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Tasting face to face with my Wierd Wine group last night.
The only oddity was the first - a pet Nat sparkler from Alois Lageder, MUS XX1. Made from Moscato Giallo and Muller Thurgau, it was grapey, slightly sparkling and only had 11.8%. Nice way to start. 3*
1988 Baron de L was next. Still pale, this had lovely acidity and plenty minerality. Creamy, yellow fruit, quite thick. Touch of green veg on the finish. Opens up well and really is gorgeous. Most Sauvignon Blanc is drunk too young and this shows that it really can age. 4*
Jelle’s brother is a chef and was cooking for us today. With the goose liver we had a half of Climens 07. Very fat, with lots of botrytis , appricots and marmalade. Yum.3.5*
Next up was the 14 Cotat Les Culs de Beaujeu. Fantastic nose - all minerals and a hint of green fruit. The palate does not quite match the nose, with plenty of asparagus and acidity. Never been a fan of this house, but that’s because I’ve mostly had them young. This will be singing in another 10 years. 4*
Up next was a 1990 Corton Charlemange from the now defunct Denis Pierre et Fils. Perfect fill, getting near the end of its peak drinking window, this was perfect with some creamy mushrooms. Truffel, silky texture, just a hint of oxidation, long finish. Real old burg. Lovely. 4*
Next we had a dish of Tarbot and Cauliflower Taboulet. With this we had the 2012 IO Cammino da Solo. We are in orange wine country here and this is a classy version. It has the orange notes, and is quite pungent, but it’s also silky and round. Great with the food, this is the best wine I have had in this style for a while. 4*
We moved onto reds next and we had the 2013 Grange de Peres and the 17 Clos St Jacques, Bruno Clair, with some duck confit and a rich risotto. 2 lovely wines. The Grange obviously is terrible value if you try to buy it now, but Jelle has been buying this and Trevallon for years. This has that Langeudoc Syrah funk, lots of red fruit, leather and a ‘please fill my glass up’ drinkability. Yum. The Clos St Jacques was much younger tasting and needed some time to blow of an almond nose. It really grew with air and had that beguiling quality that only Grand (or top 1er ) Cru can give. Both 4*
At this point we had another 4 reds already, but Jelle told me to to the Cellar and pull out whatever I wanted. I new he had some old Sparkling Shiraz somewhere, but I couldn’t find it, so we decided on cabernet, which meant his last bottle of 2000 Lafite. We decanted it and it was a great wine, with lots of earth and clay, lovely balance and already some complexity. It is of course 20 or 30 years from its peak and so it wasn’t the fireworks you would expect from such a wine. Lovely to try though 4*
Cheese was out now and Jelle’s wife and brother went back up to the cellar (it’s in the roof) and gave us a wine to try blind. We all guessed it - Trevallon Blanc, this time from 2009. I like Trevallon, but it’s the white that really stands out for me. This has the best nose of the day , full of minerality and yellow fruit. In the mouth it’s thick, layers and light all at the same time. Alcohol was no doubt effecting me tasting at the point, but was clearly a step above all the previous wines. Fantastic. 4.5*
The real cheese wine was the 1984 Clos de Coulaine Savenieres from Francois Roussier. Another house that is no more. This was the wine I was most looking forward to and it did not disappoint. A lot of old Savenieres can be dry and taste of apples, but this was nothing like it. Round and creamy, pale in colour and full of minerals. It’s unreal that it is so full of life at this age, but it was sourced from an old Belgian Cellar and that makes a difference. Brilliant and even more impressive than the Trevallon. 4.5*
Last wine was picked by Danielle again - 1996 Salon. Always like ending on some bubbles, and this is as grand as it gets. More vinous now, with a refined mousse. It’s nice, but it was really lost on me after all the other wines. 3.5*
General consensus was the the Trev Blanc was the wine of the day, with the Cotat and the Savenieres close behind.
It’s sad that I live on the other side of the world now as I really miss these afternoon. We drink wines together via zoom and Auspost, but there is nothing like being with people.
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