Full review index

This is a full review index, sorted by score, with the highest-scored wines at the top.

2010 Ch Montrose 20 (

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Saint-Estephe Second Growth, Bordeaux, France: 14%; $420 [ cork 50mm, ullage 12mm; original en primeur price $352; cepage CS 53%, Me 37, CF 9, PV 1, planted at 9,000 vines / ha; c.18 months in barrel, 60% new; 64% of total crop in the grand vin this year; Montrose website: Vintage: Sept. 27 – Oct. 15, 2010 was particularly dry and relatively hot – climate data characteristics of great Bordeaux vintages (1929, 1945, 1947,1959,1961,1989, and 2009). Wine: ... Perfect maturity and tannins of the grapes, brought a balance between power and elegance, abundance and finesse. The tannins are silky and smooth with complex aromas … ; the 2010 en primeur campaign was and remains the most expensive ever offered. The wines are therefore now rare in New Zealand. Neal Martin, Vinous, 2020: The best 2010s on the Left Bank are some of the greatest wines you will ever drink; J. Robinson, 2015: Dark, concentrated purplish crimson right out to the rim. Brooding and magnificent. Still lots to give. Heady and dense and very Montrose. Substantial and with masses of backbone. Admirable. 2022 – 2040, 18; R. Parker, 2014: This is considered to be among the greatest vintages ever made in Montrose [ by the chateau ] ... opaque black/blue, with an incredible nose of blueberry and blackberry liqueur, with hints of incense, licorice, and acacia flowers. Tannins are incredibly sweet and very present. The wine is full-bodied, even massive, with great purity, depth and a finish that goes on close to a minute. ... (Note: The Chateau Montrose website gives an aging potential of 2020-2100.), 100; weight bottle and closure 565 g; www.chateau-montrose.com ]
Ruby, carmine and velvet, the second deepest wine. Bouquet on the 2010 Ch Montrose is reticent at first, but over 24 and 48 hours it expands considerably, to reveal a relatively aromatic and cassisy aroma with great berry hinting at blackberries in the sun, darkly plummy depths, dark tobacco and cedary notes, yet also excitement and dark roses / violets floral lift. It is in the style of the 2005, 1996, 1975 and 1966, but richer, riper, and more ample than all those, the 2005 closest. Palate continues this seamless amalgam of magnificent pure aroma, subtle oak, and rich berry, more plummy again now as well as cassisy, the merlot coming to the fore. With the 2009, this wine shows a concentration of berry, a weight of body, and a dry extract which are off the scale, yet there is no hint of over-ripeness, heaviness, or dullness. In short, it seems a perfect young Montrose, though reflecting a higher merlot percentage than I grew up with. This is a wine which all New Zealand wine-makers aspiring to make world-class cabernet / merlot should be familiar with. Likewise, those in New Zealand who write about wine, and judge it, also need to be tasting wines of this calibre, so that our results maintain some reality by international standards / do not become too frankly parochial or commercial. There was not the slightest doubt in tasters' minds either: seven (out of 21) votes for first place, and another seven votes for second-favourite. No hint of technical defect crossed anyone's mind. You can see why the Chateau regards this 2010 as the definitive modern example of Ch Montrose: it contains the most exciting features of all the other 11 wines, in a presentation / dry extract comparable only with the slightly over-ripe 2009. A tragedy the chateau did not use 55 or 54 mm corks, for this is a 70 – 90-year wine. GK 07/21

2010 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas 20 (

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Cornas, Northern Rhone Valley, France: 14%; $466 [ cork, 50mm; New Zealand release price $130; winemaking as above; Wine Spectator vintage rating for the year, 98; J.L-L: The bouquet … has an oxtail depth, light meat stock, presents masses of black berries. It is full, abundant, also cool, not over sunny. It is a nose that captures bounty and freshness together, a mark of the quality of the vintage. Boy, this is good! Wowee. The most striking elegance and assured gras richness greets you; this is wonderfully, immediately a Grand Vin, it courses with a brilliant, all-round appeal, its balance primo, 2043 – 46, ****** (NB: J.L-L very rarely allocates six stars, his highest accolade); RP@R. Parker, 2012: Eclipsing even the 2009, the 2010 Cornas achieved one of the highest natural alcohol levels (14%) ever recorded at Clape. ... abundant notes of charcoal, licorice, blackberries and blueberries intermixed with a hint of scorched earth (or is it charcoal embers?), a full-bodied mouthfeel, a seamless personality and a crushed rock-like minerality. The tannins are so sweet it will be drinkable in 2-3 years, and should keep for 25 or more. It is a tour de force in what Syrah can achieve in this hallowed appellation. Kudos to the Clape family, especially Pierre-Marie, 100; no domaine website, easiest background info on the Europvin website, ref. above. ]
Ruby, carmine and velvet, a sensational colour, the third deepest. Right from the moment of opening, bouquet on this 2010 wine presents syrah ripened to absolute perfection, sweet dianthus and wallflower florals with some darkest red rose, on cassisy berry notes underlain by darkest bottled black doris plums, all enlivened by sweet freshly-cracked black peppercorn. Alcohol lifts the bouquet, yet is restrained. The wine smells wonderfully rich, essence of syrah, yet not heavy. Palate reveals blackcurrants ripened to the maximum, but still critically fresh and aromatic (i.e. none of the sur-maturité notes Livingstone-Learmonth has recorded the Clapes as seeking, quoted earlier), no hint of dark notes such as coffee which so many wine-writers like to use as a descriptor, but which have no place in temperate-climate winestyles such as pinot noir and syrah, impressive berry length resting on grape and old oak tannins, the tannins still youthful and furry, but promising smoothness and beauty, with time. This is glorious syrah, showing one exceptionally rare and desirable attribute in fine syrah: the floral notes are sustained right through the palate. How could the 2010 be more perfect, or more varietally accurate ? No, it is not Cote Rotie: this is closer to Hermitage, and it speaks volumes for the wine style ‘Cornas’. As Livingstone-Learmonth points out, Cornas is critically warmer than Cote Rotie. The 2010 was clearly the most-favoured wine on the night for the group, six first places, one second. Cellar 10 – 35 years. GK 09/18

2001 Ch d'Yquem 20 (

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Sauternes Premier Cru Superieur, Bordeaux, France: 13.5%; $ – [ 54mm cork; Se 80%, SB 20; average age of vines 30 years, planted at 6,500 vines / ha, average yield just over 1 t/ha = 0.5 t/ac; fermentation and up to 36 months elevation in 100% new barrels; average production around 9,000 cases per annum; now owned LMVH; BBR: Often described as the greatest sweet wine in the world … intensely opulent when young, Yquem develops an extraordinary complexity and exotic richness when fully mature; Robinson, 2009: Light gold, very fresh and gorgeous and complete. Just washed over the palate - so clean and vital and reverberating, not to mention revitalising even to a palate that had been treated to all the wines above already. What a feat! What a wine! Wonderful satiny texture and great balance and charm, 19; Parker, 2005: There are 10,000 cases of this perfect sweet white Bordeaux. The 2001 Yquem reveals a hint of green in its light gold color. While somewhat reticent aromatically, with airing, it offers up honeyed tropical fruit, orange marmalade, pineapple, sweet creme brulee, and buttered nut-like scents. In the mouth, it is full-bodied with gorgeously refreshing acidity as well as massive concentration and unctuosity. Everything is uplifted and given laser-like focus by refreshing acidity. This large-scaled, youthful Yquem appears set to take its place among the most legendary vintages of the past, and will age effortlessly for 75+ years. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2100+, 100; www.yquem.fr ]
Pale gold with a lemon flush, clearly the palest wine of the 12. Initially opened, the bouquet was tending adolescent / awkward, the components more apparent than the totality. But even at that stage one could see there were greater mealy, barrel ferment, and lees-autolysis components than any other of the wines. This is the clue to recognising Yquem in a strictly blind tasting, finding the wine with these distinctive signs of unusually intensive elevage in new oak. The other key component from the outset was the viscosity, the texture, the richness on tongue. It is simply much more concentrated and glycerol-rich than the others. With air and time a wonderful honeyed, stonefruits and botrytis golden-fruited slightly madeira cake and purest palest caramel aroma gradually expanded in the glass, and the extraordinary thing is, there was no hint of VA at all – the purity is phenomenal. In other Yquems over the years I have felt the new oak intrusive, though given the weight of received wisdom about the wine, any vintage of the wine, you are not allowed to say so. But here the fine grained elegance of the oak, and it's lovely mealy / hessian / vanillin aromas and gentle flavours are simply exemplary. This will surely marry up into one of the purest and most elegant Yquems ever. Whereas with most wines one can imagine how it could be better, with this one such thoughts seem irrelevant. Thus for the first time for me, this wine earns full points. Others much more familiar with Ch d'Yquem than I say it will cellar for 100 years. To judge from the lighter 1962 and 1966 wines I have been watching since release, now representing half that estimate, achieving that time will be easy, given such perfect balance and concentration in the 2001. One of the top three wines for the group, on the night. Two days later, unequivocally the top wine, simply perfection. GK 07/14

2003 Guigal Cote-Rotie La Landonne 19 ½ + (

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Cote Brune, Northern Rhone Valley, France: 13%; $937 [ Cork, 49 mm; Sy 100%, average vine age 35 years, typically cropped at 35 hl/ha = 4.55 t/ha = 1.84 t/ac; Parker rating for year 96; NZ price at purchase $575; minimum 28 days cuvaison, not usually destemmed, 42 months in 100% new barrels, all 228-litre; Parker in characterising the three Cote-Rotie grands crus, says of La Landonne: extraordinary density and power, as well as a brooding backwardness that is extremely impressive; J.L-L, 2011: the robe is full; the nose is complete, deep, but there is subtlety in it; the prime fruit is dark plum, but it is varied with herb notes, surely testament to the hot year, its southern leaning, and there is a mineral angle as well. The palate is suave, tasty, wholesome – it is at a sweet moment now, even though it still lengthens on its oak raising. Its black fruit is extremely fine and continuous, its core is deep, deep. It still ends on its tannin which provides a crunchy late moment. It remains in thrall to its vintage and to its raising, is a very young wine. 2036-2039, ******; Robinson, 2006: Very intense, deep and leathery. Savoury, very Syrah. Very deep and rich start with very dry savoury finish. Good combination: the severity of Landonne and the ripeness of '03. All three single vineyard wines very consistent styles through the two vintages. Keep this for ages, 19; Parker, 2007: 100; J Dunnuck @ Parker, 2014: the most classic feel, with searing minerality, liquid smoke and bacon fat-like aromas being carried by massive amounts of inky dark fruits. Closer in style to the La Turque, with a powerful, structured profile, it nevertheless has off the charts texture, depth and purity, all of which allow it to thrill even now. It should be the longest lived of the four Cote-Roties, 100; Wine Spectator, 2007: Plush and smoky, with loads of flesh carrying black olive, fig, tobacco, currant and game notes. The broad, powerful finish shows a very roasted quality, with dark, smoky bacon and fig notes and an exotic hint of spice. This is a huge wine that only shows bits of what it will eventually offer. Best from 2010 through 2030. 500 cases made, 98; www.guigal.com ]
Ruby and velvet, amazingly fresh, the deepest colour of the 12 wines. The bouquet is simply astonishing. If cassis character represents the absolute peak of perfection for syrah in its ripening curve, I have never smelt a syrah so vibrantly aromatic and cassisy. The bouquet is mouthwatering, with dusky rose florals as well. It would contrast with a highly cassisy cabernet due to its faint undertone of sweet black pepper. There is a suggestion of new oak in the aromatics, but the bouquet is sensationally grape-dominant, extraordinary. Palate follows perfectly, a glorious depth of cassis flavour, fresh, vibrant, wonderful concentration which seems almost fat in mouth, yet not at all heavy. The flavour seems lengthened almost for ever on exquisite tannins and cedary oak. There is scarcely any hint of the hot summer in this wine. In one sense the wine is still youthful, but there is just a little mellowing, as it embarks on its plateau of maturity. Five people rated this their top wine of the evening, two their second. Cellar 10 – 30 years. Glorious wine, it is hard to imagine how it could be better. Just a trace more florality, maybe. GK 05/17

