Clos De Trias 2014
From Mont Ventoux, Mecca for cyclists and made by Even Bakke, a Coloradian-Norwegian giant,…I wanted to love this but could not, not because the wine is weak or flawed but because it has some of southern Rhone traits that I find challenging - the sweet, sappy high-toned counoise overtones, which sort of overwhelm the Mediterranean garriguey and Jurassic notes - though not even sure it has that variety in the mix. An interesting terroir-driven wine nonetheless it is still very young - drunk over 5-6 days. Second bottle of a six pack I might let the other four go if anyone is interested…but maybe I should just revisit in 2-3 years… though life is short…87/88
Erbulana Langhe Nebbiolo 2020
Good, but not as spectacular as the one Oliver, Peter and I drank in La Morra back in October but followed a quite superb and fully mature Castello Di Nieve Barbaresco Santo Stefano 2010 not pictured…89/90
SHL Rouge 2004
Medium-full bodied, full throttle….”full on”….a lot of grunt for a 2004, perhaps not the last word in elegance and finesse but at the same time a multi-faceted mature Graves experience and with all the signature Pessac traits dialled up to nine. While the delivery is not as seamless as it could be, the palate is detailed with scorched earth, camphor, graphite, cedar and plums, among many other pleasures. A wine in a very good place and firing on all cylinders. I don’t think it will benefit from further aging…92/93
Hubert Lamy Derrière Chez Edouard 2016
I really love burgundy wines with the word ‘derrière’ on the label. Exhilarating intensity, focus, acidity and minerality…93
Hubert Lignier Morey Tres Girard 2015
Drop dead delicious out of the blocks, already developing complexity and such good wine making for a villages wine….93
Ducru Beaucaillou 1996
First bottle from a case purchased on release from BBR. Double decanted 90 minutes ago it is still coming out of its shell…so far cigar ash, lead pencil and density on the mid palate…plenty of moving parts….has a regal quality to it, but the entry is nowhere near as spectacular as the one we tried in our 1996 horizontal 16 months ago, but that had the benefit of being open a lot longer…too early to rate this, but promising