Really nice pinot noir, very nice pairing with duck breast.
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My partners favourite white at this price point at the moment.
Georg Mosbacher. 2020 Riesling trocken with Sashimi, home made ponzu sauce, rice and avocado and mango salad.
It worked ok, but really the Sashimi required a slightly sweeter white.
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Great maker, I bet the wine was superb, although a bit young maybe? (I know I drink wines with a lot more age than most people do, so that’s probably just my unusual preference rather than how most people would find it.)
I’ve reached the point where I’ll stop drinking my wine and have water with the meal, then start drinking again rather than always look for a perfect match, so have a great wine and a lovely meal as independent things.
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Yes, we probably should have done that with this meal. It’s a fabulous wine just on its own.
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Insidentaly Eoink, one of my go-to reds at this ‘Norwegian’ price point (£14), is the Terra d’Alter ALF from Portugal. Which we will be finishing off tonight.
Young, soft and juicy, nice touch of red berries and herbs.
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Thanks JOF, I’ll see if I can pick up a few bottles here.
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Although it’s young…I just realised what you wrote in your previous post. Anyway, it’s always good to try.
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2006 Léoville Poyferré
As I’d said on the Statement thread I’d take a picture of a claret with my 52 I cracked this to drink while watching the rugby. (And my best mate called me a traitor on WhatsApp for drinking claret while we were playing France.)
90 minutes in decanter and glass before trying, although on decanting the scent wafting to me told me it was going to be lovely. No visual sign of its 14 years in bottle, ruby with very slight lightening at the rim. At start the nose is classy, cassis and a hint of blackberry with granite and graphite, 3 hours later the fruit is sweeter and the graphite has gone, superb nose.
The palate doesn’t match the nose at all, both in first taste and now 3 hours later it’s tannin-dominant. Not in a bad way at all, acidity is refreshingly present and the tannins are clearly strong, not drying mouth-puckering, but powerful. The fruit is powerful and complex, led by cassis unsurprisingly, but plums, blackberries, dark cherries also show, the fruit has some natural sweetness, which increases very slightly over the three hours. The stone and graphite tannins from the nose don’t show, earthiness is there, but the overall feeling is of control. There is a fantastic amount of fruit, and it’s lovely, but it’s held under control by the tannins. Seriously classy complex wine if you like the style, I love it. I’m sure the fruit will get sweeter and a bit fleshier if you wait 5-10 years, but I suspect the control of the tannins won’t let up.
I’ve had a look up the thread before hitting post, and here I’ve noted Batailley, Léoville Barton and Clos du Marquis 2006, the Barton also had the word control/controlled several times. I’ve had several other 2006 clarets in the last 3-4 years without noting them here, and my memory is of controlling tannins in the best wines. So there is fruit, Earth, spice, but it’s held in an iron grip and very focused and controlled. I love this style of wine, great flavours held firmly, but if you prefer the fruit and other flavours to lead maybe avoid this and other 2006 clarets.
Another 10 year Bordeaux cycle? When I started drinking claret with the mid-‘80s vintages 1986 was dominated by the tannins and took 20+ years to really come round, 1996 was also tannin-led, I’ve not really tried 2016 seriously to know where it is.
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Ah, Jürgen and Sabine, make such lovely, lovely wines..!
I really think their Spatburgunder is one of the Pfalz’s best (which is really saying something, especially at the absurdly reasonable price they charge for it). But everything is really, really good.
And they are lovely people, and even their wine-dog (“Yolo” - after ‘nebbiolo’!) is one of the best.
I hope to return one day when all ‘this’ is over!!
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Lovely description as always Eoink.
2016 is still really an embryo, but I tasted widely at the IMW tasting in London in December, and as a vintage it is fulfilling its promise of greatness - for me the best vintage since 89, and eclipsing both 09 and 10. But it’s still early days of course. Leoville Poyferré was not on tasting. I did like it very much En Primeur, although did note ‘great extract’ which is not necessarily all good once they hit their stride.
Leoville Poyferré is currently on-song, really is, but I’m not quite sure exactly when the leap-forward happened, pre- or post- 2006. From what you say perhaps post. 2006 was a good if not great year, and tannins tend to dominate in Cabernet-heavy wines in such years. Astonishing to think it is now 15 years old. Crikey.
Cheers.
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Try and find this.
It is (very) aptly named.
Actually the rich ‘bucket of popcorn’ style of Chardonnay never went out of fashion in the States, so most US Chardonnay may do it for you.
I like and miss them too. Well, sometimes.
The pendulum has swung so far the other way in Australia - with their obsession with struck-match scented, nitrogen-starved-yeast-mineral, reductive wines with zero oak - that some of the worst taste like drinking chilled piss from an ashtray.
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Thanks for the kind words about my description Rod. I tried a 2002 Poyferré with my best mate as a punt, I’d avoided the estate for many years because of the clumsy vintages I’d had from the ‘80s. We liked it so much we bought up a case each, it was really lovely. Obviously ‘03 was unlikely to have been great, but I suspect that ‘05 would be well worth a look.
Wot’ I wrote about the ‘02 back then. Which wine are you drinking? Tell us about it - #1388 by Eoink
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Guess the over correction seemed to be caused by the often artificial oak taste in the 80s, it just tasted horrible imo. I gave up on Chardonnay long ago but I will see if I can track down the one you recommended.
If you can track down (the wonderful) Sam Connew’s Stargazer from Tasmania, you will be in for a treat.
But actually almost anything from Tassie will be a delight.
(Tolpuddle or Dalrymple may be more easily available - both have national distribution.)
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Agree re the Tassie thing had a wonderful sparkling at a friends a few days ago.
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Thanks Rod!
Interesting selection, we will endeavour to try them.
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Just had a look at the Tolpuddle website it appears that all this years allocation is sold out. Can’t seem to get a bottle of anything till October this year. 
Think I might join their club, cheers.
A martyr to the cause Pete_the_painter. Good luck.
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Finishing off the evening with the excellent Maynards 20 Year Old Tawny.
Nicely developed, nuanced touch of dried fruit, caramel and wood spices, long aftertaste. However, it really comes alive opened and left in the fridge for the following weekend. Very good value..
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Pete
Try Stefano Lubiana chardy from southern Tassie
They do 3 in the range - get the estate one about $55 but even the cheaper on at about $35 is pretty good also
They age well - the estate chardy is Stefano’s wife’s favourite in their whole wine range I sat with her at a function and she told me
Their top chardy is amazing and so it should be for over $100
Their Pinot Noir range is pretty sensational also
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