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Wall-to-wall Burgundy
January 25th, 2012 by
Last time we were in this most attractive and accommodating building, The Institute of Materials, it was also sunny – but it was 30 Celcius on 30th September – an awful challenge for tasters.
This time the sky was also bright and the atmospheric pressure was high, but the temperature was 30 degrees lower – altogether more conducive to quiet, calm, contemplative tasting.
We had a small, focused event – serious trade customers only – and can boast great conditions for tasting. Proper Riedel Burgundy glasses – thank you Riedel for the sponsorship – space to taste, and – for long periods – hear-a-pin-drop-silence. Tasting should always be fun, but sometimes lovely wines deserve quiet attention.
Burgundy 2010 tasting
Jean-Marie and Vicki Fourrier joined us, as did Sylvain and Odette Cathiard. We placed their tables facing each other at either end of the room, though actually they seemed to spend most of the day chatting to each other. Gevrey and Vosne are a long way apart , you know. They need to come to London to meet half way. Perhaps they need neutral territory, who knows.
Anyway the wines looked good – we showed Vosne Village, Nuits Thorey and Vosne Malconsorts from Sylvain, and from Jean-Marie we showed Gevrey Village, Gevrey Goulots and Gevrey Clos St Jacques. We also showed the full range from Henri et Philippe Jouan in Morey, the full range from Francois Bertheau in Chambolle, most of the range from Confuron-Gindre in Vosne, four wines from Heresztyn in Gevrey, and two new wines from Henri Delagrange in Volnay
From quiet conditions to noisy ones! We had a dinner for thirty, with Sylvain and Odette Cathiard at 28-50 the same evening. Maybe the wine fuelled noisy exuberance, but the decibel level was high. we put out a few 2010s left over from the tasting as a pre dinner “drink” then served Champagne – Jacques Picard, of course followed by Amoureuses 2007 from Bertheau, Clos St Denis 2007 from Jouan and then from Sylvain Cathiard, our guest of honour: NuitsThorey 07–Vosne Orveaux 05–Vosne Malconsorts 06.
Sylvain Cathiard and guests
Saturday was marmalade making: glorious, house-filling aromas of bitter Seville oranges (VERY GOOD) followed by Brentford v Walsall: aimless, frustrating 0-0 draw when they should have walked to victory (VERY BAD). Notice I write “they” not “we”.
Sunday was bus tour around London, including a special meeting with the Queen.
The Queen meets Sylvain and Odette Cathiard
After a couple of hours on an open-topped tour bus, we’d seen enough of chilly blue skies and there was only one thing for it; a restorative mug of hot chocolate!
Warming up at Riding House Cafe
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2010 Burgundy offer coming up tomorrow 9th January
January 8th, 2012 by
A very early morning flight to Lyon on Thursday to finalise allocations and organise samples for this week’s tasting. Back on an equally early flight yesterday to this charming heart-warming welcome form my lovely daughters. And I’d only been away 2 days. It’s lovely to feel missed sometimes, especially when you come back to a welcome like this.
On Thursday it tipped down with rain all day, albeit was very mild. Friday was lovely. Here’s a shot looking across from the south to Chambolle.
Growers are anxious there seems to have been, so far, no real winter and sap has not really sunk back into the plants. There are potential serious problems if a sudden cold snap comes on. Thousands of plants were lost in December 2009 when temperatures dropped suddenly to minus 20 Celcius. This was just the start of a whole series of reasons why 2010 is such a small harvest.
We’ll publish the Burgundy offer tomorrow, (9th January) but for a preview, it will be featuring the following:
Henri Delagrange, Volnay (NEW) - wines of great freshness and energy; spice and red fruit notes and well-priced.
Domaine Heresztyn, Gevrey Chambertin – consistent as always: elegant , supple forward style; very fine, good value.
Domaine Fourrier, Gevrey Chambertin – dramatically reduced quantities; tragic as this is a great year for them.
Domaine Henri et Philippe Jouan, Morey St Denis (NEW) – tiny artisanal domaine; supple, charming and delicious wines.
Domaine Francois Bertheau, Chambolle-Musigny – our second year working together; brilliant, pure intensity throughout the whole range.
Domaine Confuron-Gindre, Vosne Romanee (NEW) – another Confuron, this one for the first time in UK; cool elegant styles, great vineyards, but again small quantities.
Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Vosne Romanee – the great Sylvain’s final vintage.
