Wine Alchemy - wines of the year 2009
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It's
been a particularly spectacular year for red wines at BD Mansions in 2009 - not
a deliberate policy - that was just the way the year unfolded. So, in the words
of Richard Jobson, it's "time for the
audit, the gathering trial, a collector's dilemma, repositioned and filed".
I've
been exceptionally rigorous in the selection this year, presenting just nine
bottles from an overflowing shortlist of worthy contenders. The list reveals a
preference for older bottles, and all were enjoyed as they should be - with
friends and food.
Meanwhile,
the new world should look away now.
Overall
Wine of the Year 2009
Château Cheval Blanc, Premier Grand Cru Classé (A), St. Émilion, Bordeaux,
1985. 12.5%
It
takes an awful lot for me to make a wine from Bordeaux my wine of the year. However,
Cheval Blanc is by anyone's reckoning an awful lot. Along with Chateau Ausone, it
is one of the two top Premier Grand Cru Classé properties in St. Émilion - hence
the (A) awarded in the 1955 classification. Cheval Blanc was originally carved
out of Chateau Figeac in 1832 and while the estate has been added to, it
remains as a single block on the St. Émilion/Pomerol border, with 37 hectares
of vines. Today it's owned by luxury giants LMVH, but this 1985 bottle was made
under the previous owner, Jacques Hébrard. Unusually, the wine is dominated by the
Cabernet Franc grape, locally known as Bouchet.
Indeed, Cabernet Franc accounts for 57% of the vineyard, with 39% given to
Merlot, 3% to Malbec and just 1% to Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a no-expense-spared
wine designed for ageing over many years, featuring low yields from old vines, the
new wine is given 18 months maturation in 100% new oak barrels before bottling.
1985
was an excellent vintage in Bordeaux that has lived up to its early promise. This
bottle was decanted for two hours prior to serving with roasted game birds - Grouse
and Snipe - as a perfect accompaniment. A light brick colour, there's great
aromatic complexity on offer, dominated by Cabernet Franc's perfume of pencils,
with underlying orange peel, cep and savoury notes. The palate is powerful,
cashmere textured, without aggression. The lasting impression is of subtlety,
poise and impeccable balance. A seductive avalanche of subtle and nuanced flavours;
fading red berry and blackcurrant fruit, tobacco and toffee, liquorice and iron,
spices on an everlasting finish. No points were awarded of course, but the
story about wine critic Robert Parker being attacked by the dog at Cheval Blanc
is surely worth a couple of extra marks. Meanwhile, this plateau of perfection should
last beyond the next decade, possibly more. An exceptional way to celebrate a
25th wedding anniversary.
Sparkling
Champagne Lanson, Noble Cuvée, 1998, Reims, France. 12.5%
That
Lanson's prestige wine beat some stiff opposition this year shows that the
vintage 1998 is now just ready to drink. It's made from 70% Chardonnay and 30%
Pinot Noir, all from Grand Cru rated vineyards, but Lanson's policy of avoiding
the secondary malolactic fermentation always means that their wines offer
mouthfuls of razorblades when young. Only now at ten years old is it beginning
to reveal its glorious potential. This wine has a gentle aroma of white flowers,
perhaps Lily. The palate shows biscuit notes against masses of firm acidity,
with hints of lemon and apple before roasted nuts appear on a long finish. Elegant,
yet a fairly full body make it good with food, for example Morel and
Chanterelle mushrooms. With many years ahead, that acidic structure will ward
off any wrinkles for decades.
White
Domaine Belluard, AC Vin de Savoie, "le Feu, terroir de Montblanc", Ayze,
Savoie, France. 2006. 12% Biodynamic
Dominique
and Patrick Belluard own this biodynamic estate at Ayze, in the heart of the
Haut Savoie, high up in the Alps at 450 metres. Mont Blanc forms a dramatic
backdrop to ancient south facing vineyards and in them grows the ultra-rare
Gringet grape, which makes Belluard's premium white wine called Le Feu.
This
wine invites all those clichés about inhaling crisp mountain air and
skinny-dipping in glacial meltwaters. What it has is precision and focus from
plenty of acidity, helped by blocking the secondary malolactic fermentation.
Flavour-wise, there are gentle hints of peach and pear, with an underlay of
quince, possibly picked up from the lees. The wine has an unusual sarsaparilla
note before a fleeting glimpse of honey rounds things off. There's good balance
and a relatively light 12% alcohol - that makes it easy to drink and good with
food. This is subtle stuff that will have you refilling your glass in almost
indecent haste. Drinking perfectly now, yet Dominique Belluard suggests that it
will develop a more honeyed tone over the next 3-5 years. Food wise, this versatile
white wine is perfect with shellfish and Trout.
Rosé
Champagne Billecart-Salmon,
Brut Rosé NV, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, France. 12%
Billecart-Salmon
are based in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ in the Montagne de Reims, where they make some
rather special fizz down on the rue Carnot. They are perhaps best known in the
UK for their Rosé. The goal of the House is finesse and balance, with the wines
capable of great ageing potential. This is a blended rosé rather than one using
the saignée (skin contact) method. The white wine is a blend of Pinot Noir,
Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay similar to their Brut Reservé, to which is then
added 8-10% Coteaux Champenois, a still red wine made from Pinot Noir.
