A quick update following the first week of releases (not many of them!). Last Tuesday saw d’Angludet out at £219, demand seemed steady, it’s a wine that tasted well this year and has a good following. The other three wines we offered last week were all quite different “beasts” – the Sweet Doisy-Vedrines (£245 or £255 in halves), I won’t tell you the in house nickname, some sold but I think people like to wait and see what the Sauternes prices are like as a whole before selecting – although a few will be in big demand and therefore worth grabbing if you want them. Then there was the deep and serious Certan de May (£725) which sold well, I had been very impressed with this when tasting it in London on the day before release. The last wine of the week and a real C&B drinking favourite was Ch Lamarque (£130) a Haut Medoc on the up and up – selling well as people who know the wine “shove” a case or two away to drink at home in a few years….
So what will happen this week? Quite honestly nobody knows…there will be more press reviews out…a Chateau or two will no doubt come out but it still looks like the campaign will be more of a marathon than a sprint….
On other fronts we had two notable tastings last week.
Olivier Leflaive and his winemaker, Franck Grux, were in London to present the (now offered 2009’s) to the entire team…22 of us crammed ourselves into the tasting room. The wines were so much easier to assess than the 2008’s which had more pronounced acidity. The 2009’s looked lovely, lush and full but with underlying structure…white burgundy fans now have quite a trio of vintages to “play” with in 2007,2008 & 2009 – all will have their fans and all are good just with different characters.
Secondly Edouard Moueix was in town on Thursday night to host a really enjoyable and relaxed dinner at Papillon (which stayed open especially for the night). Rather than hype the 2009’s we focused on a slightly forgotten but good value vintage – 2006. Edouard took us through the wines in amusing style with many a story along the way. The tasting order was spot on as each wine built on the former. A full “Menu” of the wines and food is below…a really great night on which the really style and balance of Magdelaine was the highlight for me, saying that I feel guilty as the La Grave 2001 was so delicious…
Tasting
St-Emilion
Barrail du Blanc 2006
Franc Bigaroux 2006
Côte de Baleau 2006
Belair 2006
Pomerol
Bourgneuf 2006
Hosanna 2006
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Champagne Delamotte NV
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Dinner Wines & Menu in Order
Terrine of rabbit and ham, herb salad, pickled Mushrooms
Les Songes de Magdeleine 2006
L’Hospitalet de Gazin 2006
Roast chump of lamb, potato gratin and rosemary jus
La Grave à Pomerol 2006 & 2001
A selections of farmhouse cheeses:
Brie, Fourme d’ambert, Comte and St Maure
Magdelaine 1er Grand Cru Classé St-Emilion 1999 & 1997