Domaine Maurice et Anne-Marie Chapuis Corton-Charlemagne 2004

in•dul•gence    [in-duhl-juhns] Show IPA noun, verb, in•dul•genced, in•dul•genc•ing. noun

1. the act or practice of indulging; gratification of desire.
2. the state of being indulgent.
3. indulgent allowance or tolerance.
4. a catering to someone's mood or whim; humoring: The sick man demanded indulgence as his due.
5. something indulged in: Her favourite indulgence was candy.

Courtesy of http://dictionary.reference.com/

Tick. Tick. Tick. A stunning wine. The Domaine Maurice et Anne-Marie Chapuis Corton-Charlemagne 2004. Hazelnut meal, citrus, white peach, lean minerality. Sexy as a nut. That's it really.

Viñero Macedon Ranges Pinot Noir 2010

This trade - the wine biz - is a funny beast. Out there in wine sniff land there is an abundant lot that crow about this Grand Cru and snort on how Montlouis is far superior to Vouvray in drier years; thats what they read or heard second hand anyway. The wine expert, yes indeed, a curious fellow of both genders.

With that said, it is rare to see two interested and curious fellows come along and take a genuine stab in the wine game on a primary level and go out and hang their hat on a patch of fruit in the woolly Macedon Ranges; pick it, crush it, blend it, bottle it, market it, sell it and finally chase over-due invoices. The fruits of their labour is the Viñero Macedon Ranges Pinot Noir 2010. A wine by two sommeliers; Matt Brooke and Liam O'Brien.

A dirty red in the glass with a faint translucency, the wine throws a great mix of spice a green sappiness on the nose - partial whole bunch I suppose. The palate is what I would call effeminate and long; supple musk stick/red skin on the front palate with more brown spices woven in with tort acid and super-fine tannins.

This is a wine though that if you do not have any now, you probably wont be getting any. I was fortunate enough to grab a few before they all went down the road at Albert Street.

Drink with grilled spatchcock of quail
Drink till 2017
95
Screwcap 13.5%v/v

Michel Niéllon Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru Burgundy at Albert St

It would be very easy of me to waffle on about these wines, but I won’t. All I’ll say is that they were both exquisite, with the 1982 coming in just that little more perfect. And to think, Michel Niéllon has only .22 hectares; thats about 2000 vines. Thats Sweet FA!

Michel Niéllon Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru 1982 – still holding its colour and acidity, this wine has soft crème brulee and licorice powder flowing the whole way through the glass. A pleasure to drink. 100/100

Michel Niéllon Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru 1983 – colour had turned a slight orange with an abundant mix of truffles and crème brulee. 99/100

Brice Verzenay NV Grand Cru Champagne

OK. Famous people called Bryce/Brice:

• Bryce Courtney – novelist
• Bryce Howard – actor and daughter of Richie Cunningham
• Bryce Florrie – baseball player (scratching head)
• Bryce Molder – golfer and presumably cousin to Agent Molder
• Bryce James – son of LeBron

There you have it. Famous Bryce’s’/Brice’s’ that role off the tongue as easy as putting on wet cement!

This little exercise was to highlight that there are no Brice’s out there in neon lights. This leads me to Brice champagne! Might as well call it Colin champagne or Leanne champagne. Nevertheless, Brice Verzenay NV Grand Cru champagne is the name of the wine (and I didn’t just make up the label and put it on an old bottle for fun, although, that’s not a bad idea).

Now the Brice family have only been making wine since the 17th century, but this business is only 16 years old (scratching head again)and pretty much stick to Pinot Noir based wine, with this wine being 75% PN and 25% chardonnay. I worked vintage in Champagne in 1998 and 1999 and frequented many small houses on my day off, but I somehow missed Brice.

Back to the wine. Well, it definitely is Pinot Noir driven, with a distinct pale peach colour to it. In the glass is subtle brioche and cranberry and raspberry. The palate is whacky, with nuts, brioche and apricot all being primary, flavours I would not necessary say were true Pinot Noir. A nice wine, if bizarre in coming forward. But Grand Cru, don’t know about that!

