1983 La Pousse d'Or Volnay 1er Cru Clos des 60 Ouvrées
Really lovely; resolved and fully mature with red fruits, savoury earth and developed forestal elements combining into a whole that glides like silk across the palate.
1983 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes
Hard to find words for this, other than saying it's pretty much everything I'd look for in an aged Burgundy. Mature, restrained fruit combining seamlessly with brothy, earthy and floral elements and a rustic leathery funkiness; incredibly fragrant and at a point in its evolution where the taste reflects the aromatics perfectly. A beautiful wine to sit down with and follow, one of the best aged Burgs I've had - thanks Keith.
1985 Catherine et Pierre Breton Bourgueil Les Perrières
Yikes, what happened here? Really off, disjointed and awkward and nothing like the excellent bottle I'd enjoyed last fall.
2010 Catherine et Pierre Breton Bourgueil Franc de Pied
All about freshness. A basket of just-picked dark fruits seasoned with cracked pepper, green herbal notes and a gravelly minerality; very light on its feet but not lacking at all in material or depth, conveying flavour with a sense of polish and weightness. Fantastic wine, and I'm glad this is under real cork now - looking forward to seeing how my other bottles develop with time.
2008 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard
Szechuan food and a lineup of trocken Rieslings around this probably wasn't the best context to enjoy this wine in, but it showed quite nicely - fresh, pale fruit with an interesting minty topnote, and a bed of minerals beneath. There's not a whole lot of complexity apparent right now, but it's very well balanced with a sense of clarity and purity to the flavours. Very nice, though not particularly compelling (then again it is Chardonnay
).2009 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Grézeaux
Nothing new to add to my previous thoughts on this wine. It's fantastic, drinking superbly now with a little air, and I'm glad I've gone long on this as the balance and structure suggest an amazing future.
1996 Prager Riesling Smaragd Hollerin
Developed waxy and smoky elements around ripe, mature white fruited flavours; there's a faint creamy/lactic aspect here and that powerful '96 acidity underneath. I'm not a huge fan of the super-high acid '96s from Austria/Germany in general, but this is certainly better balanced than a lot of others I've had and quite enjoyable with some air.
2007 Prager Riesling Smaragd Wachstum Bodenstein
Superb. It's a little tight at first but opens up beautifully with air to show a spectrum of bright, iridescent Riesling fruit around a core of stony and saline mineral elements. Lots of depth here with floral and herbal nuances emerging with more air, superb balance and a wine I'm glad to have a few bottles of in the cellar.
2009 A.J. Adam Dhroner Hofberger Riesling trocken
A little bit of residual sugar would have gone a long, long way here. This is almost punishing in its dryness and austerity, offering little in the way of fruit with powerful acidity and some noticeable alcohol on the back end. I'm a huge fan of Adam's wines in general, but this is hard to enjoy - particularly compared to the much more drinkable feinherb or sweet wines, which Adam pulls off with far better balance and refreshment value.
2009 A.J. Adam Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling trocken
Opened alongside the Hofberg trocken, and while the first impressions are quite similar (too dry and austere), it fleshes out nicely with some air with bright golden Riesling fruit and floral elements emerging. Let's see what happens to leftovers after some more air.
Surprisingly, no sweet Rieslings for once - but more than enough wine (there was also '95 a Barolo from a producer I can't remember that didn't work too well with the food), and a great evening as always.