The traditional Christmas cold is upon me, but this year it is not the normal opportunity to waste nice bottles that you can’t taste. It seems that this year I can still taste and sniff – I just cough afterwards! Have a great holiday period.
Well, not only did they let me into the UK, they even let me into Scotland too. Seems there’s also a chance for me to go home on Sunday – so that was nice! Last night there was a trace of indulgement – 1* Michelin Restaurant – Braidwoods – just beautifully cooked food with lovely flavours. Oh and did I forget to mention: ’91 Ravennau Chablis, Haut-Brion Blanc et rouge, ’91 de Vogüé Musigny, ’90 DRC Richebourg, ’61 Montrose, ’82 Pichon, ’86 Hill of Grace, ’83 Yquem – and others. Today and I’ll try and reduce my intake – yeah right!!!
I’m sat in the departure lounge of Basel airport – without my passport (don’t ask) but it looks like the Brits will still let me in – be a shame if not, I’ve 10 bottles of Griotte-Chambertin for a tasting for up to 40 people at wine-pages.com’s SuperBOWL 2003 event in Glasgow – I suppose I could drink it the cell if they don’t le me in!
Just in case you didn’t know, there’s a big problem with en-primeur tastings;
Back in January 2002 the 2000 Grand Cru of Clos des Lambrays really stood out for me at a tasting organised by the UK merchant Howard Ripley.
The problem is that the wines are sometimes not representitive of what eventually gets bottled. I drank a bottle of the retail ‘version’ this week and despite lovely fruit, the palate is like chewing wood – very disappointed – this will probably be affecting the wine in 10 years time – Given that there’s a 6-pack in storage, I hope this is just an isolated batch…
Fight the flies and dine in a restaurant with a cellar to die for. It must be the Bison roaming the fields that attract the flies, but I know what attracted me to Farnsburg. Next time I’ll go in winter!
On Wednesday this week I had the really tough job of visiting Joseph De Bucy – a nice man who makes very tasty Meursaults, and Nicolas Potel for a marathon tasting of 2002’s. In between I had to shoe-horn a 3 hour lunch and afterwards a pizza and lots of water to ensure full concentration for the 2 hour drive home. And the wines? – well you’ll have to look at issue two of the www.burgundy-report.com won’t you – only 2 weeks to go – but suffice to say I’m already making enquiries about some of Mr Potel’s wines 🙂
A mixture of a dead laptop and finding the time means I’ve been very lazy of recent – at least in terms of adding material to the site – Burgundy Report is ticking along nicely for next months issue though. Anyway a nice dinner on Friday evening and no TN’s but here’s a brief overview :
1989 Olivier Leflaive, Corton-Charlemagne – perfect condition, waxy and nutty, very long – super enjoyable
1998 Olivier Leflaive, St.Aubin 1er Charmois – same golden colour as the Corton – stylistically similar but in a less forcefull way – very nice wine
2000 Pirramimma, White Label Shiraz – opaque, big juicy shiraz – as it should be 🙂
1993 Chateau Langoa-Barton – Medium-plus colour, blackcurrant and cedar nose, medium intensity palate with just a little grain to the tannins – nice easy drinking wine – a luncheon claret?
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