The
colour is the essence of rosé, incredibly pretty; a pale salmon with hints of
glinting copper, the best description is Oeil de Perdrix (Partridge Eye). The
nose is all small red fruits, offering up fresh bread and summer berries, with a
silken mousse and tiny bubbles. The raspberry and strawberry fruit has just the
right amount of tartness yet superb delicacy, finishing fine and fresh with an
aftertaste of walnuts. Highly dangerous with Sushi/Sashimi.
Red
Domaine Ponsot, Morey-Saint-Denis, Grand
Cru Clos de la Roche, Cuvée Vieilles Vignes, 1998, Burgundy, France. 13.5%
Ponsot's
top wine is a stunner, as it should be given that it is the mother domaine from
which many of the best Pinot Noir clones were taken. This vintage of Clos de la
Roche was made with only old vines (Vieilles Vignes), the last year in which fruit
from the younger vines was excluded and declassified to Morey-Saint-Denis
Premier Cru. Biodynamics is practiced here, though Laurent Ponsot prefers to describe
his wine growing as employing traditional methods. He eschews the use of fining,
filtering, sulphur or employing new oak barrels, using only older casks that
leave no imprint on the wine.
Light
crimson with a narrow browning rim, the nose offers up a wide range of
fragrances; leather and balsam are intermingled with cherry and violets. The
palate has acidity and ripeness, being well-developed with a rounded mouthfeel
and soft tannins. This wine offers pinosity,
where elegance, subtlety and complexity are the hallmarks. To nitpick, only a
slight lack of silken mouthfeel stopped it from being profound. À point, with probably another decade at
peak. This bottle made a fine partner for rack of lamb.
Castellare di Castellina, I Sodi di San Niccolò, 2001, IGT Toscana Rosso, Toscana, Italy. 13.5%
There were many exceptional encounters this year with I Sodi, whether it was as various
individual bottles, a magnum, or part of a vertical tasting at the estate. For
me, the 2001 vintage with the Strilozzo (Corn Bunting) label is the
quintessential I Sodi experience. Deep
purple-garnet with a lighter but still slightly blue-ish rim, the nose has
waves of teasing perfume, a filigree of sour cherry and red berry with wraiths
of Earl Grey bergamot, smoke and violets. Black truffle appears if you let it
sit in the glass for an hour. Full and muscular in the mouth with a silken tannic
sheen, there's real concentration with layers of cherry and damson/plum fruit.
Poise and power, the extended finish shows, brown spices, mocha, herbs and
minerals. Such effortless balance yet surely this can still get better - a
Magnum showed Juniper berries. A hugely satisfying Supertuscan. Duck Ragù and
parmesan shavings made a wonderful food match.
A.A. Fontodi, Flaccianello della Pieve, Colli Toscana
Centrale IGT, 1998, Panzano, Toscana, Italy, 13.5%
From
the centre of Chianti Classico comes another Supertuscan, from 100% Sangiovese
grown in a brilliant year before being given barrique ageing. A deep glossy garnet
in the glass that belies its age, then there's a dark, complex and strangely
haunting nose; with white pepper, violets and raw meat. The palate is powerful,
heady and slightly volatile, with sour red cherry, mulberry and milk chocolate
overlaying earthy truffle and savoury tones. Drunk in Magnum at the Enoteca
Italiana in Florence, this wine was fully ready and seemed the essence of
Tuscany, especially when paired with rare medallions of beef in a red wine
sauce.
Sweet
Domaine Marc
Kreydenweiss, Tokay Pinot Gris, Vendange Tardive, Grand Cru Moenchberg, Alsace,
France. 1989. 15.5%. Biodynamic
This
is a beautifully mad, weighty wine, with all the complexity and richness of a
true late harvest Pinot Gris. It has the additional benefit of being from a
spectacular vintage where the domaine was Biodynamic for the first time. Sipped
alone it shone, a delicious golden off-dry blend of honey, wet wool and pineapple
aromas and flavours with a little hint of caramel. Subtle and insinuating, it manages
to be elegant and delicate despite the high alcohol and richness of flavour. There's
a near-perfect balance and pure fruit - acacia and quince added to the pineapple,
with a rash of mixed nuts on the end. Complete and spiritual, it's poetry in a glass.
With this wine, Foie Gras has never tasted better.
Fortified
Graham's Vintage Port, 1983, Douro, Portugal. 20%
Graham's
declared three vintages in the 80's (to wit 80, 83 and 85). In addition this
1983 was recognised early on as one of the best of the vintage. Decanted from light
sediment, it's still a deep ruby colour. There's a complex nose alongside the
expected spirit kick - spiced damsons came to mind, overlaying a rich chocolate
note. The palate still has bucket-loads of primary fruit, featuring a range from
red berry through to plum, with coffee and chocolate blended in before an
endless cake spice finish - cinnamon and nutmeg clearly show. There's no big alcoholic
fire, instead it's really rather mellow with gentle warmth, as the end of an
evening should be. Sumptuous and classic. Drinking perfectly now yet I imagine this
wine still has decades ahead.