Domaine Guyon, Vosne Romanee – powerful, structured wines, lots of whole bunches.
We’ve been to Burgundy a lot in the last year, and have been blesed with some great tip-offs about up and coming estates. It seems doubly fortunate for us that the last two vintages have been so good. It’s not our preference to squeeze an allocation out of an already well-known estate, but to look and think and explore for ourselves. So don’t be put off if some of these names are new to you. Our track record is proven from the 12 years we’ve been working with now famous names such as Sylvin Cathiard and Domaine Fourrier, so we trust you’ll have confidence to give some of the others a try.
Quantities are tiny from some domaines, and this, if it is coupled with heavy demand, will mean that we will have no wine for new customers for the established names. But there is plenty of excellent wine in the offer, and 2010 is a beautiful vintage.
Lance Foyster
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Taking children to restaurants (2)
December 14th, 2011 by
If you can't take the heat...
For Isabelle’s birthday a couple of weeks ago we made a family trip to London’s Best Retaurant which happens also to be Her Favourite Restaurant. Our daughters are now 9 and 12, well-behaved and heavily exposed – if only that they can’t help hearing their parents’ conversations – to the world of London fine dining. They have actually been quite (very) conservative for most of their lives with the food they will try unless they are forcefed, or unless there is the carrot of a piece of chocolate as reward. On a memorable moment Yasmine was reduced to tears faced with the challenge of a mussel on a plate in a restaurant in Banyuls. But that was three years ago. Recently, however, we have seen encouraging developments, so we thought it time to try again.
The Ledbury also happens to be a very important customer for CFWines so we know the team well, which always makes for a relaxed and friendly experience. The place was buzzing on a busy Saturday lunch and we spotted a few bottles of “our” wines on various tables. The flame grilled mackerel was as marvellous as ever, and for main courses we ate between us pork, lamb, venison and sea bass. All the plates went back respectably empty. For dessert - no doubt with the girls in mind – Brett sent up a whole range of desserts for us to work our way through. With help from the younger members, we rose to the challenge!
And then a quick chat downstairs with Brett and the team. Isabelle reported a great birthday. Thanks to all!
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Portfolio Tasting
October 15th, 2011 by
Every moment is busy at CF Wines at the moment. We havejust welcomed Sally Ann, the fifth member of our team, (more to follow) bought new computers and spread into the next door office to give us all a bit more room to breathe. We’re also struggling with the new IT systems recently introduced in the bonded warehouse we use, and there is a fair amount of cursing going on in our accounts department at the moment. Please bear with us!
Most of the sales-related activities of our business seem to involve putting on or attending tastings, visits to customers and also taking customers to meet our suppliers. We’ve just waved goodbye to Mike Eaton from TerraVin NZ and Mac Forbes from the Yarra Valley Australia both of whom were here for a couple of weeks to justify the distances involved. At various events they both met a large number of our (and their) customers.
Our Portfolio Tasting was the focal point of their visit, and they were joined by another half dozen of our suppliers from Austria, France and Portugal. It came hard on the heels of the inaugural Dirty Dozen, which, for many who came seems to have been the best tasting of the last 12 months. But for us the Portfolio Tasting is the big event in our calendar where we show well over a hundred wines, and feature a selection from everyone we’re buying from. The day we picked was one of those crazy hot days, where London was hotter than Athens and most other parts of Southern Europe, and so tasting conditions were quite challenging, and we spent a lot of money on ice! But we had a successful event, and a very positive write up from Anthony Rose in the Independent on Saturday (15/10/2011)
Now next week we have Jose Lievens in London. Jose is winemaker and owner, with his wife and sister in law, of Champagne Jacques Picard. He is coming over to visit some clients with us, but also to present his wines at a Champagne tasting at Fortnum and Mason where his wines, last month, were featured as Champagne of the Month. We are thrilled and very proud to have made so much progress with Jose’s wines in less than a year. The Non Vintage is poured by the glass at Chez Bruce, Texture and 28-50, and the Rose is poured at The Ledbury. The Art de Vigne vintage is poured (from magnum of course) at Helene Darroze at The Connaught and from bottle at Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley. If I count correctly , that’s 7 stars! And if you’re prepared to buy it by the bottle there are plenty of other places we can recommend. Please ask.
After all this, it’s heads down, run for Christmas and hope the world doesn’t collapse!
