For the love of wine

Tonight, my love, tonight my love is Lascombes. It caresses, it's sublime, its perfection. I sit here and watch a splendid sunset, I see how the colours changes across the Norwegian fjord below, any colour from dull Payne's Grey, running in most shades of darker blues, to different purples, at a fleeting glimpse, even a shade towards pink and even orange. And all this with my love close by. My love changes. My love can be quite different, it's a deep one, somehow, and yet, shallow. Two weeks back, my love was a bottle of La Tache, it was somehow simple, focused, narrow, maybe even skinny, but sublime, the fruit so young and pure. Like youth, maybe a young boy, it felt masculine somehow, someone where beauty was still beyond the personality, where the personality had yet to form fully.

A year ago, I had another love, the 1928 Château Margaux. That's a very different kind of love. That was evolved, complex. Complex beyond words, to be honest. Elegant! That was the sexy, adult (mature) woman. The kind that isn't the one you notice at first, at least not as a younger man. The one with experience, with lot's of interresting stories to tell, the one who's been around. That has taste, and can afford it. The globetrotter, with an interesting career. A very different kind of sexy. Is sure of her self, has self-esteem. And dare to show it.

Then there was a 1945 Pontet-Canet, like a concert-pianist, revealing the secrets as arias (even if not sung), some more beautiful, some more tragic, but something new always occuring. You have heavy-weight boxers like the 03 Harlan Estate, nothing I can fall in love with, not even close, but it's a personality (of some sorts). Fragile Rieslings, some fleeting like freckled schoolgirls running from mockers, others standing there, witstanding everything you throw at them, like blond and beautiful amazons.

For the love of wine, in all (most) shades and types, what is there not to love?

03 Castelneau de Suduiraut

2003 Castelneau de Suduiraut;
(2nd Ch.Suduiraut) Getting more mature and not as fresh as my last bottle in November. Lacking ever more freshness as a result. Drink up now. 83

95 Belgrave

1995 Château Belgrave;
Ruby, garnet rim. Some figs, leather, leaner style, touch rustic on the nose, minerals and a hint of tobacco. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, leaner body as well, a bit short. 87

95 Branaire-Ducru

1995 Château Branaire-Ducru;
Ruby. More mature nose than most 95's, floral, pefumed, dry tobacco, plums, leather and licorice. Fresh acidity, tannins more or less gone, some astringent ones left behind. Falling a bit apart and a bit short. 88

98 Château Mercier

1998 Château Mercier;
Ruby, garnet rim. Fruity and simple nose. Good enough acidity, tannins gone, figs and plums in the finish. Easygoing. 81

07 Carbonnieux blanc

2007 Château Carbonnieux;
Pale lemon yellow. Young, grapefruit, lime, minerals, touch smoky, melon and peach. Fresh acidity, fruitdriven, creamy texture and finish. 91

06 Château de Cruzeau blanc

2006 Château de Cruzeau blanc;
Pale lemon yellow. Some oak and barrel notes, fat of grapefruit and lemon. Leaner body than nose, starting to dry on the palate, can no longer carry the oak. 80

2010 Château Bonnet blanc

2010 Château Bonnet blanc;
Not the type of wine I normally take the time to publish a tasting note on, but this was a surprice. Very fresh, elegant and lively, by far the best Bonnet blanc so far. 83

05 Didier Dagueneau Jardins de Babylon

2005 Didier Dagueneau Jurancon Jardins de Babylon;
Golden, lean nose, steely with tropical fruit behind. Sweet with fantastic acidity, mouthwatering, some smoky notes, pure pineapples, lemon, long finish. 93

97 Rieussec

1997 Château Rieussec;
Golden, again rich and waxy, but with more acidity to keep it fresher. Still the table wasn't impressed. 88

98 Rieussec

1998 Château Rieussec;
Golden, rich nose, wax, quite massive and intense. Lacks acidity on the palate (as usual), making it one of only two unfinished bottles for the whole evening. Can you guess the other bottle? A 97 Rieussec.... This one, 87

1948 Leone de Castris Salice Salentino

1948 Leone de Castris Negrino Salice Salentino vino Rubino;
Black with orange rim. Intense Maderized nose, dark fruits and very mature. Nuts and dried fruits. Leaner palate but nuanced, some acidity drags some fruit with it, keeps on playing like kids on the street on a warm summers day (at least back then when kids actually played in the streets, not shooting each other on the computer). 84

02 Moreau Les Clos des Hospices with extreme Premox

2002 Moreau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos des Hospices;
Extreme Premox.

Premox 04 Domaine Leflaive

2004 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles;
Slight premox ruining it.