Drink with poached salmon
Drink till 2012
90
Quality cork and cage 12.5%v/v $80ish from Blackheart & Sparrows Fitzroy North

Belated Bastille Day 2010 - Jean Grivot Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2002

Yes, I know I am a couple of days late for my Bastille Day entry, but I gotta’ tell you, I have been flat chat busy with work, family and yes, a Bastille Day celebration on Tuesday night at the NGV.

So without further ado, here is my 2010 Bastille Day post; Jean Grivot Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2002. I picked this up a few years ago on www.langtons.com.au for a miserly $210 a bottle – just the one bottle I’m afraid – and sensibly put it aside in a dark place. And like so many things in life these days, I completely forgot I had it until about two months ago when I was searching for a bottle of Barolo and shabam, right before my eyes was this beauty (as to was the Barolo I was looking for).

To tell you the truth, I didn’t grab my note book and enter in my thoughts; instead I just savoured what an amazing wine this truly was. And that’s just it. I don’t remember it for being savoury or sappy or tart; I remember it just tasting absolutely gorgeous. That’s why this wine is the perfect example why people like you and me fork out handfuls of cash for single bottle treats. People find it hard to believe I would spend this much on a bottle of wine, but it was a bottle of wine like this that revealed its true power to a friend of mine about eight years ago.

The story was that this friend really did not like drinking sparkling wine – ergo champagne. He thought it was basically just soda water mixed with dry white wine. But it was the day he had a glass of Krug 1990, a truly magnificent wine that changed him forever. I still recall the look on his face when he sipped his first sip; his eyes widened, his jaw tensed and he was simply a changed man. Not 10 minutes after this experience, he turned to me and said, ‘You bastard. How can I go back and drink a beer or a shiraz now that I have had this’. And it’s true. Ever since then when I have gone over to his house, there in the fridge I will find a bottle of champagne; every time!

I do love my wine, and I do enjoy the good things in life, and the Jean Grivot Clos de Vougeot is one of those good things. So, a salute to you France for making such beautiful, beautiful wine. Bravo!

And.....



Oui, je sais que je suis à quelques jours de retard pour mon entrée de la fête nationale, mais je gotta ' vous dire, j'ai été occupé par le travail, la famille et Oui, une célébration de la fête nationale mardi soir à la GMV plat chat.

Sans plus attendre, voici mon 2010 post fête nationale ; Jean Grivot Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2002. J'ai ce capté quelques années sur www.langtons.com.au pour un avare de 210 $ par bouteille – juste une bouteille je crains – et judicieusement mettre de côté dans un endroit sombre. Et comme pour beaucoup de choses dans la vie de ces jours, j'ai complètement oublié je s'il avait jusqu'à environ deux mois lorsque j'étais recherche pour une bouteille de Barolo et shabam, droit devant mes yeux était cette beauté (qui était le Barolo je cherchais).

Pour vous dire la vérité, je n'a pas récupérer mon livre de note et entrez dans mes pensées ; je déguster plutôt juste quel un vin incroyable c'était vraiment. Et c'est juste. Je ne me souviens d'être savoureux ou sappy tart ; je me souviens il vient dégustation absolument magnifiques. C'est pourquoi ce vin est le parfait exemple, pourquoi les gens comme vous et moi, fourche hors handfuls de trésorerie pour seule bouteille traite. Gens du mal à croire je serait passer ce bien sur une bouteille de vin, mais il s'agissait d'une bouteille de vin comme cela qui a révélé son pouvoir de véritable à un ami à moi il y a environ huit ans.


