TN Midweek for the end Sept & start Oct

Simon Grant

Simon Grant

Location
Berkshire
A well balanced matched selection of bottles taken to 67PM this evening…

  • 2017 William Fèvre Chablis 1er Cru Montmains - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru (30/09/2024)
    Blind. Coolish Chardonnay, though blind I’m closer to modern Meursault than Chablis. Left bank 17, say Montmains? It’s cool fruited though not grippily saline. Holds its line nicely. When revealed I could probably convince myself it was Chablis, but one advantage of blind is that I’m enjoying it for the lovely wine it is rather than thinking it’s not grippy enough for proper Chablis. I suspect this is as good as it gets in the new norm though. **** (92 pts.)
  • 2019 Simon Bize Savigny-lès-Beaune Blanc - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune (30/09/2024)
    Blind. Gorgeous nose, all hazelnut and warm butter old-school Leflaive. Mid weight, some complexity. Côte d’Or but I’m not sure what/where. I prefer the Fevre, but. The nose here is really enticing. **** (91 pts.)

  • 2000 Domaine de Trévallon - France, Provence, Vin de Pays des Bouches-du-Rhône (30/09/2024)
    Blind. Classic left bank claret nose. Lots of Cabernet here. Nose and palate. When revealed I’m astounded, and still am. Zero sign of the Syrah. Looking back at my previous note five years ago it was Cabernet dominant, but it’s even more so now. After an hour or so it becomes quite shrill and pointed, but still no garrigue or Syrah richness. Really curious. Lovely wine over the first hour, but Trevallon?! **** (91 pts.)
  • 2000 Domaine de Chevalier - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (30/09/2024)
    Blind. Nose suggests right bank claret initially, but with more air it mellows and suggests a richer left bank. This is lovely and just starting to get there, a little gravel and a hint of tobacco in with the blackcurrant leaf and mocha notes. **** (92 pts.)

  • 2013 Julien Pilon Côte-Rôtie La Porchette - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (30/09/2024)
    Dense full ruby. Lovely bright nose of blackberries, a little cream and a good dose of white pepper. Opens to a floral top note after an hour or so. Lots of nuance and interest. Fresh with a lovely line. **** (93 pts.)
  • 2013 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave St. Joseph - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph (30/09/2024)
    Denser and darker. Smoky. Dense, dark fruit, brooding despite an eight hour double decant. Some pepper and some structure on the finish. Lots here but it quite tightly constrained currently. Not monolithic, but there’s a lot of evolution ahead of this. **** (92 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
 
Simon Grant said:
  • 2000 Domaine de Trévallon - France, Provence, Vin de Pays des Bouches-du-Rhône (30/09/2024)
    Blind. Classic left bank claret nose. Lots of Cabernet here. Nose and palate. When revealed I’m astounded, and still am. Zero sign of the Syrah. Looking back at my previous note five years ago it was Cabernet dominant, but it’s even more so now. After an hour or so it becomes quite shrill and pointed, but still no garrigue or Syrah richness. Really curious. Lovely wine over the first hour, but Trevallon?! **** (91 pts.)
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There are several Trevallon enthusiasts at the Nottingham group and one of the firmly-held opinions is that Trevallon, despite being roughly 50:50 Cab:Syrah, can be divided into cabernet years and syrah years depending on which is to the fore.
 
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'15 BAROLO & BARBARESCO - Terra Rossa (30/09/2024)

An early sighter of the sunny and generous 2015s and, to me, the wines generally performed within expectations. There's definitely a sense of ripeness and roundness but - on this selection at least - no stewed or cooked character detectable, and the wines remained balanced with some nuance. While they would all have benefitted from a few years, under the right circumstances, the majority would be broachable in the near future

