Pre-Christmas Offline
24th November 2006
Market Restaurant, Manchester
Pre-offline aperitif
In Glossop, before setting off for Manchester:
1997 Puligny Montrachet, Chartron et Trébuchet,
13%
Deep gold that doesn’t really look very promising. Really badly oxidised
and ever so slightly corky. Not rated.
1997 Puligny Montrachet, Chartron et Trébuchet,
13%
Again a pretty deep gold. Very strong banana skins on the nose. A bit
nasty. Not rated.
1997 Puligny Montrachet, Chartron et Trébuchet,
13%
The third bottle of this, and its last chance for today … This looks more
normal, and indeed it smells a bit better. But the nose has strong,
oxidised, beurre noisette notes with a musty edge. Very acidic on the
palate. 74/100
Losses are cut, and this is opened:
1999 Meursault Les Narvaux, Domaine Vincent Girardin,
13%
More normal. There is some rich butter on the nose, but it’s dominated by a
weird smell of unlit barbeques, with cheap impregnated briquettes. Fairly
open on the palate. There’s nothing of any great interest here, and it’s a
bit hollow, and finishes with a bit of an oxidative feel. 78/100
Time for a quick taste of one of tonight’s reds as it is double decanted:
1990 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz, Barossa Valley
A real dentist’s waiting room on the nose with eucalyptus and cloves, along
with some non-dentisty sweet blackberries. Round and full on the palate,
with big, rich, chocolatey flavours. Lovely structure. Nicely integrating
tannins. Fab. Excellent. 93/100
Moving onto the quirky Market Restaurant (RIP) in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. The Market,
opposite the former Smithfield Market, has an almost timeless air to it, but
then it has been here for years, though there is nothing faded about it. Tables
are small (a bit too small for us, with our panoply of Riedel glasses) and
fairly close packed. Crockery and cutlery are simple and the glassware provided
is limited to Paris goblets; the tablecloths and napkins are paper. The menu reveals good solid fare, that’s not
afraid of modern flavours. I had pumpkin ravioli with sage butter, followed by
a venison pie. The ravioli was very good, if not exceptional. The pie was
superb: an individual pie, with excellent pastry and a lovely flavoured filling
with big chunks of meat. Perfect food for an evening of vinous excess, helped along by the chunky
chips. We shared one between two some rather disappointingly indifferent cheese
before desserts: I had a superb pomegranate laden baklava, which in normal
circumstances would have been twice as large a portion as it needed to be, but
after all the wines, it provided a much needed sugar rush.
We started with a mystery sake (mystery, because the label was entirely in
Japanese), now deciphered as Funaguchi,
produced by Kikusui from Ichiban Shibori, Niigata.
It had a creamy, pure vaguely plummy nose, but with a flat edge. Smooth and
interesting flavours, with a very pure direct clean flavour. This had been
opened the night before, when approximately half the bottle was drunk:
apparently tonight it wasn’t a patch on the previous night and had apparently
oxidised a little, which perhaps explained the flat edge on the nose.
I'm still not convinced by sake.
Now we moved onto labels we could read:
1985 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Charlie Brut,
12%
A full biscuity nose with a sort of old honey note. Lovely rich, full
palate with a bit of oxidation (this really is looking like a night for
oxidation …), but also some really lovely fresh lemony acidity. Very Good
Indeed. 89/100
1992 Champagne Vilmart, Coeur de Cuvée Premier Cru
Brut, 12%
80% chardonnay; 20% pinot noir, 2000 magnums produced. Served 'en magnum'.
Deepish gold colour. Gorgeous nose; hugely inviting, with rich buttery
notes. “Oo golly” attack. Very balanced and very attractive palate, and
there’s even a bit of grip on the finish. Massive length – it just goes on
and on. A truly lovely champagne. Excellent. 96/100
2004 Terroirs de Chablis, AC Chablis, Verget,
screwcap, 13%
An über-minerally nose. Very direct on the palate. Very simple and
straightforward. The nose is like a very minerally, elegant chardonnay, but
the palate just feels like a mass market, buttery, simple Australian
chardonnay. Why on earth would any Chablis producer want to be making
Yellowtail? OK. 74/100
1989 Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardive Herrenweg
Turckheim, Domaine Zind Humbrecht, 13.25%
A very deep brassy gold. Very peachy nose with some pear. I’d be hard
pressed to guess this was gewurztraminer, if served blind. Very full and
remarkably fresh on the palate, though again not overly gewurztraminer-like,
though much more obviously so than the nose. Rich and very precise. This
is a nice wine and very enjoyable, but not exactly what I would have
expected. Excellent. 94/100
2002 Pinot Noir Reserve Harvey Nichols, François
Parent, 12.5%
An attractive pinot nose with soft cherry fruit, though it feels a touch
raw. Nice pleasant palate, not particularly complex. It’s simple, very
young and feels a touch green on the palate. But it’s nice enough and
undoubtedly a good wine for £7. 86/100
1959 Grands Échézaux, Domaine de la Romanée Conti
18,019 bottles produced – this was bottle 11,552.
Baby, baby! What a fabulous nose: earthy, mushroomy, delicate and fragrant
- there's layer on layer of amazing complexity. Attractive, relatively
direct palate, that doesn’t really live up to the dreamy nose.
Interestingly, the nose is vastly superior in the Riedel Vinum Burgundy to
the Riedel Sommelier. This is an excellent wine and quite an experience.
Fully mature, but so, so far form over the hill. 97/100
1990 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz, Barossa Valley
Delightful woody-spicy nose with nice blackberry fruit. Lovely palate.
