It’s been a while since I added some notes to the ‘search machine‘, so about 100 added today. Perhaps another 100 by the weekend.
Cheers
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pavelot 99 savigny 1er la dominode
1999 Jean-Marc Pavelot, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er La Dominode
The first from the case. Medium-plus cherry red – still very young looking. The nose is broad and quite dense, a little meaty, just a little moist undergrowth too – not particularly fruit-driven – though an hour in the glass gives cleaner, higher toned dark mineral notes and finally a little tobacco mixed with red berries. Fresh with intense dark fruit, very linear and quite mineral. The texture is silky and despite the linear presentation gives the impression of some nice oak upholstery – a little grainy tannin adheres to the palate. Very young with a fine future ahead.
Rebuy – Yes
zermatt
Back – without a limp!
Zermatt does have a little magic – dominated by the Matterhorn – yet it is a very commercial environment. The locals seem a nice bunch, rather it is the visiting hoardes that are less bearable. Still, it’s my first time skiing here and considering the poor weather this year, I think we were quite lucky – 4 days of sunny skiing with good snow – yes, I’m a fairweather skier!
From the perspective of a proficient piste skier I found the only redeeming feature of the Klein Matterhorn region to be the stunning views, but the pistes were featureless motorways – particularly on the route to Cervinia. Gornergrat was a little better, Höhetahlli more so and the Röthorn even better. I’d heard someone say that Zermatt has the best piste skiing in the world, but personally I think I still prefer Klosters and Les Trois Vallées.
Some nice bottles were drunk along the way, spoiled by inappropriate glassware, but c’est la vie! Two 1995 Pomerols – Château Plince and Château Lagrange, a lovely 1998 Petit Cheval, a nice shiraz (that I can’t remember the name of!) and a good Recioto de la Valpolicella. Then there was a trio rieslings – 1986 Trittenheimer, 2001 Sipp-Mack and 2002 Rolly-Gassmann, followed by a 2002 Jadot Bourgogne Chardonnay and a 2000 Guyon Corton-Charlemagne. The Charlemagne, at least until it warmed in the glass, was rather disadvantaged by a Swiss ‘Heida’ a wine that is grown at the highest altitude in the area of Wallis (or Valais!). I shall have to find out a little more about these bottles – they cost little more than the Jadot Bourgogne!
Oh-well, back to the mailbox…
rené engel 96 vosne
1996 René Engel, Vosne-Romanée
Medium ruby-red. The nose right from opening is a bit of a star. Deep with a twist of oak before transparent red berry and redcurrant notes come through. Plenty of higher, slightly volatile notes too – but always quite compelling. The palate is just a little more challenging – very forward acidity, indeed borderline ‘too much acidity’, very, very linear presentation, still a little astringent tannin remains, but there’s also some bitterness in the finish. No sign of decline because this is exactly how the wine presented itself for the whole 3 hours before it was gone. A bit of a challenge this bottle, balanced by the lovely aromatics.
Rebuy – Maybe
spring 2007 issue is out
Here you can find the index page for the Spring 2007 Burgundy-Report. It’s easily the biggest issue yet, but as normal for the first issue of the year, the content goes wide, rather than deep.
I will answer such comments as I can until Saturday morning – then I will disappear for a well-earned (for my wife at least – i.e. no laptop!) one week rest.
Thanks, Bill
what’s next(?)
Very little time to add things here this week as I’m finalising the Spring Burgundy Report. The deadline (tomorrow) is immovable as I will go on holiday (Saturday) so the site will in ‘stasis’ for a whole week. But I look forward to responding to your observations on my return.
Once back it will be time to start working on this diary page – despite my efforts to-date, I find it far too ‘generic bloggy’ so will see what can be modified – note that nobody ever promised improvement! 😉
Ciao for now
investing in wine?
Today at Decanter.com http://www.decanter.com/specials/104729.html
Before I make any complaints let us be clear: there is a lot of useful/good advice in “Decanter’s wine investment guide in association with Berry Bros. & Rudd” Now I’ve said that let me take one excerpt from this ‘advice’:
Investment grade wine is also an improving asset. As fine wines mature they become more desirable and therefore more valuable. At the same time, as the wine ages and comes into its drinking window, it begins to be consumed making it even more rare, which in turn adds yet more upward pressure on prices.
I suppose that on the positive side, it’s unlikely that those that cannot afford it will lose in this type of investment. In recent years the investment bubbles have been popping all around us, yet here we find sage advice on why we should invest in a product(s) that is trading at an all-time high and where entry prices of the latest vintages are already cutting off an old (drinking) clientelle. It sounds like another bubble – and I’m not talking Champagne!
Few and far between are the people that annually have access to case quantities of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Petrus, Le Pin, de Vogüé etc. – and they don’t need the money – perhaps ‘investors’ might be offered timeshares in a case? Given the non-availability of these ‘blue chip’ cases what will you actually be allowed to invest in then? Overpriced Figeac or overvalued Vosne?
The only way to get a positive return is if you invest in a cellar with your intended return being years of drinking pleasure. If some of your well-chosen bottles appreciate in value – lucky them, lucky you!
On a last note, let us consider one of the cornerstones of investment – impartial advice. Who here is providing the advice for us? A wine magazine and a merchant – I guess there are parallels to brokers – they make money if the prices go up or down! Though on reflection, perhaps I should have bought that case of 1999 Romanée-Conti from Berry Bros a few years back – it was only £25,000…
96 hospices, corton charlotte dumay
A wine to separate the men from the boys! Joking aside I think you have to be that curious ‘burgaholic’ breed to take enjoyment from a wine like this – the ‘unconverted’ will simply screw up their faces and cry!
1996 Hospices de Beaune, Corton Charlotte Dumay
Classic 1996 Corton. The nose is of blood and iron, eventually red berry fruit from the partially drained glass. The palate is linear and intense – almost metallic acidity pushes you into a quite long finish. The only thing that this wine gives away is the free polish of your teeth. I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s enjoyable right now – but I was (just about) up to the challenge!
Rebuy – Yes
hemingway, kirschtorte and cuckoo clocks
A sunny day out in the country yesterday – German Blackforest country. Of-course Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte (Blackforest Gateau) was eaten (merely okay) and many cuckoo clocks were seen. To the left is the ex-largest cuckoo clock in the world – well in Schonach Germany anyway. The cuckoo weighs in at 20 kilos – but as you will note from the photo, we just missed it! Next onto Triberg with Germany’s highest waterfall – unfortunately the paths were closed off for saftey reasons – but for some unknown reason. I could only take a picture of the lower part of the falls and a plaque to Ernest Hemingway who (it says) visited in 1922.