Weekend Drinking Sept 4

5174DE5D-B1F7-4B9B-8F21-0B22BD5CFE65.jpeg Finished off remaining VC 2008 from last night and so volatile so quickly, would be lovely on some chips if we had any.
Much more pleasurable is this Gamay from Ardèche made by the talented Guillaume Gilles. Dark, pretty colour, lifted floral nose with a large stamp of granitic soil dominating. Serious dark, brooding fruit, that granite grip and absolutely delicious.
 
A new grape variety for me - Forcalla. Apparently the indigenous Valencian grape pre-phylloxera before it was largely replaced by Monastrell.

A bit like a hot climate PN albeit at the weightier end. Holds its 14.5% alcohol well. Quite impressed actually as elegant is not something you associate with Valencian temperatures.

La Forcalla de Antonia 2017 (Rafael Cambra).
 
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Tonight’s duo. The Haag is an exuberant
Kabinett, fleshy, immediate, lots of fruit that almost masks the lime acid and it needs the gentle spritz present to stop it becoming a little too much but as it stands it’s going down well and quickly. The Brunelli is really lovely, incredibly elegant, warming autumnal fruit with orange pith acidity, there’s some leafy truffle like decay and proper complexity of tar, almond, dried meat and coffee bean.
 
A PYCM Chassagne Montrachet Les Ancegnieres 2014 tonight. A delicate and pale golden colour. Turkish Delight on the nose which is very exotic and then hints of pineapple and melon on the palate. The finish is long and rich. A really lovely wine that reminds me how brilliant the PYCM wines are. A Half of a Blank Bottle Moment of Silence 2018 last night was very insipid - I think it's a Cinsault based blend but it was just too inoffensive. I've drunk around a dozen Blank bottles over the last 6 months and this has been the first that disappointed me.

Edited because the Blank wine is Master of None 2017 not the above.
 
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We've just blasted through a J-F Jacouton Collines Rhodaniennes Viognier 2018 with visiting family - it's a super Northern Rhone viognier with all the more dubious traits of the variety held well in check. Lovely elegance for a wine made above St. Joseph vineyards. Low alcohol too - just a very welcome 12.5%. Really good for what it is. And then on to a Jean-Luc Jamet Cotes-du-Rhone L'Enclave 2017, keeping the Northern Rhone theme going. A bit of bacon fat on the nose together with ripe red berry fruit and then it's substantial and savoury on the palate with real conviction for a CdR. I really like this wine - it couldn't be from anywhere else in the world which makes me like it even more.
 
image.jpeg Thom,
No diet, just a day when we had lots of home made cake with plums from the Garden and fresh wipphed cream. Therefore dinner a little bit reduced.
Tonight " Zürcher Geschnetzeltes " with salad and " Roestis ". First a 2011 Sauvignon Blanc from Switzerland. " Ribex " from Bovard. Mature wine, but still Holding well with the typical SB markers. Good start and a well mannerd bottle, really good.
Afterwards a 2006 Chambolle Musigny from Mugnier. Everything you expect from a Great Villages. Perfect fruit, good acidity, intoxicating nose, fresh on it's way to maturity with some way left. Perfect imo for a Villages. A real delight and another example how well lesser vintages can outperform the expectations. Third bottle of really great 2006 Villages. Roumier more open, Vogue more closed but all punching above the ratings.
Cheers
Rainer
 
Puffeney Arbois 2011, a fair bit of which went into the Chicken and Morels. Lovely wine, less concentrated than some in the style but very bright and vibrant still, and only showing a mild oxidation. I think the Macle CdJ offers a little more power if that's your thing, and is still relatively obtainable.

I've tended to avoid dried morels, but at least in this dish have come to the conclusion that was a delusion and I can now eat it all year round. Ooops.

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The highlight of the week end was an impeccable bottle of Ch. D’Issan 1985, which was nigh on perfect, with Margaux berries in full bloom, it was so poised and complex. One of my wines of the year and as good as the bottle of Ch.Talbot 1966 I drank in May.

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Earlier enjoyed a really good old school Gevrey from Phillipe Livera.

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Last night a punchy and exhilarating entry level 2017 Riesling from PJ Kuhn and a 2006 Guigal Hermitage Ex Voto which was still young and could have been an Australian shiraz, but which tasted a bit better today and could do with another five or more years.

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Ian Hampsted said:
The highlight of the week end was an impeccable bottle of Ch. D’Issan 1985, which was night on perfect, with Margaux berries in full bloom, it was so poised and complex. One of my wines of the year and as good as the bottle of Ch.Talbot 1966 I drank in May.

