Sitting down by the trusty old keyboard in a mood almost as foul as the
current weather, I decided not to spare you the vagaries of the Saturday Cab
tasting with the Tastevin splinter group (Commando Mickey Mouse), which was
held at our place. Anyway.
Guests brought two bottles, we, two. Funnily enough, we had both opted for
one Bordeaux and one 'over-seas'.
Noone had any problem recognising which were Bordeaux, and which were from
overseas - the French ones both having secondary aromas of maturation,
stable, raw tobacco etc.
The lady visitor got high marks for identifying our French offering as
Pauillac, while her husband with some difficulty added that our 'over-seas'
wine was South African. Self gained one minor point in correctly identifying
the other transoceanic wine as Chilean.
1. Ch Ducru-Beaucaillou 1992
[C] Still fairly youngish purple, with only the barest hints of brick.
[N] Pleasant tones of stable, even some green pepper
[P] Minty, ceder, still tannines, ends of notes of coffee
Overall impression: Apparently in 1992 this producer was in a state of
decline and has improved considerably. Nevertheless, this was a very
pleasant mature Bordeaux which, we guessed, would not develop any further

2. Montes Alpha 1997
[C] Deeper purple, no hints of brick
[N] Starts with plain vanilla, after which a bowl of black currants
travelling at supersonic speed hits you reight between the nostrils ... some
notes of age, and herbs
[P]Continues very fresh fruit, but also blackcurrant leaves, and, as it
rests in the glass, some residual sugar is apparent.
Overall impression: According to Oz Clark, Montes is a cronically irritating
underachiever - I don´t know. This was a very pleasant wine, and still
holding up the day after when we emptied the last glass from the bottle.

3. Neil Ellis 2002
[C] Comparable to 2.
[N] Oddly, the old Swedish Sunday dinner standard 'chicken, rice and curry'
which is a chicken, boiled with a white sauce laced with curry powder, and
served with boiled rice ... anyway, that came strongly to mind.
[P] Bit of blackcurrant, less fresh, more coarse, bit of RS, old Chinese box
Overall impression: I like Neil Ellis´ Sauvignon blanc. This, to me, has a
lot of what I have come to associate with SA reds - a certain ... not quite
enjoyable lack of freshness - I have sought for ways to express it but so
far failed. The underachiever of the set.

4. Ch Batailley 1997
[C] Not unlike 1.
[N] Had a lot of maturity despite its fairly young age.
[P] Enjoyable, stable-y aromas, still with dark fruit - tannines more
prominent than in 1., but supple and tasty.
Overall impression: I suppose that normally, 7 years would be way too young
for this producer, but, according to Hugh Johnson, and also two previous
tastings, it appeared that it could drink OK now. No doubt it has a lot of
potential to develop, only, not this bottle ...

The wines accompanied a cantarelle risotto and lamb racks. PAvlova with wild
berries as dessert and a bottle of I Capitelli, a passito made from
Garganega, not bad but a bit anonymous, perhaps due to organoleptic fatigue.

Next time it´ll be Chenin Blanc. Password is 'swordfish'. Tell `em Joe sent
you.

Cheers

Nils Gustaf

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