Two tasting notes...

...of the same wine. Here is the first:

This is a frightfully, lean, austere, ferociously tannic wine that is nearly devoid of fruit and charm. There is some spice and new oak on the nose, but very little flavour and flesh to what is, in essence, a wine of all structure - acidity, alcohol and wood tannin.
76p

And here is the other:

A gentle, fine, mature nose with notes of old tobacco, leather, cool red currants and cherries, and warm rocks. There is a tiny touch of green bell peppar, but not in a disturbing way. Nice maturity.
The taste is cool, mature and soft with some dry tannins but also with a soft, round, red fruit that is still lively. Some red currants, blueberries and cherries. Medium long finish that ends with a nice dry twist. Touch of tobacco. Very nice.
87p

And the wine? It is

As you may have guessed, the first tasting note is from Parker from 1997, and the second is mine from last night. I am sure that Parker was "right" when he tried it in 1997, but I was also "right" when I had it last night. Conclusion - don´t trust tasting note, try for yourself! :-)

A Great New Zealand Pinot!

Haven´t tried anything from Ata Rangi before so I looked forward to uncork, well unscrew the top of this one. And my expectations were met - the best Pinot I have tasted fron New Zealand except for Escarpments Moana and Kupe and one or two Felton Roads.

2009 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir
A deep, fine, warm nose with notes of strawberrys, rasberries, a lovely touch of forest smoke and lots of sweet dark fudge. A lot of sweetness but not overly soo. Very good structure on the nose. And so yummy!
The taste is like drinking velvet, with beautiful sweet red fruit - sweet lingonberries, rasberries and red cherries, cool, sandy tannins and a refreshing acidity that makes the mouth salivating. Long and fresh. This is great stuff!
94p   (tasted 2011/11)

The Perfect Ones - Part 2

This perfect creature was drunk during the summer of 2008. Me and a friend had some wines in all simplicity, and I opened this, expecting a nice, open for business, mature Barolo, but when we put our noses in the glass, we just looked up at each other in pure amazement. You could sense the purity, the complexity, the greatness, from the first smell and sip right through the last one.
I am very glad that I managed to source a couple more bottles!

1982 Barolo Bricco Rocche, Ceretto
A deep, mellow but at the same time intense nose with stunning expressions of sweet red cherries, orange peel, beetroot, dried rose petals, tea bags and sweet pipe tobacco. Layers upon layers of the sweetest fruit imaginable. So perfect mature. This is breathtakingly beautiful!
The taste just oozes over the tongue with an intensity and purity that escapes the spoken word. Perfect fruit, perfect tannins, perfect structure. You don´t want to smallow this elixir. Just marvellous! I imagine that other well stored bottles should continue on this level for at least 6-8 years.
100p   (tasted 2008/06)

Dinner last night & lunch today

Last night I grilled some tender veal filet, matched with a creamy pommes dauphine and a madeira- and thymesauce. With that I thought the new vintage - at least for me - of Allegrinis La Grola would suit nice - and it did!

2007 La Grola, Allegrini
A beautiful perfumed nose, almost erotic in its deep, sensual, multi layered way, with stunning aromas of sweet tobacco, pickled cherries, leather, autumn leaves and touch of cinnamon. Stunning nose!
The taste is much tighter with lots of sweet blueberries, cookie dough and sandy, young tannins. A long, warm finish with good, cleansing acidity. Some chocolate flavours. Very, very good, although very young.
Gonna pick up a few more of this puppy!
92p   (tasted 2011/11)

For lunch today I made a chicken fricassee with mushrooms, onions, autumn apples and mustard. I opened a young generic white Burgundy from Louis Jadot that worked wonders with the apple/mustard/thyme flavours.