1978 Ch. Margaux

1978 Château Margaux;
(Served blind) Ruby with brick rim. Whif of floral notes, elegant, refined, sweet tobacco, some blackcurrant leafs. Fresh acidity, tannins almost gone, one of the fresher and younger of the 78's I've had, fresh and pure style, long length. 95 (And I've been lucky lately, nailed both estate and vintage).

1986 Las Cases

1986 Château Léoville Las Cases;
Bright ruby, smells like a barrel sample, it's so youthful. Cassis with some floral notes. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, fine fruit on the palate, still too young, needs another ten years. 94

83 Palmer

1983 Château Palmer;
Ruby with garnet rim. Very top shoulder, needed a lot of air to open, first atractive, if lean Margaux, floral, perfumed, layered, later on, ever more intense. After a few hours, superb elegance, and layers upon layers. Nose beyond description. Leaner palate, fresh acidity, tannins ripe and feels almost gone, layered but can't quite keep up with the nose. My very best 83 Palmer, but nowhere close to my best 83 Ch. Margaux. 94

1953 Schloss Johannisberg TBA

1953 Schloss Johannisberg Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese;
Deep amber. What a nose, raisins, dried apples, dried apricots, botrytis, blackberries, pineapples, almost towards licorice as well, extremelly layered and complex, revealing all kinds of subtle and more powerful aromas, quite intense. Fresh and marvelous acidity, playful and perfectly integrated into the texture and body. Viscous, yet light, stunning and extremelly long aftertaste. Tasted at Schloss Johannisberg, from their cellar. The aftertaste lasted well into the lunch after the tasting (drinking of this one). 98+

99 Lafite Rothschild

1999 Château Lafite Rothschild;
Ruby, some coffee, vanilla, cassis, perfumed, floral, gains in depth with air. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, young and almost raw following the 83. Fine and long, but wait another five to ten years, or more. 93

83 Lafite Rothschild

1983 Château Lafite Rothschild;
Botton neck fill, ruby with thin garnet rim. Leather, some starting figs, floral high notes, violets, getting ever more intense with air. Seductive. Medium acidity, tender feel to it, tannins ripe and like snow, balanced, superb texture, good length. 93-94

70 Lafite Rothschild

No, it's not the 1870....

1970 Château Lafite Rothschild;
Very top shoulder fill, ruby, broad brick rim. Fantastic nose, towards rich, figs, prunes, tobacco, leather, very layered and nuanced. Stunning elegance on the palate, elegant acidity, not too high, tannins now gone (unlike the 70 Latour), superb, quite rich palate as well, cedar, perfumed, again tobacco. Long. Must be an absolute optimal bottle. 96

1964 Giacomo Conterno Barolo

1964 Giacomo Conterno Barolo;
Cloudy brick with orange rim. Massive sediments. Tobacco, tar and roses, far behind, leather and a faint hint of VA. High acidity, some tannins, but less than in many 64'2, very balanced for old Giacomo Conterno, where the structure can sometimes override the fruit, long. 89+

01 Comte de Vogüé Chambolle

2001 Comte de Vogüé Chambolle-Musignu 1er Cru;
This one is made from the younger vines in the Musigny vineyards. Ruby, strawberries, some exotic spices, floral high notes. Fresh acidity, elegant texture, lovely nreve to it, somewhat lean. Good length. 89

1976 Angerville Clos des Ducs

1976 Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs;
Bright ruby, thin brick rim. Jammy strawberries, figs, sweet plums and leather. Fresh acidity, tannins gone, extremelly youthful, superb, lacks complexity, but very fresh, lively and young. 88