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Earlier enjoyed a really good old school Gevrey from Phillipe Livera.

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Last night a punchy and exhilarating entry level 2017 Riesling From PJ Kuhn and a 2006 Guigal Hermitage Ex Voto which was still young and could have been an Australian shiraz, but which tasted a bit better today and could do with another five or more years.

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I agree with you on the Ex Voto, although this gets pretty much identical treatment to his La La’s I find the results very different. Whilst clearly modern the La’s in my view still cling to their roots even though the expression isn’t what I’d want from a Cote Rotie. I’ve never once thought Ex Voto tasted anything other than anonymous, impressive granted (especially if you like the style) but ultimately something that lacks a sense of identity.
 
Alex Hills said:
Puffeney Arbois 2011, a fair bit of which went into the Chicken and Morels. Lovely wine, less concentrated than some in the style but very bright and vibrant still, and only showing a mild oxidation. I think the Macle CdJ offers a little more power if that's your thing, and is still relatively obtainable.

I've tended to avoid dried morels, but at least in this dish have come to the conclusion that was a delusion and I can now eat it all year round. Ooops.

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No cream??
Dried morels are different to rather than worse than fresh. Unfortunately they are even more expensive.
 
Thom Blach said:
No cream??
Dried morels are different to rather than worse than fresh. Unfortunately they are even more expensive.
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Creme fraiche rather than cream. One gets a lot more dried morels in your 100g than fresh ones so it doesn't seem too ruinous - I think I put about 4 pounds worth in that dish and it seemed like masses.

I once bought a kilo of fresh ones in a market in Turkey for something like 8 euros. Oh well.
 
Niepoort Batuta 2005.

I picked up six bottles if the 04/05 of this at auction a few years ago for less than the price a bottle typically sells for as it had been mis-catalogued as port. Well that wasn’t far off the mark! Big beefy wine with some bitterness to the fruit. Big extraction and density. Young still, though it mellowed in the glass. Went well with single and double Gloucester, best enjoyed with cheese I think.
 
  • 2015 Jean-Claude Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet (7/9/2020)
    Very attractive nose of fresh cherries and violets. Fruit forward on the palate but it still has that blockiness of Chassagne reds that I don’t quite like. Still pretty good though.
  • 2015 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Côtes du Rhône Lieu-Dit Clavin - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône (7/9/2020)
    A blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvedre and Syrah. This is a big wine with very ripe, dark purple fruits that verges into a confiture-like quality. Sunny southern rhone vintages might not be my thing.
  • 2017 J.L. Chave Sélection Côtes du Rhône Mon Coeur - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône (7/9/2020)
    Wow I think this is the best QPR wine I’ve seen. Plush fruits and tannins that made it very pleasant, simple and easy going wine that is very gluggable. 33 SGD!

 
The Sociando was enjoyably open, which a bottle a couple of years ago wasn't, but it still needs another five or ten years.

Photographed deliberately badly, to discourage foraging competition, the small plate distal to the brisket holds barbecued ceps. They were superb.

Thinking about it I should have saved some for tonight's turbot. I remember a dish of sea bass, ceps and padron peppers at the Ledbury which was wonderful.

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Funny you should say that Melvin I have a glass of exactly the same Chave Mon Coeur 2017 in my fancy Lehmann glass. I agree QPR doesn’t get any better at £15 all in here vs. the £35 cut off.
 
Eric Burch said:
The Sociando was enjoyably open, which a bottle a couple of years ago wasn't, but it still needs another five or ten years.

Photographed deliberately badly, to discourage foraging competition, the small plate distal to the brisket holds barbecued ceps. They were superb.

Thinking about it I should have saved some for tonight's turbot. I remember a dish of sea bass, ceps and padron peppers at the Ledbury which was wonderful.

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I was given two packets of padron peppers by a Riverford subscriber. As at a famous Wimps a couple of years ago I strongly suspect they grew the wrong species, they provided a very warming experience indeed.
I have a severe case of cep envy. It is a delicacy best enjoyed in quantity.
 
There's a fine Trillin essay about going to Padron to eat them.

Most supermarkets specialise in ones consistently without heat, which is clearly what the consumer wants. Natoora ones have about 1 in 50 spicy, by my informed reckoning. Someone near me grows them brilliantly, and with about 1 in 10 being not merely fiery but incandescent. Sadly covid means I've not got any from him this year.
 
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