- Location
- Leicestershire
I bought it a couple of months ago. If one stays away from the superstar wines mature Bordeaux can be quite affordable. In a recent auction got 5 bottles of a 1978 Cru Bourgeois for a hammer price of £80 for all of them.
Weekend Wines 23rd to 25th Feb 2024
- Thread starter Neil Holland
- Start date
- Location
- Kent
We have rib of beef for our sunday roast this evening. Might crack open a bottle of aged claret, I'm feeling inspired
- Location
- Berkshire
- 2012 Bodega Chacra Pinot Noir Barda - Argentina, Patagonia, Río Negro (25/02/2024)
Half. It’s been five or six years since I’ve had one of these, and time has added complexity, nuance and a degree of finesse. The fruit is redder and brighter, now with a touch of cranberry, and the texture transitioning from velvety to silky; a touch of mid palate umami too. Stylistically this has moved back to a more mature version of how it showed a decade ago, having thrown off its intervening brasher ‘teenage’ years. ***1/2 (90 pts.)
- Location
- Cheshire, uk
This was interesting. Not sure what to make of it.
There was a lot to like: ripe but not jammy fruit, elegant and light on its feet, long finish, good intensity and gorgeous fine tannins but there was an odd Godzilla like synthetic potpourri flavour that waxed and waned but was quite dominant.
There was a lot to like: ripe but not jammy fruit, elegant and light on its feet, long finish, good intensity and gorgeous fine tannins but there was an odd Godzilla like synthetic potpourri flavour that waxed and waned but was quite dominant.
- Location
- London
A few bottles over the weekend
- 2005 Louis Jadot Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Ursules Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru (26/02/2024)
The wine was all there but on top was this kind of musty / sour apple character - an aroma I associate with TCA but the fruit wasn't stripped away. Over time it didn't get worse but nor did it dissipate. Most vexing. NR (flawed) - 2009 Domaine Tollot-Beaut Corton-Bressandes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru (26/02/2024)
Was feeling like a decent burg to go with dinner after the failure of the Jadot, and a recent experience of this was very positive. Somehow more rounded, less sharply focused wine, there is acidity and structure but also generosity on the palate. Very much enjoyed this with roast chicken. - 2005 Château Clerc Milon - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (25/02/2024)
Birthday Dinner (Hawksmoor Seven Dials): If this Ridge was pulling its punches slightly, this was doing just a little bit better than it should. Classic left bank cigar boxes and pencil lead, it’s somewhat restrained but there’s real length there, still some fruit and acidity but the tannins have subsided, giving it a certain lightness. Delighted to have a couple more in the cellar. - 2006 Ridge Santa Cruz Mountains Estate - USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains (25/02/2024)
Birthday Dinner (Hawksmoor Seven Dials): All the characteristics you expect from a somewhat mature Ridge cab - cigar box nose, the vanilla from the American oak with good structure and a spine of lovely acidity. I do think, though, that this was a tricky period for Ridge - it doesn’t quite deliver in the way that wines from the 80s / 90s and 2010s seem to. - NV Louis Roederer Champagne Collection 244 - France, Champagne (24/02/2024)
Ordered off the list at Roka Canary wharf. Initially served in flutes, asked for a white wine glass which served it better. Still so young, lovely balance, sherbet, a hint of lemon curd on white toast. I was about to say that this is the least ready tasting of the Roederer Collection that I've had - but I wonder if I had the same sense when I tasted a just-released 242? Either way - hold them for now, but this is solid stuff, and continues to be a benchmark for NV champs I think.
- Location
- London and Boston
We drank two really enjoyable wines with friends last night; first a Charles Heidsieck Champagne Brut Reserve 2016 base that is now nicely mature. I did think the mousse could have done with a bit more energy for this style though. Nicely mid-weighted, but to be honest one of those champagnes that does the job without making you think or stimulating any excitement. I made a mental note to hurry on with the remaining bottles from this parcel. The real star of the show was a Le Grappin Saint Aubin En L'Ébaupin 2014. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this is the best Le Grappin white I can recall drinking and of the same quality as a PYCM village Saint Aubin such as Banc/Pucelle (I own both so its not an idle comparison). Fabulously precise and stoney on the nose with a flash of ginger and then so elegant and focused on the palate with restrained yellow stone fruit and a real sense of the soil towards the finish. Great length too. The wine is still in its prime at ten years old and noticeably more so than the fully mature Savigny blanc of the same vintage drunk a week or so ago. I'm not sure whether he still makes this cuvée.
- Location
- London
Never having smelled Godzilla I am intrigued!
- Location
- London
I took "Godzilla like" to mean that it arose from the depths unexpectedly, rather than being a description of the smell itself
- Location
- Kent
With a superb rib of beef. You can see from the colour this was in spectacularly good condition for a 45 year old wine. A lovely nose of cedarwood, tobacco leaf and violet perfume. Light bodied but full of flavour and harmonious. Easy ****
I see from checking my records that I paid £42 for this a couple of years ago. Viva Bordeaux
- Location
- Singapore
Mostly cocktails over the weekend Taipei but found the time to taste these three wines!
