Bucket List Tasting

[mychurch]

The wife decided at the last minute to go visit her brother in Queensland, which meant I was at a loose end for the weekend. The very same day though an invite appeared to go to lunch one of the days. That turned out to be Sat and by luck most of the Melbourne tasting group were free. The invite came with a ‘I’ll open up a bottle of Rousseau’, which was appealing, but meant we were all struggling to decide what to bring to match the occasion. In the end it did not matter as the big man brought a few others and the rest of us just sat around and smiled. Notes t follow tomorrow, but this one of the great tastings I have ever been to and I doubt I will ever get to try the majority of the reds again, certainly not in 1 sitting.

[mychurch]

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[mychurch]

No picture of the 88 d’Yquem that we finished with. Full list for the lunch ( 4 drinkers and 1 driver) was

17 Les Folatiers Puligny Montrachet, DuPont-Fahn
07 Lieu-Dit Blanc, Guigal
NV Reserva Especial, Vega- Sicilia
02 Le Chambertin, Rousseau
95 Clos de Beze, Rousseau
82 Mouton
82 Lafite
82 Latour
86 Jamiesons Run, Coonawarra
NV Between 5 Bells Amber
88 d’Yquem

[cuttlefish]

I look forward to your notes, Cam.
That was a simply surreal experience for me. Just incredible. Hilarious, and sobering at the same time. What a treat!

[Dragzworthy]

Looks fantastic. Where was the venue?

[mychurch]

As usual there was the Melbourne weekend madness that meant getting to Yarraville was a pain - Jerrem left Geelong at 9:30 to make sure he was there in time for a 1pm lunch. There were 5 of us in total, 4 drinking an 1 poor driver who was just tasting (sorry Cuttlefish)

After Con arrived he made it clear he was opening 6 reds, so we had to make choices on the whites. Jerrem had already double decanted his 07 Rhone and given the reds we decided against the 2 Rieslings, Savoie and Cour-Cheverny and started with the burg

17 Les Folatiers Puligny Montrachet, DuPont-Fahn
I used to drink a lot of their famous oaked Rose, and this 1 actually came from Jelle in NL for one of our international tasting. Jelle forgot he’d sent me a bottle and drunk all his up early, so it was fine bring this to lunch. Nice wine. Very modern, with the struck matchstick, a cottonwool texture, some lemon curd, popcorn. Drinks well, but I would want it to be a bit leaner and have a touch more acidity. Good with the scallops to start. 3.5*

07 Lieu-Dit Blanc, Guigal
This was a big wine with lots of apricot tinged fruit. As the style at the time it’s low in acid and very fat. Too rich for the food and needed some cassoulet or a roast meat. Nice wine, but it needed to be served at another occasion. 3*

NV Reserva Especial, Vega- Sicilia
The 08 release, which was a blend of 90, 91 and 96. Immediately showed its class wow. The acidity was perfect, the wine was integrated, with nothing sticking out. Lots of tabacco and dark fruits. Complex as well. The easiest drinking red of the day. Yum 4.5*

02 Le Chambertin, Rousseau
This was a bit hard and closed and needed the whole afternoon to open up. A wine to keep in the cellar. Once it got going it was lovely. Lighter than the Clos de Beze, this was silky, with a hint of strawberry and camomile. Plenty of red berry fruit. Needs another 10 years for the real complexity to appear. What a treat. 4*

95 Clos de Beze, Rousseau
The extra bottle age has helped and this is in a great place. As expected it has more power and is richer than the straight Chambertin. The nose was fantastic, with spice, leather and a hint of orange peel. Fruit was in a slightly darker spectrum but it’s wonderfully balanced. Its hard not to be swayed by the name and the price, but it is a lovely wine. 4.5*

Its amazing the bottle stink that can come off these old wines - initially 2 were though to be corked, but after a lot of air, we think they were fine.

82 Mouton
The most exotic of the trio. Sublime Cabernet. Lots of cassis, with a funky note in the background. Smooth and fully integrated. It does not have the structure of the Lafite or Latour, the weight and the class of the fruit are sublime. Been on my bucket list for a while and it stood up to its reputation. 4.5*

82 Lafite
The real wine of the day. As with the 2000 I drank last Nov, it’s the structure that is the star. It’s layered and complex, with plenty of tabacco, pencil shavings, red fruit, earth and spice. So complex, you can really only sip it. Acidity was spot on and this was a great wine in a great place, but I imagine it has decades still to go. 5*

82 Latour
The only wine of the day with issues. Initially it seemed to be corked, but a corked wine gets worse with air and this improved. In the end we thought it was Brett. Either way, this was not a perfect bottle, which was a shame as we could taste the greatness inside. It seems to be a cross between the Mouton and the Lafite, with the structure and the weight of fruit. Hopefully I get try a perfect bottle one day - this will outlast me, so no rush. 3.5* with potential for 5*.

86 Jamiesons Run, Coonawarra
As the Latour was a bit off, we opened this to see how it would compare to the big names. Great wine which is fully resolved. Only 11.5% alcohol and the acidity has helped it age. Shows some of the Coonawarra leafiness and complex fruit. Yum. 4*

NV Between 5 Bells Amber
Opened with the cheese, but the have no notes. Any help with this one ?

88 d’Yquem
Just to make the day complete Con ran home just as the desert came out and brought back a bottle of this. Wonderous. Lots of tangerine, apricot and vanilla. Typical sauterne nose, but the finish is all d’Yquem. A great year and this was better than the last bottle I had with Jelle. Will improve and you can drink this any time in the next 50 years. 4,5 *

[mychurch]

Looks fantastic. Where was the venue?

Bar Romanee in Yarraville.

Very good food - the main course Wagu was the best meat I have had in a while.

[Dragzworthy]

Looks fantastic. Where was the venue?

Bar Romanee in Yarraville.

Very good food - the main course Wagu was the best meat I have had in a while.

Awesome, I have heard good things. They let you bring bottles?

[mychurch]

They let Con bring them - helps that he is a local and that it’s old wine. We paid corkage though. Didn’t see the bill, but it was in the $25-$30 a bottle range.

[Hacker]

What great reading guys. My last Rousseau was drunk about 5 years ago, a 1996 Chambertin. It redefined my wine expectations. Those expectations haven't been met since.

[Rossco]

Wow Cameron!! What a line up. That Con is a very generous man

[I Love Shiraz]

Phenomenal tasting. I doubt I will go to a tasting that will ever match this one.

Nice notes @mychurch.

[Mahmoud Ali]

What a great lineup of wines, especially with three first growths from the heralded 1982 vintage. I love the fact that amid all the famous names a Jamieson's Run made an appearance. Was the 1986 the Jimmy Watson Tropy winner? The last time I tried one, either the '91 or '92, it was far from resolved.

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

[DJ]

What a great lineup of wines, especially with three first growths from the heralded 1982 vintage. I love the fact that amid all the famous names a Jamieson's Run made an appearance. Was the 1986 the Jimmy Watson Tropy winner? The last time I tried one, either the '91 or '92, it was far from resolved.

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

The 1988 won the Jimmy Watson - have the label in my collection - though it was getting tired last time I had in it in 1999. Can't imagine it would be drinking well now - 1986 was generally a better vintage. Wonder where the fruit goes now - somewhere in the Wynns range may be.