Sunday with my friends. Guests included Andrea, Albino, Dani and Rainer. Albino did all the cooking, thank you very much! Dinner was terrific, as always.
<b>Château de Fonsalette Côtes-du-Rhône 1989</b>
My second to last bottle, which I opened after I realised Rainer had never tasted this wine, from one of his and of course my favourite Southern Rhône vintages ever (incidentally my favourite Rayas vintage, too). Youthfully plummy ruby-red with a slight watery rim, still looks so unevolved. Plummy kirsch, faint dried meat, blood orange, cocoa and mocha powder, just some soft dried herbs, a suggestion of violety prune that blows off with airing (every single time I have had this, I have been waiting for it to oxidise in the decanter, and sure enough, it never does, but instead seems to grow sweeter and racier, fresher with airing). The tannin, while typically tough in this vintage, is nicely chewy and flavourful. Like all bottles, this added a touch of sweet rowan berry to the kirsch top note, almost shockingly reminiscent of Rayas in its complex red-fruitiness. A racy and precise wine, tempting to think it is still on its way up, and maybe it is. An utterly amazing Côtes-du-Rhône that puts many a modern (after-1996) Rayas to shame. Rating: 92(+?)
<b>Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Célestins 2000</b>
N° Lot 001. Tasted great right out of the bottle, but decanted it for almost four hours before serving. Fairly mature-looking ruby-orange colour. Highly complex aromas and flavours of tomato essence, cured meat, coffee, sage, pepper, a hint of balsamic vinegar, beef juice. Lovely tomato- and orange-tinged tannin. An immensely long wine, with a finesseful aftertaste. Went through a short, awkward phase in-between when it revealed more iron, but also a hint of asparagus, green licorice stick, horse sweat, onion, chives, soft caper and grapefruit. Later, some lavender emerges, along with important tobacco smoke scented minerality, and the wine now seems racier and sturdier after almost eight hours than back when I first served a glass blind and Albino somewhat understandably mistook it for the 1992 (mind you, a wonderful vintage of Henri Bonneau in its own right, both bottlings, the Marie Beurrier as well as the Célestins). Not the awesome structure, power or sheer density of fruit of e.g. the 1989, 1990 or 1998, but an exceptionally useful vintage of Célestins in that cellaring does not seem obligatory, as the acidity is low, the fruit nicely evolved (true-to-type archaic Riserva style indeed), the tannin unobtrusive but firm, and nicely flavourful. One to enjoy without regret or cellar, just as one wishes. Reminds me of a virtual blend of the 1985 and 1992 RdCs, but may ultimately fall just short of great. Having said that, even if it may not be better than the best bottles of Célestins 1999 or Marie Beurrier 1998 we have had, I would still expect it to prove tastier on average (the 1999s are in an incredibly grumpy phase now, while no two bottles of the 1998 MB ever seem to taste alike). Rating: 94
My guests were still thirsty, but no one seemed eager to have a go at that 2002 Bussola Amarone Dani had brought along. More Southern Rhône, then:
<b>Domaine de Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes 2004</b>
What a positive surprise! After what 2004s and 2005 barrel samples Rainer and I could taste at a trade tasting in Lucerne a week ago, I was anxious to try this, especially after Dani had mentioned earlier in the morning that he finds the standard bottling disappointingly light given how much he loves the 2003. 95% Grenache aged in cement tank. Medium-deep ruby-purple-black. Barely jammy blueberry and cherry, soft flower essence, fresh, pure and creamy. Nicely minerally and sweet. Surely the most concentrated 2004 CdP we have tasted so far. Well-balanced, carries those 16% alcohol very gracefully. Pretty tannin, some glycerine to buffer it, too. Bit more Port-like with airing, with faint milk chocolate and a completely absorbed essence of barely roasted dried herbs and flowers. Balanced and long. Round kirsch-sprinkled raspberry coulis after a few hours. Drinking splendidly, though no doubt a candidate for mid-term cellaring. The combination of minerality and floral essence purity has made this bottling a rare annual favourite of mine. Rating: 93+?
<b>Joseph Roty Gevrey-Chambertin Les Fontenys 1998</b>
Thanks to Rainer. Corked, too muted to even taste. What a pity! Rating: N/R
<b>Gunderloch Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule #18 Nackenheim Rothenberg 2001</b>
Thanks to Rainer. Also corked, less noticeably, but still, how unlucky can you get? Rating: N/R
<b>István Szepsy Aszúessencia Mádi-Király Szölészet 1993</b>
Thanks to Dani. A bottle with an ever so slightly cloudy-looking colour, which made Dani fear it might have refermented in bottle. Of course, this being one of the few all-Hárslevelü Aszú we know, plus a wine from then very recently planted vines, thus for the combination of these reasons the most evolved among Szepsy’s 1993 AEs, there is a chance it might suffer from slightly less than ideally cool storage more than e.g. the Furmint-based Danczka. It did seem to start out less perfumed, lively and fresh than most bottles, but I seriously doubt there was much wrong with it. Amber-brown, perhaps a shade darker and murkier than usual. Sweet and thick, oily-viscous on the pour, a fairly mature bottle with a complexity of aromas and flavours somewhat reminiscent of old-style Aszú, honeyed coffee, chocolatey cocoa powder, quince, fig and dried date. Perhaps a fraction milkier and more cedary-premature than undoubtedly pristine bottles, but not really an unusual showing at all. Less bracing acidity than a Furmint-based Aszú, with the acidity softer and more apricoty-lemony perhaps, but certainly sufficient for balance. Sweetly honeyed and long. Started out more reticent than usually, but if this bottle did seem different at all, that difference was negligible after a little airing. Yummy dessert wine! Even so, this being the most successful exponent we have come across of pure Hárslevelü Aszú, it seems like a happy experiment rather than a course to pursue. Rating: 93-?
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