L'histoire était que cet ami ne pas aime boire de vin mousseux – érgothérapie champagne. Il pensait que c'était fondamentalement juste soude eau mélangée avec un vin blanc sec. Mais c'était la journée qu'il avait un verre de 1990 Krug, un vin vraiment magnifique qui lui a changé pour toujours. Je me rappelle encore l'aspect sur son visage lorsqu'il sipped son premier sip ; ses yeux s'élargi, sa mâchoire tensed et c'était simplement un homme modifié. Pas de 10 minutes après cette expérience, il s'est tourné vers moi et dit, ' vous bâtard. Comment puis-je revenir en arrière et boire une bière ou un shiraz maintenant que j'ai eu cette '. Et c'est vrai. Depuis puis quand j'ai passée à sa maison, il dans le réfrigérateur va trouver une bouteille de champagne ; chaque fois !

J'aime la mon vin, je jouissent-ils les bonnes choses de la vie et le Jean Grivot Clos de Vougeot est l'un de ces bonnes choses. Donc, un hommage à France vous permettant de ces vins belle et magnifique. Bravo !

Gustave Lorentz Bergheim Altenberg de Bergheim Grand Cru Riesling 2005

There is no way I saw a 4-0 drubbing by Germany this morning – no way! Sigh goes my lamentable heart.

Anywhoo, its Madge’s birthday, or it was her birthday but we seem to have far too many holidays in April so we are celebrating today (geez, thanks heaps Germany). Now the question is what you would honour the Queen on this day of celebration (sleep in); something grand perhaps, and something to take our minds off this morning’s thumping. The obvious answer is down at the pub, but because I am a responsible dad it will have to be Gustave Lorentz Bergheim Altenberg de Bergheim Grand Cru Riesling 2005 – thanks for pointing that out Henry.

Stupid round ball game! Starting to yellow in the glass, the nose has an instant hit of stewed pineapple followed by the very obvious kero smell. The palate was quite a surprise with what seemed to be a granny smith malic acid hit. This was only for an instant as lavender and lanolin flowed over prickly acid, which by the way was bolt upright for the five hours (no Viagra was used for this acid, and no you filthy animals I’m not talking about getting it on!) we drank it over. Really racey, yet really developed all at the same time.

So thanks Madge for letting us have a sleep in two months after your birthday. And for Germany, well all I can muster up is well done and Sod Off! Nice wine but.

Drink with Lyonnaise sausage and chargrilled eggplant
Drink till 2016
91
Quality cork 13%v/v $70 http://www.gustavelorentz.com/

Domaine de la Romanée Conti Romanée-St-Vivant 2002

Fiddle Dee dee, fiddle dee dum – I’m in the mood for something’ yum!

Really great wines, and I mean really really great wines, are a rare commodity these days. So when something like a DRC comes along – yes folks a Domaine-de-la-Romanée Conti – you don’t just sip it, you hog it so no one else gets a shot at it!

With this I must now introduce you to the Domaine-de-la-Romanée Conti Romanée-St-Vivant 2002 – you can almost hear the angels sing can’t you?

Brilliant medium to deep ruby colour. Slightly muted cherry-berry nose, with tea rose notes with a massive toffee coming through after about two hours. Deep-set fruit, great texture and fruit density, black cherry, tart cranberry and spice, and like the toffee, bay leaf coming through on the palate the longer the wine has in the glass. Excellent balance and length and just bloody excellent!

Drink with pure indulgence – rare wagyu
Drink till 2032
99.5
Quality cork 13%v/v US$650


And like the Bastille Day post of 2009, this one will also be in French for you Francophiles


Fiddle Dee dee, diddle acte um – j'ai envie de quelque chose Yum !

Vraiment de grands vins et je signifie vraiment très grands vins, sont un rare de nos jours. Donc lorsque quelque chose comme un RDC vient – Oui gens un Conti Domaine-de-la-romaine – vous n'est pas seulement sip il, vous il ne monopolise donc aucun un sinon obtient un tir à elle !

Avec cela je dois maintenant vous présenter le Domaine-de-la-Romanée Chanter Romanée Conti-St - Vivant 2002 – vous pouvez presque hare les anges Impossible de vous ?

