An indulgent dinner with good friends last night - a package from d'Artagnan had arrived the day before, so we enjoyed some great crispy skin duck confit, duck fat roasted potatoes, roast brussel sprouts and pork tenderloin with some fantastic wines.
2008 François Pinon Vouvray Cuvée Tradition
Lovely once again, showing yellow fruited flavours accented by florality and Chenin wooliness. There's a sense of restraint and gentleness here with understated sweetness, a round, polished mouthfeel and a sense of real freshness and precision to the flavours.
2004 Marc Plouzeau Touraine Ante Phylloxera Clos de Maulevrier
From ungrafted 120+ year old Cabernet Franc vines. Very quiet and restrained initially, offering little aromatically and fairly simple red fruited flavours in the mouth. Over a couple of hours it opens up considerably, developing a savoury cedary perfume as the fruit deepens and gravelly earthy flavours develop beneath. This has that incredibly finessed, polished texture I find in so many ungrafted vine bottlings, very enjoyable with air though giving the impression there's still plenty in reserve. I'll hold my other bottle for a few more years.
2002 Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses
Drinking beautifully right now. A core of rich cassis and red fruited flavours accented with meaty funk, a touch of green pepper and developing leathery and forestal notes. Conveys a sense of rusticity and polish at the same time, beautifully balanced and I wish I had bought more of this.
2006 Thierry Allemand Cornas Chaillot
Spectacular. Pretty much everything I could want in a young Northern Rhone; pure Syrah fruit, pepper, violets, meat and leather combining seamlessly into an incredibly fragrant, polished and elegant package. It's very primary right now but so accessible with the tannins surprisingly gentle and a lot of the structure coming from the acidity, which keeps it incredibly refreshing and light on its feet.