- 2021 Alvina Pernot Puligny-Montrachet clos des noyers brets - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet (26/2/2024)
A classic interpretation of Puligny with nice verticality. Some oyster shells, mineral white orchard fruit that had good ripeness. Drinking well now already. (93 pts.) - 2016 Azienda Agricola Valentini Trebbiano d'Abruzzo - Italy, Abruzzi, Trebbiano d'Abruzzo (23/2/2024)
Was quite tight on the first day despite being in a decanter for a couple of hours. Citrus fruit verging on tropical ones like pineapple, with a waxy texture and briney finish. Very Valentini but so reserved; was much more expressive when I tasted the leftovers two days later which were absolutely superb. (93 pts.) - 2017 Movia Veliko Bianco (Belo) - Slovenia, Primorska, Goriška Brda (23/2/2024)
Single vineyard of Movia apparently. Not the biggest fan of oranges but Movia is one of the few that is tolerable to me. Deep golden in colour, some oxidative apricot and peach notes. Would have been better with food. (90 pts.)
- Location
- Cheshire, uk
Godzilla like as it trampled over everything in its path!
- Location
- UK
This could be the point at which Ridge changed the winemaking for the estate Cabernet which until then had been made in the same way as Montebello, but which changed to the euphemistic “early drinking style”
- Location
- Leicestershire
I drank six bottles of this between 2015-20 bought at Strakers with similar experience to you. Lovely wine and helped to re-kindle my interest in this long forgotten vintage.
- Location
- London
Apologies I’m a bit late to this one (I did look on Friday but maybe the thread hadn’t gone up yet) but I opened a Condrieu my Mum picked up for me from a Lidl in deepest darkest East Anglia. Lovely but needs to be drunk ASAP as it’s a 2017. I have one bottle left. 
- Location
- Preston, UK
Similar posting apologies to Sarah-Beth - bizzee, bizzee last couple of days. These two burgundies were quite delish in their own ways. The Sauzet (always loved the domaine's wines) was 3/12 from a case bought EP & only 'repatriated' from storage last Nov. All 3 bottles to date VGI, correct colour with no oxidation evident at all even on Day 2. Garenne has long been a favourite terroir both in the vines and as a wine. I can recall my first sighting of Francois Jobard (father of Antoine), truly a vigneron in love with his tractor, in Garenne in 2006 whilst working there for a Chassagne domaine. Fingers crossed for the rest !
The Barthod 1995 Beaux Bruns I've found particularly 'challenging' previously as a combo of Ghislaine's vinification and the 'toughness' of the 1995 red burgundies (or some of them). I've drunk my 1996s in preference but am now 'down' to 1 x 1996 bottle and 4 x 1995. Unusually for me, as I normally PnP, anticipating 'toughness' I decided on a splash decant which seemed to work well. A very tasty wine indeed, super silky mouthfeel but with an earthiness on the palate for me atypical of this cru. As with the Sauzet approx half the bottle fridged to Day 2 held well with no obvious change.
The Barthod 1995 Beaux Bruns I've found particularly 'challenging' previously as a combo of Ghislaine's vinification and the 'toughness' of the 1995 red burgundies (or some of them). I've drunk my 1996s in preference but am now 'down' to 1 x 1996 bottle and 4 x 1995. Unusually for me, as I normally PnP, anticipating 'toughness' I decided on a splash decant which seemed to work well. A very tasty wine indeed, super silky mouthfeel but with an earthiness on the palate for me atypical of this cru. As with the Sauzet approx half the bottle fridged to Day 2 held well with no obvious change.
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- Location
- London
Interesting to hear the Alvina Pernot is drinking. I’ve so far only started on the 2019s Folatieres which are lovely, and some 2020 BBMostly cocktails over the weekend Taipei but found the time to taste these three wines!
- 2021 Alvina Pernot Puligny-Montrachet clos des noyers brets - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet (26/2/2024)
A classic interpretation of Puligny with nice verticality. Some oyster shells, mineral white orchard fruit that had good ripeness. Drinking well now already. (93 pts.)- 2016 Azienda Agricola Valentini Trebbiano d'Abruzzo - Italy, Abruzzi, Trebbiano d'Abruzzo (23/2/2024)
Was quite tight on the first day despite being in a decanter for a couple of hours. Citrus fruit verging on tropical ones like pineapple, with a waxy texture and briney finish. Very Valentini but so reserved; was much more expressive when I tasted the leftovers two days later which were absolutely superb. (93 pts.)- 2017 Movia Veliko Bianco (Belo) - Slovenia, Primorska, Goriška Brda (23/2/2024)
Single vineyard of Movia apparently. Not the biggest fan of oranges but Movia is one of the few that is tolerable to me. Deep golden in colour, some oxidative apricot and peach notes. Would have been better with food. (90 pts.)
Have an extensive range of her wines so may try some more this Spring / Summer.
- Location
- Singapore
Seems like her wines are made in a more approachable rather than tightly coiled style! Really enjoyed the bottle