2010 Bourgogne, Louis Jadot
A fresh, youthful nose with notes of yellow apples, pears, butter fried nuts and warm grass. A touch warm, in a good way. Melon and sweet minerals appears after a while. Very good, although not that multi-dimensionell.
The taste is young, fresh and pure with notes of apple, melon and lemons. The acidity is fresh and medium high. A very good generic Burgundy.
86p   (tasted 2011/11)

Dinner at Sjömagasinet, Gothenburg

The restaurant Sjömagasinet in Gothenburg is one the best restaurants in Sweden. It had one star in Michelin Rouge up until the spring of 2011 when the prevoius owner sold the restaurant and it lost its star, according to the Michelin rules. But I guess the new owner will get it back. I was there last autumn and the quality was at the same high standard last week when I revisited.

We started things of with some rosé champagne while browsing the meny.

NV Bruno Paillard Premièr Cuvée Rosé
A fine, elegant, earthy nose with notes of fresh raberries, dry licorice and a nice minerality. Very fresh and succulent on the nose.
The taste is equally fresh and elegant with a high, lovely acidity. Very nice notes of red currants and rasberries. Finish pure and salivating.
92p   (tasted 2011/11)

I then ordered the Wagner meny, named after the owner Ulf Wagner. They describe it as classic with tastes that both will surprise and are recognizable.
The amuse was a cold pumpkin soup with crab and lime - so tasty!
The first course was salad on Swedish lobster with roasted pine kernels, pistachio nuts, yellow raisins and a parmesan dressing. The flavours were precise and the lobster was lip smacking good!
The next course was a poached filet of turbot with a brown butter- and oystersauce, a baked egg yolk and a fried anchovy. That turbot was the most perfect fish I have tasted in some time.

With these two first courses we had:
2005 Pouilly-Fuissé Terroir de Vergisson, Verget
I really like the Chardonnays from Verget, and this was no exception. A fine, steely nose with lots of sweet lemons and limes, gun smoke, licorice and a touch of vanilla oak. Very good.
The taste is young, tight and promising with relatively high acidity and sweet yellow fruit. Same note of gun smoke as on the nose. Needs a couple of years to unfold.
89p   (tasted 2011/11)

The third course was a grilled monkfish "Rossini" with madeira sauce, grilled foie gras, mushrooms and truffles. It was a great dish but the turbot outshined it on this night. Since this dish was little heavier, I thought it needed a red Bordeaux.

2004 Château Belair
I have not tasted a Belair since the 1982, which I have found memorys of. I guessed that this bottle, given the vintage, would be on the lighter side, and complement the fish, not kill it.
A cool, somewhat shy nose with notes of fresh stables, blueberries, dry tobacco and some leather aromas. On the lighter side but with a nice character.
The taste is a little withdrawn with lingonberries, a dusty summer road and dry autumn leaves. Very nice with the fish but a tad dry on its own. Not a wine I will remember but it did good on this night.
84p   (tasted 2011/11)

The dessert was a yummy cremè brulée with a pear sorbet.
I slept well that night...

Just Bought

This beaty just arrived! I have a fondness for the more manly Bordeaux wines :-), aka Latour and its mini cousin Montrose. Have had the fortune to drink lots of great vintages over the years, the 1937, 1949, 1955, 1964, 1970, 1978, and of course the 1990, which is a perfect wine in my book.
But this vintage I haven´t tasted, so I will look forward to doing the deed!

Notes from yesterday

Started dinner with a mushroom soup and a medium dry Madeira - a perfect combination!

10 Year Old Verdelho, Blandy´s
A fine, elegant nose with notes of seashell, lime, orange peel and pickeld ginger. Very deep and complex. After a while some rubbery notes emerge, and a very good minerality note. Very, very good.
The taste is intense, medium big and tight with that extraordinary Madeira acidity, paired with great fruit - lime, oranges and some mango. Long, long finish with a touch of smoke. A great 10 year old!
92p   (tasted 2011/11)

With some fresh crabs, scallops, tiger prawns and shrimps I opened the two Chardonnay in previous post. But, alas, the Sonoma-Cutrer was corked...:-(
But the Verget was on the other hand great!