2005 Ch Montrose 19 ½ + (

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Saint-Estephe Second Growth, Bordeaux, France: 13%; $365 [ cork 50mm, ullage 13mm; original en primeur price $200; cepage CS 65%, Me 31, CF 3.5, PV 0.5, planted at 9,000 vines / ha; c.18 months in barrel, % new likely increasing towards the modern 60%; James Molesworth at Wine Spectator suggests that 25,555 cases of the 2005 were produced, but for the grand vin that is surely a misprint / typo. 15,555 would fit with the long-term average; Montrose website: Vintage: Sept. 23 – Oct. 9, 2005 ... the year of drought. ... by the harvest, the volume of rainfall was less than half the average quantity of the past 30 years; Wine: 2005 impresses by its exceptional power, the amazing pure fruit, and the extraordinary engaging elegance without having the overwhelming charm of the 2003. Stylistically, very classical and very Bordeaux-like, without austerity; J. Robinson, 2017: Tasted blind. Sweet, luscious nose. Lots of raciness and grace. Masses of tannin buried under really rather fine fruit. Dry but not drying finish. Pretty sophisticated. 2019 – 2040, 18; Neal Martin @ RP, 2016: The bouquet is extremely detailed, displaying more red berry fruit compared to the 2010 Montrose that leans towards black. Graphite and cedar emerge with time, even an unusual floral scent that is uncommon with respect to this property, whilst all the time retaining fantastic focus and delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with a ferrous tincture on the entry. There are the first signs of secondary notes (dried leaves and bay leaf), but it is the tannic backbone and the precision that really defines this Montrose at the moment. For certain, it is masculine and structured, yet it has enormous potential, perhaps more than was suggested when it was first released? This is for the long term, 2025 – 2065, 97; R. Parker, 2006: ... a sweet, provocative nose of creme de cassis, crushed rocks, graphite, and subtle wood. Medium to full-bodied, elegant yet powerful, fresh, and nuanced, the acids are higher and the pH lower in 2005 than in 2002. The 2005 should be a long-lived classic, but patience will be required ... some of the highest tannins ever measured. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2035, 2015 – 2035, 92 – 94 +; weight bottle and closure 541 g; www.chateau-montrose.com ]
Ruby, still some carmine, and velvet, the third-deepest wine. This is another wine that opened up dramatically over the 24 and 48-hour interval. It gradually reveals components in the style of the 2010, but more aromatic and zingy, with the cassis characteristic of cabernet sauvignon very evident in the cedary complexity. In the set it is therefore related to the 1996, 1986, 1975 and 1966 in style, but is markedly richer, and better fruited, the darkly plummy higher proportion of merlot filling out the palate nicely. The wine is still essentially primary, but the tannins are starting to soften. It sits with the 2010 beautifully, shares some of its floral complexity, and defines the concept cassis on bouquet even more perfectly, but is not so dramatically rich. Nonetheless, there is a crystalline purity to this wine, and it is still richer than virtually all good New Zealand examples of the cabernet / merlot wine-style, so thus has much to teach us. This 2005 was well-liked, with three first places, and four second-favourite. Though not quite as rich as the 2010, it is technically pure, and will cellar beautifully for another 40 years. On the qualities showing today, some of Parker’s marks for the 2005 seem a little conservative. GK 07/21

2003 Ch Montrose 19 ½ + (

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Saint-Estephe Second Growth, Bordeaux, France: 13.5%; $365 [ cork 49mm, ullage 15mm; original en primeur price $163; cepage CS 62%, Me 34, CF 3, PV 2, planted at 9,000 vines / ha; c.18 months in barrel, % new likely increasing towards the modern 60%; 15,830 x 9-litre cases; Montrose website: Vintage: Sept. 11 – Sept. 26; Wine: The wines were extremely fat and rich, with no over maturity; the tannins were very powerful, yet very melted and elegant, with impressive ageing potential. 2003 will be a vintage worth being waited for. A vintage categorized to be a historical success for Montrose. In her 2004 report on the en primeur tastings for the 2003 vintage, Jancis Robinson listed Ch Montrose among her top 14 wines of the vintage, along with Chx Latour, Lafite, Petrus, Lafleur and Ausone; J. Robinson, 2005: Very dark crimson, the deepest of all these wines with colour all the way out to the rim. Young, fresh, very frank aromas – still distinctly unevolved. Extremely dry, savoury and mineral – not a hint of the raisiny sweetness that dogs so many 2003s. Wonderfully rich and layered yet dry and savoury on the finish. A hint of unsweetened chocolate with a floral topnote. Great hit on the front palate, then something dry and scrunchily appetising on the finish. Very very long. 2015 – 2030, 19; 2003 Ch Montrose is a critical wine for learning about the diversity of absolute wine quality in New Zealand ... for those who want to learn. It was cropped at 35 hl/ha (4.55 t/ha = 1.84 t/ac), a rate near-inconceivable to most New Zealand winemakers. It has a pH of 3.9, a value near-inconceivable to technology-obsessed Australian winemakers. At the Farr Vintners 2010 blind review of the 2003 Bordeaux vintage, including all the most-famous wines, 2003 Montrose placed fifth overall, out of 100 wines tasted. Farr Vintners, London, are arguably now the greatest and most knowledgeable bordeaux wine merchants in the world. Farr Vintners summary of the 2003 vintage, 2004, on 2003 Ch Montrose: ... a truly great and powerful wine that has perfect balance. This is the greatest Montrose that we have ever tasted and a testament to the vintage. A clear contender for wine of the vintage; R. Parker, 2014: A candidate for a perfect score, the 2003 Montrose has been a superstar since the first time I tasted it in barrel. Showing no signs of weakening, it is an amazing wine from this fabulous terroir. It boasts a deep blue/purple color as well as a stunning perfume of blueberries, black currants, blackberries, licorice and camphor. Dense, full-bodied and rich with an unctuous texture, well-integrated, melted tannins, and a long, heady finish, this big, brawny, super-intense, gorgeous 2003 is just beginning to enter its plateau of full maturity. It should remain there for at least two decades. 2014 – 2034, 99; weight bottle and closure 537 g; www.chateau-montrose.com ]
Ruby and velvet, just above midway in depth. Bouquet is quite different from any other in the set, though in its complex, fragrant, rich, nearly sultry complexity it shares something with the 1990, but here all a little crisper, purer, and more aromatic. It is the volume of ripe darkly plummy berry plus cassis and fragrant cigar leaf-tobacco, all wrapped up in slightly spicy and cedary oak, that is captivating in this 2003. It is beyond words. The palate is velvety, no other word for it, yet not as plush as the 2009. There is just a hint of leafy tobacco-y complexity in the berry that is refreshing and distinctive, but there is virtually no hint of over-ripeness, just the epitome of bordeaux complexity in a ripe year. It is much more ‘straight’ than the 1990: it takes me back to the equally magical 1959. The fusion of all the bordeaux sensory elements in this wine is extraordinary – so different and more complex and subtle than the berry plus oak plus all too often pH control of even the richest Australian cabernet / merlot. This wine was well received, with three first places, three second places, and no hint of technical defect seen. In one sense this wine is forward in its development, compared with classical Ch Montrose, with already some suggestions of tertiary components. It will cellar for 30 years all the same. GK 07/21

1999 Guigal Cote-Rotie La Turque 19 ½ + (

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Northern Rhone Valley, France: 13%; $934 [ Cork, 49mm, ullage 6, release price c.$435; Spectator rating for year 96; a single 1 ha vineyard on the Cote Brune; typically Sy 93%, Vi 7, co-fermented, average vine age 25 years, typically cropped at 4.55 t/ha = 1.84 t/ac; in the winery, fermentation employs punching-down to keep the cap immersed, up to 35 days cuvaison, 42 months in 100% new French oak barrels, all 228-litre, not fined or filtered; Parker, 1997 in characterising the three Cote-Rotie grands crus, says of La Turque: … a synthesis in style between La Mouline and La Landonne … not as tannic or muscular as La Landonne … nearly the same compelling aromatics as La Mouline … the Rhone’s answer to Burgundy’s great duo of grand cru vineyards, Richebourg and Musigny; JR@JR, 2014: Very sweet and intense on the nose. Heady, obviously oaky, but like an exotic, irresistible tincture. Round and worked and ultimately perhaps very slightly soulless but it is designed to give pleasure and it does. The tannins are very well managed. Round and broad but furled for the future, 18; J.L-L, 2011: the nose is intricate, immediate, breezes along really well. In its make-up figure licorice, black berries – it is a more mobile bouquet than the 1999 Mouline’s, the latter a more soaked wine. The palate has a graceful, level layer of black fruit, and does not explode as I would have thought, ending quietly. There are crisp black fruits that do not really expand on the finish. It is muscly, lithe wine whose late stages are intricate, not obvious. The fruit is like plums, nearly heading for kirsch, though it doesn't go that far, thankfully. Herbs feature on the aftertaste, a testament to the heat of the year. To 2033, ****** (NB: J.L-L rarely awards six stars; RP@WA, 2003: The 1999 Cote Rotie La Turque reveals notes of toasty vanilla and espresso in addition to Asian spices, mocha, pepper, blackberries, creosote, and roasted meats. The exotic perfume is followed by a wine with phenomenal intensity, sweet, well-integrated tannin, huge body, and loads of concentrated fruit. It is a tour de force in winemaking. What is so remarkable about this cuvee is its tremendous layers of flavor, awesome texture, and perfect balance. This is an astonishing offering from one of the world’s greatest winemakers. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2025, 100; weight bottle and closure: 573 g ; www.guigal.com ]
Ruby and velvet, the deepest wine of the 12 (though if La Mouline had been included, it was deeper and fresher still). Bouquet projects the most wonderful floral aroma, deepest wallflower and dianthus but with a sweet undertone suggesting violets and dusky roses, plus an aromatic note of freshly-cracked black peppercorns, on sweet ripe cassisy berry with hints of blueberry, all remarkably fragrant. Flower and berry aromas totally dominate any vanillin / oak-related characters. Palate is velvety, wonderfully cassisy berryfruit, the density of berry suggesting a cropping rate significantly less than the Brune & Blonde, the oak almost totally in the background until the late finish. This was clearly the top wine on the night, with a depth and velvety complexity well ahead of the other top wines. [ But, had the La Mouline been in the lineup, once it had been put aside for a couple of days (under ice) with 4 x 100 mm² Gladwrap® sheets in the decanted 750 ml bottle, that wine was even deeper, more floral and sensuous, and more velvety in berry character, almost certainly a 20-point wine.] La Turque was clearly the top wine on the night for the group as a whole, with seven top places, and five second. A near-perfect syrah. Though in one sense approaching maturity, La Turque impressed with its freshness and relative youth as well. It will cellar at least another 20 – 25 years. A great experience. GK 10/20

2010 Le Clos du Caillou Chateauneuf-du-Pape La Reserve 19 ½ + (

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Southern Rhone Valley, France: 15%; $246 [ cork, 55 mm; Gr 50 – 65%, Mv 25 – 50, Sy 0 – 10; some whole bunches, fermented in cuves, cuvaison 40 days; elevation 15 – 18 months in puncheons 30% new; fined, filtered, organic; reviews for this wine are almost completely lacking, so J.L-L is quoted nearly in full: Sleekly fruited, Morello black cherry aroma with wispy coffee notes ... soaked black cherries, plus a curious note of anchovy ... The palate has ... precise, crystalline black fruit at its heart ... Shapely tannins line its sides through to the finale, ****(*); typical production up to 500 9-litre cases; weight bottle and closure: 749 g; www.closducaillou.com ]
Good ruby, a little development showing, midway in depth. Bouquet is simply exhilarating, beautiful aromatic garrigue / floral top notes on red and black fruits, savoury, enticing, almost saliva-inducing. Flavour is extraordinary, black cherry in an aromatic way, potentially velvety texture (despite the given alcohol) which is wondrously fine-grained, the whole mouthfeel reminiscent of a big, slightly spirity, dark Cote-de-Nuits wine. This wine is so rich, the new oak component is near-invisible, yet it adds wonderful vibrancy and length. This is a very special wine, with a totally glorious flavour, to cellar 10 – 35 years. Nine people rated this their top or second wine, in the set of 12. GK 06/17

