. As usual access to the computer to write up my notes was blocked by the kids and grand-kid, which explains their tardy appearance.The Christmas season started with the visit of a couple of friends who have recently settled in the Drôme, France. The main item on the menu was “marcassin” (= young wild boar) in a slightly sweet gamey sauce. A bubbly beckoned for the starters and a CndP for the main course.
Triple Zéro NV - Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, Jacky Blot once again confirmed itself as one of my favourite bubblies from outside Champagne. The nose was biscuit and slightly creamy and the palate was crisp, fruity, mineral and quite full with a slight tenderness which surprised with zero dosage; 16/20+++.
Châteauneuf du Pape 1998 – Clos des Papes, Paul-Vincent Avril - Alc.14% showed a slight whiff of barnyard on opening but after decanting this integrated as a leathery tang in into rich tangy fruit with touches of tar and spice. This wine seems to have a mediocre reputation with some wine geeks but I like it a lot and all my bottles are gone; 17/20+.
These next two were drunk the day of my son’s and his family’s arrival from Helsinki with some tender and tasty reindeer steak which they brought with them.
Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert 1996 – Paul Jaboulet Ainé – Alc.13%. It was interesting to compare this to my memories of good Crozes from Graillot. In the place of pure red/dark fruit with a sour cherry emphasis and elegant steeliness, medium body and Burgundy-like linear focus, there was darker and slightly sweeter fruit with the emphasis closer to black currant, fuller body and a broader shaped palate; acidity was still very lively and the whole was underpinned by gentle tannic structure; 16/20+. Top of capsule with Jaboulet’s name just visible here
Cornas 1997 – Domaine Clape – Alc.13%; Like previous bottles, this was an elegant Cornas with medium/full body attractive red fruit (griotte cherry), earthy minerals and linear shape. It was less robust, gutsy and rustic than I associate with Cornas, perhaps a combination of the vintage and a refining of style at a time when Pierre Clape was taking over the reins; a tad more complex than the Crozes 16/20+++.
Christmas Eve dinner is the main festive meal in Belgian families but we try to soft-peddle it so as to be able to cope with a proper Christmas Day dinner as I was brought up to enjoy in the UK. We served traditional Belgian “boudins de Noël” (small delicate black pudding sausages), scallops in a quite rich truffle tinted sauce followed by cheese for those who had space and a “buche de Noël” (this was a chocolate covered creation in the shape of a log).
Champagne Special Cuvée – Bollinger – bought in 2007 showed the benefit of keeping this wine (IMO arguably the best NV Champagne) a few years before opening. Medium/full bodied, deliciously crisp with enough richness and backbone to act as a foil for the “boudins”, long and powerfully elegant; 17/20.
Mâcon-Villages Quintaine 2007 – Pierrette et Marc Guillemot Michel – Alc.14% - (€14), tank matured. I did not hesitate to serve this lowly Mâcon with the scallops because I know that its complex honeyed white fruit, minerality, richness, roundness and caressing mouth feel allied, in this 2007, to lively acidity and backbone make it as excellent a food wine for rich dishes as many much more prestigious wines from the Côte d’Or; also it is a demonstration that wood is not necessary to bring interest to Chardonnay; 16.5/20++ QPR!!.
For those who preferred a red, there was Rioja San Vicente Tempranillo 1999 - Senorio San Vicente – Alc.13.5%.
My memory, reinforced by TNs was of a suave, velvety wine with quite full body, vanilla tinted rich cherry aromas and fruit with liqueur touches and velvety feel on entry and mid-palate and a finish supported by gently bitter tannins. This bottle showed the same features but unbalanced, for me, by more prominent vanilla; 15.5/20+++.For the “buche”, we served Rivesaltes Grenat sur Grains 2010 – Domaine Boudau – Alc.15.5%.
Serving a Grenache dominated VDN (“vin doux naturel”= fortified wine) from the French Catalan region with chocolate is almost a cliché, but it really works well. This one showed lively red fruit with a lot of raspberry and kirsch, fresh acidity balancing the discreet sugar and nice grippy backbone, all of which complemented the chocolate perfectly; 16/20++.On the Christmas Day menu were fishy starters, foie gras, goose, Stilton (visible behind the candel) and other cheeses
and the remainder of the previous day’s “buche” plus another more punchy one laced with rum. As a result of surfeit the previous days, I was not on my best digestive form and that may have resulted in a rather jaundiced attitude to the wines but I can only record what I felt and matters were not helped by both the Grünhaus and Beaune having leaky corks. Nevertheless fun was had by all. 
Champagne Royale Réserve non-dosé – Philipponnat – Alc.12%, made mainly from Pinot Noir and specified on back label as from 2007 disgorged in February 2011, is now becoming a regular at home. It was served with the starters. As usual, it was very dry, crisp and mineral but in also had a certain roundness, white fruit and biscuit touches; 16/20++.
Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Spätlese – 42 – 1988 – von Schubert – Alc.8%. I remember some debate as to whether this AP number does not relate to an Auslese rather than to a Spätlese as indicated here on the neck label. From the taste, I would say that it was indeed a Spätlese and indeed, unlike previous bottles, a somewhat undernourished one for the foie gras. The wine was perfectly pleasant with nice citrus and apply fruit, minerals, lively acidity and a dab of sweetness but did not live up to the ethereal beauty of its predecessors, no doubt weakened by its defective cork; just 16/20.
Beaune-Teurons 1er cru 1990 – Albert Morot – Alc.13%.
I had a dozen of these and previous bottles had shown rich fruit in the slightly candied 1990 style, velvety texture and a high level of elegant hedonism. However this one, though remaining quite rich round its medium body, was darkening in flavour and drying out towards the finish. All the others liked it, though, so was it an off day for me or the effect of a leaky cork or a bit of both? Only 15.5/20++ for me.Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim 1988 Vintage Port – Alc. 20% -
performed well with the Stilton showing full/medium body, mature red and dark fruit infused with minerals and pepper and nice backbone. It was nothing like so outstanding, though, as last year’s Dow’s 1977 Vintage but that is a hard act to emulate. More surprising was the fact that it handled the chocolate “buche” which followed far less confidently than the burgeoning young fruit of the remainder of the previous evening’s Rivesaltes. Nevertheless 16.5/20 with the Stilton.The following two were served with goose left-overs on boxing day
Saint-Joseph 2004 (R) – Domaine Vallet – Alc.12.5 -
closed by a Nomacorc synthetic stopper which I think is an error for a wine with some ageing potential like St.Jo. The nose was attractive with some slightly liquored cherry notes. The palate was medium bodied but somehow small and not very mouth-filling. The same attractive liquored cherry as on the nose appeared in the fruit, but it seemed by simplistic than I would hope for in a St.Jo in its 8th year. Better, though, than my memory and note of a previous bottle; 15/20.Vosne-Romanée 1er cru Les Suchots 1998 – Jean-Marc Millot – Alc. 13%.
By no means so velvety and hedonistic than the 1997. Body was medium/light and there was some nice savoury Pinot fruit with some sour cherry and increasing complexity as the bottle emptied, lively acidity and decent length and elegance; 15.5/20++. (This Millot estate is little known but used to be imported into the UK by the late La Vigneronne. I always have enjoyed the uncomplicated style and reasonable prices of these wines and in particular remember some lovely vibrant barrel samples, of 99 I think, which it seemed a shame to bottle.)New Year bottles will follow in a separate post.