Recent notes.

[Guest]

Following are my memories of various wines consumed during the festive season. Some interesting surprises, some disappointments and two particular high points. In no particular order, 750 unless stated otherwise:

1989 Chateau Filhot (X2): This has recently become the default MOR Sauternes. It's generally available and ripe for consumption. It has very good balance between sweetness and acid. The usual notes of honey, melon etc. Additional notes of butterscotch and lychee. For a run-of-the-mill, this is a very respectable wine. It'll never blow your socks off, but it will put an extended smile on your face.

1989 Chateau Filhot (375): Showing more age than the 750, with the wine perhaps having lost some of its balance. Slightly awkward notes of bitter marmalade are hiding in the background, never a good sign. Anyway, that's nitpicking, it remains a good wine.

1982 Ducru Beaucaillou: Colour of fully mature Bordeaux, with bricking at the rim. Very firm tannins never really settle down, no dustiness whatsoever despite the age. The fruit appeared pretty backward, but it was difficult for me to tell whether the fruit was muted or the tannins were overwhelming. Anyway, it was never really in balance. Perfectly drinkable but I wouldn't pick it from a wine list.

1995 Haut Brion (X2): A very nice wine. Full rich colour, deep inky crimson. Just coming into its drinking window. Wonderful mouthfeel. rich smooth with dark fruits aplenty. Very good balance. Very good structure that will improve with further age. Second bottle badly corked.

1990 Pichon Lalande (X2): I can't really remember much about these bottles, excpet to say that it's what you would expect. Good balanced Bordeaux, still too young to really show it's balance and deeper structure, but very enjoyable. Interesting for its ideosyncracies.

1983 Chateau Rieussec (X2): Again, notes consistent between bottles. Deep golden bronze colour. Fully mature. This is a very full wine of quite some richness. The age is showing by way of forward notes of Seville orange and toffee. It's lost any lighter notes (e.g. honeysuckle, melon etc.) that is may have had and it showed distinctly low spectrum flavours. This isn't a negative if the balance is good, and it is here. Good value and a step up in age induced complexity.

1975 Chateau Rieussec: Very similar to the '83, although very slightly lighter in colour and not quite as rich. Very smooth with a little less of the subdued burnt marmalade. Strong butterscotch notes with honey intermingled. Good but not great.

1983 d' Yquem: Medium honey colour. Lighter that the '83 Rieussec. Right from the first sip, this was a really life changing wine. I've drunk a lot of d' Yquem, but none of them have come close to this wine. Suffice to say that the balance was so good it wasn't noticeable. The wine just floated. Layer upon layer of fruits, exotic perfumes, spices and sherberty minerals sent shivers down my spine. Lasts for minutes, literally. Now I'm not generally prone to emotional outburst, but this wine almost moved me to tears. This is as fine an example of Sauternes as it's possible to find, and I've tried. It leaves the '75, '76 and '90 in its wake. Next best of the recent vintages is the '89. It's pure ambrosia. Let's hope the next bottle is as good.

1990 Cos d' Estournel (2): My most memorable impression was how young this wine seemed. It really does need more time. Nevertheless, it showed wonderfully. Very good balance and texture. All the elements necessary, and in the right quantity, to become something quite special in another ten years. This is one of those wines that's very easy to drink. Needs 2 hours of decanting. Notes consistent between bottles.


1963 Dow's Port: This was a lovely wine. The alcohol is moderate but nevertheless twitches the nose. Smooth and rich notes of raisin and date. Wonderful full mouthfeel, incredibly well balanced. The age is noticeable insofar as nothing is out of place. The richness comes through with the seamlessness only age can provide.

Other notes to follow. Happy new year to one and all.

Cheers,

John

[London Correspondent]

Apologies, I forgot to log in.

Cheers,
John

[707]

You lucky bastard John, what a great line up. But maybe I'm being rash, we have stunning line ups here on occasions it's just that they are the more familiar Australians.

I think a house and wine swap is in order so we can get the best of both hemispheres.

[Chow Chow]

Hi John,
The 1983 YQuem was ethereal. Ur notes evoked the same wonderful experince as mine. 1/2 bt. with Foie Gras & the rest with Grand Cru Varlhona Chocolate fondant.
The 90 is way too young. Try it again in 2010

[London Correspondent]

G'day Steve,

Despite being back in London for two years, I actually spent the previous 15 years in Melbourne and most of my wine collection is A) Australian, and, B) still in Melbourne!

I don't seem to have figured out where we're going to end up, so I've been shipping wine back to Oz with a view to future drinking.

If you're ever in London, I'd be glad to pull together an interesting tasting.

Dear Chow, I completely agree with your thoughts on the '90 d' Yquem. I've had it four of five times and it's always been a lesser wine than its reputation suggests. Perhaps this is age, but I think it's just not as fine as suggested by others. FWIW, I don't place much store in RP's palate for Sauternes/Barsac.

Cheers,
John

[Ian S]

I don't seem to have figured out where we're going to end up, so I've been shipping wine back to Oz with a view to future drinking.

Cheers,
John

John
Do you get stung twice for tax & duty, or do you buy in bond? If only we could just provide a till receipt to avoid double taxation!
Ian

[Quizmaster]

JM, good to see you're consuming to your usual standards I'm so envious. With those offerings, why would you ever want to come back to OZ And, with that sort of invitation, I've gotta get back to London for another conference BTW, what Grange did you hook into, c'mon, you must've?

Whilst not in the same league, into a 97 Sainte-Croix-Du-Mont La Rame at the moment, excellent wine, basic stuff, but from a good year and still kills anything we produce in Oz, this following a 91 St Henri and a 91 Rosemount Show Reserve Syrah, so I'm a bit 'rotten' at the moment . The St H was very good, but the Rosemount was fantastic .

[London Correspondent]

Hi Ian,

The tax thing is a bugger. I've been buying more in bond recently, mostly '01 Sauternes and '03 Bordeaux, in an attempt to avoid the duty and the VAT.

I also buy a bit at auction and now have a shipper who, as a matter of course, pre-pays the Oz taxes so the shipment isn't held up by customs. As part of one shipment that included retail purchases, I discovered that I am not charged duty on Australian wines re-entering Australia (either not required or the shipper hasn't got his sums right). I tried it again with the same result.

My real fear is that we don't move back to Australia before they're ready to drink and I end up paying UK tax again when I re-import.

Anyway, as somebody's grandmother once said: "Oh to have such a problem......."

Quizmaster, this segues nicely into your Grange question. I didn't drink a drop over Christmas. The last tasted was the '98 a few months ago. Got a couple of dozen at a good price early on in the UK and managed to get through half a dozen within two months. I know, it's crass. Self discust led me on a voyage of discovery into the murky world of the wine shipper. Anyway, they're comfortably parked in Melbourne now, well and truly out of reach. As for the wine, it's a very good drop.

Rosemount is interesting, especially your comment about the Show Reserve. Any insight into the '96? I've had severe cork problems with this one in the past BTW.

Am drinking Sauternes tonigt, will post proper note tomorrow.

Cheers,
JM

[Quizmaster]

I've not had the 96 John so canÂ’t assist you on that one. As I understand it, the 91 SR was the precursor to the Balmoral, whereas they now have two the two lines.

Given you had two bottles of many of the wines; was there much bottle variation across the line-ups? That 83 dÂ’Yquem sounds awesome; you may have just started me on a new quest!

cheers
Ian

[TORB]

I was bitchin' an' complainin' on this very forum about the massive bottle variation in the 96 Rosemount Show when they were released so these comments are not at all surprising.