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Back to School
September 19th, 2011 by
Quick diary of the summer before it becomes too distant a memory…
There was so much activity in June and July that blog entries sank down the office priority list. As a result we were not able to share with all our readers (!) how much activity we were packing in.
It’s too late now for a detailed account of everything we gzot up to, but to fill in the gaps, – and show of some nice photos – here is a summary.
Trip to Champagne Jacques Picard
"A solera, for Chardonnay? you're joking?" "No, of course I'm serious!"
At the beginning of July, in one of those hot spells, we drove to Champagne- 8 of us in an un-airconditioned minibus. We had a magnificent tour of Champagne Picard and were royally looked after by Jose Lievens and his wife and family. I ate the best oysters I can ever remember, and we absorbed some very detailed information on Champagne in general, but particularly on the specifics of how things are done chez Jacques Picard. There is, for example, a chardonnay solera, which makes of almost 50% of the reserve wine for the Brut Reserve. Jose is a wonderful host; full of enthusiasm and a mine of information. We look forward to welcoming him again in October here in London when he comes over again to meet his admiring public.
Sylvain Cathiard “Inauguration des Nouvelles Installations”
A week after this, Isabelle and Ishot to Burgundy for a very special party chez Odette, Sylvain et Sebastien Cathiard. Ostensibly this was to thank all friends, supporters and the local workers who have been involved, over the last two years, in the building of first the new cellars and more recently the new cuverie. There was a great mix of a few of Sylvain’s customers, local workman and long standing friends and family.
We first had a cocktail, then drank Chablis with the starters followed by Cathiard Vosne Romanee 2005, Orveaux 2005 and Malconsorts 2001 in varying sized bottles, as you can see. We danced talked and sang, ate and drank, and then “hey presto” it was 2 am and we were pretty well the last to leave. We staggered throught the vineyards, back towards Vougeot and just resisted the temptation to climb over the Clos walls. Then we slept till 11, knowing the children were safe in London and had enjoyed the Bryan Ferry concert at Kew gardens. Sunday was a bit dull, but we hired cycles and freshened ourselves up with a spin through the Cote, and a light lunch at Le Chambolle Musigny.
Oh yes, and on Saurday we called in to do just a touch of work with Francois Bertheau: we looked at his 2010s and found them already in really great shape. We’ll be back next month for our proper look at all the 2010s but the reports we’re beginning to read about 2010 seem to corroborate what we found at this tasting: weight and ripeness-quite a surprise given the cool unsung summer, but refreshing liveliness in the mouth.
Skopelos
And then as school broke up, Isabelle solved the holiday question “where shall we got?” by finding a great late deal on the Sunvil website for a villa , with pool and car, in Skopelos, one of the northern Sporades. I last visited while preparing for O levels in 1977! Our family all agrees that there is no better holiday destination than Greece, and not because both Clark and Foyster read Classics. The food is simple and fresh, the wine is just wine, the sea is clear and warm, the sky is blue and everywhere looks like a postcard. It did on Skopelos, anyway, and we didn’t even realise util we arrived that this was Mamma Mia island! So the girls were very happy too and we had the most relaxing holiday we’ve had since our last trip to Greece. Tans have faded now, but we came back browner than we have for years.
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The Dirty Dozen Tasting
September 11th, 2011 by
So it was back to school this week, and back for us to a busy tasting calendar. The season kicked off yesterday with the Dirty Dozen Trade Tasting at Dartmouth House in Mayfair. This was a brand new venture; a collective trade tasting put on by twelve small specialist importers with a similar philosophy of authentic terroir-driven wines. We pooled our resources to stage an event which was much bigger than any of us could do individually, and we were really pleased with the resulting turnout.
Disaster struck a week before the event, when the suite of rooms we had booked was put out of action by a collapsed ceiling. Fortunately, the venue managed to provide a smart marquee in the courtyard as an alternative, but the space was pretty tight for the numbers who turned up.
In spite of the congestion, the response was very enthusiastic, and that’s not just because it was hard to get to the spittoons! There was a real buzz in the room and the feedback has been hugely complimentary. Judging from this, we seem to have achieved our aim, which was to highlight the great wine ranges imported by small specialist independents. It was also a truly collaborative effort where all the importers pulled together and shared their time and resources to make this happen. We’re already looking forward to the next event!
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Die Ersten 10 Jahre (part 2)
August 8th, 2011 by
A mere two weeks after the extravaganza in Burgenland, (but still already over a month ago!) Roland was back in London, and we did a sort of mini repeat. Quite different this time, though. A focused concentration on the 2009 vintage – the vintage of the decade to be sure – and a few older examples, taking us back to 2002. (the 2001 was corked!)