Impressive stuff, but not over-complex. Actually, I preferred it earlier,
when freshly opened. Very Good Indeed. 91/100
1990 The Armagh, Jim Barry,
14.4%
Superb nose, with leather, talcy minerality and soft black fruits. Superb
open palate. Very big, but also very balanced and remarkably elegant.
Superb stuff. Excellent. 95/100
1995 Rioja Gran Reserva 904, La Rioja Alta,
12.5%
This has a very weird clarified butter nose and not a lot else. Very smooth
palate, velvety, almost buttery again. Very odd. Feels utterly spineless.
There’s clearly something wrong with this, but heavens knows what. Not
rated.
1990 Pesquera Tinto Gran Reserva, Ribera del Duero, 13%
Leathery blackberry nose – very leathery, with some lovely black fruit.
Smooth and very well structured palate. Big with a lovely balance. Very
Good Indeed. 92/100
2000 The Factor, Torbreck, Barossa Valley Shiraz
Ponds skin cream on the nose: rich and creamy with a hint of germolene.
Very rich, velvety, creamy palate. Lovely balance. There’s fabulous black
fruit on the finish. With time, it really opens up. Lovely finish and very
nice after, with superb length. Excellent. 94/100
1994 Pesquera JanusGran Reserva, Ribera del Duero, 13%
Blimey, look at the colour of that! Black as ink and a bit more opaque.
Fabulous nose – complex, with some intense black fruit, sweet vanilla and a
real meaty, savoury note, along with a nice minerality. The nose feels
quite evolved, especially in comparison to the palate, which feels still too
young. There’s a real savoury feel in the mouth along with a nice tannic
structure. The tannins, however, become increasingly gravelly and raw
towards the finish. It is hugely, almost amazingly complex on the palate.
Yet for drinking now, it merits only 94/100, but taking into account
potential, it’s an easy 97+/100
NV En hommage à l’an 2000, AC Bourgogne, Leroy
Well, well, we’ve had Domaine de la Romanée Conti, now we’re onto Leroy.
But no, we’re not being spoiled that much. This curious non-vintage wine is
simply an AC Bourgogne, believed to be largely from the 1999 vintage. The
label says that 132,580 bottles were produced.
There is youngish cherry fruit on the nose. This is a nice, light, fairly
fresh red Burgundy. Very clean and nicely balanced. Very Good Indeed.
90/100
1999 Valbuena, DO Ribera del Duero, Vega Sicilia,
14%
The nose has perfumed black fruit with a certain lactic quality. Lovely
palate. Very impressive. Huge and pleasurable. This seems a particularly
good Valbuena. Excellent. 95+/100
I find the two Pesqueras more complex, but the Valbuena is more immediately
pleasurable. The Valbuena seems to have improved since last tasted
almost three years ago to the day on 22nd November 2003.
1991 Edelwein Gold, Sweet Johannisberg Riesling,
Freemark Abbey, Napa Valley, California,
10.5%
A deepish teak colour. Gorgeous, caramelly, very sweet riesling nose.
Lovely open, rich palate, displaying very nice balance. Very elegant and
remarkably fresh. This is a very nice wine, though I think there’s just
something missing. Very Good Indeed. 91/100
1994 Montebello, Ridge Vineyards, Santa Cruz,
California, A remarkably low 12.5%
abv, proof that California can make reds under 15%.
73% cabernet sauvignon, 15% merlot, 9% petit verdot, 3% cabernet franc
An evolved nose with hints of sweaty socks and understated blackcurrant
fruit. Lovely, faintly intriguing palate, full of interest and pleasure,
but with a long life ahead of it. Very Good Indeed/Excellent. 93/100
1993 Tokaji,
Szt Tamás, Royal Tokaji Wine Company,
10%
Remarkably dark colour. Apricots and honey on the nose, but overall it
feels very delicate. Superb palate – yes, this really is superb. Immense
balance with a lovely acidity keeping it lovely, fresh and elegant.
Excellent. 96/100
NV Vino Aromatizado, Masia Barril, Priorato, Spain, 15%
Possibly served at the wrong end of the meal (the back label calls it a Vino
Aperitivo), this is a mad, unfortified blend of two-thirds 3-year old white
wine and one third red rancio, infused with herbs from around the Masia. The
Barrils were old style Priorato winemakers, but sold up a good few years ago
now.
It looks like a cross between 20 year tawny port and madeira. Fairly
portlike on the nose, lifted by some volatility and by the vermouth type
notes of the herbs, which also seem to lend a medicinal note. Very odd
palate. It's a bit oxidised and a bit maderised. It's very dry, but there
are also raisiny notes and some citrus flavours. A sort of mental cross
between port (though it's not fortified), madeira, sherry and vermouth. More
inspiring wonder than wonderful, but again this bottle has improved over the
ones I opened when first purchased in 2002. After this, I think I'm down to
my last three bottles. It's so far off the normal radar that it's difficult
to rate, but it is damn interesting, and I have to admit to quite liking it
in small doses, so let's say Very Good/Very Good Indeed. 88/100
Back in
Glossop, we had a little something to quench our residual thirst:
1985 Beaucastel
A stinky mourvèdre nose which promises very well and suggests this is going
to be a gorgeous Beaucastel. The immediate thing that strikes me in the
mouth is the feeling of maturity. Very restrained and really rather
elegant. Precise, quite spicy fruit, with a definite quatre épices
spiciness on the finish. Very, very long. Very Good Indeed. 93/100