Capital Tasters February 2011 Wine Dinner - Rubicon

Somewhat hazy memory notes from Wednesday evening. Mostly excellent night except for two very crook Italians.

Krug 1995 - slight bronzey tinge to the colour with an eye-catching swirling stream of the tiniest beading. Beguiling aromatics and a kick-arse palate holding that rare combination of top flight complexity (citrus, pastry shop and fine digestive biscuits) and restrained power followed by a wonderfully long, satisfying finish. Should last for a number of years but is ready for business now. 93 points

Maximin Grunhauser M-S-R Abstberg Auslese Riesling (Fuder 45) 1994 - immensely youthful with little colour development and pristine aromas and flavours of redcurrant, citrus, quince marmalade, minerals and slate. Not heavy or dense, amazingly lithe and with perfect equilibrium. 93 points but perhaps a shade down on the bottle I opened for the group last year.

Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Riesling Vendange Tardive 1989 - opened disappointingly (somewhat disjointed aromatically) but the transformation over the course of the evening was just stunning. This is drop-dead gorgeous botrytis affected Alsace Riesling that finishes practically dry with great carry. A legend, but I have to admit having better bottles. 93 points

Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes 2000 - not opened

Jean-Jacques Confuron Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Beaux-Monts 1996 - another wine that shone brightly on the night. Incredibly good sappy things on the nose at first and soy on the palate evolving into something more feminine, floral (violets) and plummy by the end of the glass on a very promising, yet to fully resolve, framework. A polished, classy, seductive and thrilling pinot. Long term cellaring vintage. Terrific example this. 94 points

Ch. Leoville-Las-Cases 1985 - perhaps the most youthful bottle I've had the pleasure of opening. Quintessential Bordeaux - earthy, leafy, cedary, tarry over deepset black fruit with a structure and finish to die for. On this bottle's performance, has a long, long way to go. My wine of the night. 95 points.

Pira Barolo 1961 - oxidised

Produtorri del Barbaresco 1979 - corked

Ch. Coutet Cuvee Madame 1986 - not in the same class as the last bottle opened late last year but still a very fine Sauternes on the night. Of the good bottles we opened this was the most disappointing for me. 91 points (compared to the previous bottle - 97 points!). Bottle variation sucks.

Taylors Vintage Port 1970 - this did the trick with that uncanny cherry/cranberry liqueur fruit and awesome spirit combo that makes Portuguese VP the great wine it is. Still very youthful with astonishingly good astringency and length with a long drinking window. 93 points

The restaurant excelled with a special degustation menu matched to the wine. Apart from one of the three starters (blue-eye cod something-or-other), the duck liver parfait (riesling's), rabbit raviolo (burgundy), slow-roasted lamb shoulder (Bordeaux) and orange creme/ruby grapefruit dessert (Sauternes) were very good to outstanding. The tenderness and flavour of the lamb being the standout dish for me.

Jean-Jacques Confuron Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Beaux-Monts 1996 - another wine that shone brightly on the night. Incredibly good sappy things on the nose at first and soy on the palate evolving into something more feminine, floral (violets) and plummy by the end of the glass on a very promising, yet to fully resolve, framework. A polished, classy, seductive and thrilling pinot. Long term cellaring vintage. Terrific example this. 94 points.

I trust you on the structure but soy and plummy sound like pretty resolved flavors in a red Burgundy, at least to me. In fact, once it gets to that point it has often gone in a direction I don't like. I don't have enough experience to know if all red Burgundies pass through that on their way to the iron and mushrooms, but it's not a favorite stage of mine nonetheless. Aside from shifting generic, those flavors seem to be associated with a lack of grip and a diffuseness.

But there's no need for me to parse this note into so much negativity, I'm sure it was delicious and I would have enjoyed it myself! Plus the Grunhaus sounds like a lot of fun. I've had a few of their kabinetts and spatleses from 94 in the past few years, but never an auslese.

Quite an array of wines! I don't have very much opportunity to sample wines with so much maturity but a few in my collection are getting there (most date from the 1990's or later.)

Jean-Jacques Confuron Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Beaux-Monts 1996 - another wine that shone brightly on the night. Incredibly good sappy things on the nose at first and soy on the palate evolving into something more feminine, floral (violets) and plummy by the end of the glass on a very promising, yet to fully resolve, framework. A polished, classy, seductive and thrilling pinot. Long term cellaring vintage. Terrific example this. 94 points.

I trust you on the structure but soy and plummy sound like pretty resolved flavors in a red Burgundy, at least to me. In fact, once it gets to that point it has often gone in a direction I don't like. I don't have enough experience to know if all red Burgundies pass through that on their way to the iron and mushrooms, but it's not a favorite stage of mine nonetheless. Aside from shifting generic, those flavors seem to be associated with a lack of grip and a diffuseness.

But there's no need for me to parse this note into so much negativity, I'm sure it was delicious and I would have enjoyed it myself! Plus the Grunhaus sounds like a lot of fun. I've had a few of their kabinetts and spatleses from 94 in the past few years, but never an auslese.

I think I can see where you're coming from, Rahsaan, but please understand these notes were written 24 hours after the event (I opened the thread with the comment "somewhat hazy memory notes") with yours truly still suffering from a hangover of moderate proportions. Not the best circumstances to get the data down pat, so to speak. The soy was very surprising being so upfront, but did dissipate relatively quickly into something a whole lot better (the florals etc) with time. One of my tasting group took down descriptors that rang around the table on each wine - I've included them to give a more rounded impression of some of the wine's characters - "Uber complex nose, dry cherry, truffles, wet leaves/earth, floral violets, sour cherries, sweet plums on finish, soy, refreshing acid. Long. Complex." The cherry (sour) and truffle (black) were certainly two aspects I neglected to include in my note. There was no evidence of a "lack of grip or diffuseness" with this outstanding pinot noir. I have monitored this wine's development over many years and it's progressive improvement is happening at snail pace. I only have one bottle left and it won't be broached before 2016 and probably closer to 2021 (if I can keep my hands off it!) when I estimate this to be at its zenith. Thanks for your interest in replying.

Sounds good. Sorry to be so anal. It's just that soy is a big flag for me in my own drinking. But still learning about all the stages of aging.

Quite an array of wines! I don't have very much opportunity to sample wines with so much maturity but a few in my collection are getting there (most date from the 1990's or later.)

The wine's represent some of better/older bottles from my collection, JC. These days, I really only get two opportunities a year to bring out some of the "big guns" and this was one of them. The two Italians that failed were only recently sourced from, supposedly, very good cellars in Italy and the wine shipped in an a/c reefer by an extremely reliable contact. But such is life. The same people opened two bottles from the same cellar from 1964 and 1967 with a leading Aussie wine scribe a few weeks ago and both bottles were sublime.

My next wine dinner in August will most likely feature mostly Australian gear - some older Rieslings (probably 2002) and some aged Cabernet - possibly a combo from Margaret River, Coonawarra and something from the Yarra Valley of a similar age - i.e late eighties/early nineties? The dessert wine will, most probably, have to come from France, though - most probably a mature Chenin from the Loire might do the trick (I usually serve my wine at these events, masked, sometimes doing "options" for a bit of fun). I have some terrific old Aussie vintage port in the cellar to get through, too. Decisions, decisions! This is one of the great benefits of putting in the hard yards and building a good cellar for many years (in my case, 28 years now) - hence I quote the name Penfolds entitle their book on how the bulk of their red wines are drinking - "The Rewards of Patience".

Sounds good. Sorry to be so anal. It's just that soy is a big flag for me in my own drinking. But still learning about all the stages of aging.

I very rarely see it in any of my Burg's.