Today is the first day of my summer vacation. So last night I had to celebrate the fact that for the coming 5 weeks I don´t have to occupy my days with meetings, budgets, papers etc etc.
I felt like drinking some mature wines. For starters, with a nice slab of foie gras de canard I opened a bottle of
NV Brut Réserve, Mercier
This bottle comes from a mixed case bought a while back. According to the info this bottle is from the 80´s. And that would have been my guess as well.
The nose is big, mature and soft with notes of old shrivelled yellow apples, almond paste, pickled ginger, decaying flowers and old milk chocolate. Not bursting with life but a nice, mellow, mature nose.
It still has some tiny bubbles that tickles the tongue, and notes of yellow apples, almond flakes, gravel and dried flowers. A medium long finish that ends on a fine dry note. Nothing special but it suited me fine last night.
85p (tasted 2014/07)
1964 Barbaresco Cru Montestefano, Alfredo Prunotto
To go with a grilled entrecote and a new very good sauce made out of leeks, bacon, mustard and cream, I opened this beauty. The first sniff was that of decay, but since I have had some practise over the years with mature bottles from the Piedmont hills..., I know it has to have some time in a decanter.
And sure enough, one hour breathing time later it is a whole other creature. The nose then shows beautiful mature Nebbiolo aromas in the shape of dried ceps, rose petals, red cherries, root vegetables and a touch of paint. Very, very fine. Laid back and refined. Perfectly mature.
The taste is long, structured and pure with a lovely mature feel in the mouth. Notes of red cherries, mushrooms, rosehip and beetroot. The tannins are sandy and fine. Didn´t budge all night. Great!
92p (tasted 2014/07)
Now, what to open tonight...?
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