Support de brillant de couleur rubis profond. Légèrement en sourdine. Cherry-fruits nez, avec des notes tea roses avec un caramel massive entrant grâce après environ deux heures. Deep-Set de fruits, de texture grand et de densité de fruits, noire Cherry, tart canneberge et épices et comme la feuille de caramel, baie entrant grâce sur le Palais plu le vin a dans le verre. Excellent équilibre et longueur et juste sanglantes excellent !

Boire avec pure indulgence – rare wagyu
Boire 2032
99,5
Liège de qualité 13%v/v 650 $ US

Top of the Pop's in the Naughties - the best of wine for me 2000-2009

Hindsight is a wonderful thing isn’t it? Yesterday when I ended my Top 10 wines of 2009 saying that I would be posting my top 10 wine moments of the naughties (or noughties I have since been informed), the thought that it would be as big as it is was not as obvious as it is now.

The last 10 years has really been about me finding my place within the wine industry; from sommelier to retail wine sales to studying wine and viticulture at university to working vintage and finally finishing the decade working for a Champagne house in Brand development. Since arriving back from Europe in February 2000, I have immersed myself in all things wine, so coming up with a list of wine moments for the naughties has been tougher than first expected, but after much thought I have come up with the ten moments and events that have defined the past ten years with wine. So in no particular order, here they are.

1. Four amazing Champagnes; Dom Pérignon Œnothèque 1959, Dom Pérignon Œnothèque 1990, Krug 1998 and Krug NV.
2. Penfolds Grange robbery at Como Wine & Spirits, 2002.
3. Domaine de la Romanée Conti 2005 vertical tasting, 2008.
4. Vintage at Oakridge Wines, Yarra Valley 2008.
5. Working at Bindi Wine Growers, Macedon Ranges 2005-2009.
6. Sommelier work.
7. Viticulture/Wine Science degree 2003-2008.
8. Re-discovering Chardonnay.
9. Working for Vranken Pommery Monopole.
10. The rise of cool climate Shiraz.


Now it’s a big list with each one being a lengthy story, so like many other posts, this one will be a series over the next few weeks, with the first instalment on my Champagne moments with Dom Perignon and Krug.


Four amazing Champagnes – I have always loved champagne, with it all starting in Champagne while doing vintage with Jean-Marie Etienne in 1997. During my time there I was able to taste some amazing wine, and not just from Jean-Marie Etienne but from other producers in the Valle de Marne, yet it wasn’t until 2002 that Champagne really meant something to me.

The first was back in 2002 when the three assailants responsible for the Grange Robbery at Como Wine & Spirits were charged and sentenced to lengthy gaol time (I will get to the Grange incident in another post). It was a pretty big moment for me filled with relief, anger and pity for the three idiots who did it to pay off a heroin debt. With the help of a good mate, we polished off a bottle of Krug NV in quick time and were left with the common thought that we could never go back to boring old sparkling wine – a bit like flying first class the first time and knowing how tough it’s going to be in coach the next time!

My next Champagne moment came in 2005 with the birth of Imogen. Having the kind of taste for wine that I do, Erin and me were never going to toast the arrival of Imogen with a mere bottle of Aussie sparkling, or even something like a Bollinger or Veuve Clicquot NV; we needed something grand, and that was the Dom Pérignon Œnothèque 1990 – an amazing moment celebrated with an amazing wine.

I did not have to wait too long for my next Champagne moment, with this one still being the most amazing wine I have ever tasted – the Dom Pérignon Œnothèque 1959. This happened when I was a sommelier at Vue de monde in 2005 when David, the head sommelier, and I enjoyed a half a glass each of this wine that was left by a customer who BYO’d it. I can fair dinkum still smell the truffle and earthy notes of this wine.

Finally, there is the Krug 1998, another wine that Erin and I had to welcome our second child, Henry, in to the world. Having only had it 11 months ago, this wine displayed everything good about a young vintage Champagne with mouth watering citrus and brioche, and also the lament of finishing the bottle just knowing how good this wine will taste in 20 years. Still, the wine lived up to the occasion.

There you have it, four wines that meant, and still do, quite a bit to me; relief, amazement and wonderment.

