Decanter wine tasting London 21 & 22 November

Two intense days in London sampling wines from 98 different stands and probably more than 110 different producers was quite a challenge. Fortunately the whole thing was extremely well organised with a nice booklet being provided with all the wines. Tasting hours were from 11 to 17 both days. I will come back with more comments about individual wines later but here some highlights;
- Ch. Beychevelle , St Julien 2000 to 2007 fresh light and delicate style
- Ch. Brane Cantenac, big dense wines
- Ch. Palmer and 2nd wine Alter Ego big solid requiring > 20 years
- Ch. Boyd Cantenac outstanding 1999
- Ch. Chauvin 2001 elegant wine for the next 5 years
- Ch. Fleur Peyrabon 2001 also at peak now at reasonable price
- Bodegas Luis Canas, Rioja quality first, Amaren Reserva 2002 fantastic
- Del Palacio De Los Frontaura Y Victoria, bodega in small district Toro in Spain with big wines
- Louis Jadot very mineral driven white burgundies
- Ch D'Eclans, Provence big fantastic rose for big wallets
- Vidal Fleury, Rhone watch out for this producer with excellent Cote Rotie
- Champagne Boizel reasonable priced high quality champagne
- Castello Banfi, Tuscany with the best single vineyard Brunello
- Il Molino di Grace, Tuscany their 100% sangiovese called Gratius was surpreme
- Col d'Orcia, Tuscany super Tuscan called Olmaia
- Fontodi, Tuscany still with one of the best IGT (Flaccianello) perfect with wild boar
- Zenato, Veneto with a 100% excellent Merlot (Sansonina)
- Matetic Vineyards, Chile fantastic Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir
- Catena Zapata, Argentina with beautiful Malbec and Cab Sauv at high altitudes
- Alves de Sousa, Douoro Portugal fantastic selection and not afraid to experiment
- Vergelegen, Stellenbosch, South Africa lots of good Sauv Blanc and Shiraz

Comments

Leoville Lascases 1988

Last week was a special week for me as I received my last pay check from my previous employer. An event that required some sort of celebration with some good friends. Of the many bottles opened during that evening was a Leoville Lascases 1988. This Bordeaux wine from St. Julien is second Grand cru classee but it has the quality of a first growth. This chateau was also the wine that made me change from beer to wine as I had the pleasure of tasting a Leoville Lascases 1945 back in 88. The 1945 just knocked me off my guard and I remember thinking what a fantastic wine it was and what an experience to drink this wine from the year when world war 2 ended. I was in shock and I then just decided to enter into the world of wine. I have always had a soft spot for this chateau ever since. And to my pleasure it has been performing well at much more reasonable prices than the much more expensive first growths in the 1855 classification. Nowadays a bottle of this wine costs around ...

Condrieu 2014 by Cuilleron

In the steep hills north in the Rhone valley there is a small appelation which is called Condrieu. Here the rare grape of Viognier is grown. A grape not well known to many people but which gives a fantastic wine when grown here. It is a full bodied white with a very pronounced and overwhelming smell of flower, peach, apricot, tropical fruit etc. The taste is dominated by ripe fruit, medium acidity and a long finish. Very good to outstanding quality. This is not a white for the fainthearted as the style is rather opulent. But with 2 year old Comte it is the perfect match. Cuilleron (manager) has many different styles. The wine is pricy and rare to get hold of. Condrieu 2014 "La Petite Cote" Yves Cuilleron ca 30€ or 400 nok

Chianti Riserva 2016

Castello de Farnatello has a basic Chianti and a Riserva on the market. Both of them are good value for money. We tried the Riserva the other day, in two different glasses; Riedel Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. The Syrah glass is more closed at the top (to the right). The colour of the wine is medium red and the nose discrete smell of cherries, leather and nuts. Attractive acidity with a firm well balanced taste. This is perfect with lamb for ex. 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot has been added to the wine as well and that gives it more body than the pure Sangiovese. And which glass works best? The Syrah glass enhances the smell much more than the CS glass in which the wine seems much more closed. Chianti Riserva 2016, Castello de Farnatello Ca 230 kr or 13euro

Life is too short to drink bad wine

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