Pinot Grigio
  • 2018 Vie di Romans Pinot Grigio Dessimis - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Friuli Isonzo
    Coppery pink in the glass with an explosive nose of beurre noisette and mushroom, strawberry, shiso. Quite extracted and substantial on the palate - ripe, a little sweet, grippy- you know from the body and viscosity there's a good slug of alcohol but it's manageable. Quite full-throttle, as I generally find in wines from this producer, but there's also some beauty here. (91 pts.)
Barbaresco pt.1
  • 2015 Roagna Barbaresco Gallina - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
    The first red of the night and predictably we peaked early! Beautifully pure, expressive and high-toned - fizzing with energy. Florals, cherry, strawberry liqueur, a gamey note - it's rangy and lithe with a sweetly concentrated core. So much going on, and shifts constantly. Consistent on the palate - fine, ripe tannins with a little bit of fire. All the delicacy and transparent substance of Roagna- yum! (94 pts.)
  • 2015 Castello di Verduno Barbaresco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
    Quite inward but with persistence it starts to express itself, and may well blossom with time in bottle. Dark cherry, tar, charred meat, Sichuan pepper, and something floral trying to get out. Quite dense on the palate, and without much tension or lift- rather flat right now. At this stage it's solid, but not exciting. (89 pts.)
Produttori
  • 2015 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Asili - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
    Painfully young but you can spy the potential - lots of high-toned spice, vibrant raspberry fruit, but I found it closed down fast. Real structure here - waves of fine, sharp, ground quartz-like tannins and a balance of pure fruit with an espresso tightness on the finish. One to cellar. (91 pts.)
  • 2015 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rio Sordo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
    Side by side with the Asili, this was more '2015' - deep, sweetly spiced, balmy and a little meaty- and lacked some of the compelling aromatic lift of the former. However, on double decanting a few hours earlier it had been explosively floral, jumping out the glass with dried flowers and rose - so it has some credit in the bank. On the palate it's dark, grippy, rather tight. Needs time. (91 pts.)


Fenocchio
  • 2015 Giacomo Fenocchio Barolo Villero - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    On the nose there's a lovely dichotomy of dried flowers and dark cracked earth. Underneath, slightly pulpy dark red fruit, plasters (band-aid). Really magnetic, compelling. Aromatically it feels like a coiled spring - ready to explode but not quite giving yet. Dark fruit on the palate - quite bitter tannic bite- in a way it's a satisfying sensation and has a sense of honesty. I think this has the potential to become special. (92 pts.)
  • 2015 Giacomo Fenocchio Barolo Cannubi - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    Quite open on the nose - sweet spice, mint, raspberry, strawberry, red apple, a gamey note and dried earth. It has the sense of an infusion - extracted gently and expresses itself in a transparent, unforced way. Flowing on the palate, concentrated with some bite to the tannins - very good. (92 pts.)
Barolo
  • 2015 Garesio Barolo Serralunga d'Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    Herbal, rich, with real purity of dark fruit and a hint of something exotic peeking out - fruit-forward but retaining a sense of refinement. Open and inviting on the palate, almost silky, although there's still structure and depth. Earthy and balsamic on a long finish. It's probably not one of the world's great wines but it's authentically expressive of its Commune and is drinking really well now (92 pts.)
  • 2015 G.D. Vajra Barolo Ravera - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    What a compelling nose - lifted, pure, herbal. Small red berries and sharp raspberry - saturated but delicate on both the nose and the palate. Bright, clean and concentrated with great persistence and a hint of liqueur sweetness on the finish. Compared with a horizontal of 2015 Barolo and Barbaresco, this was notable for its sense of precision and angularity while still expressing the sweet ripeness of the vintage. (93 pts.)
  • 2015 Oddero Barolo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    Spicy, earthy and charred - quite a foreboding nose. Forget about 2015's generosity here! Saturated, if indistinct dark red fruit on the palate (88 pts.)
Chinato
  • NV Marcarini Barolo Chinato - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo Chinato
    This showing reinforced my previous feelings about this wine - just intensely wonderful. A beautiful way to end a meal. (93 pts.)
 

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Andy Leslie said:
There are several Trevallon enthusiasts at the Nottingham group and one of the firmly-held opinions is that Trevallon, despite being roughly 50:50 Cab:Syrah, can be divided into cabernet years and syrah years depending on which is to the fore.
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Absolutely Andy, and I usually see the one over the other in their youth, but typically find the components meld with age, but here I’m still bewildered that it wasn’t a left bank claret!
 
I performed an act of heroism at my local Waitrose earlier by stopping this going to waste - not the biggest yellow sticker discount but still worth a punt I hope...

On that note: I like Port but often it's just too sweet for me as someone who lacks a sweet tooth. Is there even such thing as dry or drier (red) port?

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Gevrey-Chambertin En Pallud, 1998, Maume. The last bottle from a case started 22 years ago and predictably the best of them. An absolutely classic old burgundy nose of decaying leaves and red fruit, something a bit pheromonal in the background(probably low level brettanomyces- what we used to think of as attractive wildness usually turns out to have been a fault) and a richly layered yet very bracing palate, cassis and pine needles, tannin by no means all dissolved and the seeming ripeness rather surprising. An extremely engaging wine, certainly bumptious rather than suave and entirely comfortable in its own skin.
 