Gluttony or Gourmand delight - a very busy week eating in Melbourne

“In general, mankind, since the improvement of cookery, eats twice as much as nature requires.” Benjamin Franklin.

It is, I think, the last day of a very long and large week of eating out across Melbourne; by Monday I will presume that I will be linking my belt one hole back! And it is on this day that I sit here in my study sipping a glass of sparkling wine (I was supposed to go to the gym!) while thousands of service professionals snake their way through tightly set tables serving the corporate professionals lunch on the busiest service of the year. Please do not think I am making light of their endeavour, but I do not miss it one bit!

For far too long now I have been the one who has been doing the serving of wine and food to the endless conga line of Christmas lunch and dinners. Now that I am on the other side of the bookings book, it has been my great pleasure this week to find myself pondering over wine lists and menus, and apologising to the wait staff for taking my sweet precious time.

For me it started on Monday with a lunch that turns into an all nighter. It was the annual Australian Sommeliers Association Christmas lunch at Mahjong in St. Kilda. On arrival I was greeted with a crisp and cold flute of Pommery Brut Royal (a little donation of six bottles for the thirsty sommeliers) and a catch up with thirty or so wine professionals from some of Melbourne’s best restaurants. David and Quentin from Vue de Monde, Sally from Cutler & Co, Lincoln and Penny from Taxi and a smattering of wine reps from JHL Wines, Yabby Lake and Russel Gehring Wines there for the usual trade talk – me included now. It was a set course of plates being dropped off at the tables with dumplings, spring rolls and sticky rice making up some of the delicacies. The highlight for me however was the Peking duck pancakes; melt in the mouth perfection!

After many more bottles of Champagne and other wine blow ins, we headed off down Fitzroy Street and over The Esplanade to The Stoke House bar downstairs. Here we drank more Champagne, wine and beer (and yes, a little bit of water too) and continued on our general stream of bullshit for the day. It was getting a little busy and crowded so the decision was made to head up to Circa, The Prince bar – so off we headed again. More beers and wine and also a good catch up with Travis from Coda, who I never got too play pool with downstairs even though I said I was going to, and Virginia from Cumulus Inc. After far too many beverages it was time to close my account and head home – at 11.30pm!!

With a sore head the next morning (very sore!) I headed in to work to regale Cameron with all the witty anecdotes and try and remember who I spoke with; it took a while let me just say that. With not much on the horizon but a few calls and emails, Cameron and I headed up Burke Road in Camberwell and settled at The Tea House on Burke, a little Chinese place that needs a bit of work on the interior but definitely not in t he kitchen. Another serve of Peking duck and even better selection of dumplings was washed down by some Pinot Noir from Geelong and Mornington Peninsula. Can you believe I had to go back to the office and do some work after the bill – sheesh!!

Wednesday saw the arrival of Jon from Sydney who is the NSW Sales Manager for Vranken-Pommery, and it was at Rockpool Bar & Grill where I joined up with Jon and Cameron. Along the way I had a little catch up with David and also bumped in to Michael Dhillon of Bindi Wine Growers. After a couple of beers at the bar we headed to our table in the wine bar where there is only one thing to order – the Wagyu Burger and onion rings; three all round of course. This burger has got to be one of the best in Melbourne I tell ya! Another glass of Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir – The Oceans 8, and we were back to the office to discuss strategy over some more Champagne.

We were now in a taxi and headed for Matteo’s on Brunswick Street Fitzroy (the clean end) where we sat down with three bottles of Champagne – The Cuvée Louise Rosé 1999, Pommery Blanc de Blanc and Pommery Blanc de Noir. There was a little more wagyu beef as an appetiser - bresola air dried; I know it is supposed to be oysters with Champagne, but it is summer and you should never order an oyster if the month has an ‘r’ in it! All wines were fantastic, but the Louise 1999 dropped away pretty fast unfortunately – we picked the wrong bottle with that one, I guess.

