It certainly was spectacular. Several Château owners, producers and representatives had come over from Bordeaux especially for the occasion:
Anthony Barton – Château Leoville Barton
Anne Cuvelier – Château Leoville Poyferre
Juliette Pareau – Château Lafon Rochet
Margaux Pariente – Château Troplong Mondot
Clare Burke – The wines of JP Moueix
Olivier Casteja – Château Doisy Vedrines
Didier Foret & Francis Anson – Château Giscours
Frederic Bernard – Domaine de Chevalier
Jean-Pierre Foubet – Château Chasse Spleen
The room was filled to the brim with over two hundred guests all eager to try the array of over a hundred and thirty wines we had on offer.
With so many wines being showcased, it was necessary to be selective about what one was going to taste. Do you start with the Christmas selection or maybe move straight to the Rhône corner? How about some Chateau Lafleur 1985 or perhaps a tasting of one of the many verticals on offer? Alternatively, fancy trying your chances on winning a magnum of Hermitage 2005 at the Blind Tasting table while the taste buds are still fresh?
As I maybe mentioned, there were many options. Luckily, everyone seemed to decide to taste a bit of everything. Some highlights had to include the six wines from Freemark Abbey in Napa, especially their delicious Cabernet Sauvignon.
Everyone sooned after the Château Lafleur 1985 which was delicious, as were the other Lafleur wines.
Then came what seemed to be the main event of the night – the vertical tastings of Bordeaux wines. You know it’s going to be a good evening when you see Anthony Barton standing behind a table with his Langoa Barton 1995, 1996, 2004 and 2007 open in front of him! They were all absolutely delicious but maybe the big surprise was how perfect the 2007 was right now. A wine to go with the turkey on Christmas day in many people’s opinions.
Another delight of the evening were the sweet wines of Château Doisy-Védrines presented by producer Olivier Casteja; the 1988, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006 were open and the vintages of choice surprised many people, the 2002 really did stand-out. Olivier advocates drinking his wines as aperitifs; take note sweet wine drinkers!
A final word has to go the Blind Tasting table. Three whites & three reds - guess the grape, country and vintage. Many guests committed themselves with gusto, and the results ranged from the extremely good to the, er, odd. France isn’t the best-known place for growing Albarino! Everyone seemed to have fun, with the winner scoring a very creditable 13 out of 24.
Thanks everyone for coming and we hope to see you all next time!
Special thanks also to all from Bordeaux, to Spiral Cellars, Crosta & Mollica and of course to Cheese at Leadenhall.
Merry Christmas!
Blog by Nick Clarke
0 comments:
Post a Comment