1986 Noirot Carriere Chassagne Montrachet - this village wine showed
a fair bit of colour, excellent fruit in the nose, mostly lemon but
also a hint of mandarin orange, and it had excellent balance with
clean acidity and very good length, In great shape.

2003 Tardieu-Laurent Gigondas Vieilles Vignes - dark wine that showed
a lighter rim. Not much at all in the nose, and nothing much on
palate but acidity. dead/spoiled. Go figure.

2006 Domaine Saint Prefert Chteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve Auguste Favier
- slightly funky nose with dark fruit, a dark colour, hint of cinnamon
in the mostly berry nose, lost of soft tannin, well made, good length,
still a bit primary at this point.

2006 Clos des Papes Chteauneuf-du-Pape – nice fresh fruit in this
nose, and a fair bit of oak, medium tannin, smooth finish ready and
richer in the mouth that the Prefert, but in a more modern style.
Needs time.

2002 Planeta Syrah (Sicily) – purple wine with cocoa in the nose and
plum, intense fruit flavours, nice tannin and acidity rounding it our,
drinking well now, not immediately calling Syrah to mind.

1995 Ojai Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard (Santa Maria ) – quite dark
colour, lots of up front berry fruit, sweet entry, not a lot of
tannin, ready to go and very tasty finishing with good length.

1983 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Cailles -
pale colour with clear edges, and an easily identifiable pinot nose.
elegant in the mouth, but simple and reticent in the nose, otherwise
not bad. Clearly would have been better some years ago.

2001 Castelgiocondo (Frescobaldi) Lamaione IGT - this merlot showed
spicy vanilla in the nose and good fruit levels on palate, some
earthiness and tons of tannin. Needs more time!

2004 Williams Selyem Zinfandel Forchini Vineyard (Russian River
Valley ) – I didn’t even know that W&S made zins before this one was
disclosed. It had a warm ripe nose and some berry aromas, though none
of the easy clues for this varietal. Bright and pleasant, with
raspberry coming in at the end, I felt it wasn’t a really good example
of a middle aged zin, having shed much of the primary qualities
without picking up as much secondary interest as I’d have liked to
see, although pleasant.

1996 Leasingham Classic Clare Shiraz - dark with clear edges, a
stoniness melded with big plumy fruit in the nose, ripe on palate and
developing more mint in the noise with time. Very nice. Why don’t the
Aussies make this sort of wine very often any more?


1991 The Terraces Zinfandel (Napa) – A new one on me – I have no
experience with this producer. Showing only 12.9% alcohol on the
label, it was medium, dark, quite big in the mouth, well structured
and becoming almost claret like. In fact we were floundering around
between wondering if it was a Bordeaux or a northern Rhone. Classy
wine!