Really looking forward to the Sylvain Pataille Event with our own @Toby.Morrhall at 18:00 this evening.
I checked and I have bought his wines going back to 2012, and nary a dud amongst them.
And giving them some extended cellaring, really does enhance them.
This one was for me, the surprise of the bunch.
Toby described it as being exceptional, and you cannot argue with that opinion.
But Neal Martin, the Vinous top taster gave it 90/100, and wrote “superb” twice having sampled it blind at a London event.
…the third of six. Maybe their enthusiasm has got the better of my taste buds but this is the best so far. Lovely nose, fresh red and black fruits and some compost / forest floor. Similar on tasting, really fresh and easy to drink, savoury fruit with light tannins to provide a bit of grip and good length of flavour. Delicious, I doubt if it will see tomorrow.
So a case of halves from 2015 and the same from 2019.
The ratings on Vinous and Robert Parker speak for themselves.
The 2019 purchase was £150 IB per 12 halves, around £16 per half delivered, for a brilliant sweet wine. If you have not tasted an example of classy Barsac, you have no idea what you are missing.
I also bought the Cypres de Climens in 2015 & 2019. The latter was a meagre £108 per 12 halves. I love Climens, it is expensive but by purchasing the well respected 2nd wine (made exactly the same way as the Grand Vin), but approx. one third of the price, you get the Climens magic at a bargain basement price.
The vintages to buy the Cypres is when the Grand Vin is a blockbuster, and that information is not easy to find. https://www.thewinesociety.com/shop/HistoricProductDetail.aspx?pd=BW5582
This Chateau Doisy Daene Zoom session should not be missed!!
It looked to me like the caveman look.
Maybe a relative of the Paviland Lady?!!?
But Sylvains undoubted prowess at producing terrific wine cannot be denied.
And a really good session on Reynon, Floridene and Doisy-Daene not forgetting Cantegril.
So much info to pick up, such as the highly respected Cantegril property supplies the Society with the wine for our Exhibition bottles.
Here is the video:
Just a note to say that you may not be able to view the video on a mobile device until the morning, but you should be able to view it from a laptop or PC.
This wine is a great antidote for a long and stressful day, with its nose of hedgerow fruit, bramble, plums and baking spice and a fruity, juicy but lithe palate. I love the freshness of the red fruit, the smokiness, the slightly medicinal note and the twist of spice on the finish. It’s not the most complex or demanding of one’s brain cells - which is good, as I’ve got none to call upon this evening.
Well done Freddy and the WS for putting this delicious grape on the map!
Went to try the last part of an ancient 1996 Pommard that was a revelation in one of the first ‘virtual’ tastings back in April. Sadly, it was now over the hill, probably Coravined once too often and stirred the sediment up too much. So it went down the sink…
Kept with the Burgundy theme, and took a glass of this, with a mushroom and onion puff pastry tart with cheese and cream topping.
So vibrant, still very primary fruit, no real signs of age at all. Plenty of acidity which with the red fruit kept it very refreshing. I was expecting some tertiary earthier notes at this age, but this vintage is so good it’s still on primary…it went very nicely with the tart despite that. Sadly, it’s my last bottle of 3, but still 3/4 of it left.
Followed by a 2005 Gruaud Larose with herb crusted rack of lamb. This had a lovely blackcurrant taste to start but softened considerably after an hour or so. Still some tannin but nothing overpowering.
I tried this a couple of weeks ago and thought it was an ok wine but was maybe expecting a bit more from an ‘exhibition’ wine. Have had many blaufrankisch on trips to Austria and Germany over the years and this didn’t quite make it into my favourites. Interesting wine nonetheless.
Ah, but it isn’t an Exhibition range. It’s very much an entry level, ‘introduction’ sort of example. I agree this isn’t complex, but it’s a very good example of the varietal.