These guys get two hats for a reason. The food was absolutely fantastic. It was just the two courses for me – I’m not really a dessert person I must say – with the Japanese plate of smoked eel, confit salmon and sashimi King Fish. BRILLIANT!! This was hard to match, but the suckling pig was just as good if not better!!! I rolled out of my chair (full, not drunk) at about 11pm and headed home to a very jealous Erin who wanted to know all about it; I just wanted to know all about my pillow.

The next morning I picked up Jon from his Hotel in Carlton and headed in to the CBD to give him a walking tour of some of our better restaurants. We started at Vue de monde where we had a coffee at the cafe and headed down over to Syracuse, Gills Diner and through to the coffee precinct around Degraves Lane. After another stop we headed up Flinders Lane past Mo Vida, Coda and yet another coffee, this time at Cumulus Inc before walking past Verge, Becco, Gingerboy, Bottega and Grossi Florentino and hopping in to the car for the short ride to Cutler & Co for a hello with Adam Cash and a super glass of Felton Road Central Otago Dry Riesling 2008.

We were again in the car out to Camberwell and in the office just before the heavens opened up. Some more strategising and it was time for lunch – again. With our walk cleverly timed between two rain periods, we headed up to Gohan-Ya Japanese Bento Cafe on Camberwell Road. With about 12 seats, this place is always full and if it had a few more seats and maybe a liquor license would be jamming every day. I once again gave in to my smoked eel addiction and the obligatory serve of gyoza dumplings; I was once again truly full!

The week duly finished today with a lovely impromptu lunch with my lovely Erin and the boy Henry as well at Gertrude Street Enoteca in Fitzroy. A serve of pork and duck terrine for me and a goat’s cheese and sorrel tart for Erin and all was well - they even struck a deal in Copenhagen I over-heard someone say there.

With all this done all I could do was to go and pick Imogen up from her very last day ever of daycare and whip down to get her favourite dinner – Fish and Chips! It’s always good.

With the children now asleep and Erin and me down here relaxing in the kitchen area, it was time to open something nice up to celebrate not only Imogen’s last ever day of daycare before she starts prep next month but also the fact that Erin secured some more consultancy work. So to wind up a massive week we sit here sipping the Pommery Cuvée Louise 1998 Grand Marque Champagne – absolutely gorgeous. Have I told you that I don’t miss the restaurant floor?

Felton Road Central Otago Block 3 Pinot Noir 2006

This is as close to Grand Cru Burgundy New Zealand have ever got. The Felton Road Central Otago Block 3 Pinot Noir 2006 is an elite wine that can definitely be excused for the price tag. Very little translucency in the glass gives me the impression that this was left on skins for at least 17 days and maybe more. Bitter chocolate and spicy plum are very forward on the nose yet it is the palate that is the absolute star; thick red fruit of tart cranberry and cherry are followed by seamless acid holding together spices of cinnamon and dried tea with a gorgeous hit of game and funk – bacon fat meets forest floor if I may say. it all sounds terribly wanky but this is why Pinot Noir drinkers are labelled fanatics! Sensual and elegant in every way. Mucho Fantastico!!

Drink with five spiced duck – a fair dinkum Susan!
Drink till 2018
99
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $90 Barrons Cellars Perth

100/100 for post 100 - Lamy Pillot Le Montrachet Grand Cru 2005

‘Finality is death. Perfection is finality. Nothing is perfect. There are lumps in it.’ James Stephens, Irish poet and writer – 1882-1950

Arrghh, poets, what more can you say about those troubled and tortured souls whose career choice will always haunt them. ‘There are lumps in it’ – yes there are, in the label that is. There are also lumps in Gisele Bundchan and people have said she is perfect! The Lamy Pillot Le Montrachet Grand Cru 2005 is perfect, lumps and all, and for my 100th post it is fitting that I write about a perfect wine, 100/100!

Montrachet is certainly the Holy Grail when it comes to Chardonnay. Consisting of just 7.68 hectares (18.9 acres), the Montrachet vineyard producers on average just 4,500 cases a year, which makes tastings like this very rare and very expensive. It is suggested that these wines in good years, and 2005 was good if a little warm at times, be cellared for about eight years before tackling. Well, if your maths is as good as mine I have failed in the game of patience.

