2019

[Mahmoud Ali]

T'was a night between Christmas and New Year and three friends gathered to drink the following:

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The N/V Lanson Brut was likely disgorged in 2012 or earlier because the first disgorgement date to appear on a label was 2013 - at least in my town. It performed as Tom Stevenson predicted in his millenium sparkling guide: to wait five years post disgorgement and ask people to guess the house and vintage. My friends did indeed think it was a vintage Champagne. The 2014 Jean Paul Brun Chardonnay Classic Beaujolais 'Terres Dorres' (12%) was my first Beaujolais white and it was a very nice wine. The two of us trying to guess thought Alsace, my friend caught the acidity and thought pinot blanc while I focused on the aromatic qualities and depth and said pinot gris.

We all enjoyed the 1995 Periquita Classico (12.5%), a nicely mature wine with an aromatic nose and a sweet, berried fore-palate and a savoury, elegant finish. The 2006 Saint Cosme Saint Joseph (13%) is my third bottle and was by far the best, still quite dark, it had a dark-fruited intensity that suggests it has yet more potential. The 2005 Chateau de Carles, Fronsac (13.5%) was equally good, though a bit deeper and intense, and little tighter. A very nice Fronsac. The 1983 Peter Nicolay Ayler Kupp, M-S-R (9%) was a disappointment. It was rather flat and light and we abandoned it halfway through the bottle. In its stead I opened a bottle of Alvear Solera 1927 Pedro Ximinez, Montilla-Moriles (16%) that was rich, raisined, molasses-like dessert wine that was viscous and thick. We liked it, the richness and complexity, but after all the wines that preceeded it a glass was all we could manage before we switched to a Tomatin 12 single malt.

Cheers ..................... Mahmoud.