Notes from an (almost) all white dinner.
1996 Pol Roger Brut – this surprised me a bit in terms of how far along it was. It was showing more colour than the last time I tasted it and definitely further along in development. I wonder about whether it saw some temporary heat somewhere during its life as I don’t see many notes on this saying other than that it has reached plateau.
2004 William Fevre Chablis Grand Cru Valmur – although I’ve samples premoxed bottles of this, this one was pristine. Clean citrus nose, good acid and balance and long finish. Would be a great wine with seafood.
2007 Moreau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur – more colour and here a definite whiff of oak in the nose, along with a bit of sulphur. On palate a more lush presentation with some tropical fruit, tasty and long. The previous wine was perfect with food; this one would be excellent on its own.
2002 Ch. de la Maltroye Chassagne Montrachet – this village Chassagne with an old style label was delightful – again, some sulphur and lemon in the nose and some obvious development, some nice vanilla notes on palate and good length.
2009 Far Niente Chardonnay – I expected this one to be a little heavy on the oak, but found that it was well moderated, with some nice melon notes. Needs drinking, but still good, with a clean medium length finish.
2009 Ridge Chardonnay Monte Bello – this Santa Cruz chard was much less about oak and had a rich nose that featured caramelly toasted coconut, tropical fruit and a nice long clean finish. Very nice.
2000 Albert Mann Gewurztraminer Furstentum Vielles Vignes – light straw colour and a good varietal nose (some older Gewurz begins to resemble Riesling in the nose) with forward fruit and considerable spice. I’d chosen this one because I knew how sweet it is – similar to many Sauternes. It was full and rich in the mouth with very good balancing acidity with some apricot coming through near the end of the lengthy finish. Very good. Served with cheese (went best, as always, IMHO, with the blues).
1982 Ch. Mouton Rothschild – this had a lighter colour than the last one I tasted, a medium garnet, but it showed a good typical nose of vanilla, cassis, cedar and spice, outgoing and very enticing. On palate it still exhibits considerable soft tannin, and a slight not unpleasant astringency, and excellent length. Had my note stopped there, it would have been a good showing as expected of this wine. Unfortunately, over 30-40 minutes, I observed the fruit abating and the tannins becoming much harder and the wine was drying out at the end. I haven’t had enough of this recently to suggest whether this was a result of a single bottle issue, or was representative of the general condition of this wine.