Josh Voulters said:
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'15 BAROLO & BARBARESCO - Terra Rossa (30/09/2024)

An early sighter of the sunny and generous 2015s and, to me, the wines generally performed within expectations. There's definitely a sense of ripeness and roundness but - on this selection at least - no stewed or cooked character detectable, and the wines remained balanced with some nuance. While they would all have benefitted from a few years, under the right circumstances, the majority would be broachable in the near future

Pinot Grigio
  • 2018 Vie di Romans Pinot Grigio Dessimis - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Friuli Isonzo
    Coppery pink in the glass with an explosive nose of beurre noisette and mushroom, strawberry, shiso. Quite extracted and substantial on the palate - ripe, a little sweet, grippy- you know from the body and viscosity there's a good slug of alcohol but it's manageable. Quite full-throttle, as I generally find in wines from this producer, but there's also some beauty here. (91 pts.)
Barbaresco pt.1
  • 2015 Roagna Barbaresco Gallina - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
    The first red of the night and predictably we peaked early! Beautifully pure, expressive and high-toned - fizzing with energy. Florals, cherry, strawberry liqueur, a gamey note - it's rangy and lithe with a sweetly concentrated core. So much going on, and shifts constantly. Consistent on the palate - fine, ripe tannins with a little bit of fire. All the delicacy and transparent substance of Roagna- yum! (94 pts.)
  • 2015 Castello di Verduno Barbaresco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
    Quite inward but with persistence it starts to express itself, and may well blossom with time in bottle. Dark cherry, tar, charred meat, Sichuan pepper, and something floral trying to get out. Quite dense on the palate, and without much tension or lift- rather flat right now. At this stage it's solid, but not exciting. (89 pts.)
Produttori
  • 2015 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Asili - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
    Painfully young but you can spy the potential - lots of high-toned spice, vibrant raspberry fruit, but I found it closed down fast. Real structure here - waves of fine, sharp, ground quartz-like tannins and a balance of pure fruit with an espresso tightness on the finish. One to cellar. (91 pts.)
  • 2015 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rio Sordo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
    Side by side with the Asili, this was more '2015' - deep, sweetly spiced, balmy and a little meaty- and lacked some of the compelling aromatic lift of the former. However, on double decanting a few hours earlier it had been explosively floral, jumping out the glass with dried flowers and rose - so it has some credit in the bank. On the palate it's dark, grippy, rather tight. Needs time. (91 pts.)


Fenocchio
  • 2015 Giacomo Fenocchio Barolo Villero - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    On the nose there's a lovely dichotomy of dried flowers and dark cracked earth. Underneath, slightly pulpy dark red fruit, plasters (band-aid). Really magnetic, compelling. Aromatically it feels like a coiled spring - ready to explode but not quite giving yet. Dark fruit on the palate - quite bitter tannic bite- in a way it's a satisfying sensation and has a sense of honesty. I think this has the potential to become special. (92 pts.)
  • 2015 Giacomo Fenocchio Barolo Cannubi - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    Quite open on the nose - sweet spice, mint, raspberry, strawberry, red apple, a gamey note and dried earth. It has the sense of an infusion - extracted gently and expresses itself in a transparent, unforced way. Flowing on the palate, concentrated with some bite to the tannins - very good. (92 pts.)
Barolo
  • 2015 Garesio Barolo Serralunga d'Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    Herbal, rich, with real purity of dark fruit and a hint of something exotic peeking out - fruit-forward but retaining a sense of refinement. Open and inviting on the palate, almost silky, although there's still structure and depth. Earthy and balsamic on a long finish. It's probably not one of the world's great wines but it's authentically expressive of its Commune and is drinking really well now (92 pts.)
  • 2015 G.D. Vajra Barolo Ravera - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    What a compelling nose - lifted, pure, herbal. Small red berries and sharp raspberry - saturated but delicate on both the nose and the palate. Bright, clean and concentrated with great persistence and a hint of liqueur sweetness on the finish. Compared with a horizontal of 2015 Barolo and Barbaresco, this was notable for its sense of precision and angularity while still expressing the sweet ripeness of the vintage. (93 pts.)
  • 2015 Oddero Barolo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    Spicy, earthy and charred - quite a foreboding nose. Forget about 2015's generosity here! Saturated, if indistinct dark red fruit on the palate (88 pts.)
Chinato
  • NV Marcarini Barolo Chinato - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo Chinato
    This showing reinforced my previous feelings about this wine - just intensely wonderful. A beautiful way to end a meal. (93 pts.)
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Thanks for your erudite notes Josh. I came away from last night a wee bit less positive than you and agree with Nick (A's) 'glass half empty' sentiments on these 2015s. They left me somewhat cold too, and they are clearly going through an awkward phase. This I think is partly because they are partially shut down, but also some of them lacked a bit of oomph and lift as James (G) noted; but they do have the requisite raw materials to age well and come good in 3-5 years. I didn't rate anything above 92 apart from the Chinato. One or two of the group openly mused on the notion that the 2015s could be the next 2011s - a famously precocious and useful vintage, with wines which were already singing at age nine. Last night I think laid to rest any such notions.