2010 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage 19 ½ + (

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Hermitage, Northern Rhone Valley, France: 14.5%; $696 [ cork, 50mm; Sy 100%; 9.3 ha of Sy at Hermitage, Bessards most, then L'Hermite and 5 other vineyards; all de-stemmed, most of fermentation in s/s; cuvaison can be to 4 weeks; traditionally up to 18 months in barrel, 5 – 15% new, the remainder to 5 years old, now sometimes to 26 months; assembled in steel, minimal fining, no filtration; production varies round 2,000 x 9-litre cases; Julia Harding @ J Robinson, 2015: Gorgeous aroma: some oak sweetness but it does not dominate the fragrant fruit that is both red and black - and seductive. The red fruit lifts out of the glass as the wine opens. Supple, finely spiced and still quite closed on the palate but it’s there in all its peppery, scented glory. Firm, compact tannins, very very fine and finishing nicely dry, 19; John Livingstone-Learmonth (note J.L-L marks out of 6 stars, but uses 6 very rarely), 2012: The wine works on all fronts – depth, persistence, pockets of fragrance, is very long, nuanced. Très Grand Vin, ******. 2049-2055; R Parker, 2012: Pure perfection, the 2010 Hermitage reminds Jean-Louis Chave of their 1990. It appears to be a richer, fresher example of what I remember the 1990 tasting like in 1992. The wine exhibits an opaque purple color along with an extraordinary bouquet of sweet blackberry fruit intermixed with creme de cassis, lead pencil shavings, acacia flowers, bouquet garni, meat and crushed rocks. Full-bodied and stunningly rich with laser-like precision, this is a powerful, massive yet exceptionally well-balanced wine that should be forgotten for a decade and drunk over the following 30-40 years, 100; there appears to be no effective website, in 2018; ]
Ruby, nearly carmine still, and velvet, a fabulous colour, the third deepest. First sniff, and the immediate impression is: how could syrah be more perfect? There is a sensuous deeply floral dusky quality, on rich ripe aromatic cassis, all shaped by subtle / perfect cedary oak and a hint of spicy sweet black pepper. There is an element of deeper, darker, ripest dark plums too, but no hint of over-ripeness. Palate is both vibrant and velvet, with the volume of cassisy berry and its dominance over the fragrant but merely shaping oak seeming absolute. Again the black pepper spice is subtle and invigorates the wine. To a person interested in wine style as much as, perhaps more, than wine technology, this seems perfection. Tasters present included some of the most experienced syrah winemakers in the country. Some of the latter however tended to be uneasy about a brett component. It simply had not occurred to me. Since the tasting I have cross-questioned the wine very closely, and noted that one equally-experienced winemaker commented: ‘yes, it is there, but bear in mind that the winemaker may want that level of brett, as complexity’. All in all, I continue to think this near-perfect syrah, of staggering richness, freshness and elegance. Cellar 20 – 45 years. Eight thought this a northern Rhone Valley wine, but tasters did not rate it as highly as I did – some for the reasons given. No first places, one second, two least. Interestingly, not one person thought the wine might be Cote Rotie, illustrating the validity of the concept ‘Hermitage’. GK 11/18

2010 Ch Montrose 19 ½ + (

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Saint-Estephe Second-Growth, Medoc, Bordeaux, France: 14%; $469 [ Cork, 50mm, ullage 12mm; $352 landed; the 2010 wine is CS 53%, Me 37, CF 9, PV 1, all hand-picked, the bunches hand-sorted, the berries optically sorted then again hand-sorted; fermentation in s/s, cuvaison up to 25 days, elevation 18 months in 60% new barrels; average production 16,650 x 9-litre cases; climatically the chateau compares the 2010 wine with 1929, 1945, 1947, 1959 (the greatest Montrose I have tasted), 1961, 1989 and 2009; not known if a consulting oenologist; a Jancis Robinson Top 20 of 2010 wine; JR@JR, 2015: Brooding and magnificent. Still lots to give. Heady and dense and very Montrose. Substantial and with masses of backbone. Admirable, 18; NM@Vinous, 2020: … an outstanding bouquet with graphite infused black fruit, cedar and tobacco, extremely well focused and seeming to gain intensity in the glass. The palate is beautifully balanced with perfect acidity, gentle grip ... fine body and it fans out wonderfully on the persistent finish. Outstanding, 98 (99 at the FV tasting); RP@WA, 2014: This is considered to be among the greatest vintages ever made in Montrose ... an incredible nose of blueberry and blackberry liqueur, with hints of incense, licorice, and acacia flowers. Tannins are incredibly sweet and very present. The wine is full-bodied, even massive, with great purity, depth and finish ... a 50- to 75-year wine, 100; Parker also notes that the chateau considers the wine will cellar to 2100; 2010 Ch Montrose has become so rare, Farr Vintners do not have it in stock – unusual; good website; weight bottle and closure: 563 g; www.chateau-montrose.com ]
Ruby, carmine and velvet, very fresh and clearly the deepest, richest and most saturated of the wines. Yet the bouquet has a freshness to it, just an aromatic edge to the cassis, which is most unusual. Behind are florals, darkest roses and violets, intense cassis more than blackberry fruit, and further below in the nett bouquet impression is sweet oak. In mouth the richness is tactile: oh, how I'd like a dry extract on this wine, it must be well over 30 g/L. Now I have some idea what that fabulous 1959 Montrose, the greatest Montrose I have ever tasted, was like as a young wine. The richness of berry totally overwhelms the cedary oak, yet good acid and the Saint-Estephe tannin (as well as the oak) all give the wine impeccable structure. A glorious Montrose which will cellar for as long as the 50 mm corks hold. Perceiving the quality, since the chateau itself states this is a 90 year wine, a pity they did not use 54 mm corks. Close to perfection. Three people rated Montrose their top wine, and three second favourite. Cellar 20 – 60 years. GK 09/20

1996 Champagne Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill Brut 19 ½ + (

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Epernay, Champagne, France: 12%; $533 [ traditional compound champagne cork; Broadbent rating for vintage: ***** (tentatively, not tasted at point of publication); Wine Spectator rating for vintage: 96 [ second only to 1990 ], Drink or hold. Ripe and intense, firmly structured and potentially long-lived. Cepage not revealed, but Stevenson estimates PN 70 – 80%, balance chardonnay, all old-vine grand cru wines; all MLF, no oak use known but not impossible, en tirage c.10 years; in a previous tasting I thought the dosage around 8 g/L; Robinson, 2006: Still pale gold. Very deep and sumptuous on the nose. Smells like a cross between red and white Côte de Beaune. Lots of lemon cream sensation and very fine bead. Explosive. Still tight and there’s lots yet to come but certainly capable of giving great pleasure now. You almost feel it needs decanting there is so much there! Not especially long. More Pinot than in the past, 18.5 +; Galloni (in R. Parker), 2009: The 1996 Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill is an immensely rewarding, complete Champagne that is drinking well today but that also has the potential to continue to improve in bottle. Nothing in particular stands out here, but as is often the case with this cuvee, I am struck by the wine’s awesome balance and supreme harmony. Simply put, this is a strikingly beautiful wine from Pol Roger, 95.; www.champagne-bollinger.com ]
Glowing straw, the third lightest / freshest. Bouquet shows a total integration of berry and autolysis that approaches perfection. The hint of red-fruit aromatics is obvious alongside the 1996 Pol Roger Chardonnay, but nowhere near as apparent as the 1990 Bollinger. One could not ask for more perfect autolysis, crust of perfect fragrant baguette. The wine sits exactly between the 1996 Pol Roger Chardonnay and the 1990 Bollinger, more substantial and more pinot noir than the former, yet so elegant and subtle (yet rich) alongside the latter. In mouth the wine is firm, almost austere, astonishingly youthful, the quality of the autolysis substituting for suggestions of oak backbone, as seen for example in the Bollinger wines. The flavour lasts and lasts, yet though rich in one sense, the wine is also almost ethereal. Dosage seems around the 6 – 7 g/L mark, in today's company. An absolutely compelling example of the methode champenoise winestyle, to cellar for decades. The top wine of the tasting, by a wide margin. GK 05/16

2005 Ch Palmer 19 ½ (

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Margaux Third Growth, Bordeaux, France: 14%; $825 [ cork 51mm; cepage this year CS 53%, Me 40, PV 7, average age 35 – 40 years, planted @ 10,000 vines / ha, typically cropped @ c.6 t/ha = 2.4 t/ac; time spent in barrel in better years c.20 months, 45% new, light toast; now rated as one of the undoubted 'super-seconds'; www.chateau-palmer.com ]
Ruby and velvet, some garnet, the middle wine for depth. Bouquet here is the perfect complement to the 2010, just as wondrously pure, but a little more development than expected. The wine has lost nearly all its primary fruit characters, instead showing a rich amalgam of near-floral qualities and 'winey' fragrance on wonderfully rich berryfruit, with the faintest suggestions of browning, plus brown pipe tobacco and cedar. In mouth there is a velvety richness of fruit, the firmness attributed to petit verdot in the 2010 now totally melted away into a glorious lightly cedar-infused near-perfect cabernet / merlot blend. This wine takes me back to the beauty of the 1966 Ch Palmer when it was a young wine – back when at $6.35 one could afford a case of it, even on the salaries of the day. The 2005 and 2010 Palmers are of comparable richness, though the 2005 being more developed does seem fractionally richer. Cellar 5 – 30 years. GK 11/15

1963 Dow’s Vintage Port 19 ½ (

)

Douro, Portugal: – %; $441 [ cork, 48mm; cepage not known, but usually 75% or so touriga nacional and touriga franca; 18 months in older oak (none new), no fining or filtration; considered to be drier than the other Symington group wines; Broadbent has Dow as one of the top five wines of the vintage, but notes in 2001 (after he had tasted it formally more than 43 times) that it was now fully to over-mature, drying sometimes, at best: still sweet, rich with marvellous flavour and length; Robinson in 2006 has a different view, noting that the 1963 is the finest Dow she has tasted, and worth quoting in full (since she rarely scores at the 19.5 level): Mid to pale ruby with a brick rim. Wonderfully mature, complex nose with dried fruits – prunes? – but freshness too. Hint of dark chocolate. Alcohol wonderfully integrated. Then on the palate a real dancer of a wine – perfectly lively and truly tonic on the palate. Real delicacy – not desperately sweet, just beautifully balanced. Very very clean finish with a definite whisper of tannin on the finish. The Syms reckons this would be one of the top four or five vintage ports of the 20th century by anyone’s reckoning and certainly it demonstrated to me exactly what I love about really mature, top quality vintage port – a world away from young ruby, 19.5; Robert Parker, 1989: The 1963 is a classic, a monumental, rich, still tannic wine that will last at least another 30 years, 92; www.dows-port.com ]
Glowing garnet and ruby, a little older than the 1963 Fonseca, below midway in depth. Bouquet is understated, but even at this age nearly floral in a dusky way, with currants and browning red plummy fruits, plus some of the piquancy of orange oil and dried Otago apricots, and a hint of marzipan, all melded into the essence of mature vintage port. Palate is wonderfully rich, long, and sustained, with an integration of fruit and oak that stands out in the set, not at all tanniny yet with a clear backbone and length, finishing smoothly and in one sense almost ‘dry’. It is not the richest or sweetest in the set, but it is ‘complete’. Robinson’s reported comments and assessment seemed perfectly appropriate. Will hold for years. Two tasters had the 1963 Dow’s as their top wine. GK 05/18

2003 Guigal Cote-Rotie La Turque 19 ½ (

)