1997 Corton-Charlemagne, Verget
At first a very tight, mineraly nose with a touch of buttered yeallow fruit, but not much more. Shy at first. But with air it unrevels with the sweetest fruit there is, gun powder scents and a touch of vanilla oak. Very, very deep, and powerful. Just stunning!
The taste is multi layered with gorgeous sweet fruit, perfect acidity and a very, very long finish. Sweet lemons, lime, melon and a touch of pine apple. And wave after wave with pure minerals. Still on the young side! Drop dead gorgeous!
96p   (tasted 2011/11)

We needed a red wine to finish the cheeses and the night of, and I had 2 hours before decanted this beaty:

1999 Barolo Pajana, Domenico Clerico
A deep, fine, smooth nose with notes of sweet black cherries, pipe tobacco, leather and some vanilla oak. There is some notes of maturity. Very, very good. A lovely creamy fruit. Great!
The taste is big, multidimensionell and steady with more tannins than the nose leads you to believe. Very sweet, yummy red/black fruit. In the long finish the tannins are really noticable. This still needs 5-7 years. But it is a great drink today!
92p   (tasted 2011/11)

Quality control

The chef, aka me..., have to check the wine for the mushroom soup that we have for starter, and aaaaaaah Madeira - what a great way to start a dinner, and to keep the spirit going in the chef...

In a couple of hours...

...I will be drinking these, hopefully, great Chardonnays with some fresh shellfish - crab, tiger prawns, shrimps and scallops!
Stay tuned for a report later!

Drinking tonight

With a nice steak, some fried potatoes and a madeira sauce, a classic Bordeaux worked well. Not a blockbuster, not a well known name, not expensive, but very drinkable a friday evening.

2007 Château Reysson, Haut-Medoc
A fine, pure, classic nose with the notes you suppose to find, and longing for - sweet black currants, gravel, leather and some tobacco. Cool and fine, althought it is somewhat reserved. A touch of vanilla oak. Very good.
The taste feels younger than the nose, with more red than black currants, cool tannins and a long, fresh finish. Would benefit from 3-5 years cellaring. The finish is a touch angular. Good though. And it complimated the steak with grace.
85p   (tasted 2011/11)

And tomorrow there will some , hopefully, stunning wines - stay tuned! :-)

Just Bought

Picked up these puppies at the state monopoly today - 2009 vintage. But how long should one wait before doing the deed...? :-)

And now, what to open for dinner...?

A hedonistic night!

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to Miran "The Helicopter" Kegl for some assessment of various bottles of fermented grapejuice. Visiting Miran you need a large spittoon or the next day will be heavy...

We got started with an array of white wines - soon there were decanters all over the table! By the way - all wines tasted double blind - and the guesses were widespread and in a few instances accurate...

2005 Hochrain Riesling, Franz Hirtzberger
A nice, semi mature nose with notes of bakelite, dried yellow fruit, cinnamon and some burned bread. Medium deep. It smells of Riesling, but not overly typical.
The taste is rather big, dry and stony with lots of autumn apples, warm gravel and the same bakelite note as on the nose. Semi mature and nice.
86p   (tasted 2011/10)

2007 Dhron Hofberg, A.J. Adam
What! Haven´t heard of the this producer before - but he/she (?) fashions a beautiful Riesling.
A cool, elegant nose with notes of lemons, wet stones, grey pears and a gorgeous minerality. A little on the shy side, but when you look close, this is a beauty.
The taste is fresh, pure and austere (in a good way), with lots of precious fruits - yellow apples, melon and lemons. The finish is long, pure and consists of wave upon wave of sweet minerals. Intense and pure, but not for the hedonist.
92p   (tasted 2011/10)

2007 Diatom, Huber
Well, almost the opposite of the above. The sugar and alcohol hunters dream...
A deep, sweet, almost dirty nose with sugared lemons, cookie dough and overripe apples. Very big. It has a dirty note that don´t air of. And with higher temperature it becomes even sweeter. Not for me.
The taste is big and steady with lots and lots of sweet yellow fruit, a doolop of grain alcohol (16%!) and a long, and actually impressive finish. When it gets warm it looses its structure, but if you drink it in the first 10 minutes from the refrigerator it´s not that bad...
73p   (tasted 2011/10)

2008 Booker White
This beauty consists of 60% Rousanne and 40% Viognier. Interesting, since I normally can´t stand viognier...
A big, fruity, somewhat sweet nose with lots of ripe peaches, sweet lime, eraser and a touch of lavender. Broad but with a good structure. Deep. Lots of summer flowers. Very, very good.
The taste is more tight than the nose and with more stone and minerals notes, even though the ripe peaches and limes are there. There is a warmth at the end (14,9%) but not in a disturbing way. And it doesn´t fall apart when it gets warm. This I like!
91p   (tasted 2011/10)

A very nice set of white wines had made us ready for som red heavy hitters, and Miran began producing decanter after decanter...