Inquisition about to commence
...and Philip Furtenbach: Porsche car salesman or extraordinary itinerant chef and forager ??
But the sensational and memorable aspect of the evening was not only the wines. The location – Lincoln House, 33 – 34 Hoxton Square – a bit scruffy, if we’re honest, was before, and is again now, a car show room. But for 3 weeks, Philip Furtenbach and his team, a friend of Roland Velich brought their pop-up restaurant to here with the support of Outset. They foraged and sourced locally everything (except the wine) and served us a fascinating and thrilling range of dishes – 14 in all – to accompany the wines. The company is called AOund (AO&) and they have travelled the world like nomadic circus performers setting up their act for three weeks then breaking it down and moving on. I can say of all the tasting events we’ve organised, this was the most unusual. And it was one of the best too. Thrillingly different
Brilliant Zalto glasses too!
We tasted:
White
Gruner Veltliner Hausmarke 2009
Gruner Veltliner St Georgen 2009
Red (all blaufrankisch)
Moric Reserve 2009
Jagini 2009
St Georgen 2009
Lutzmannsburg Alte Reben 2009
Neckenmarkt Alte Reben 2009
St Georgen 2007
Lutzmannsburg Alte Reben 2007
Neckenmarkt Alte Reben 2007
The with dinner we went back through:
Neckenmarkt and Lutzmannsburg Alte reben 2006
Neckenmarkt 2002
And probably one or two others, but to be quite honest i can’t remember and can’t just find the tasting notes this morning. And this post should have been made a month ago!
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MORIC Party Die Ersten 10 Jahre
June 30th, 2011 by
Roland Velich, (and his brother Heinz and father Helmut) were contacts Mark Pardoe and I made on our very first trip to Austria in summer 1998. All were working together then on the family estate in Apretlon, making sweet wines and very fine chardonnay. The Tiglat Chardonnay was (and still is, I think, the classiest of Austrian Chardonnays. Roland still enjoys reminding us of the evening when we failed to identify it next to a Lafon Meursault)
In 2001 Roland left the family business to concentrate on his own project for red wine – something he had had in mind for several years. His excitement over the quality of fruit available in Mittelburgenland, and his observation that little of it was receiving the treatment from producers that he felt it deserved, led him to make some agreements with vineyard owners in the two villages of Neckenmarkt and Lutzmannsburg. The project began in 2001, and we kept in touch and followed the progress of the wine over the first few vintages. Sadly, when we set up CFW, we had to relinquish the Velich agency, and we expected that Roland’s new project too which he called, rather enigmatically “MORIC”, would be distributed by the same partners. Fortunately not, so in 2006, we were able to step in and for the past four vintages we have been the very proud distributors of Austria’s coolest red.
So Friday’s party a couple of weeks ago was a celebration of ten years of the Moric project. We sat down at 5pm and tasted in flights of two from 2010 right back to 2001. The emphasis was strongly concentrated on the two Top Wines: Alte Reben Neckenmarkt and Alte Reben Lutzmannsburg. (In this case Alte Reben meaning anything from 75 – 100 year old vines) but we began the tasting with Rolan’ds Gruner Veltliners from 2010 and 2009, and then looked briefly at the wine called Moric Reserve, which is a blend of more or less 75% Neckenmarkt and 25% Lutzmannsburg.
The tasting was really sensational. Remember these are some of Austria’s most expensive, but now most highly sought-after red wines, and at the conclusion, the echoey high-ceiling hall rang with prolonged applause. And most of us were on our feet throwing bouquets!
Wine of the tasting? The 2009s are , obviously, where Roland’s current excitement is concentrated, but the 2006 – our first vintage with the wines looked magnificent. We sold out of these a while back, but the Alte Reben Neckenmarkt had everything.
Tasting notes:
WHITE
1 – Gruner Veltliner St Georgen 2010 and 2009
I have to admit I struggle with Roland’s whites. He seems to suggest I’m brainwashed by the expectations of Wachau. Ok these are NOT showing the easy fruity delights of a little loess over primary rock. Rather they are from limestone, and this certainly shows. But where’s the charm? Complex, maybe but there’s nothing delicious about these. Isabelle leant across and whispered “isn’t this what natural wine tastes like?” Roland agreed perhaps the 2010 needed some SO2, but actually the wines seemed very true to how they have tasted every time to me. On the other hand, the Danish importer told us that the sommelier at Moma rates them as the best Austrian whites he has ever tasted. Horse for courses..
