February 2007: old and new wines

The end of January and early February provided an opportunity to catch up with some wines we hadn't tasted for some time so there is no theme to the tastings. We went to Burgundy for a week in the middle of the month and got stuck in a Burgundy rut for a couple of weeks afterwards so there wasn't much to blog about after that.

08/02/2007 Walter McKinlay's wines have arrived at last. Domaine de Mourchon has become the leading estate in Séguret (with only around a dozen to choose from that may not seem difficult but there are some real contenders in this delightful village) and the 2005s are the best I have tasted. I was first pointed in this direction with the 2000 (or 2001?) vintage which was certainly good but I didn't meet Walter until last year when I tasted the 2004s. Parker points and two consecutive Guide Hachette Coups de Cœur still did not convince me but I decided to visit the estate at Christmas to see how the wines had developed. No doubting that the 2004 was a good vintage but when Walter showed me the 2005s I was blown away. Tasting again tonight, the Tradition has lots of black fruit and liquorice character, surprisingly forward but with some interesting nuances which will surely develop with more bottle age. More surprising is the drinkability of the 2005 Grande Réserve, again lots of black fruit, a little more spice and, after 20 minutes or so, a lovely velvety feel with just a trace of the oak it was matured in, pitched just right. Again, there is much to be gained by waiting a few years but there is little need to do so.

05/02/2007 The white "L'Archange" from the Côtes du Ventoux estate of Domaine des Anges is one of the best sub-£10 whites available in the UK today. I am convinced of this and the reaction to this wine at the ASDW tastings last year (see news) seems to support this. I haven't presented the 2004 "L'Archange" Rouge yet though and, whilst I have tried it a few times, I haven't recorded my thoughts yet. So here goes... a very oaky nose gives way to almost tart black fruit. Very good acidity is well matched by the gripping tannins. The oak is still there on the palate but the tarry black fruit is more open here. Good feel to it: everything is in place for a really good wine for the next several years but why wait?

03/02/2007 Having read that some 2003 Bordeaux are beginning to drink already (certainly Château Teyssier was last year when it was still around!), I opened a bottle of the 2003 Graves from Château du Seuil. The first word which came to mind was tannic but after just a few moments which saw the wine get to a more appropriate temperature it was clear that there is quite a lot of vanilla flavour from the oak here but beyond that is some very ripe black fruit with a touch of liquorice. A very rich wine which needs to spread out a bit (it's two-and-a-half dimensional at the moment). My two-year-old liked the smell and was told he may be able to taste it in another few years when it's at its peak.

01/02/2007 Pheasant stew (again) but this time no non-wine-drinking friends so out come the big guns... Domaine de la Charbonnière's 2001 Châteauneuf-du-Pape "Mourre des Perdrix" was quite tannic at first sip but half-way through the first glass it started to reveal its class. A really lovely wine with all the classic Châteauneuf nuances (no need to list them here - go to the wine page!). One of those bottles that really couldn't have been a full 75cl - it was finished far too quickly.

Complete Blog list by date - what we have been sampling month by month