Flight I
1994 Lauren Glen Cabernet Sauvignon
Aaah - a blast from the past! Bought a couple of those 8-10 years ago, but they are all long gone. But what a pleasant reunion.
A deep, creamy, perfectly mature nose with lots of decadent black currants, sandel wood, atumn leaves and tobacco. What a gorgeous ripe fruit there is here. Can´t be anything else than a almost mature Cabernet Sauvignon.
The taste is rounded, but firm in the right places, with waves of sweet black fruit, both black currants, cherries and a touch of black olives. You can feel the tannins right at the end, indicating that this baby can hold for many more years, but it is a treat to drink right now.
94p   (tasted 2011/10)

1997 Cortaccio
Aaaaaaah - what a beauty! This perennial favourite of mine (although I couldn´t pin it...) continues to impresse. A stunning, broad, deep, powerful nose with masses of rich, sweet cherry fruit, both red and black. And the spectrum continues with autumn leaves, forest smoke, dried flowers and a touch of vanilla oak - very complex and intense!
The taste follow up with a stunning structure, were the tannins, fruit, acidity is in (almost) perfect alignment. Lovely sandel wood, dried roses and sweet pipe tobacco flavours flows over the tongue. Haven´t still, in my mind, hit its plateau of maturity, and when it does, behold!
96p   (tasted 2011/10)

2003 La Ricolma
Didn´t see that coming - a 100% Merlot from Tuscany - haven´t tasted any vintage earlier.
A deep, tight and creamy nose with lots of black fruits, mostly blackberries and cherries, with a hint of oak vanilla. Warm road dust and a whiff of sour milk. Very deep and attractive.
The taste is big and steady with lovely sweet fruit and a boatload of still young tannins. A long, warm, creamy finish that tell that it need some more time in the cellar. Impressive though.
93p   (tasted 2011/10)

2007 Pride Merlot Vintner Select Cuvée
A big, sweet, over-the-top nose with notes of raisins, black cherries, boysen berries and a hefty dose of vanilla oak. It has its qualities but a tad to sweet for my liking.
The taste is tighter than the nose, with bold tannins and notes of blackberries, sweet rosehips and vanilla oak. The initial taste is very good, but the finish is all about alcohol warmth and a somewhat disjointed structure.
85p   (tasted 2011/10)

Miran thought we had done well...so he produces a second flight with two wines. And I contributed with a bottle.

Flight II
2003 Barolo Pie Rupestris, Cappellano
A very deep, elegant, fine tuned nose with cool red fruit in form of red currants, cherries and rasberries. A very fine gravelly note. Dry licorice and rosehips ads to the complexity. Very far from the previous blockbuster, this wine is right up my alley. Lovely.
The taste is cool, restrained and with a seedy character. Lots of sweet red fruit, relatively soft tannins and a elegant finish. Very, very good.
Wonderful to drink another gem from Teobaldo. I will never forget the three times I have met with the "gentle giant" of Barolo. And keeping with his wishes, I will not post a score of this wine.