The racy Roagna Gallina was the group's runaway wine of the night (table below), but even that lacked a bit of charm compared to 2011 Roagna Barbarescos. The Produttoris were solid with the Asili again being the class act - narrowly my (red) wotn - but in a close call with the Roagna and the Garesio, perhaps the most charming wine on the table with good Serralunga typicity. The Fenocchios had a sweet attack which I found off putting, but they are clearly well made wines. Unlike most of the rest of the group I preferred the Cannubi to the Villero. The Vajra Ravera is a bit soulless and charmless right now, but again a good wine which needs time to resolve. The Castello di Verduno Barbaresco and Oddero were shut down hard, but the Verduno should come good with time; I am less confident on the old school, tannic and utterly charmless Oddero. I think the lesson from last night is that if you have any 2015s there is no need to panic, but equally that they should not generally be broached now, unless you have halves of Burlotto for example.

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I time it. Summertime is for ‘lagers’ as they’re kept chilled. There’s wonders in cold-fermentation but there’s nothing that approaches the expression that can be achieved with yeast in warm fermentation. Thus when autumn comes it’s bitter time. A velvet-smooth pint of classic British hop-forward ale is always popular and it’s amazing how many neighbours pop by on Saturday afternoon. I brew in 25 litre lengths which has a 4 week turn over. Current barrel isn’t even ready and 50% gone.

The winter stout is finishing in the fermenter now. My best beer, by a country mile, it’ll be ready in 6 weeks. Last party I had a crew of Smiths and lager drinkers in. They finished 100 pints of it. None of them liked stout.
 
Kinley Smith said:
I time it. Summertime is for ‘lagers’ as they’re kept chilled. There’s wonders in cold-fermentation but there’s nothing that approaches the expression that can be achieved with yeast in warm fermentation. Thus when autumn comes it’s bitter time. A velvet-smooth pint of classic British hop-forward ale is always popular and it’s amazing how many neighbours pop by on Saturday afternoon. I brew in 25 litre lengths which has a 4 week turn over. Current barrel isn’t even ready and 50% gone.

The winter stout is finishing in the fermenter now. My best beer, by a country mile, it’ll be ready in 6 weeks. Last party I had a crew of Smiths and lager drinkers in. They finished 100 pints of it. None of them liked stout.
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What brewing equipment do you use Kinley? 100l is a lot of beer!
 
My folks visiting tonight so a pint of Landlord before supper and then a bottle of Albino Rocca Barbaresco Montersino 2012 with some Dexter Chuck Eye (new one on me but bloody good!), potatoes and Cima di Rapa. Strong Star Anis scented nose at first then lots of red cherry scented fruit. Not enormously complex but v enjoyable and the bottle was rapidly drained between two of us.
 
  • 2007 Coche-Dury Volnay 1er Cru - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru (02/10/2024)
    Most people guessed this as Chambolle Musigny from mid-90s due to its floral nose and light bricking color. Chambolle/Volnay nose and Volnay/Vosne palate. Grape from Taillepieds and Clos des Chenes. Singing 2.5 hours after uncorked. Pure, silky, and velvety on the palate, ultra fine tannins with lively acidity, in perfect harmony. Didn’t have the structure and density to be in Grand Cru or exceptional category but extremely drinkable. Excellent wine and another wonderful ‘07 Burgundy! White Burgundy maker with masterful skills in making Red Burgundy too, better than almost all Volnay producers except one. My contribution tonight. (94 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker

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2018 Gouges NSG Clos Fontaine Jacquinot.

Hmm this is pretty stolid, blocky, mono Lola cherry cola stuff, I thought on first encounter. But then - when married up with a no holds barred concept of frankly high brown hare, 9 ways requiring 2 plates, a raspberry and chocolate sauce fully recalling Tante Claire in its pomp - it did vouchsafe some earthy red fruit with gastronomic acidity, candour and energy, and took the baby beetroot over the top. C+

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