RED – All 100% Blaufrankisch
2 – Moric Reserve 2010 and 2009. Both roughly 75% Neckenmarkt and 25% Lutzmannsburg
The tiny quantity of 2010 looks as though it saved the vintage. Strong paralleles, i sense with the reports from /Burgubdy in this tricky vintage. Pretty red fruit, bitter cherry and spicy pepper notes in the ’10. Fine but gentle tannins, but a bit dusty at this stage . Strong contrast with ’09, where the ripe sweetness shows immediately, but nothing overripe. Strong, plentiful crunchy acidity behind. Exciting prospect. Don’t want to use up superlatives too soon
3- Alte Reben Lutzmannsburg and Alte Reben Neckenmarkt 2009
Lutz nos a little more expressive initially – a little more spice, crunch, pepper, then creamy texture with good viscosity but crispness behind. A touch more abrasive right now than Neck which was initially more muted on the nose, but with a sense of extra ripeness behind. Perhaps a touch less open now, but with great poise and promise of great complexity.
4- Alte Reben Neckenmarkt 2008
No AR Lutz in 2008. 1 barrel was made, but tipped, by mistake! – into Moric Reserve. Difficult, cool vintage. Harvest precipitated by hail. This is a wine we know as it’s our current vintage. I sense it’s evolved well over the last 12 months. Tiny vintage showing ripeness and concentration to bely the cool difficult season. Rawness has all disappeared. Pepper is subdued. Elegant, almost ready. (Or will it go backwards?)
5- Alte Reben Lutzmannsburg and Alte Reben Neckenmarkt 2007
The earliest of all these vintages – warm dry summer, sunny, clear September, but cool nights.
Again a slightly more primary , cool ,lean(?) freshness to the nose of Lutz. Palate cooler, tannins powdery and forceful. Very Burgenland. Neck slightly fuller, juicier. Texture is creamier, tannins not quite so spiky at this stage. Perhaps less regional, more international polish?
6- Alte Reben Lutzmannsburg and Alte Reben Neckenmarkt 2006
A really great pair. Neck for me the winje of the tasting. Lutz again shows a little more spice on noseand a charm and coolness, but great power behind. Firm, complex and fine. Neck nose a little more meaty – which blew off. Multiple layers of complexity. Touches of graphite, cream, spice, cherry. Big but cool. Very fine.
7- Alte Reben Neckenmarkt 2005 and 2004
Fascinating contrasts. 2005 – a cool, very late harvest –end October – but grapes in good condition. Temperatures fell to zero Celcius just before harvest. Wine is cool, mature, smells full and ripe, albeit with a delicate pepper note. Complex and very charming nose. Delightful freshness and balance. 2004, by comparison seemed to have faint hint of raisin – the only time in the whole flight i thought i detected this. Clearly from a much hotter vintage, active drying south wind in September. Powerful and complex. Lacked some elegance and complexity , maybe.
8- Alte Reben Lutzmannsburg and Alte Reben Neckenmarkt 2003
These were both charming and very successful examples of this frequently disappointing vintage. The 2003 bake seems to spoil, for me so many wines from Europe (and weirdly, even some Australasian examples) but these were both ripe and soft, but with real solid depth, and nothing hollow. The Lutz was big and soft and easy – quite voluptuous really. The Neck had some intriguing mineral notes , sweet palate and clearly very ripe but again, nothing cooked. Perhaps Neck showed a little more tannin.
Alte Reben Lutzmannsburg and Alte Reben Neckenmarkt 2002
Lutzmannsburg was a step ahead in this pair: fresh, expressive, delightful nose – sweet and ripe, but light too. Clearly mature, but very youthful too. Red fruot and spice again. Full of purity and clear definintion. Neckenmarkt lacked a little of the definition of the Lutz. Are there perhaps little notes of surmaturite? Fruity, cherry sweet nose, still with freshness too. Strong and powerful.
Plateau Lutzmannsburg 2001
And to conclude, a sensation from Roland’s first vintage. Youthful appearance – more youthful than the 2002s. Smooth, supple, gentle, very nice texture. Very young. A great conclusion.
(Apologies. Fortunately i don’t write tasting notes for a living. My limited vocabulary would quickly be exposed)
Clamouring for more!