Cote Brune, Northern Rhone Valley, France: 13%; $1,000 [ Cork, 49 mm; Sy 93%, Vi 7, co-fermented, average vine age 25 years, typically cropped at 35 hl/ha = 4.55 t/ha = 1.84 t/ac; Parker rating for year 96; NZ price at purchase $575; c. 28 days cuvaison, 42 months in 100% new barrels, all 228-litre; Parker in characterising the three Cote-Rotie grands crus, says of La Turque: a synthesis in style between La Mouline and La Landonne … not as tannic or muscular as La Landonne … nearly the same compelling aromatics as La Mouline … the Rhone’s answer to Burgundy’s great duo of grand cru vineyards, Richebourg and Musigny; J.L-L, 2011: dark robe; there are wisps of mineral, prune, ground coffee in a very solid bouquet – it shows airs of baked, hot plains and stones which are offset by the relative breeze of the mineral elements that include toasting and mint. The palate bears a lot of savoury fruit – is an affair of real depth and tasty generosity. This has great length, a wonderful roundness with the charge of the hot vintage at the end. Its freshness is striking, with poise and elegance lining up well. 2034-2036, *****; Robinson, 2006: Very interesting menthol note on this energetic, superripe, very opulent wine that is JUST this side of overripe but saved by acidity and freshness. Really dramatic and rich. So rich it tastes almost drinkable now. Tannins deeply submerged beneath a richly embroidered canopy of fruit. Obviously picked before end August, before grapes started to dry. Lots of glam oak, 19; Parker, 2007: 100; J Dunnuck @ Parker, 2016: I’ve always loved the 2003s from the Guigal family and the 2003 Cote-Rotie la Turque has yet to ever disappoint. An incredible perfume of smoked herbs, charred meats, violets, licorice and blackcurrants gives way to a huge, unctuous, powerful Cote-Rotie that has masses of ripe, sweet tannin, full-bodied richness and a finish that just won’t quit. Enjoy this heavenly elixir over the coming 2-3 decades, 100; Wine Spectator, 2007: Incredibly dense and concentrated, with a polished layer of mocha-infused toast pushed by blackberry, black currant, black tea and dark olive flavors. This has tremendous power, but is also very suave, with sweet, exotic fruit notes that linger endlessly on the long, fleshy finish. Best from 2010 through 2030. 210 cases made, 98; www.guigal.com ]
Ruby and velvet, nearly as fresh as La Landonne, but not quite the depth, the third deepest wine. Bouquet here is nearly as glorious as the La Landonne, the same fresh aromatic cassis but a little more dusky-rose floral, and not quite the depth. Once one knows the identity, you try to see how to recognise the viognier component, but it is near impossible. Palate is a little softer than the La Landonne, not showing the extraordinary depth of aromatic cassis that wine has, but the level of fruit and richness is comparable. Oak is detectable, lengthening the flavour wonderfully, but again not dominating. This is beautiful wine too, which could easily be marked as highly as La Landonne. Cellar 10 – 25 years. GK 05/17

1977 Fonseca’s Finest Vintage Port 19 ½ (

)

Douro, Portugal: 21%; $410 [ cork, 48mm; main grapes understood to be touriga franca and tinta roriz, touriga nacional, but no relative ratios found; Parker, 1989: Fonseca is one of the great port lodges, producing the most exotic and most complex port. If Fonseca lacks the sheer weight and power of a Taylor, Dow or Warre, or the opulent sweetness and intensity of a Graham, it excels in its magnificently complex, intense bouquet of plummy, cedary, spicy fruit and long, broad, expansive flavors. With its lush, seductive character, one might call it the Pomerol of Vintage ports. When it is young, it often loses out in blind tastings to the heavier, weightier, more tannic wines, but I always find myself upgrading my opinion of Fonseca after it has had 7-10 years of age. The 1977 has developed magnificently in the bottle, and while it clearly needs another decade to reach its summit, it is the best Fonseca since the 1970 and 1963, 93; Simon Field MW, of Berry Bros & Rudd: When last tasted in November 2010, the Fonseca impressed with both its charm, about which we knew, but also its structural power, about which we may have been less sure. The 1977s Port wines were much lauded on release, but one or two questions were asked as to whether they would ... last the course in the manner of the greatest vintages. Tasting ... the Fonseca was therefore reassuring: the black fruits, cassis and morello, are still evidenced, the spirit has integrated nicely and there is gentle spice on the finish. Fonseca's famous elegance pervades, effortless and evanescent; James Suckling @ Wine Spectator, 2008: What a Vintage Port. Dark ruby center, with a dark garnet edge. Aromas of flowers, blackberry and licorice. Subtle and complex. Wow. What a palate. Full, concentrated and rich, yet balanced and beautiful. Solid and sleepy. Still not giving all it has to give. This is just coming around. Gorgeous and classy. Love it. Drink now, 100; www.fonseca.pt ]
Glowing ruby and garnet, a sensational colour for 41 years of age, one of the two wines showing the most ‘red’ in the ruby, above midway in depth. Likewise the bouquet has a freshness and intensity to it which is remarkable, red fruits more than brown, wonderfully piquant and exciting, orange oil again, red cherry, red plum, currants, nougat and cedary oak lifted by alcohol, and a particular spicy quality reminiscent of cinnamon and grenache. In mouth the wine stands out for its concentration, richness, sweetness and length, while remaining fresh and exhilarating, chock-full of vintage port flavour, with a very long fruit-filled aftertaste, almost youthful. This wine has a great cellar future ahead of it, sensationally so given its 41 years of age. Two tasters had this as their second-favourite wine. GK 05/18

1971 Schloss Schonborn [ Erbacher ] Marcobrunner Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese QmP 19 ½ (

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Rheingau, Germany: – %; $ – [ cork, 45mm; in the handout I noted that the colour appeared deep, but Broadbent’s reviews indicated that may be no worry … and indeed that was the case. There is now an exact wine-searcher value for this bottle: $NZ2,042. The von Schonborn estate in the Rheingau amounts to 50 ha, planted 91% to riesling, the balance pinot noir and pinot blanc, with annual production totalling around 25,500 9-litre cases. Brook comments that though von Schonborn is one of the best-known estates in the Rheingau, quality was inconsistent until 1995. He further comments that von Schonborn is the principal owner of the 5.2 ha Marcobrunn vineyard. Soils are rich in marl [ie calcareous] and consistently yield rieslings that are rich, spicy and full-flavoured, but the richness and body may mean some loss of elegance. No notes for our wine, but to illuminate the colour and vocabulary aspect of our tasting, here are David Schildknecht’s (Wine Advocate) thoughts on the 2009 (NB) of our label: [ The wine is ] amber, viscous, and pungently smoky and spicy. Salted caramel, peach preserves, vanilla cream, and crystallized ginger inform a buttery palate rather incongruously laced with fresh lemon and adhering with formidable tenacity. ... one can only wait for 25-30 years to see whether harmony and further complexity emerge, 91. Half bottles of the current vintage of this TBA sell for €600 in Germany ... and total production of the 2009 was fewer than 70 half-bottles. To further illustrate, Michael Broadbent's 1992 notes on a 1971 von Schonborn Hattenheimer Pfaffenberg Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese: Harmonious, honeyed botrytis, outrageously lovely petroly Riesling, intensely sweet, concentrated, not of this world – no score given; www.weingut-schloss-schoenborn.de ]
Old mahogany with an old-gold edge, brass-rimmed, much the deepest wine. The first thing you notice as you pour the wine is, it is astonishingly ‘thick’. The second aspect is the remarkable freshness and volume of the bouquet, relative to its dark appearance. The fruits are dark, sultanas, sticky black raisins, fresh moist prunes in the best sense, spicy and nutty, a little oak, darkly honeyed with suggestions of beautiful caramel toffee, yet vibrant. Palate is velvet, again the finest moistest Christmas cake or traditional English Christmas pudding with ground almonds and spice, yet so much more exciting, and simply never-ending. One particularly knowledgeable taster of German wines spoke to the wine, describing it as 'ethereal'. For the group, this was the favourite wine of the evening quite clearly, a wine beyond the experience of most of us. Residual sugar must be approaching the 300 grams / litre range. For both this wine and the Kupfergrube, a slight question mark on the developed colour, since the wines were bought at auction, though of Wellington origin. Storage conditions may have been warmer than for the Josephshofer Trockenbeerenauslese, with its thought to be more ‘correct’ colour, as noted below. Could the wine have been even fresher, therefore, in different storage ? Tantalising thought. Memorable, even so: nine top rankings, three second places. GK 11/17

2010 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape * 19 ½ (

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Southern Rhone Valley, France: 15%; $204 [ cork, 50 mm; Gr 55 – 65%, Mv 20 – 25, Sy 10, others 5; all destemmed, 21 days cuvaison; elevation c.12 months in large foudres, no new oak; not fined or filtered; just the one cuvée of Chateauneuf; J.L-L: magic fruit; very long, beats 1990, ******; Robinson, 2012: Lots of black fruits on the nose (c’est très kirsché, says Avril approvingly) and a hint of animal and masses of matter. Lots of tannin and a bit of alcohol on the end. Needs lots of time. Very deep and long, 19; Parker, 2012: ... gorgeously pure black raspberry, black currant and kirsch liqueur notes intermixed with notions of spring flowers, tapenade, licorice and spice box ... full-bodied ... remarkably fresh and well-delineated, 99; typical production 6,500 – 7,500 9-litre cases; weight bottle and closure: 688 g; www.clos-des-papes.fr ]
Good ruby, scarcely distinguishable from the Caillou La Reserve in weight, fractionally fresher in hue, in the middle of the field for depth. The freshness and volume of red and black cherry fruit pouring from the glass here is extraordinary. It is not quite so garrigue-aromatic as the top Caillou, instead just a hint of cinnamon. Palate is a little fresher and more tanniny at this stage, but again wonderful potential texture. Wines like these remind you yet again how coarse in texture so much allegedly premium Australian red wine is, with their almost invariable tartaric acid adjustment harshness, further exacerbated by excess new oak. Clos des Papes has no new oak at all, yet has a superb tannin structure. This and the Caillou La Reserve are Chateauneufs of the highest rank, of a quality rarely encountered. Tasters did not share my enthusiasm for this wine, perhaps because it was wine 12 and fatigue was setting in (with the higher alcohols), perhaps because the wine is relatively subtle, only one person rating it second. Cellar 10 – 35 years. GK 06/17

2013 Trinity Hill Syrah Homage * 19 ½ (

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Gimblett Gravels mostly, a little Roy's Hill, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand: 13.1%; $120 [ cork 50mm; DFB; Sy 98.7%, fermented on skins only of Vi 1.3%, hand-picked from on average c.11-year old vines planted at c.3,000 vines / ha and cropped @ 5 t/ha = 2 t/ac; no cold-soak, cuvaison averaged 28 days (though one batch 56 days) with 30% whole bunches retained, mostly cultured-yeast; MLF mostly in tank; 12 months in French oak c.53% new; RS 0.23 g/L; sterile-filtered; dry extract not measured; production 556 x 9-L cases; release date November 2015; this pre-release evaluation bottle courtesy Warren Gibson; www.trinityhill.com ]
Ruby, carmine and velvet, well above midway in depth, not quite as deep as the less-oaked Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Syrah. Dianthus / carnations are the signature note of fine Northern Rhone syrah. Even though the bouquet is infantile, there is already a beautiful foretelling of that character. Behind the florality is a tightly interwoven berry and oak synthesis showing a more French quality of elevation than most of the wines. The potentially floral qualities rest on rich ripe deep cassisy berry with wonderful purity. The key issue however in this wine, and several of the fine syrahs in this tasting, is the significant whole-bunch component, and the contribution that technique makes to perceived florality in the final wine. This approach borrows from the 'pioneering' work of Jacques Seysses of Domaine Dujac, in the Cotes de Nuits. I say 'pioneering' because he has merely put into practice certain older or traditional practices in Burgundy, which were becoming lost with the increasing mechanisation of grape harvest and pre-fermentation treatment. Homage clearly has greater oak exposure than Trinity's Gimblett wine, so some vanillin is showing too. Flavours are already very beautiful: this is total Hermitage in concentration, ripeness and depth, all characters near-perfect. The level of oak seems near-ideal by traditional Hermitage standards, the wine showing a sophistication of elevation that outshines the wonderful Matua Matheson wine, making this young Homage already graceful. Later info reveals time in barrel was 12 months, noteworthy. Many new-world tasters would however think it under-oaked. I am tempted to say this is the most perfect young red wine I have tasted from New Zealand. As you savour it, a suggestion of black pepper creeps into the cassis, subtly differentiating it from a high-cabernet wine. This is simply a great young wine, closely matching the finest Hermitage, to cellar for 5 – 25 years, maybe longer. GK 05/15

