As well as the rafts of 2008 we also made an effort to show some older vintages of wines that we have just shipped amongst the whites (pictured) that we showed were some Matrot wines from 2004 & 2006 that arrived last month along with a few Olivier Leflaive’s and the Macon Verze 2007 from Domaines Leflaive. The reds were new arrivals from Varoilles & Arlot. Both tables seemed to go down really well. Arlot and Varoilles both made very good wines in the four star vintage of 2001 which I like very much when we tasted at the Domaines in November and Arlot also showed some wines from the tricky 2004 vintage in which they shone with there finesse orientated style.

It was great to have so many producers on hand to show their wines and our thanks go, in no particular order, to:

Vincent Dampt
Nicolas and Florence Rossignol-Trapet
Gilbert and Delphine Hammel of Domaine de Varoilles
Francois and Miriam Labet of Ch de la Tour and Domaine Pierre Labet
Olivier Leriche of Domaine De L’Arlot
Guillaume d’Angerville
Olivier and Marc-Emmanuel Cyrot
Marion Javillier
Henri Darnat
Thierry, Pascale and Elisa Matrot
Pierre de Benoist of A&P de Villaine

The tasting only promises to get bigger and better each year. Next stop the very exciting 2009 launch next January.

One other point of note was that for the second year we showed our allocation of the immaculate JJ Prum wines. These are hard to taste in their youth as they are reductive (sulphurous) on the nose, this can to a degree be conquered at this early stage by double decanting which we did in the morning of the tasting. The nose takes 3-4years to fully settle but the palate is stunning from the off. The Wehlener Sonnenuhr wines were particularly superb….to be released for sale soon!! For those who still hadn’t fallen to palate fatigue the Trapet wines form Alsace where there to be tasted too.

The Beefeater on duty promptly cleared the room as everyone has to be out of the tower by 9.30 for the Ceremony of the Keys (the Longest continuously running Ceremony of its type in the world I’m informed). A few of us stayed behind to help clear up, once the job was done we were delighted to find a substantial chunk of Taleggio which we washed down with some opened samples! Then it was upto our Jewry Street Winebar for a drink and some food with the producers….. a long but massively worthwhile day….

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I felt the wines were better than I expected. My picks of the reds were Domaine de Chevalier, Gazin, La Lagune and Leoville Poyferre.

The sweet whites were stunning as was expected. The level of sweetness really varying though from intense (de Fargues) to balanced and more elegant (La Tour Blanche). My overall impression was of genuine wines that are, sadly, over priced compared to the cheaper and generally better 2006’s & 2008’s.

I looked on UGC as a warm up for a big fine wine evening the following night chez Hargrove…..format was very relaxed – Darts and Backgammon to go with the wine (all served blind).

To get things going – Delamotte NV in magnum with 3 years or more bottle age – delicious, not over serious just great drinking

Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux 2003, Raveneau – corked…gutted especially as I love Chablis and this would only have been my second Raveneau.

Then followed 4 different 2002 Germans with the scallops and Chorizo:

Urzinger Wurzgarten Spatlese, Christoffel – elegant and delicious now and the guys were all quite close with guesses most getting Spatlese and vintages between 01 & 03.

Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett, Fritz Haag – deliciously Mosel in character and my favorite but interestingly not as good as the 2001 I had recently, good producer one I’ll watch, guesses good again.

Keseler Nieschien Spatlese, Karlsmuhle – A little lacking in character and not that exiting but a the price £10ish a bargain all the same.

Hocheimer Riechstel Kabinett, Kunstler – A curve ball of a wine. Everyone baring one person though it was Auslese, alcohol was only 7.5%, colour dark and most guesses were in the 90’s (‘93-‘00). Weird!

With Leg of Lamb and then cheese we assaulted the reds:

Barolo Brunate 1970, Macarani – Wine of the night by common consensus – seriously complex and tasting younger than 39 years of age, I got it from a mate in the trade who had tasted it recently and enjoyed it. Makes me more sure that Nebbiolo I a grape I need to buy more of. A real highlight!

Five left bank 1996’s – JM realised early it was a 1996 Horizontal so just looked smug!

Branaire Ducru – Fine but just not exciting, proper claret good fruit and structure but no more
Calon Segur – Slightly tighter and with away to go, nice
Pontet Canet -
Leoville Poyferre – Showy and in all honesty a bit of a one glass wonder…a little over fruited
Cos d’Estournel – Very classy and TB spotted in immediately, a lovely wine that is great now but has a long, long future

Overall I think we were a bit too critical of these wines. 13 year old clarets from a good vintage, they were structured and if there was a fault it was that they lacked charm (a little like).

With a couple of tarts (Apple and Plum!!):

Rieussec 1975 – 2bts – My birth year and the first 1975 Sauternes I have had. Both bottles were good and very similar (not always the case) lovely texture and superb with the tarts and remnants of cheese. Very honeyed and complex but with acidity. I hadn’t planned to have two bottles but it was worth it!

By the time the glasses were cleaned it was 3am!! A great night.

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2008 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Spatlese Auktion Goldkapsel, Schloss Lieser (Mosel) -17,  Only available at the Auction in Germany but interesting to taste, beautiful texture, great length.

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