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Vintage Dinner

Tuesday, 29th December 2015 by Thomas Parker

Last month we assembled a group together from varying vintages, and Stephen Browett picked out a list of wines to serve blind with a link – each was from a vintage of the people sitting around the table. We had a good range of ages, but some mixed quality vintages to choose from. However, even those that you might consider the ‘difficult’ vintages found wines that excelled, and exceeded expectations.

We worked, roughly speaking, from youngest to oldest, and doubled up on some of the great vintages in order to compare and contrast.

We started with the youngest wine of the night and the only white, a 1992 Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal Vendange Tardive from Zind-Humbrecht, served from magnum. This was a bit of a curve ball to serve blind for the first of the night, but the nose was immediately Alsatian. Rich with honey, spiced pear and peach, and layers of dried flowers, smoke and pure stone fruit. The palate was rich, spicy and viscous, full bodied but managed by balancing acidity. At this age, the sweetness had faded to leave just a touch of perceived sugar, with huge complexity, length and power of honeyed fruit on the finish. A superb white wine, great for drinking now.

After this we sat down to eat with our first two red wines of the night, which were a superb pair. The first was 1989 Grand Puy Lacoste, and the second the same wine from 1990.  The 1989 was ripe, soft, earthy and full of cassis and black plum fruit, a real hedonistic delight with no hard edges. By contrast, the 1990 was slightly firmer and longer, with more graphite and freshness with a hint of menthol. A really pure, long and fine wine. Both were superb representations of their respective vintages and popular with everyone at the table.

Some of the wines tasted

Before moving on to the next vintage, we decided to revisit 1990 with the highly rated Fleur de Gay. This wine really was a rich, opulent, powerfully black fruit delight. It was rich and spicy, and perhaps a little heady. Ripe, round, smooth and polished, it was right in the peak of its drinking window, and quintessential warm-vintage Merlot.

1987 is not seen in the same light as 1989 and 1990 when it comes to Bordeaux, so we ventured elsewhere for the next two reds. The first was a sumptuous bottle of Dominus, which blind tasted like a Californian, rather than Bordeaux example thanks to hints of mint and menthol. However, the pure cassis fruit, superb power, balance, finesse of tannin and long earthy finish made this one of my wines of the night. This still has power in reserve meaning there is no rush to drink this up, a really fantastic wine. Next to it we had the now extremely rare 1987 Guigal Cote Rotie La Landonne. We discussed while tasting that this must be one of few bottles remaining in the UK yet to be drunk. It had a very peppery, meaty and leathery nose, fully mature with wild fruit and warm, forest floor characters. There was a real cocoa note on the finish from the last hints of tannin, but leather and undergrowth are now the dominant nose. This is a fully mature wine that should be drunk in the next year or two.

If 1987 is not seen in the same light as 1989 and 1990, then 1984 is veritably the worst vintage of the decade in Bordeaux, and very difficult to find in good quality elsewhere around the world. However, Stephen pulled out a bottle of Latour that was remarkable for the vintage. It had a very classic nose of cedar, graphite and a little cassis, and was now medium bodied on the palate, still long on the finish and very fine. It is fully mature, well balanced and very Medocain in style. A superb effort for the vintage, but still not reaching the heights that Latour now achieves in every vintage.

By complete contrast, our next wine, Fonsalette 1981, was a huge, exuberant earthy, leathery and almost sweet powerhouse of a wine that I couldn’t recommend more to lovers of old Rhone. The balance of barnyard, scorched earth, ripe red fruits and bacon fat notes were lifted by a floral note giving great balance. This is mature but so complex and with great energy and length. A triumph of the night to me, and great to taste another rare bottle.

Having travelled through the older vintages, Stephen decided to open a few more bottles for interest and tastes sake. We started with a Penfolds Grange 2010, decanted for 5 or more hours beforehand. Despite this, it was still a brooding youngster that I would urge no-one to touch for at least 10 years. Notes of tar, coffee, liquorice, damson, blackcurrant, blackberry and wood smoke come together in an impossibly dense yet lifted palate with huge concentration yet superb balance. The tannins are still very firm, and will hold this wine together and gradually mature it over decades. This is a blockbuster, quite possibly the best Grange I have ever tasted, and will be a very special wine to drink when mature.

Penfolds Grange 2010

After this powerhouse we went back to 1990 and the Rhone with Beaucastel. Showing a wine at the other end of its life, this was all tertiary with leather, spice and smoke. The classic garrigue and farmyard were both in evidence but in balance with other dried fruit and white pepper notes. This is a hedonistic delight, and still singing at 25 years old.

We finished the night with a 1964 Banyuls from Pietri Geraud – and a few commented on this having a similar level of concentration and power to the Grange, though of course sweeter and with more dried fruit and developed sweet spice of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. This was concentrated and juicy, a delicious glass in itself with great complexity on the finish, but equally it is a fine pairing with either chocolate, or the remnants of a very large cheeseboard which vanished at an impressive rate!

Overall, my wines of the night were the Fonsalette 1981 and Dominus 1987, with a special mention to the Grange 2010 for its huge potential. Thank you to Stephen for providing and pouring all the wines, and to our guests, for giving us the opportunity to open such a variety of mature wines from different vintages and regions!

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