2003 Guigal Hermitage Ex Voto 19 ½ (

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Hermitage, Northern Rhone Valley, France: 13%; $535 [ cork; Sy 100%, age 40 – 90 years; cropped at less than half the normal 35 - 37 hL / ha (1.7 – 1.9 t/ac), so less than 1 t/ac; fermented in temperature-controlled s/s, 5 weeks cuvaison; 42 months in new French oak; production 330 cases, much less than le Sol; the name Ex Voto embraces the thought of giving thanks; Parker 170: It is the most alcoholic of all the wines at 15%, but its off-the-chart richness, full-bodied, powerful, and amazing creme de cassis flavors along with truffle, crushed rocks, and acacia flowers, are utterly profound. 100; www.guigal.com ]
Ruby and velvet, nearly a hint of carmine, the deepest of the Guigal grands crus, in the middle across the set. Bouquet on this syrah is even more intensely cassisy than la Turque, and going back and forth between the two, it is now easier to detect the presence of viognier in la Turque – marvellous. The concentration of cassisy berry and syrah character is exceptional, what one hopes of Hermitage and these days, infrequently encounters. If one were to be really carping, there is trace raisiny / over-ripe character, yet it is so vividly cassis, and it was after all a hot dry year, who cares. Likewise, there is trace brett, at a level that is frankly delicious. On palate one immediately registers the alcohol. The label gives a completely imaginary figure of 13% (as for all the reds including and above the Brune & Blonde label). Parker records 15% and Tanzer 15.5%. Yet because the oaking is so beautifully incorporated with the fruit, there is no alcohol / oak interaction / harshness as bedevils Australian wines, the palate instead being more dry smooth blackcurrant liqueur. Extraordinary wine, the richest Hermitage I have ever tasted, infinitely desirable. Cellar 10 – 50 years. GK 06/07

2005 Drouhin les Musigny 19 ½ (

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Chambolle-Musigny Grand Cru, Burgundy, France: 13%; $487 [ cork; a Drouhin domaine wine; the meaning of the name lost in legend; upslope from Clos de Vougeot and les Amoureuses; hand-picked, fermentation in wooden cuves, cuvaison up to 20 days; MLF and up to 18 months in French oak up to 100% new; for many the subtlest yet finest of the grands crus; www.drouhin.com ]
Pinot noir ruby, one of the lightest, and clearly oak-influenced. And thus we come to the 2005 Drouhin les Musigny (I'm writing these from least to greatest), already a wine of fable for the 2005 vintage. Thankfully, the wines were presented rigorously blind, yet on being asked to speak to the final flight, there was no doubt in my mind that the middle wine was the best – whatever it was. The quality of the floral component on this pinot defies description, there being every sweet red and brown flower one can think of, and dark roses and violets too. In mouth, the fruit unfolds magically, layer upon layer of dark cherry, perfect acid balance, velvet texture, just everything great pinot noir should be. It is not as oaky as the Chambertin, but it seems richer and more intensely flavoured than even the Amoureuses. Possibly the acid balance is a little soft for the longest haul, but this is exquisite burgundy, the floral qualities suffusing the entire palate. Perhaps this wine will develop the mythical peacock's tail. All the overseas excitement about this wine seems totally true. Those who taste it are privileged. Local pinot winemakers who turned down the opportunity to do so were unwise. Cellar 5 – 25 years. GK 12/07

2003 Guigal Cote Rotie la Turque 19 ½ (

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Cote Rotie, Northern Rhone Valley, France: 13%; $535 [ cork; Sy 93%, Vi 7, 100% de-stemmed; average vine age 17 years; cropped at less than half the normal 35 – 37 hL / ha (1.7 – 1.9 t/ac), so less than 1 t/ac; fermented in s/s, 5 weeks cuvaison; 42 months in new French oak; Parker 170: an amazing aromatic profile of espresso coffee interwoven with scorched earth, tar, truffle, incense, blackberry, bacon fat, and flowers. Powerful, thick flavors ooze across the palate with a viscous texture, amazing purity, and just enough acidity and tannin to give uplift and precision … 100; Robinson: Very interesting menthol note on this energetic, superripe, very opulent wine that is JUST this side of overripe but saved by acidity and freshness. Really dramatic and rich. …. Tannins deeply submerged beneath a richly embroidered canopy of fruit. 19; www.guigal.com ]
Ruby and velvet, just below half way in depth of colour for the set, the second lightest of the grands crus. Bouquet is magical, a glorious combination of syrah berry at the point of ripeness where it is losing the lightest dianthus fractions of bouquet, but still is darkly red rose florals, on rich ripe cassis scarcely showing any hot-year raisining. The benison of viognier can be identified, once one thinks about it. This wine is in effect pure, no brett, for all reasonable discussion purposes. Palate is velvety rich. What does Guigal do to achieve such magical oak integration given 42 months in 100% new oak, all integrated into the body of the wine as in great chardonnay. The oak simply is not loud, a vivid contrast to the Grange. Aftertaste is perhaps the most over-ripe component, some chocolate notes in the intense berry, maybe a sort of Black Forest gateau suggestion at this point, yet wonderfully dry and long – just lovely. Alcohol is almost certainly more 14%-ish than the 13 given. 2003 La Turque finishes on berry, not oak, astonishing. Cellar 10 – 35 years. GK 06/07

2004 Penfolds Cabernet / Shiraz Bin 60A 19 ½ (

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Coonawarra and Kalimna, South Australia, Australia: 13.5%; $1,058 [ Screwcap, ullage c.25mm; original price c.$380; this wine is if anything more famous than Block 42, in that it takes its heritage directly back to 1962 Bin 60A, made by Max Schubert after his Bordeaux odyssey, and agreed by all those who have tasted it to be the greatest wine Penfolds has ever made. Penfolds considered the cool year 2004 to match 1962, and hence made this follow-up wine. It shows an incredible sense of heritage and perspective, to wait 42 years to try and make this second bottling. 56% of the wine is Coonawarra Block 20 cabernet sauvignon, the balance being shiraz from Kalimna Blocks 4 and 14, and Koonunga Hill Block 53G. Again, the Penfolds website is infuriatingly vague (and not enough effort made to correct mistakes), but Lisa Perrotti-Brown has access to Peter Gago, Penfolds chief winemaker, and advises that fermentation was completed in new American oak hogsheads, followed by 13 months elevation in similar barrels. Sources vary, but there seem to be about 500 x 9-litre cases of this wine (like the Block 42, but hard to be sure, now that 6-packs are the standard unit for these expensive wines). Victoria Daskal, Managing Editor at The World of Fine Wine, London, 2009: Tangy berries and minty nose. Very good fruit and prevalent oak. Advised to wait, but it is excellent now. Full flavour, layers of fruit, mint, oak, like hitting a flavour tune fork and feeling it reverberate on your palate: zesty and lively and young, 18; RP@RP, 2006: Its blackberry, blueberry, tar, lead pencil shavings, licorice, and spice box-scented bouquet is followed by a wine boasting an unctuous texture buttressed by decent acidity as well as fabulous extract and richness. This stunning blend should have a minimum of three decades of aging potential and be a true collector's item for many years to come, 98; weight bottle and closure: 712 g; ; www.penfolds.com ]
Ruby, carmine and velvet, youthful for its age, in the middle for depth of colour. Bouquet is aromatic, piquant, enticing, with wonderful dark fresh berry characters approaching cassis in quality, though it is hard to tease out the berry from aromatic new oak. The wine has a faint pennyroyal lift, almost subliminal, but making it exciting to smell. It is not euc'y. Palate follows perfectly, not overly rich or overstated, the cabernet speaking much more loudly at this stage, the wine having reminders of a young Bordeaux such as Mouton-Rothschild (with its noticeable oak), but then the palate is softened and fleshed-out by silky shiraz fruit, feeling as if it were free-run juice. Any acid adjustment for this wine is subtly done, it thus pretty well escaping the great peril of many Australian red wines, a spiky added-tartaric finish. When compared with Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 707 of the same year, the wine is gentler, more bordeaux-like, not as obviously American oak, and in particular it finishes more attractively. Great wine, and so far as you can tell not in any way closed or compacted by being bottled under screwcap. Top wine for four tasters, the top wine in that respect, and one second-favourite. Thought to be cabernet-dominant by half the group. Cellar 20 – 40 years. GK 04/21

2010 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle 19 ½ (

)

Hermitage, Northern Rhone Valley, France: 14%; $300 [ cork, 55mm; Sy 100%, hand-picked from vines averaging 40 years age, Le Meal the main vineyard and others at c.2.5 t/ha (1 t/ac); website not forthcoming as to elevage, but Livingstone-Learmonth and Robert Parker have good info: all destemmed, c.22 days cuvaison temperature-controlled to max 30°C, MLF preferably in tank; oxygenation as needed, then 12 – 18 months (depending on vintage) in barrique, 20% new now, balance 1 and 2-year so now a modern approach to elevage; assembly in tank, may be fined, filtered; production now varies with vintage up to 2,900 x 9-litre cases, much less than the latter years of the Jaboulet family, coupled with a large percentage (say, 25%) now declassified to La Petite Chapelle and a further percentage completely declassified; with Jaboulet now owned by the Frey family of Ch La Lagune (who also hold 45 percent of Champagne Billecart-Salmon), the renaissance of the formerly famous but latterly sadly deteriorated Jaboulet house is now well in train. Rumours abound that La Lagune barrels are now in use for La Chapelle. Given the centuries-old links between Bordeaux and Hermitage, this makes sense; overseeing winemaker Caroline Frey graduated in oenology from the University of Bordeaux in 2002, dux of the class. There she met consultant oenologist (the late) Denis Dubourdieu, who she regards as her mentor and inspiration; Jancis Robinson, 2015: Exceptionally dark crimson. Dense yet opulent nose. Extremely ripe. Yet dry on the finish. This is much more sinewy and less offputtingly concentrated than the Grange 2010. Fine-grained tannins. Savoury and dramatic, 2016 – 2030, 18.5; Jeb Dunnuck, 2015: ... a blockbuster in the making, ... not for those craving instant gratification. Massively concentrated and dense, it offers sensational minerality to go with tons of dark fruits, bacon, black olive, beef blood and graphite. Building in the glass and showing more and more mid-palate density and serious amounts of tannin, this serious, chiseled and structured Hermitage needs to be forgotten for another decade, 2025 - 2060, 97+; Robert Parker, 2011, on the achievements of the new owners and Caroline Frey: ... this is one of the great qualitative turn arounds in the wine world. It is welcomed by all wine lovers given the historic legacy of the wines of Jaboulet and the importance of this famous firm in all of France. Ms. Frey, who is also responsible for the brilliant wines produced at La Lagune in Bordeaux, has reduced the amount of new oak for the red wines to about 20% and to negligible proportions for the whites; www.jaboulet.com ]
Ruby, carmine and velvet, the deepest wine, a sensational rich and youthful colour. On smelling this, the immediate thought of young and great Bordeaux first flits across the mind: Mouton-Rothschild or Pichon Baron. Look again and it is exquisite spicy darkest syrah, a touch of black peppercorn in the spice, a freshness and lift in the cassis which is exemplary, and rather more new oak than the 2010 Chave (hence the Bordeaux thought). Palate confirms the bouquet in every detail, the wine perhaps not quite so rich as the Chave, but because of the oak every bit as big in flavour. And even so, the oak does not dominate or interfere unduly with the classic syrah flavour. I’d just prefer a little less. To judge from 1969 Jaboulet La Chapelle tasted recently, this could be a 50 year wine, just. Cellar 20 – 45 years. One top place, and two second-favourite votes. Only one taster thought this a Northern Rhone Valley wine, perhaps on the oak. GK 11/18

2010 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle 19 ½ (

)