2001 Barolo Le Vigne, Sandrone
And it gets even better! This stunning wine explodes from the glass with the purest expression of red cherries imaginable, mixed with rosehips, dried flowers, and a touch vanilla. A lovely creamy structure. Very deep. Just gorgeous!
The taste is concentrated, full of red fruit extract, finely polished tannins and a finish to die for. Utterly captivating and, really, in a very good drinking window. Beautiful!
But the Cannubi Boschis from the same year is even better - 100p the last time I tasted it!
97p   (tasted 2011/10)

1969 Barolo, Pio Cesare
I brought this older gentleman as I contrast to what I thought would be an array of young wines...:-)
The nose is soft, gentle, but with plenty of life, and nice notes of root vegetables, rosehips, tea and autumn apples. A lot of wet earth after a while. Very good on the nose.
The taste is fully mature with soft, precious red fruit, although it has become a little on the dry side. A medium long, dry, nice finish. Went very well with the food.
86p   (tasted 2011/10)

And we were not finished yet - Miran thought that we needed something to warm us with on this late autumn evening.

1985 Graham´s Vintage Port
A tight, fine, compact nose with lovely sweet black fruit and notes of pan roasted nuts, raisins and semi sweet chocolate. Very deep. A wonderful sweetness.
The taste is big and bold, with a tight structure, waves of sweet tannins intermingled with black cherries, chocolate covered orange peels and dark fudge. Just yummy, but this baby needs another 5-10 years.
93p   (tasted 2011/10)

1985 Taylor´s Vintage Port
This is tighter, sweeter and more broad shouldered than the Graham. And what sweet, magic fruit it has! Rasberries, strawberried and boatloads of red and black cherries. This is just great! Very, very deep. Still has much primary fruit.
The taste is compact, intense and lovely with masses of rich, sweet, decadent black fruit combined with layers upon layers of big, strapping tannins. A minute long finish with a lovely warm mouth feel. Stunning! Needs another 10-15 years.
95p   (tasted 2011/10)

Thanks Miran for a great evening with lots of wine, laughter, and - thankfully! - no helicopter! :-)

Finally!

Naming a blog Barolista and up until now, not having one Barolo in the posts??? Well, here is one now - and there will be lots more to come...:-)

2001 Barolo San Giovanni, Gianfranco Alessandria
Bought in Alba at the estate. It really stood out when tasting through their range, although the 2004 Barbera d`Alba Vittoria also was great (92p).
A deep, fine, tight nose at first with lots of sweet red currants, red cherries and some immature rasberries. With air the fruit becomes sweeter and notes of sandel wood, dry licorice and wood smoke emerges. After three hours in the decanter there is dried roses all over the place! Very, very good.
The taste is at the beginning very tight with sweet tannins as the solid impression, but with air the gorgeous red fruit shines through. Some dry licorice, wet forest floor an a hint of tobacco as well. A very, long, dry finish. This beauty has, with some decanting, started to open up a little, but I will refrain from open another bottle for another 3-4 years.
93p   (tasted 2011/10)

The Perfect Ones - Part 1

I have taken notes on wines since 1991, that´s 20 years now (where did they go? :-)). I taste on average around 600 wines per year. Still I have only scored 22 different wines (although some more than once) with 100p. I may have a high threshold for perfection? Or I don´t drink enough great wines? :-)
Anyway, this serie, in 22 parts, will highlight these - in my view - perfect wines. And hopefully there will be more to come!

1964 Grands-Echezeaux, Leroy
Well, what better start then with a perfect Burgundy from my birth year! This was tasted among other 64`s to celebrate my 40th birthday (see the others below).
A bottomless deep, hauntingly perfect nose with the sweetest strawberrys imaginable, wet earth, some smoke and a touch of wood. It has layers upon layers of sweet, decadant fruit, although the strawberries is the dominant part. Almost to good on the nose to drink!
But drank it we did - and what nectar it was! Perfect maturity, sweet, sweet fruit matched with warm herbs, and those, almost, rotten vegetables smell and taste, that great Burgundy have. Some forest smoke. The tannins are perfectly integrated, but still leaves a mark in the finish, which is over one minute long. Utterly gorgeous!
100p   (tasted 2005/02)

