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 *