Hermitage, Northern Rhone Valley, France: 14%; $399 [ 55mm cork; hand-picked from 40 – 60 year vines at < 2.5 t/ha (1 t/ac); website not forthcoming as to elevage, but Robert Parker reports 15 months in barrel, 20% new oak; Parker, 96+: great wine; Tanzer, 96: intensely perfumed (NZ winemakers please note, how do you smell floral components if the wine is over-oaked, vanillin alone is not enough); Robinson, 18+: real density; www.jaboulet.com ]
Ruby, carmine and velvet, a lovely colour and weight, the richest of the Jaboulets. Bouquet impresses first for its wonderful purity, then its eloquent expression of perfectly ripe cassis just grading into bottled black doris plums. This smells at the perfect point of varietal expression, in terms of my ripening curve for syrah (The World of Fine Wine, Issue 34, 2011). When you focus on the bouquet, there are dusky florals too, hinting at darkest red roses and violets, but also mingling with traces of freshly cracked black pepper. Tasting the wine is simply heavenly, it is a perfect condensation of all the aromas on bouquet, into a moderately rich yet not heavy wine of great clarity and focus, illuminated but in no way dominated by new oak. In this key component, it contrasts with nearly all the New Zealand wines. And it is wonderfully fresh. I imagine the 2009 is a bigger wine, but sadly it was not available for this tasting. If it is both larger and as fresh and focussed, then perhaps it is perfection, but meanwhile, this is definitive. Any person who loves syrah, and all New Zealand winemakers who make syrah, and therefore expect New Zealanders to pay them for it, are duty-bound to secure at least a 6-box of this wine. And preferably a dozen, for it will cellar for twice that time. It is an absolute benchmark wine. It is one of the most beautiful young wines I have ever tasted, comparable with 1966 Ch Palmer at release. Cellar 5 – 30 years. GK 06/14

2010 Ch de Beaucastel 19 ½ (

)

Southern Rhone Valley, France: 14.5%; $130 [ cork, 55mm, ullage 16mm; original price c.$146; cepage varies a little each year around Gr 30%, Mv 30, Sy 10, Co 10, Ci 5, other authorised red varieties 8, and white varieties 7; more detail in the introductory sections; Wine Spectator Vintage Chart: … a late harvest resulting in beautifully ripe, racy, terroir-driven wines for aging. The spine of ’05 with extra flesh, 98; Marc Perrin: The main idea of 2010 is ripe, but fabulous balance. We had the same phenolics as '09, but 1.5 degrees less of alcohol ... It's back to the very classic style of the Southern Rhone … the wines are intense, but not heavy; J.L-L, 2013: The palate comes forward on sealed, dark fruits, lissom and live tannins, a joyful abundance ... 2018 – 2045, ****** (NB: 6 stars very rarely applied by J.L-L); JR@JR, 2011: Mourvèdre was especially good in 2010, apparently. Very dense and meaty on the nose. Appetising and no shortage of flesh but no heavy sweetness or alcohol. Really quite racy! Complex. 2015 – 2030, 18; RP@RP, 2012: This is a gorgeous wine ... with loads of bouquet garni, beef blood, blackberry, kirsch, smoke and truffle, this wine is full-bodied, rich ..., 2015 – 2045, 95; JM@WS, 2012: Aromatically, it's the purest Beaucastel I've ever experienced ... It's very intense without any heaviness, with remarkable freshness and purity ... It is clearly classic in quality and is easily among the elite vintages that Beaucastel has ever produced; JM later scored it 96; weight bottle and closure: 873 g; www.beaucastel.com ]
Ruby and velvet, a similar weight to the 2016 but fractionally older, marginally the deepest wine, but much, much lighter than the Penfolds last month. Total wine style is very close to the 2016, the wine pure and lightly aromatic, again the role of mourvedre apparent and reminding of cabernet sauvignon, but the whole wine smelling just a little richer. It is also a little drier / more tanniny, without quite the fresh berry bloom of the youthful 2016. There is a hint of beguiling garrigue, though. Palate is richer and more concentrated than the 2016, the richest in the set apart from the ultra-low cropping rate Hommage à Jacques Perrin, clearly aromatic, the dark mourvedre even more apparent, dark plum and nearly cassis flavours, with wonderful palate depth on the furry-tannins / berry flavours of the mourvedre component. Again the alcohol is very well hidden. I imagine this will take years to crust in bottle, leaving a fragrant soft wine like 1989 now, but pure. Four tasters rated the 2010 their favourite wine of the evening, and another four their second-favourite. Tasters were unanimous there was no brett. Magnificent wine, to cellar 20 – 45 years. GK 05/21

2005 Chapoutier Hermitage le Pavillon 19 ½ (

)

Hermitage, Northern Rhone Valley, France: 14%; $349 [ cork; Sy 100% 65 years average age, from le Pavillon on mid to upper slopes on granite; hand-harvested "just beyond peak maturity"; 100% de-stemmed; fermented in open-top oak vessels, fermentation to 32 C, cuvaison up to 4 weeks; 15 – 18 months in 50% new French oak; regular racking; not fined or filtered; www.chapoutier.com ]
Ruby, carmine and velvet, a glorious syrah colour, though not quite the deepest. Bouquet is pinpoint syrah, the sweetest and purest of the four, wallflower florals in a firm way, clear-cut cassis, subtle black pepper, and lots of dark fruit best characterised as darkest bottled black doris plum. This suite of specific syrah varietal aromas is also exactly found in 2006 New Zealand Church Road Syrah Reserve, and 2005 Te Mata Syrah Bullnose, but in both cases without the firm authority of this wine. Palate is the perfect match, succulent in its richness (like the 2006 Church Road Reserve), but again firmer than the New Zealand examples even though seemingly less new oak-affected, wonderful dry extract, great cassisy length, and a clear black peppercorn and berry finish. Not for nothing did Professor Sainsbury describe red Hermitage as the 'manliest' wine in the world ! It is not a very big wine, but is perfectly proportioned. Cellar 10 – 30 + years. GK 07/08

2010 Cable Bay Syrah Reserve 19 ½ (

)

Western Waiheke Island, Auckland district, New Zealand: 14.5%; $50 [ screwcap; Sy 97%, Vi 3, grown on a north-facing slope, hand-picked; co-fermented in s/s; 18 months in all-French oak, 33% new; Lisa Perrotti-Brown, 2012: ... warm blackberry, black currant, bacon and charcoal notes with a hint of black pepper. Some oak flavor is evident on the entry but is complemented by good black fruit concentration, vibrant acidity and a medium level of rounded tannins. This Syrah has a long finish and should drink well to 2016+, 89; Michael Cooper, 2014: The outstanding 2010 … is very powerful (14.5 per cent alcohol) and notably concentrated, with layers of blackcurrant, plum, black-pepper, coffee and nut flavours, underpinned by firm, ripe tannins. A majestic red … it should flourish for a decade, *****; www.cablebay.nz ]
Ruby, carmine and velvet, a fine colour, but not one of the deep ones, the third to lightest. One sniff of this, and there is a florality, a sensuality and a beauty to this wine which is comparable only with the finest Cote de Nuits grand cru burgundy. Yet running alongside that statement, it is also clearly syrah: textbook florals including Prof Saintsbury's wall-flower (likely to be dianthus, then), sweet red roses, beautiful cassis, a touch of blueberry, and subliminal black pepper. This is extraordinarily beautiful syrah. Palate shows a restraint in oak handling which is in vivid contrast to the Guigal, and consequently a softness, suppleness and charm on palate which again takes one straight back to the Cote de Nuits. In a sense therefore it is exquisite pinot noir, but pinot noir on steroids. It is not as rich as the Chave or the Guigal, yet in some ways it is even more beautiful, and technically perfect. It is more Cote Rotie than Hermitage in style, with its softness, florality, and (no other word for it) femininity. Prof Saintsbury did after all hold the view that Hermitage was the most ‘manly’ of wines. On the night this was far and away the top wine of the tasting, 12 first places, three second – an extraordinary unanimity, and a remarkable result. In part that result reflects familiarity: it is telling that not one person present had ever previously tasted and compared the three great Hermitages La Chapelle, J. L. Chave and Ex Voto together (and blind on this occasion). We are isolated in New Zealand, and it is imperative winemakers assemble tastings to counter that. Eleven thought it Northern Rhone Valley wine, but curiously, only 2 Cote Rotie. Cellar 10 – 35 years. GK 11/18

1996 Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill Brut 19 ½ (

)

Epernay, Champagne, France: 12%; $418 [ cork; cepage PN 70%, Ch 30; understood to be no BF; en tirage c.9 years; little detail on the website; current vintage price in NZ c.$265; www.polroger.com ]
Straw, about midway in depth of hue. One sniff however, and any doubts arising from relatively forward colour are dispelled. This is the kind of champagne you dream of, once one has ever tasted Pol Roger's famous Churchill, or Bollinger's likewise RD. The depth of baguette-crust autolysis on bouquet has a quality to it reminiscent of Vogel's Original Mixed-grain lightly toasted, but there is no way the thought of aldehydes intrudes. As soon as you taste it, it is clearly high pinot noir, a certain firmness, richness and backbone, yet not fruity at all. The length of flavour resting on this more-pinot than chardonnay fruit, plus the extended autolysis qualities, together are a delight. Finish is infinite, perfect acid balance, dosage in the middle, maybe 8 g/L. This should hold for some years, but is perfection now. Highly rated by the group. GK 11/14

2007 Craggy Range Syrah Le Sol 19 ½ (

)

Gimblett Gravels, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand: 14.2%; $100 [ cork; Sy 100% Limmer clone, (if like the 2006) hand-harvested @ just under 2.5 t/ac from a stony part of the vineyard; 100% de-stemmed, 2 days cold soak, wild-yeast fermentation in open-top oak cuves, 22 days cuvaison including cold-soak; no BF component; MLF and 20 months in French oak 40% new; RS nil; filtered; release date 1 June 2009, not on website yet, c. 1000 cases (of 12) of the 2007; www.craggyrange.com ]
Ruby, carmine and velvet, midnight deep, glorious. Not to beat about the bush, Craggy Range's Syrah Le Sol is internationally their most famous wine after a mere six vintages (no 2003), and this 2007 is unequivocally the finest yet. It is the star wine in the 2007 Craggy Range premium releases. I don't have the previous vintages in front of me, but I have attended to each one closely. This wine is both lower in alcohol and lower in new oak than most of them, so on bouquet the saturation of explicit syrah cassisy berry complete with a touch of cracked black peppercorn seems much greater. There is almost a floral component, darkly wallflower, though one is at peril of 'willing' it to be there, so exciting is the bouquet. In mouth all the promise of the bouquet unfolds, aromatic cassisy berry and darkest plum dominant, a touch of black pepper, beautiful balance, no rough edges, a real beauty in the making. The depth of fruit is wondrous. This is both great New Zealand syrah, and a great Hermitage look-alike. It is therefore a praiseworthy retreat from the more heroic winestyle some earlier Le Sols presented.

To my mind, all that is needed now is even more emphasis on the floral component of the bouquet, for that is where the greatest Hermitage excels (and converges with great Cote Rotie). In discussing the wine, CEO Steve Smith related the picking is deferred in the Le Sol block until there is slight dimpling of the berry skin – a trace of raisining in effect. This must run the risk of some sur-maturité, of losing some floral precursors, relative to the sweet 'tree-ripened' fully mature grape at maximum plumpness. Think of how quickly a perfect big black plum changes from immensely fragrant and enticing to blowsy and over-ripe, if left on the tree. Picking a tranche of fruit for Le Sol a critical a few days earlier would not only optimise the critical dianthus and wallflower component of perfect syrah, but also maybe lower the alcohol slightly as a side benefit. The alcohol this year is 14.2%, and it gets away with it. But every point below 14% improves the silky texture of any wine (given full physiological maturity). On the floral side, Te Mata's Bullnose Syrah provides the most consistent New Zealand model so far (the 2005 particularly), since the best sites in the Ngatarawa Triangle have shown themselves to be superior to the Gimblett Gravels in achieving the exact floral components which characterise great syrah. Alongside this Le Sol, the 2007 Bullnose looks decidedly feminine and Cote Rotie-like, compared with the more imposing and Hermitage-like persona of Le Sol. This is the highest score I have given to a New Zealand wine, but whether that means it is the best New Zealand wine I have tasted becomes a bit rarefied. The key thing is, one must cellar it, and other contenders like 2005 Tom when released, to check such thoughts over the years to come. Cellar the 2007 Le Sol for 5 – 25 years, joyfully, for it is going to be relatively freely available, for the first time. VALUE, even at $100, when compared with good Hermitage. GK 03/09

1999 Guigal Cote-Rotie La Landonne 19 ½ (

)

