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2011 Wine in Context Awards

Looking back to my Visit of the Year post for a moment, you could argue that the five vintages of Raymond-Lafon I mentioned in my runners-up list were always going to taste delicious at the château, mere yards from the vines where the fruit was grown, especially when seated opposite was the man who made the wine. Likewise,  vertical tastings of Brane-Cantenac or Phélan-Ségur, the wines lined up at the château, or tours and tastings of other estates such as Talbot or Lafon-Rochet, are always likely to yield good experiences. The people are there to make sure the wines are sound, to show you around, to make you feel comfortable. It's a good way to get to grips with the estate and the commune and region, but you have to be sure you remain objective; wines are more likely to show well in these cirsumstances.

Take these wines away from these very favourable contexts, however, and would they always shine so well?  Separation not only by distance but also by time adds another layer to the challenge. Present a wine many decades after it was put in the bottle, long after the winemaker has died, not only at a distance from the vineyard of origin but from the region of origin, and how will it fair then? If my experiences with the sweet wines of Bonnezeaux are anything to go by, the answer is "very well indeed". (22/12/11)

2011 - Tasting of the Year

As with my reflections on my favourite visits of the year, I have chosen just one tasting on which to focus. Although there might just be a booby prize as well.

An award for the wines that have best withstood the test of time.

There is no competition here, no shortlist of note, for no tasting can compare with that which I experienced in the company of the Boivin family in Bordeaux just a couple of months ago. To spend a few hours in the company of this family, and to taste the ancient vintages they had brought up from the cellar, was an honour. To see the concerned expression on the face of Christophe Boivin as he pulled each cork made clear his anxiety over the condition of some of the bottles, being shown to a small number of palates from outside the family for the first time in many years. But he need not have feared, because the further back in time we went the better the wines made by the late Jean Boivin seemed to be. This was apparent not only to me and the other invited guests, and not only to Jean Boivin's grandchildren and their spouses, but also to his great grandchildren, who - despite their tender years - were clearly in awe of these ancient wines.

The evening was a fascinating one, and I learnt much. First, I learnt that very old Bonnezeaux, especially from great vintages such as 1947, can drink very well indeed, despite the dark and less-than-reassuring walnutty hue that one or two of the wines had taken on with age. Second, I learnt much more of the history of the estate, principally thanks to the words of Christophe Boivin, Jacques Boivin's nephew. And third, I learnt that Au Bonheur du Palais, where we decamped for a fine dinner, during which we mopped up what remained of the 1947 and 1930, really must be one of the greatest Chinese restaurants in the world....something I suspected when I visited for the first time during the primeurs tastings earlier this year. If I was giving out a 'best dinner' award this year, this restaurant would win hands down.

We began with vintages that I once thought of as mature, but no longer! The 1990 La Chapelle showed extremely well, easily on a par with previous bottles I have experienced which were largely sourced from the cellars of a British university, and which had thus been very well stored. Thereafter there was some variation in quality, taking a nose dive in the middle of the tasting, some wines not showing so well, with either the steeliness of a less than adequate vintage or in some cases rabid oxidation. But the evening ended with a run of fabulous bottles. Even though some were beginning to hint at oxidation, the 1955, 1947, 1930 and 1924 all showed their worth. The delicious 1955 showed great vigour for its age, but was one of the wines showing a faint trace of oxidation. The 1924 impressed purely with its tenacity, even if it did resemble an Australian liqueur Muscat more than anything from Bonnezeaux. The 1930 still possessed a remarkable freshness that should see this wine through to a very fine old age. My top wine of the night though was without a doubt the 1947; while not as venerable and ancient as the other two wines, a 'mere' 64-years old, this was sweet, complex and multilayered. Overall, this was an unfortgettable experience, where the wines shone, but so did the company - a real wine in context moment!

My favourite wine: Château de Fesles 1947

A special prize for the wine estate that makes the biggest ass of itself at a tasting.

In July I donned my tourist's hat and struck out to see what Chianti Country had to offer the inquisitive tourist, Eschewing my usual practise of making appointments I wandered unannounced into the enotecas of two prominent Chianti estates, so I think of this as a mere 'tasting' experience rather than a 'visit' as such, hence I include it here. The two estates in question were Fattoria di Fèlsina in Castelnuovo Berardenga and Fonterutoli, just to the south of Castellina in Chianti. My brief stop at Fèlsina was a fascinating experience, and although the wines were variable in quality the experience as a whole - the shop staffed by helpful assistants just brimming with knowledge, and the wines poured free of charge at the right temperature - was everything a wine visit should be if these estates are really aiming to garner new customers. The story at Fonterutoli, however, was not so joyous.

Inside the Fonterutoli enoteca the tasting room looked promising, the wines being stored in a Enomatic-style dispenser behind the tasting counter, and there were plenty of staff on hand - three in fact - to attend to the tourist's every need. Sadly, despite this strong set up, the tasting experience was a huge disappointment. This was a pay-to-taste operation, with only two rather restrictive options available, and no mixing and matching allowed. As a result I was limited to a three-vintage 'vertical' tasting of Fonterutoli's Chianti Classico Riserva featuring the 2005, 2006 and 2007. I had to gesticulate wildly with a mouthful of wine to acquire a spittoon which was frustrating. The real tragedy of the experience, however, was that the serving temperature of the three samples was ludicrously warm, to such a degree that the wines ultimately defied assessment. Here I had three glasses of soupy, flabby wine which anywhere else would have me reaching for the ice bucket.

At the far end of the serving counter I could see the reason for my disappointment; the temperature on the Enomatic was set to a rather generous 13ºC for the whites, and a heady 20ºC for the reds. The latter certainly had a negative effect on what I was tasting, and I am sure the same would be true of the white wines. How the team at Fonterutoli expect to sell any wines, when they treat them in this manner, is nothing short of a mystery. As it happens I purchased one bottle, for no reason other than a desire to prove to myself (or reassure myself, perhaps?) that, served at the correct temperature, the wines of Castello di Fonterutoli should taste much better than they did at the estate.

Happily, it did. But come on, Fonterutoli. Pull your socks up! Your country's government might be in disarray, but that's no reason for you to follow suit.

A worthy runner up to the tasting of wines from Château de Fesles has to be the tasting of wines from the Chapoutier Sélections Parcellaires range tasted back in June, before all the excitement of my visit (with its roller coaster ride through Les Greffieux and its helicopter attack on the hill of Hermitage) really kicked off. Having had limited exposure to Chapoutier's wines, usually focusing on the upper tier of the négoce wines, in particular the Hermitage La Sizeranne, it was an eye-opener to perceive for the first time the quality offered by his very top wines from his own vineyards, not just from exalted appellations such as Hermitage, but also with other wines, especially his Les Granits cuvée from St Joseph.

• Continue on to my 2011 Wine in Context Awards: Wines that Mattered