The wine in the glass is a very straw yellow with a greening hue about it. The nose is just gorgeous with the oak marrying perfectly with citrus, apricot and liquorice – there is a power here that has you fair-dinkum salivating for what it is going to taste like, yet you find yourself unable to get your nose out of the glass; I did anyway! The mouth, oh wow! Incredibly complex with so much happening, yet there is absolutely no confusion of flavour with grapefruit, mascarpone cheese, liquorice powder and oak that seems to hold everything in its place. The acid also is quite restrained. On first opening the wine at about 5°C, the acid was very much poised at the front, yet it was by no means over powering the other characteristics in the mouth. After about an hour at room temp, the wine I reckon got to about 11°C, which some may say is the desired temp for a wine like this (me included), the acid was more of a presence in the mouth rather than a sensation, and it was this presence that held – and developed – all of the complex flavours that were in the mouth.

Perfect, Perfect, Perfect!

Drink till 2019
Drink with fillet of Turbot in flaky pastry
100/100

Quality cork 14%v/v $ 490

Domaine René Engel Grands-Échezeaux Grand Cru 1996

‘A camel is a horse designed by committee’
Alec Issigonis

I know this probably doesn’t make sense, but I think it is apt, because this is not just a Pinot Noir; it is a Grand Cru from a stellar vintage that just happened to find its way in to my glass.

A magic wine! The Domaine René Engel Grands-Échezeaux Grand Cru 1996 colour is still hanging around with a bit of dirtiness about it. Toffee and caramel are all over the nose suggesting that the wine has long said goodbye to its primary fruit stage. The palate shows plenty of development with cedar, cinnamon, tart cranberry and morello cherry, almost like a fruit tart actually.

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.

Drink till 2012
Drink with grilled quail

98
Cork $$$$ 13%v/v

Domaine Etienne Sauzet 2005 Montrachet

I was just going over my blogs to date, and I know this is going to seem really naff, but when I posted the Bastille Day blog back on the 14th, I was going to make a week of French wine entries, but thanks to Perth and the bloody swine flu (don’t worry, you can’t catch it through cyber space, or....) that idea went south. So, my bright idea is to add one more blog for Bastille Day, but with a twist; it will be in French as well, or en anglais ainsi.

So here we go.

Domaine Etienne Sauzet 2005 Montrachet. If you are thinking,’ hmm, that sounds like a nice drop then.’, go to the kitchen sink, fill a glass of water to the top and throw it in your face (water, not the vessel people). Montrachet is where Chardonnay goes to heaven, it is when you have 17 holes in one in a row and when you withdraw $200 from an ATM and it gives you $2000!

The 2005 Etienne Sauzet is quite simply perfect. Perfect!!

The 2005 vintage in Burgundy was, yes I know I am repeating myself, perfect. In viticulture terms everything that happened, happened when it should have; it rained when it was supposed to rain, it was warm when it was supposed to be warm and it rained again when it was supposed to rain.

The colour is straw yellow with absolutely no dullness in sight. On the nose there is lemon, crushed gravel – something like river-bed pebbles – which is very minerally. After a while there comes granny smith apple telling you there is very little MLF. In the mouth there is an instant hit of soft spice, lemon tart and the one that makes it special, liquorice powder.

Wines like this are really once in a life time – truly. There is perfect balance, endless length and seem less complexity.

Drink till 2020
Drink with lobster
19.8/20

And...

Domaine Etienne Montrachet de Sauzet 2005. Si vous envisagez, ’ hmm, que des sons comme une goutte nice alors. ’, passez à l'évier de cuisine, remplir un verre d'eau vers le haut et jeter dans votre visage (eau, pas le peuple du navire). Montrachet est où Chardonnay va vers le ciel, c'est lorsque vous avez 17 trous dans un dans une ligne et quand vous retirer $200 un distributeur de billets et il vous offre $2000!

La 2005 Etienne Sauzet est tout simplement parfait. Parfait!!