Stefan at work, bringing forth copious examples of great modern Austro-Hungarian cooking
After this it was 2 minutes back to Roland’s for a party which we left at midnight, but which , we later learned, went on all weekend. We caught up with a lot of Austrian friends and drank and ate brilliantly. There was frantic activity in Roland’s large kitchen. Fod kept appearing on all sides; no wonder they partied all weekend they had a lot to get through! Roland’s friends presented him with a milestone, which, I imagine will be located somewhere strategic. And we just hope another will be added ten years from now.
The first milestone
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The new Demoiselles
May 18th, 2011 by
Le Cher at Montrichard
Last week Ihad 36 hours to catch up with my friend Henri Chapon in Montrichard, Touraine. Henri has been back home for two years since leaving the Hotel du Vin group, and has been very helpful in getting us our “Les Demoiselles” Sauvignon off the ground. The 2009 is virtually all gone, so it was time to blend the 2010 with his friend Jean-François Merieau.
Asparagus, trimmed "comme il faut"
He collected me at the airport in Tours and we went home to peel the asparagus as some friends were due for dinner. Actually he did the peeling. I was trying to do it like sharpening a pencil until he showed me that you start at the top and remove more at the bottom. D’oh! Sacked from this task I went for a stroll along the banks of the tranquil Cher, enjoying the scent of spring. One really feels being on the border here between southern and northern France. Certainly the warmth of the sun is significantly powerful than London.
A double magnum turns Henri into a midget!
15 people in this one!
We had a Big Dinner with Jim and Carole Budd, who have lived part time in the area for 25 years, and a couple of local producers, Lionel Gosseaume and Aynard et Isabelle de Clermont Tonnerre. We quickly dismissed the natural wines debate, drank some of Lionel’s excellent Sauvignon 2009 – sold to Lea and Sandeman – and moved on to Champagne, Gruner Veltliner, Sassicaia, Californian Pinot, and a few other bits and pieces. We watched the hot air ballons fly over, waved to their inhabitants, and debated, laughed and drank. The vines here are 2-3 weeks ahead of a normal year, and the temperature on Sunday 7th May 26 Celcius. Risk of frost has all but disappeared, and we are looking at the possibility of the earliest flowering in decades!
The 2010 will be delicious. We’ve picked a very clean, sherbety fresh and appley wine for the base, and blended it with 30% of a slightly richer cuvee to give it a little more weight. We should have the wine available by the beginning of June.
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Bonnes Mares, Fish & Chips
May 18th, 2011 by
The 2009s from our new best friend Francois Bertheau arrived in bond a couple of weeks ago, and with them a box of 2008 and 2007s was included. Hilario and I set off around London last week to taste them and gather opinions, especially from customers who had bought 2009s. A little stock of both vintages is left ex cellars, and we plan to ship these a little later on.Francois’ 2008s are really classic of the vintage. Cool, a touch on the slim side right now, but with great intensity. The acidity looks crisp and fresh, and it will be interesting to see how the integration continues over the next few months. We felt certainly that the vintage is less forward than the 2009 and 2007 vintages, with the possible exception of the Charmes, which , to me at least was a gloriously textured example of floral elegance, delicacy and complexity. I was thrilled by this wine at 10 am on Thursday morning! Amoureuses is really backward, full of all it needs for long keeping, but fairly hard to read now. Bonnes Mares wa sactually a shade more forward: a touch thicker perhaps, with a wonderful Grand Cru volume in the mouth.
2007
At village level, the 2007, in the company of the 2008 and 2009 is left a yard behind. It lacks the freshness and clarity of the 2008s, without having quite the elegance and voluptuous appeal of the 2009s. Probably the vintage a s awhole is a notch behind 2008, but I’m reluctant to say that. The wines show very true characteristics of this early harvest. At the top end, Charmes, Amoureuses and Bonnes Mares, all look glorious now and show some of the best characteristics of the 2007’s famously forward supple fruit. I can imagine a comparison of Amoureuses and Bonnes Mares next December at the CFW Christmas dinner being a subject for a fascinating debate.
I called Isabelle on my way home, to say I had something left in the bottles for her to taste. She reported that Ines was clamouring for fish and chips for dinner. It seemed a bit late to be starting to cook at 7 o’clock, f&c seemed like the easy option, so there we have it . Bonnes Mares (and Charmes too) with fish and chips from the South Ealing chippie.
Magic!
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