Cote Brune, Northern Rhone Valley, France: 13%; $937 [ Cork, 49mm, ullage 7mm; release price c.$435; Spectator rating for year 96; a single 2 ha vineyard on the Cote Brune; typically Sy 100%, average vine age 35 years, typically cropped at 4.55 t/ha = 1.84 t/ac; in the winery, the grapes not usually destemmed, fermentation employs the submerged-cap technique to keep the cap immersed, minimum 28 days cuvaison, 42 months in 100% new French oak barrels, all 228-litre, the wine not fined or filtered; Parker, 1997 in characterising the three Cote-Rotie grands crus, says of La Landonne: … extraordinary density and power, as well as a brooding backwardness that is extremely impressive; JR@JR, 2005: Intriguingly mossy nose. Obviously hidden depths there. Very dry and quite tough at the moment. Very Landonne. Dark and racy yet with richness. Lots of ripe tannin very well complemented by ripe fruit, 19; J.L-L, 2011: a high mix of deep berry fruit, eucalyptus, licorice, Indian curry, garrigue herbs from the hot summer. A downhome, slightly funky note hovers. Decant this. The palate has a really silken debut, carries well with crunchy black fruit transported to us, before a crisp, decisive finale. It is almost still finding its way, is not there yet. It has a fine-tuned, not weighty depth. I consider today the Mouline to be the weightiest of the Big Three 1999s. This has not yet amplified – it runs straight down the line, and has mighty, scented tannins along its sides. Time still helpful here … One of most powerful Landonnes I`ve ever known – to 2036. ******; RP@WA, 2003: … the finest effort Guigal has ever coaxed out of this vineyard. It appears less animalistic than usual, offering gorgeously pure notes of incense, melted road tar, fried bacon, blackberries, blueberries, smoked meats, and vanilla. Literally out of this world in terms of flavor concentration and balance, the finish lasts well over 60 seconds. What is so remarkable about this cuvee is its tremendous layers of flavor, awesome texture, and perfect balance. This is an astonishing offering from one of the world’s greatest winemakers. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2030, 100; weight bottle and closure: 572 g ; www.guigal.com ]
Ruby and velvet, the third-deepest wine. The initial dominant note on bouquet in 1999 La Landonne is a spearmint character, very pure, but far exceeding garrigue complexity, and therefore not totally attractive. I cannot explain it, but happily, it faded. Below are obscured dianthus florals which became much more apparent with air, and good cassisy berry in a more robust presentation than La Turque, showing some reminders of Hermitage … as befits a 100% syrah wine. New oak is much more apparent than La Turque. Flavour is zingy and aromatic, sweet black pepper more apparent here, no hiding the comparison with Hermitage now, with the ripeness at picking perfectly pitched at cassis-level berry complexity and quality, the flavours saturating all corners of the mouth. Aftertaste is long and cassisy, the vanillin / new oak component building on the aftertaste. Though a rich wine, it does not seem quite as rich (in terms of dry extract) as La Turque. This too was popular, three top places and five second votes. In the New Zealand context, these two top wines, La Landonne and La Turque, provided an unparalleled learning opportunity for anyone critically interested in syrah the winestyle. Cellar another 20 – 25 years. GK 10/20

2009 Ch Montrose 19 ½ (

)

Saint-Estephe Second Growth, Bordeaux, France: 14%; $499 [ cork 50mm, ullage 16mm; original en primeur price $292; cepage CS 65%, Me 29, CF 5, PV 1, planted at 9,000 vines / ha; c.18 months in barrel, 60% new; pH 3.7; 17,000 x 9-litre cases; Montrose website: Vintage: The summer settled a hot and dry weather until the early fall ... Our obsession was to find the balance so fragile between the perfect maturity of the berries (sugar, tannin) and the freshness of the juice extended by an acidity. … Wine: an exceptional vintage of grand quality; J. Robinson, 2010: 72% of total production. Picked ... much earlier than Cos! Average yield 38 hl/ha. Extremely dark crimson with strong purple notes. Low-key but modestly confident nose – much more married than some recent vintages. Pretty raw and austere and very much St-Estèphe. Very inky finish. Lovely nose and succulence but a little bit tough on the end. Certainly harks back to classical St-Estèphe in a way that Cos very much doesn’t. 2017 – 2029, 16.5; J. Robinson, 2019: Fresh and concentrated. Really very luscious and beautifully balanced. This is looking most impressive now. Very Montrose and very 2009. Rich and ripe. 2018 -- 2040, 18.5; Robert Parker's first appraisal of the 2009 Ch Montrose in 2010, a wine he has twice subsequently marked 100 points, underlines his skill and ability to evaluate young wine accurately: If you think the 2003 Montrose (which merited 100 points) was powerful (13.2% alcohol), keep in mind that the 2009 Montrose came in at 13.7% alcohol. There is no sense of hotness, only extraordinary transparency and precision, allied to massive fruit intensity. ... this super-concentrated claret possesses a style reminiscent of the sumptuous 1990 combined with the structure of the 1989. ... the finish is endless. The flavor profile bursts with black currant, blackberry, and boysenberry fruit intertwined with hints of spring flowers and crushed rocks. Huge body, sweet tannin, and wonderful freshness make for one of the all-time great wines ever produced at Montrose, 96 – 100; R. Parker, 2014 ... an extremely open-knit and opulent blueberry, blackberry and creme de cassis nose. ... It is unctuously textured – thicker and juicier than the 2010 and more forward. 2019 – 2069, 100; weight bottle and closure 563 g; www.chateau-montrose.com ]
Ruby, carmine and velvet, impenetrably deep, clearly the richest and deepest wine, magnificent. The bouquet is almost as rich and velvety, absolutely plush dusky berry inclining more to blackberry and the darkly plummy, almost suggesting merlot dominance, the cassisy cabernet component losing some aromatics in this warmer year. It is somewhat more Napa Valley cabernet / merlot wine in style, alongside the 2010 and particularly the 2005. Yet the wine is still fragrant, and nearly floral in a dusky, darkest roses way, so there is still much to please the classical claret lover. Palate follows naturally from the bouquet, but this is the only wine in the set where there is a hint of a higher alcohol level coming through, making the oak more noticeable. This wine and the 1996 represent the two ends of a desirable Ch Montrose character-spread, the 1996 intensely aromatic and leaner, the 2009 almost roly-poly in comparison. The style has its appeal, three first places, four second-favourites, but one taster rated it their least of the set. Too big for that taster – interesting ! Conversely, were this a San Francisco-based tasting, the 2009 would probably be the undoubted top wine. The dry extract in this wine is colossal, way over 30 g/L … I am sure. It was seen as technically pure. Cellar 50 years at least, but again, how you wish for 54 / 55 mm corks. GK 07/21

1995 Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill Brut 19 ½ (

)

Epernay, Champagne, France: 12%; $235 [ cork; cepage thought to vary around PN 75%, Ch 25; understood to be no BF, understood to be hand-riddled; www.polroger.co.uk not yet running; PR fluff only on the main website; www.polroger.com ]
Straw more than lemon, above midway in depth. Bouquet is one kind of champagne perfection, showing beautiful pinot fruit, in superbly complex baguette crust autolysis, deep and satisfying. Palate combines ripe fruit with the feeling of richness, yet there is no hint of fruitiness. The integration of the crusty autolysis component right through the palate is magical, lasting long into the aftertaste. There are suggestions of finest cashew, yet the wine is refreshed by marvellous acid as well as the bubbles. Like the 1996 of this label, recently tasted in non-note-taking circumstances, this is near-perfect champagne which will cellar well. It seems more brut than most. Residual could be hard to judge on a wine of this fruit quality and concentration, though. Cellar 5 – 15 + years. GK 11/06

2019 Domaine de Beaurenard Chateauneuf-du-Pape Boisrenard 19 ½ (

)

Southern Rhone Valley, France: 15.5%; $138 [ cork, 50mm; Daniel and Frederic Coulon own 32 hectares in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and another 25 in Rasteau, all farmed organically and biodynamically. Boisrenard is the top cuvée at Beaurenard, and is included to illustrate a (in one sense) ‘modern’ wine, though the Coulons emphasise tradition in discussing it. The youngest vines in this wine 65 years old, some Gr 122 years, all hand-harvested at c.2.4 t / ha = 1 t/ac ... a cropping rate rarely matched in New Zealand. All (now) 18 permitted varieties are used in Boisrenard … most in token quantities. The bunches are de-stemmed, but the berries scarcely crushed. Cuvaison is all wild-yeasts, can be up to 35 days, in oak vats. Elevation usually 18 – 21 months in foudres and some barriques, 20% new, but according to AC@JR, only 12 months in foudre for the 2019; not fined or filtered; production this label up to 1,650 x 9-litre cases; J.L-L comments on Beaurenard in general: Very good domaine, highly reliable, with admirable quality over the decades ... There is sleek fruit, very consistent quality ... The special red Boisrenard is overtly oaked, so allow plenty of time; for the 2019 specifically, J.L-L allows his highest praise, 6 stars, rarer even than 100 points chez Parker, saying: ‘a fabulous regal wine’: J.L-L, 2020: cask sample; immensely dark robe, almost all black. The bouquet is a sturdy, oaked do, with a firm black Morello cherry fruit aroma at its centre, notes of black olives; it mixes, for now, the cellar and the land. The palate draws on regal reserves of sève [sap] from the old vines, their effortless, uber suave richness, with prime, ripe tannins putting a layer of velvet into the finish. The texture is silken, and the depth comes from within, thanks to the old vines. There is fantastic, gliding richness on the second half, the length exceptional. This is a treat, a wine to leave until 2026, say, which will allow the oak to infuse further - if you open it earlier, you are committing a crime, since there will be too much oak. Its elements from the vineyard are top notch. ... 2050-52, ******; JC@RP, 2022: The 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape Boisrenard is 80% Grenache, with the balance a mix of the other permitted varieties. Fermentation took place in wood (including a small proportion of new barrels), with maturation in foudres. Scents of mint and garrigue accent black cherries and plum on the nose, and I thought I detected a hint of charred oak as well (tasted blind). Full-bodied, rich and velvety, this is a thickly textured, concentrated beauty, with a long, mocha-tinged finish. While it could use a year or two to soften, it should drink well for more than a decade. 93+; weight bottle and closure 623 g; www.beaurenard.fr ]
Ruby, carmine and velvet, the deepest wine, a wonderful colour. Like most of the wines, initially poured the bouquet is reticent. It gradually opens up to darkest cassis and black cherry invigorated by lightly-aromatic garrigue notes, and fine cedary new oak suggestions. The berry-rich palate is totally saturated with very fine furry tannins, the flavour incredibly long, rich and satisfying, yet unlike so many deeper wines of this colour these days, bone dry to the finish. This is benchmark modern Chateauneuf-du-Pape in a serious cellaring style, accurately characterised by Livingstone-Learmonth. Boisrenard was the second-favourite wine in the tasting, eight tasters rating it their top wine, and three their second-favourite. The ideal advice would be to buy a case ... and leave it sealed for 20 years. On return you will find treasure. Cellar 20 – 40 years. GK 04/24

1997 Champagne Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Nicolas Francois Billecart Brut 19 ½ (

)

Mareuil-sur-Ay, Champagne, France: 12.5%; $154 [ traditional compound champagne cork; PN 60%, Ch 40, all grand cru vineyards; recent vintages have had no MLF component; some old-oak barrel-fermented base wines; long tirage perhaps 10 – 12 years or so, details not made available; dosage 4 – 5 g/L; website superficial; in a formal blind tasting in Stockholm in 1999, the 1959 of this label (judged from a magnum) won the title 'Champagne of the Millennium', judged against 150 of the finest 20th Century champagnes. A magnum of the winning wine later sold for £3,300; www.champagne-billecart.fr ]
Colour is rich straw, the deepest of the white champagnes. Bouquet is wonderfully pure, fragrant both from grapes and a depth of autolysis almost beyond baguette-crust into lightly toasted Vogel's Multigrain and suggestions of cashew. Pinot noir is the dominant fruit aroma. Palate immediately has this wonderful perfumed lift to it which seems to characterise the house, and it tastes of pinot meunier too, yet there is none in the cepage. Richness and texture of palate, and complexity of white cherry and cashew flavour, are most impressive, the fruit and flavour long and rich, even though the dosage is so low. This is grand cru vineyards, and conservative cropping rates, speaking. The palate is substantial, yet as with other great champagnes, it is not 'fruity'. This is glorious wine, to cellar 5 – 25 years. GK 04/16