The other wines were:
1990 Dom Perignon (mag)   (93p)
1964 Gonzalez Byass Finest Dry Oloroso   (97p)
1964 Batard-Montrachet, Roger de Jounnes   (84p)
1964 Corton Grancey, Louis Latour   (92p)
1964 Corton Les Marechaudes, Doudet-Naudin   (96p)
1964 Clos des Tart, Mommensin   (88p)
1964 Clos de Vougeot, Château de la Tour   (93p)
1964 Romanée-St-Vivant, Louis Latour   (95p)
1964 Romanée-St-Vivant, DRC   (92p)
1964 Chambertin, Pierré Andre   (88p)
1964 Bual, Justino Henriques   (89p)
1964 Bual, Blandy´s   (93p)

Last night

Last night I made a dish with tiger prawns, and some garlic, selleri, fennel and lime - very tasty. With that kind of ingredients I was eager for some Riesling, and I opened:

2009 Vom Roten Schiefer Riesling, Clemens Busch
A fine, elegant, young nose with notes of oranges, honey, lemons and lots of sweet minerals. Deep and spicy. Some fennel/licorice. Very fine. A beautiful after-the-rain note after a while.
The taste is elegant and spicy with very good acidity and mineral laden yellow fruit. Touch of lime. Tangerine and orange peel in the finish. On its own it is great drinking, but with the food it is a little too sweet. Long.
91p   (tasted 2011/11)

Four 2001 Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Tasted these nice Châteauneuf-du-Pape´s at a friends house a month ago. Ranging from good to great, none of them deserves, in my book, the lofty scores given by the one-and-only Mr Parker...

2001 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Clos des Papes
A deep, mature, fine nose with notes of autumn leaves, dry fudge, warm herbs and some dried flowers. Very nice, soft, gentle but with lots of character.
The taste is rounded and mature with a nice core of softened tannins and dried red fruit. A nice warmth in the finish, which is medium long. Some old tobacco. Very good.
This one was the only really mature wine of the four, but in a very good stage. I had it as my favourite.
92p   (tasted 2011/10)

2001 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Marie Beurrier, Henri Bonneau

A deep, earthy, fruity nose with notes of warm red fruit - rasberries and red currants, with licorice and rubbery notes. A touch modern in its fruityness. Good. The warmth is attractive.

The taste is more tight with a tough core of tannins and acidity, and the fruit really doesn´t match the tannins. The finish is long and dry. Becomes a little more aggreable with air, but the dryness will always be there. Good though, and went well with the food.

85p   (tasted 2011/10)

2001 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de Mon Aieul, Pierre Usseglio

A fine, cool, elegant nose with lots of assorted herbs, violets, dry leather and forest smoke. Very good and elegant. A bit meaty after a while.

The taste is also cool and elegant with a touch of maturity and very good sweet red fruit - mostly red currants and rasberries. A very fine structure. A long and elegant finish. Very, very nice.

91p   (tasted 2011/10)

2001 Châteaneuf-du-Pape Les Quartz, Domaine de Caillou

A big, dark, earthy nose with notes of iron/blood, old tobacco and leather, and dried red fruit. This is not elegant a bit, rather the opposite. Almost brutal. Very young. Somewhat foursquare. Opens up a bit in the glas.

The taste is big and steady with very fresh, chewy tannins and lots of sweet fruit to match them. Very, very long. A lot of tannins in the finish. This has potential, but is very, very young now.

89p   (tasted 2011/10)

We also tasted 2001 Clarendon Hills Blewitt Springs Vineyard, that was really good but very sweet. It also felt rather young but the question is if its going to get better with age? (88p) The 2011 Clarendon Hills Kangarilla Vineyard was on the other hand a complete mess, with an overdose of toothpaste, sage and eucalyptus on the nose and cherries in licquer, sweet licorice and lots of alcohol in the taste (65p)

Just Bought

This 1964 Pommard will nicely complement the other 1964 Pommards in the cellar...:-) To my memory I haven´t tried anything from Andre Morey, but then again, there are so many Morey familys in Burgundy!

A friday of...

This friday my girlfriend and I took the day of - a long walk in fresh autumn air and then some time in front of an open fire before making some dinner. First of some New Zeeland Chardonnay:

2009 Neudorf Nelson Chardonnay

A fine, open, fruity nose with notes of white peaches, butter flowers, sweet lemons and a nice minerality. Very good. A fine buttery note when it gets a little warmer. A touch of smoke as well.