Le millésime 2005 en Bourgogne a été, Oui je sais que je suis moi-même, répétant parfait. En viticulture termes tout ce qui est passé, est arrivé quand il devrait avoir ; il plu lorsqu'il était censé pluie, il était chaud quand il était censé pour être chaud et il plu à nouveau quand il était censé pluie.

La couleur est jaune paille avec absolument aucune dullness en vue. Sur le nez, il n'y est citron, gravier concassé – quelque chose comme lit du fleuve cailloux – qui est très minerally. Après un certain temps, il arrive granny smith pomme en vous disant qu'il y a très peu MLF. Dans la bouche, il existe un succès immédiat des épices douces, Tarte au citron et celui qui le rend spécial, poudre de réglisse.

Vins comme ceci sont vraiment une fois en un temps de vie – vraiment. Il est parfait équilibre, longueur interminable et semblent moins complexité.

Boisson jusqu'en 2020
Drink avec homard
19,8/20.

Bastille Day and Domaine-de-la-Romanee Conti 2005 La Tache

Bastille Day. The day when every non French person wants to be French and go, ‘haw haw haw’ in a French accent.; we’ve all done it and we will do it again.

To mark this day, I will blog about what I think is France's, and most certainly the worlds greatest wine house, and what has been my wine highlight for the last 12 months, the 2005 Domaine-de-la-Romanee Conti La Tache. That’s right, you read it correct. What a wine I tell ya!!

I got to taste this last year when a group came in to the restaurant with BYO; bloody BYO I thought. Then they showed me the wines. The entire DRC 2005 – all of them!! Richebourg, Romanee St. Vivant, Romanee Conti, Echezeaux, Grands Echezeaux and the Montrachet. Along with these were also Lamy-Piot Montrachet, Etienne Sauzet Le Montrachet and Bourchard et Fels Montrachet. Bloody Hell!!

As the Sommelier at The Point, I was charged with opening all of these wines to taste and test; this was a definite perk of the job. It was a blind taste so then I had to wrap all the bottles in foil and carefully, very carefully, pour the wines in the appropriate glassware.

At the end of the evening, the group graciously gave me a more than fair sample of each wine where they asked my opinion of each wine. It was a unanimous vote that the DRC Montrachet was the pick of the night – sexy stuff I tell ya! With this done, some of the guests made way with what was left. What happened next still puts a smile on my face. The host said that I could take home what was left – fair dinkum.

That night I took home about a third of a bottle of the La Tache, a quarter of the RSV, a couple of mouthfuls of Romanee Conti, a third of Lamy-Piot and a third of the Etienne Sauzet; that’s a fair wet dream in anyone’s language. The thing was that some of the wine had already been poured in to a glass for me, with the bottles being thrown way by the other staff. All I could do was decant what was left in to whatever I could find; this took all of my MacGyver skills I had.

They were all falafalling brilliant!!! But alas, they did not last too long.

Today I am in Perth with my family, and alas, there will be no La Tache, but I am sure there will be something decent from Baron’s on Beaufort Street, but back to the wine.


There is only one word to do the nose true justice and that is mucho fantastico as the aromatic breadth here is simply stunning with red and black cherry, cassis, plum and subtle earth notes replete with the same Asian spice array of aromas as the RSV displays but here the floral aspect, particularly rose petal, is much more pronounced. After 2 hours it was even more amazing; super ripe aromas of cherry, currant, tobacco and smoky, nutty oak, with traces of vanilla and sweet butter.

On the palate, a vivid freshness of fruit, pungency of spice and flowers, and melting away of what in point of analytical fact are abundant tannins, all engender an almost white wine dynamic of fruit-mineral call-and-response and clear, incisive penetration of flavours to every recess of the mouth. Finishes with wonderfully broad, ripe tannins.

To quote the great Sammy Hagar of Van Halen, ‘That’s what dreams are made of....’ There is nothing else to say but bisou bosou.

Drink with anything you bloody well like
Drink till it finished
20/20!!!!!