Notes from a ‘cellar treasures’ dinner at Blue Water Café in Vancouver, arranged by Albert Givton.
Champagne Billecart Salmon ‘Millenium’ 2000 – haven’t been able to find out much about this one – suspect that like many ‘cuvee 2000’ wines it was an nv blend released to celebrate the turn of the century (well, at least the unschooled thought the century ended at the end of 1999, not 2000, but no point rehashing that now). Medium colour with a very nice citrus nose. An up front acidity followed all the way through to a medium long finish. Refreshing.
With pan seared scallops, celeriac remoulade and Australian winter truffles:
2002 Ramonet Batard Montrachet – interesting comparison. At first I preferred the Bienvenue but eventually came to like this wine the best. Light colour, some caramel and lime in the nose, good concentration, sweet balanced finish.
2002 Ramonet Bienvenue Batard Montrachet – slightly darker, same caramel but more citrus in the nose, silky feel, richer seeming fruit and riper/warmer, but the nose with time in the glass started to exhibit a soy component I usually associate with a wine a bit over matured. Prize goes to the other wine!
With quail with brown fig ventreche and foie gras sauce:
1929 Ch. Leoville Poyferre – like the 1980s, the vintages in the 1920s were series of excellent years. Though I’ve had 1928 before I hadn’t tasted either of these vintages before. The wine had an orange colour with brown edges, and animal nose, with slight metallic and VA notes and some tar, but on palate it was still showing excellent fruit and good balance. Both of these wines faded over 15 minutes or so.
1926 Ch. d’Issan - the nose here was the best part, a bit cheesy, but it was faded on palate with low fruit and lots of acidity. Recorked at the chateau in 1996.
1982 Noel Verset Cornas – added as a mystery wine. Slight TCA, medium to light colour, OK fruit soft tannin, over all a tad flat. This producer ceased business after 2002.
1999 Roumier Chambolle Musigny Les Cras – another blind wine, this was darker, warmer, sweeter, with a custardy nose, clean and bright in the mouth, with soft tannin. Could use some more time.
With veal tenderloin and morels:
Heitz Cellars Marthas Vineyard vertical of Anniversary label vintages.
1974 – bright clear colour, sweet vanilla nose, and almost no mint but some heat, though that came in later in the mouth. Great concentration, balanced and long.
1985 – sadly, slightly corked. Darker, mellow nose a bit flat, soft and ready, good concentration. I’ve had a lot of good 85s and I’d expect this one was definitely below par based on the TCA present and the amount of fruit.
1997 – some mint in this nose, nice currant fruit, excellent concentration, cedar, good length. Very good.
It was a good thing that these good wines came before the next flight, because had it been the other way around, they would have been given little attention, good as they were. Albert related that he’d been at the winery during crush and noticed eucalyptus leaves in the press – wondered if that was how the mint got into Marthas by ‘accident’.
With Colorado rack of lamb, pommes Dauphinois:
La Mission Haut Brion vertical – once one of my favourite clarets, I share with Albert the view that when the Dillons took over, they intentionally arranged for Haut Brion to almost always surpass La Mission (easy to do with a couple of winemaking and growing decisions), whereas formerly the La Mission had most often been the bigger, often better wine.
1975 – one of my all time favourite wines and in this case I am in agreement with the 100 points given it by RP. Dark, with a deep, deep complex nose of earth laced with cassis and vanilla. Still tannic (all 75s were, but Albert keeps a very cold cellar and in this case, a bottle from a warmer cellar, a little more mature, would show even better). Mouth filling cedar and berry and a truly exceptional length. This just kept on giving. For me, in Bordeaux, it doesn’t get any better than this. I’ve had the 1975 Latour and IMHO it fails to come up to this level although no doubt the other ‘wine of the vintage (for those wanting to spend less to try this overlooked vintage, try the now very good Las Cases – it has finally softened up enough to drink well and has plenty of fruit).
1978 – even after reeling in pleasure over the 75, it was this wine that pretty much blew me away. It is the best 1978 I can recall tasting, and I include all the big ones. It got almost no merlot that vintage due to the weather, and was a big hard wine in youth, but now has a delightful bright nose of rich dark fruit and a mellow very long sweet finish.
1978 La Tour Haut Brion – the last mystery wine, from an adjacent property that was folded into La Mission after 2005 and no longer exists. Slightly sweet minty fruit nose, still tannic as anything, even more so than the La Mission and some earthy cedary notes. Still, amazingly, could use some time.
1982 – a riper, rounder style of wine (the first new style vintage of the modern era?). Sweet fruit, great concentration, a very long lingering finish and another RP 100 pointer – but not for me. I prefer the older traditional style (the vast majority of people, raised on American, and dare I say it, Australian wine, would prefer this wine to the more classic but austere 1975).
Its been a very long time since I had the opportunity to taste a flight as good as this one and I’ll treasure the memories as I only have the 75 and a couple of post-Dillon vintages in my cellar.
With apricot tart:
1989 Dom. de Cauhape ‘Quntessence’ du Petit Manseng (Jurancon) – a fairly rare and little known dessert wine – made from petit manseng grapes, up against the Pyrenees, this showed a fair bit of colour, being what I’d call dark amber, a very slightly oxidized nose of marmalade and ripe fruit, with vanilla and sweet coconut, and clearly botrytis affected with a long, smooth and balanced in the mouth. Not like any other dessert wine I can think of.
With almond biscotti:
1937 Da Silva Colheita Port – a very old wood port with amber colour like a tawny, a bit turbid, and a lemon and apricot pudding nose, a bit warm. Sweet entry, and good balancing acidity. Decent showing.
Great tasting with many wines I may never see again!