The taste is cool, fresh and crisp with lemon, peach and star fruit notes with a nice acidity backing the fruit. Medium long and with a nice warm feeling in the end. Very nice.

87p   (tasted 2011/11)

Continued to sip the Neudorf Chardonnay while preparing dinner and letting the Pinot I had opened to breathe.

2009 Volnay, Camille Giroud

Very restrained when I pulled the cork, but after two hours in a big decanter it really opened up.

It has a deep, earthy, spicy nose with lovely notes of red currants, lingonberries, licorice and christmas spicies. After a while some meaty notes. Deep and earthy. Very, very good, although very young.

The taste is tight and focused with nice notes of sweet lingonberries, red currants and nearly mature rasberries. Cool and fresh. Very good structure. The finish is medium long with a lovely, fresh acidity. Needs some years in the cellar though. Went perfectly with a deeply flavoured mushroom sauce (from hand picked mushroom by yours truly) with pasta and 24 month reggiano.

92p   (tasted 2011/11)

Wednesday dinner

With some grilled chicken fillets, pappardelle pasta and home made tomatoe sauce, a New Zeeland Pinot Noir worked very well indeed.

2008 James Milton Clos de Ste Anna Pinot Noir Na´both´s Vineyard

A deep, sweet, fine nose with notes of cookie dough, butter fried root vegetables, ripe cherries and rasberries and a nice touch of licorice. Very good. Some spicy notes after a while. Very good, sweet fruit.

The taste is round, sweet and yummy with nice red fruit - think rasberries, lingonberries and red cherries. A nice acidity keeps it from being too sweet. The finish is medium long, but it ends  a little on the light side. Very good though. And perfect with the chicken!

88p   (tasted 2011/11)

A great way to start - 4 lovely Madeira´s!

At the last get together for one of my tasting group we were treated to four Madeira wines that the organizer for the day had bought on the island a couple of weeks before - thanks Håkan! When the wines were poured, some amazing scents just filled the room. As always, a treat to drink good Madeira!

5 year Old Bual, Cossart Gordon
A deep, pure, lovely nose with notes of pan fried nuts, almond paste, pine and some old military chocolate... Very pure and fine.
The taste is tight, young and a touch green with notes of mature yellow apples, chocolate and some nutty aromas. Medium long. Very good.
86p   (tasted 2011/09)

15 year Old Bual, Cossart Gordon
10 years older but a big step up the quality ladder! The nose is very deep, intense and pure with notes of milk chocolate, sweet undergrowth, balsamic vinegar and sweet almonds. Very deep and hauntingly beautiful.
The taste is laser focused with cream and acidity in harmony - mature red apples, chocolate cream, almonds and some detergent (in a very positive way!). The finish lasts over one minute. Very intense. You can sit and sip this one for hours...
93p   (tasted 2011/09)

Centennial Blend, Blandy´s
This blend consists of 25% each of the four major Madeira grapes - Sercial, Verdelho, Bual and Malmsey, and it has been stored 25 years on casks.
The nose is very deep and mature with notes of burned almonds, autumn leaves and some smoke. A warm, earthy feeling about it. Feels like an old Barolo in some way. Very good, but a little atypical.
The taste is very intense and concentrated with notes of warm earth, honeycoated almonds and some autumn forest fire. Very, very long. An impressive wine but I don´t know if I really like this kind of blends, it becomes somewhat muddled...Well, a very good wine all the same.
90p   (tasted 2011/09)

1969 Bual, Cossart Gordon
Well, this is the real thing! A hauntingly beautiful nose with gorgeous notes of almonds, sweet lime, wet dog, cookie dough, blood grape and perfectly ripe rasberrys. This nose gives me that special tingling feeling down my spine, just stunning!
The taste matches the nose with impressive power, intensity and depth, with notes of mature red apples, balsamic vinegar, toasted almonds and sweet lime. The finish just goes on, and on, and on... Very, very impressive and drop dead gorgeous!
96p   (tasted 2011/09)