1990 Champagne Bollinger Grande Année Brut 19 ½ (

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Ay, Champagne, France: 12%; $435 [ Broadbent rating for vintage: *****, an exceptional year, the third largest on record; Wine Spectator rating for vintage: 97 [ the best in the last 40 years ], Drink or hold, big, powerful and full-flavored; PN 65%, Ch 35, BF and MLF, base wine matured in all-old oak, seven years en tirage, dosage c.8 g/L; Broadbent, 2002: … highest mark of 25 top champagnes … in Copenhagen, a well-nigh perfect wine with another 10 years to go. *****; Robinson, 2010: Pale copper. Rich and mushroomy on the nose. Broad and firm. Quite a bit of evolution but it's much less evolved than Dom P or Krug 1990. This could be the perfect moment to drink this. Wonderful persistence, 19; Wine Spectator, 1999: A sense of opulence marks this highly concentrated, creamy-textured 1990 Champagne, with its ripe, generous fruit flavors complementing the toasty, honeyed nuances acquired from aging on the lees. Lingering finish. Drink now through 2004. 20,000 cases made, 95 (NB: Wine Spectator Top 100, 1999); www.champagne-bollinger.com ]
Straw, just above midway in lightness. Bouquet is much fresher than the other Bollingers, quite extraordinary, showing great pinot noir depth and nearly aromatic fruit, with crust-of-baguette passing to Vogel's Multigrain autolysis, powerful, beautiful, a kind of perfection in the more substantial Bollinger style. Intentionally placed immediately after the 1996 Pol Roger Chardonnay, so tasters could contrast a chardonnay wine with a pinot noir-led wine, this is a much richer, weightier, obviously pinot-based and more aromatic wine, with a depth of autolysis that is powerful. The contrast is dramatic, flowers and sunshine versus a veal main-course dinner, yet both are beautiful. A wonderful wine in its inimitable way, but even this near-perfection not pleasing the anti-Bollinger tasters. The third most favoured wine for the group, equal with the 1975 Comtes. GK 05/16

2009 Domaine Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 19 ½ (

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Aloxe-Corton Grand Cru, Cote de Beaune, France: 13.5%; $179 [ cork; biodynamic vineyards, average vine age c.40 years; full MLF, c.12 months in barrel, 33% new, with batonnage; Domaine Bonneau du Martray is the single largest holding in Corton-Charlemagne at 9.5 hectares; the website is simply a statement the establishment exists, and cannot receive visitors – no info; www.bonneaudumartray.com ]
Lemon, fresher than the 2010. Bouquet is everything good chardonnay should be, near acacia blossom florals, white stonefruits, crushed oystershell minerality, the slightest trace of high-solids odour acceptable at the sub-marzipan level, and likewise the oak playing second fiddle to the fruit complexity. New Zealand winemakers please note. Taken all together there is an integration here which is both powerful (in a velvet-gloved way) and beautiful. Palate however is where this wine triumphs, there immediately being tactile fruit richness of a quality scarcely ever encountered. This 2009 stands out from all the others in this respect, and reminds me of the 1971 Corton Charlemagne I used as a guiding light into chardonnay in early days, except there is more new oak. It is conceivable some could say the acid is on the gentle side, but I doubt it – the richness masks. The colour alone at third to lightest suggests perfect balance. Wonderful wine, richer than the Chartron Chevalier-Montrachet, to cellar 5 – 15 years, at least. GK 05/13

2009 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas 19 ½ (

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Cornas, Northern Rhone Valley, France: 14%; $293 [ cork, 50mm; New Zealand release price $125; winemaking as above; Wine Spectator vintage rating for the year, 96; J.L-L, 2016: The bouquet ... has a big, deep heart founded around coulis, intense blackberry, with licorice, buffed black leather. It’s still a little rugged. The palate starts on a rich, thorough display of black berry, black stone fruits, courses with vigorous content, and holds nothing back; its richness goes deep. The tannins are bright, and are helping its late clarity. It is only half a wine. The finish is tangy, concentrated on a bite of darkness. It is a bit like 1999. 2026 – 38, ****(*); RP@R. Parker, 2011: As close to perfect as a Cornas can be, this is the single greatest Cornas I have ever tasted. Its black/purple color is accompanied by notes of blueberry liqueur, blackberries, charcoal, incense, licorice and a subtle notion of smoke. This seamless, full-bodied, exquisitely pure, complex, savory blockbuster … will hit full maturity in 5-7 years, and should last for 25-30 years thereafter, 99; no domaine website, easiest background info on the Europvin website, ref. above. ]
Ruby, nearly carmine and velvet, the second deepest wine, not quite so brightly-hued as the 2010. Bouquet on this wine is wonderfully close to the 2010, nearly as floral, not quite so aromatic and black-pepper-lifted, again glorious cassis but also a hint of blackberries in the sun, as also seen in warmer years in Medoc wines. Like the 2010, you can't exactly smell oak, yet the wine would be totally different without it. This too is an exhilarating syrah bouquet, as big-year and warm in style as is possible while still retaining varietal accuracy and authenticity. Palate is just a notch riper than the 2010, more darkest plum and less cassis, less thought of florals suffused right through the wine, yet magically still retaining suggestions of sweet black pepper. In one sense, that is the test of maximum ripeness versus over-ripeness in syrah. Length of palate and finish is slightly softer and not quite as tannin-furry as the 2010. This 2009 was clearly the second most favoured wine by the group, two first places, six second. Cellar 10 – 30 years. GK 09/18

1982 Ch Cos d'Estournel 19 ½ (

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Saint-Estephe Second Growth, Bordeaux, France: – %; $994 [ cork 50 mm, ullage 8 mm; original price c.$60; cepage then c.CS 60%, Me 40, planted at 8 – 10,000 vines / ha, average age of vines c.35 years, cropped at c.50 hl/ha (6.5 t/ha = 2.6 t/ac); typically 18 months in barrel, % new then c.75%, only slightly less than now (80%); Parker in 1991 thought Cos one of the best wines of the Medoc, its fleshy texture due to the high merlot, and at that point ahead of Ch Montrose; Broadbent, 2002: well-nigh perfect bouquet, gentle, harmonious; surprisingly sweet though finishing dry, good fruit, ****; Parker 1991: … a monumental wine ... explosive blackcurrant fruit ... massive, rich, full-bodied, and loaded with extract and tannin, this remains one of the greatest Cos d'Estournels I have ever tasted, 97; Parker, 2000: Sweet aromas of jammy black fruits intermixed with roasted espresso and vanillin jump from the glass of this young, concentrated, full-bodied, succulent effort. An opulent texture, low acidity, and splendidly pure, concentrated, blackberry and cassis fruit suggest this 1982 can be drunk now, or cellared for another 15-20 years, 96; W. Kelley, 2022: Remarkably youthful and saturated in appearance, it exhibits inviting aromas of sweet berry fruit, plums, licorice and pencil shavings, followed by a full-bodied, fleshy, lusty, almost unctuous palate of notable concentration and depth. Its fleshy core of fruit is still framed by sweet, powdery tannins, 96; weight bottle and closure 567 g; www.estournel.com ]
Glowing ruby and some garnet, in the middle for weight of colour, but the second reddest / most ruby and fresh in hue. Bouquet is restrained, you have to work at it, to reveal a silken and nearly floral delicacy – fading roses – with red fruits dominating now, bottled plums, plus the subtlest hint of brown fruits (for example moist dates) and subtle cedary oak. Palate is supremely elegant, velvety, beautiful berry with fine-grained cedary oak shaping but not obtrusive. Seen as the most balanced and harmonious of all the wines by tasters, seven first places, clearly aromatic, cabernet sauvignon-led, no faults at all. Intensity of flavour, power without weight, very beautiful silky claret indeed, no wonder Jancis Robinson liked it so much. As is so often the case with bottles showing a hint of reductive odours in the first few years after bottling, there is now no hint of that aspect. Perfect maturity now, but has the balance to last some years. GK 11/23

1970 Ch Ducru Beaucaillou 19 ½ (

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St Julien Second Growth, Bordeaux, France: – %; $ – [ CS 65%, Me 25, PV 5, CF 5; 49 ha, 17 000 cases. Broadbent (2002) considers Ducru, Latour and Cheval Blanc the wines of the vintage *****, and Parker (1991) rates the 1970 the best Ducru between 1961 and 1982, 91. ]
Ruby and garnet. Bouquet on this wine is still very beautiful, as it has been from day one. There is a heavenly integration of (now fading) flowers, cassis, pipe tobacco, cedar, and red fruits. Palate is supple and lovely, still with cassis but mellowed out, all the bouquet characters totally integrated into fully mature classic claret, perfectly balanced, still lovely body, not too oaky as some of the first growths are, the wine drying a little. 750s are at the tail end of the plateau of maturity, or tapering off it, and should be enjoyed in the next five or so years while there is still supple fruit. Wines like this provide the complete answer to the doubters: why cellar wine. Such ethereal silky beauty is hard to imagine in still-youthful wines, let alone the infantile ones off the shelf. GK 03/05

1970 Ch Ducru-Beaucaillou 19 ½ (

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St Julien Second Growth, Bordeaux, France: – %; $ – [ cork; CS 65%, Me 25, PV 5, CF 5; 49 ha, 17,000 cases. One of the finest clarets I have ever tasted, not big, but very beautiful. Broadbent 1980: classic but undeveloped bouquet; concentrated, deep, stern and unyielding, but great potential. ****, till 2010. In 2002: [ Re the 1970 vintage ] … leaving aside Latour, I rate Ducru and Cheval Blanc as the best wines. The most recent bottles at best superb, sweet-nosed, harmonious, perfect flavour and balance … drying. ***** Parker 1991: the best Ducru between 1961 and 1982. Impeccably balanced, smooth as silk, till 2000 91, and 1996: This wine has been fully mature and delicious for many years, so I was not surprised by how stunning this bottle was. It has always been an outstanding wine for the vintage - complex, rich, savory, and the quintessentially elegant Bordeaux. This beauty continues to reveal the fragrance and finesse that one expects from Lafite-Rothschild but so rarely finds. A fragrant, complex bouquet of cedar, herbs, vanillin, fruitcake, and coffee is followed by a soft, gentle, graciously-constructed wine with sweet layers of fruit. I am not sure how much longer the 1970 Ducru will keep, but from regular bottle, it is delicious and should be consumed. How nice it would be to have a stock of magnums of this wine in the cellar! 92; www.chateau-ducru-beaucaillou.com ]
Ruby and garnet, a good ratio of ruby, one of the deepest. One sniff, and this is heaven, exactly what mature claret or cabernet / merlot from an appropriate temperate climate should smell like: deeply floral even violets, wonderfully mature but not obviously browning cassis, total cigar-box integration of the dark tobacco and cedar, and great volume – just pouring from the glass. Palate follows perfectly, displaying a poise and elegance of flavour so much dreamed about, so rarely encountered, in a wine-tasting career. This wine is still fresh, vibrantly cassisy, yet gentle and harmonious, all the characters on bouquet lingering wondrously on the aftertaste. Other wines (in other tastings) may be bigger and thus score higher for those to whom size is important, but this is perhaps the most beautifully fragrant and poised Bordeaux blend I have ever tasted. Like 1966 Ch Palmer, it has been beautiful from youth to maturity. Now fully mature in a temperate climate cellar, but no hurry. Clearly the top wine in the blind tasting, 15 of 22 tasters rating it their first or second-placed. GK 03/10

2010 Ch Leoville Barton 19 ½ (

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Saint Julien Second Growth, Medoc, Bordeaux, France: 13.5%; $240 [ Cork, 50mm, ullage 13mm; $196 landed; the 2010 is CS 77%, Me 21, CF 2, vineyard average age 40 years, planted to 9,100 vines / ha, increasingly tending to organic practice; all hand-harvested, then optical sorting; fermentation in wooden cuves, cuvaison up to 21 days, elevation 16 – 18 months in 60% new barrels; average production 22,000 x 9-litre cases; consulting oenologist Eric Boissenot (also Las Cases); A Jancis Robinson Top 20 of 2010 wine; Farr Vintners frequently imply that Leoville Barton is the quintessential Englishman's claret, a wine which sells itself, year in, year out. For the 2010 they comment in 2011: Pure cassis on the nose with a classy overlay of oak. On the palate this is classically structured with a bla