So when our friend Fredrik from Sweden mentioned he’d pop in for a visit last Saturday (4 June 2016), and, not having invited all that many people over in, well, years, I sent a mail to everyone that I’d prepare dinner and pull a few corks provided they’d agree to not bring any wine of their own. In no time at all, the list of attendees reached twelve myself included, the absolute maximum I could seat attaching a veranda table to our dinner table. People who’d not sat together at one table in, what, fifteen years? Albino, Andrea, Dani, Erik, Fredrik, Ned, Oliver, Remo, Rainer, René, Victor, as well as, of course, yours truly.
Now, “wines from my cellar” doesn’t mean all bottles were mine – there were still a handful from back when Albino, Dani, Ned and I would sometimes share expenses for bottles we meant to include in one of our regular gatherings – when all of a sudden, Ned married and moved, Albino found himself a girlfriend and moved, and Dani quit drinking alcohol for health reasons. I honestly started wondering what would happen to those bottles, that is, whether or not I’d ever see these people sit around the same table again. Thanks Fredrik for making this happen, even if unintentionally!
What a privilege it was to see so many of my favourite people in life at my dinner table together! Thanks guys (and gal), love you all!!
(Note that the, well, “logic” (or absence thereof) of the lineup or flights was partly governed by the necessity to integrating those “split-cost” bottles. Served blind.)
Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume 1989
Medium-pale gold-green. Once a bright, steely, almost brittle young Chenin (especially in direct comparison to the 1990, which is how I remember it paired with with some regularity), it is fascinating just how much this gained in fat and sweetness. Soft chalk, fruity-fresh, clean botrytis. Beauty!! Despite all this, it remains shockingly youthful – had I not known what a transformation this has gone through, I’d assume it was totally unevolved, as in barely beyond its primary phase. dp 93+/94(+?)
Gaston Huët Vouvray 1ère Trie Le Haut-Lieu 1989
Not the most pristine bottle (from a local wine shop, where it may have seen a little light, and close to room temperature, even if only for a limited period of time), the best tend to prove the point that this is the finest Le Haut Lieu since the legendary 1947. Amber-gold. Chalkier, more orange and apple, less sweet, but more viscous. A bit more alcohol. This drank increasingly better from the fridge, even so, I now wish I’d not stocked up but left it at the (too) few bottles I bought at release. What worries me is the fact that in no offline I attended, this would be referred to as misstored. The sad truth is: a single day at room temperature will take out something of an otherwise well-stored bottle, and unfortunately the part I care about most, i.e. expressiveness, subtlety and finesse. dp 92+/93(+?)
Trimbach Riesling Vendange Tardive Hors Choix Clos Ste-Hune 1989
Bought at the winery at release. Glossy pale yellow-gold. Extremely closed in-between phase. Awesome minerality, flavourful acidity, complex and deep, enormous length. Continued to taste this from the fridge for three more days, even more concentrated than the "standard" 1989 CSH VT, not just sweeter, but also much higher in acidity - whether or not the Hors Choix will age as harmoniously as the “standard” VT remains to be seen, what is certain is that it's much more backward and unevolved. Strictly ridiculous in fact, I do not think I have ever had a more stubbornly backward 27-year-old botrytised white in my glass. No use pulling corks for many more years (possibly a decade or more). dp 97+/98(+?)
Gantenbein Blauburgunder 1997
Deep raspberry-ruby. Bacon fat, very concentrated, steely-metallic (still included 50% Wädenswil clones back then, compared to today’s bottling that is now being labeled “Pinot Noir”), quite fruity, tiny volatility. Still impressive, but was better a few years ago, no use holding on to it. dp 91-
Emmanuel Rouget Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux 1996
The second-to-last vintage vinified by the by then officially retired uncle Henri Jayer. Raspberry-red. Clean and firm fruit, very well-balanced, smooth and long on the fairly tannic, nicely high-acid finish (but too acidic overall for the hypersensitive among us, e.g. Albino). Tiny herb and bacon fat notes. So pretty, could have another sniff and sip this all day long! dp 94++/96?
Méo-Camuzet Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux 1996
Full raspberry-ruby, black hue. Unclean bottle (or only seemingly so?), lightly bitter but still drinkable. Extremely tannic, smokey and a bit herbaceous. High-acid, too (so from the perspective of e.g. Albino, barely enjoyable at all). Improved tremendously by the next day, especially after a full 24 hours, still a brutal wine (which in some ways it has always been), opening up firm, fresh raspberry coulis with pine needles. Acidity with cut. Palate-staining tannin. Oaky finish with some fruit subtlety, forest undergrowth and minerals. Well-concentrated, so much so in fact that I'm again giving it the benefit of the doubt (even if Pinot Noir really does not need any tannin to age, as Henri Jayer once observed, and surely not this much) - this may still come together with (very) prolonged aging. Actually started enjoying this in a somewhat masochistic way. A wine that seemed promising in its youth, and that may have the stuffing to turn out great, but a close call… dp 93++/95?
Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin 1989
Deep garnet, opaque almost to the rim, tiny orange rim. Balanced, huge, firm, but precise and potentially elegant. Flavourful, mouth-coating tannin. Very, very long. One of the two greatest bottles of HJP I’ve had (along with the 1998), much prefer the 1989 to the 1990, but the bottom line is still that on average, HJP falls into the category of wine I tend to admire more so than love. Great aging potential, Albino said something to the extent that if this had been Bordeaux, he would have guessed five years old. dp 95++/97?
Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservé 1989
Glossy ruby-red, faint watery-orange rim. Chocolate, rowan berry, Recioto-like sweetness but still severely tannic underneath. Long, opulent, viscous and round. A controversial wine (e.g. Oliver’s favourite of the night, whereas Albino didn’t even like it one bit). The balance of a fortress, don’t ever expect those towers to come down before walls and foundation. dp 97(+/-?)
Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Célestins 1989
Medium ruby-red. Horribly cork-tainted. Really miffed, as this is one of my favourite four or five Célestins vintages, in other words, one of my favourite ever CdPs. dp N/R
Vega Sicilia Ribera del Duero Unico Gran Reserva 1986
When it rains, pours… Corked and vegetal. N/R
Château Latour Pauillac 1961
Top shoulder from the cold cellar, into neck right before I decanted (got the whole cork out intact). Still almost opaque garnet-ruby, minor watery-orange rim. Lead pencil, mouth-filling, huge blackcurrant and blackberry fruit, grown-through with that perfect coffee-tinged tannin one hardly ever finds in modern wine anymore. Huge but elegant. Extremely long finish. Perfect balance. Drink or hold. dp 96+/97
René Rostaing Côte-Rôtie Côte Blonde 1999
Virtually opaque purple-ruby, tiny watery wine. Another ridiculously youthful bottle. Roasted herbs, olive, tiny eucalyptus, extremely concentrated, tight fruit, tannic, a bit viscous and very, very long on the finish. Some guessed Australian, clueless why, sure wish there were Aussie Shiraz like this… dp 96++/98(+?)
Henschke Shiraz Hill of Grace 1994
Pruney ruby-black. Quite precise, not too fat, not at all fatiguing nor too sweet, very long. Mild, round, mouth-filling, not acidic, let alone artificially so. Beautiful bottle (and I am saying this as someone who’s admittedly not a fan)! dp 95
Kept this a secret, but the attentive will notice that this little “journey” didn’t cover all my favourite red wine regions, and indeed, I asked whether people wanted any more reds, as I had a rare Barolo magnum in store for the purpose, but despite the corked bottles, I was by then in the mood for Port and dessert…
Fonseca Vintage Port 1977
Medium ruby-red, black reflections, looking evolved all of a sudden, yet from pristine storage. Fruity, quite sweet, nicely complex but not as firm or sizable as some earlier bottles. Superripe raspberries. Complex, deep, expressive. Extremely long. Has been evolving more quickly than some expected, mature now, but none the worse for it, having said that, it's nowhere near the end of its journey. dp 96+/97
Fonseca-Guimaraens Vintage Port 1976
First bottle cork-tainted, second bottle chilled from cellar not immediately showing at its best, yet drained within minutes (a pity given I’m running out of bottles). Deeply opaque purple-black. Sweet and dense like Recioto, still youthfully monolithic, a huge package, tannic, firm, long. At this stage probably best to wait for several more years. A bottle a few weeks ago at Ned’s place was gorgeously sweet, thick and mouth-filling, if no less darkly coloured or structured. Promising, but then, that is what it always has been (the question remains: is it ever going to live up to that promise?). dp 95++
Béla Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos Nyerges Dülö 1993
Amber-brown, lacking gloss, looking a bit murky in fact. Lightly oxidative (bit dry on the surface, although not necessarily the “Rancio” of Socialist era wines) Coca-Cola “fruit”, caramel, cocoa, coffee bean, dried date, medium length. dp 88-/87(-?)
István Szepsy Tokaji Aszúessencia Danczka Dülö 1993
Glossy amber, yellow reflections. Balanced, harmonious, if still sweet and thick, perfectly structured if still youthful with just the amount of excess baby fat that will carry it a long way. Fig, a little chocolate and mocha. Lovely acidity, soft bitter note. Very, very long. Always thought this one of the top two or three AEs of the vintage, or at least most ageworthy ones. Complex mouthful of a wine, drink or hold. 95+
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti