Trimbach Cuvée Frédéric Émile Riesling 1995: A pale golden hue. A great nose, taking just a few minutes to open up, revealing rich petrolly aromas at first, then a blast of lime, then a more creamy sense of fruit, tropical, bright and sweet in character. This sense continues on the palate right at the start, showing a great texture, then a pure flesh through the middle, supple and rich but also well defined. Towards the end, it gets a little more savoury, showing a character full of impact and presence here. It is long, grippy, slightly bitter, with notes of orange zest. Most impressive of all, it has an amazingly pure and vivacious minerality on the palate, riding all over the acidity, both elements lifting and defining the wine, giving it a brilliant sappy-sour character, with lovely citrus fruits in the finish. This is wonderful, certainly my favourite taste of CFE for some time, and this is a wine still on the way up. For label images and more see my Wine of the Week write-up. 18+/20

Domaine des Forges Coteaux du Layon Saint-Aubin de Luigné Cuvée des Forges 1995: A pretty amazing burnished orange-gold hue in the glass, quite an unexpected (not having tasted this wine before) intensity and brashness. It just screams botrytis, and naturally the nose betrays this origin, being full of the aromas of caramelised oranges, toffee biscuit, smoke, dense honey and milky beeswax. Fabulously rich on entry, full of crunchy, browned-oat biscuits, sweet caramelised marmalade and an intense, very broad sugar-rich build. There is freshness too, but it has a bit-part in this play which relies on its noble power for most impact. This is certainly impressive and all-encompassing, and I suspect this will go for another decade or two in the cellar. Incredible stuff; it is only when looking for more ethereal aspects, for acidity, for purity, that we see what elements are missing. But there is so much worthy of our attention beyond these facets that I still find plenty of pleasure here. 16.5/20

Domaine des Forges Coteaux du Layon Chaume Cuvée Les Onnis 1995: This is a wine I am fairly familiar with, having picked up a good number of bottles at auction a few years ago. Suffice to say every bottle has been delicious and the wines have given great drinking pleasure over the years. This bottle is no exception. A fine, very pure and yet rich golden hue in the glass. The nose shows some nice complexity, high-toned and bright, with tinges of fresh orange and marmalade fruit, touched by caramel. The palate carries these rich complexities well, with its bitter backbone and fresh acidity. It's the purity and lift that really gets me excited here though - this is really impressive stuff; although the bitter brightness of early bottles has faded, there is freshness and botrytis combined here, and that gives a lot of pleasure. Superb. 18/20

Poniatowski Vouvray Clos Baudoin Moelleux 1995: A very appealing mid-golden hue. The nose is textbook Chenin, with vibrant aromas of straw, paper, volcanic minerals and spicy talc. It is cleanly defined, although with a touch of flavoursome funk. Very well defined flesh on entry, carrying sweet and golden fruits with a chalky edge, with tangerine and pineapple character. It focuses down into a crisp but honeyed style at the end, with a supple and gentle length. A slightly cleaner style than the older vintages I have tasted, quite well framed, and with no shortage of nicely honed substance. Fresh, lemony, zesty finish. Good length too. This is fine now, but is set to carry on very nicely in the cellar I feel. 17/20

Philippe Foreau Vouvray Moelleux 1995: This wine has a brilliant golden hue in the glass, shimmering and bright - and the wine itself, in terns of aroma and flavour, is no less impressive than its appearance. On the nose it has a paradoxical intertwining of ethereal perfume and richness, the fruit pure and crystalline, sheer essence of Vouvray but with power alongside the minerality. Fine, a little gingery, with a floral trace and notes of honey and lemon zest, and most importantly a beautiful definition to it. The palate has an ecstatic character, essence of dry and grippy peach-skin and sugar crystals swirled with cream. Bold and yet tightly defined, rich and straight and yet also at its core caressing. Long, pure and stylish. This is drinking superbly just now, although I suspect there is absolutely no rush with this one. An incredibly thrilling wine, heart-stopping, so pure and lifted. And to think this is only the straight moelleux, not the reserve bottling. Wow. 18.5/20

Jamet Côte Rôtie 1995: I first tasted this wine in 2003, when I wrote "starting to drink well". A couple of years on, I wasn't so sure, and now I still think this wine has a lot in reserve. Quite a stink here on opening the bottle, all seaweed and oyster shell, but this dissipated during the course of an hour, revealing something much more pleasant. Dark in hue, although showing some mature tones right through. It does maintain a firm calcareous character, showing maturity, although still with some very dark organic notes too, redolent of black olive, truffle and perfumed red fruits. A more chalky-granite character on the nose also comes through on the palate, which has a gently supple style, backed up by fine tannins. There is still a lot of meat and depth here, with notes of scorched earth and white pepper set against the sweet black fruit. Still rather soft in terms of texture in places, but I would think with more time - and this does need more time - it will become more defined. Lovely wine. 17+/20

Marc Sorrel Hermitage Le Gréal 1995: A fine colour in the decanter, just a tinge of oxblood to it, but still plenty of good red pigment, The nose starts off with some well-defined red fruits and a note of freshness, light and lifted like oyster shells. It maintains a direct and well composed aromatic display, but it does soften a little at the edges, showing a little gamey meat along a firm, limestoney background. And then it really opens up to reveal a vibrant perfume, orange blossom and raspberries, with a stony, peppery twist. The palate has a classically restrained, moderate texture, while showing fresh fruit at the core with bright acid structure and a touch of floral, chalky perfume. There is good substance here too though, but presented in a very masculine, reined-in style, and with a robust and bitter grip at the end. The flavours are very savoury, fleetingly reminiscent of the Haut Brion & La Mission wines, with nuances of beefy meat stock, set against crunch-edged blackberries in the middle, and a plate of ripe raspberries dotted with cinnamon and cream in the finish. This is serious, masculine, tinged with tobacco and full of style. Great structure in the finish, but admittedly a slightly-too-fierce acid stab here provides one moment of distraction. Still room for development here, though. 17.5+/20

Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf du Pape 1995: A few years on since my last bottle of this, and certainly showing in a more open, integrated fashion. Once a highly volatile mess (although to be fair that was six years ago) this has now sharpened up into a well honed and nicely defined glass of wine. Still a dark hue, and on the nose very savoury, meaty and yet crunchy, with notes of black olive, face cream and black pepper, with a faint, high-toned edge to it all. It is simply divine. The palate has a moderate flesh, with well balanced structural components lying over the top; well framed and gritty black olive and savoury meats and fresh acidity, all funnelling smoothly down into a polished, linear finish. Great wine; none of the flabby character I found last time, this has come together really well. 18/20

Domaine de Ravanes Le Prime Verd 1995: An attractive hue here, obvious maturity, with a caramel-brickiness the dominant colour, with some red tones at the core. The nose follows on with this maturity, showing - after an hour or so in a decanter - the aromas of richly stewed game, cooked to a sticky sweetness, with slowly macerated peppered cherry fruit alongside. The violet perfume seen last time has faded and this seems much more deep and meaty now, although there are many dark characteristics here still, especially burnt black olives mixed with rusty iron filings. The palate is gentle and sweet with macerated fruit, with a chalky tinge, and plenty of good substance underneath it all, becoming particularly obvious through the middle of the palate. Firm in the finish, showing quite strong acidity building through the palate. I preferred the delicate perfume that I found two years ago, but this is still very good. 17/20

Domaine de Trevallon (VdP des Bouches du Rhône) 1995: A dense and dark wine, mature in terms of hue, but certainly not fading in terms of intensity of pigment, The nose is just lovely, a mix of youthful substance and notes of early maturity. The fruit is pure and dark in character, sweet, ripe, dusty and thick-skinned blackcurrant, tinged with elements of fig, black olive and truffle oil. Plenty of substance on entry, and this stays true through the midpalate which is imbued with a pile of extract, ripe background tannins and gentle acidity. It has a powerful composition but nevertheless a fine freshness with it, the wine well framed and very direct. On the finish, ripe tannin, firm and full fruit, with lots of tangible, tobacco-tinged substance, with little notes of black tea and roast meats. This is impressive; lovely now, in a very rich and big style, but still with more to give. Drink now or hold if you have some. 17.5+/20

Chateau Musar (Bekaa Valley) 1995: It is five years since I broached one of these and today it looks just as mature as I described it then - but I think that is typical of Musar; these wines look mature earlier than you might expect, but then fade in terms of intensity of colour very slowly, over many years. The nose gives a big acetic blast at first, but then more complex aromatics come to the fore, very animally in style, especially with notes of warm and sweaty horsehair. And alongside this ball of fur there is sweetly baked fruit, notes of black olive and Germolene ointment, smoke and pepper. Quite intense and sweet in style, and this comes through on the palate too which has a layer of sweetly roasted meats, piles of flavour and a broad, peppered character. Lots of structure here still, raw tannins and a juicy-sour acidity which dominates the finish giving it a little balsamic note. Very long, and still needing a lot of time - another 5-10 years before this really settles down I think. The best showing yet for this wine. 17.5/20

Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Spätlese 1995: A clean, lemon-gold hue in the glass, with no suggestion of this wine's age. The nose kicks off with some very typical Riesling aromas of lime leaves, tinged with smoke, honey and minerals. There is a slightly savoury element to it, a tinge of spice too. The fruit has a faintly tropical style, closest to pineapple I think, and just a faint tinge of petrol breezes in and out but it certainly isn't a dominant feature of the wine. The palate is immediately vibrant but also fleshy and full, showing a fine, broad substance. A savoury depth to it, but also highlights of orange zest and more lime. There is appropriate sweetness here, but also an appealingly bitter, savoury seam of spice. This is good. Not brilliant, admittedly, but certainly good. 16.5/20 AP number: 3 536 014 35 96

Valduero Ribera del Duero Crianza 1995: What a remarkable wine this is; picked up for a song in a British supermarket over ten years ago, a first taste in 2000 suggested it needed a lot more time in bottle, and a tasting in 2005 told the same story. Now, at fifteen years of age, this wine is just singing. Still plenty of colour here, although with an elegant, maturing, dusty-red hue. The nose is fascinating, giving little elements of fruit, sweetly spiced blackberries and hot, plump damsons, but also the complexities of age, especially animally-meaty-leather notes, calcareous wisps of oyster-shell, orange zest, bay leaf, black olive and black bean. It is a nose that I just keep coming back to, again and again. The palate has a gentle substance but also crispness, a very savoury style of fruit reflecting the multifaceted character on the nose, but also a tart brightness. And in the finish, a little seam of still-unresolved tannin, although certainly not enough to regret opening the bottle, and in fact giving a very welcome backbone to the wine. Bottles like this are one of the wonders of wine. Inexpensive, no cult status, under-the-radar, mature and delicious to drink. 17/20

CVNE Viña Real Rioja Gran Reserva 1995: This wine has a dense colour, with surprising red-black tinges, although there is a more tawny-oxblood rim around the edge if you look within the wine. The nose shows a rather modern style, with a blast of meaty-gamey fruit at first, not really out of keeping for very young gran reserva with many years ahead of it, but the rich seam of coffee was less expected. Thankfully this does all settle down, although there is still a rather disconcerting burnt-cola tinge through the middle of the nose, even when this has been in the decanter for several hours. Fairly typical texture on the palate, rather full but with a well-framed, savoury, salty-meaty, Bovril and beef stock character through the middle of it all, becoming rather aggressive in the finish where it assaults the palate with a seam of well-seasoned wood and slightly incongruous acidity. CVNE has been on the receiving end of some criticism for wandering off-piste from the mid-1990s onwards and tasting this I can understand why. But young gran reservas can sometimes come across as quite brutal, so I'm certainly not prepared to disregard it out of hand. There's certainly a thick coat of tannin in the finish which says this has some time to go yet. But a broad and uncertain score here. 16-17+?/20

La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904 1995: A dense colour, its visual impact is one of youthfulness; it has some tones suggestive of maturity but for a gran reserva this still looks dark and red at the core. This character persists with the wine's aromatic and gustatory profiles; on the nose it remains sweet with rich, black fruits tinged with vanilla, highlighted by high toned, slightly gamey, green-black olive, plum-skin notes. The palate is full and rich, well endowed with dark fruits and a little raspberry too, with the spicy, coffee-tinged sandalwood of oak. Slightly dry tannins running through the core of it all, showing around the sweet almost chewy fruit with its pastille-like intensity. This is a wine that impresses with potential rather than pure pleasure, although that is not to say it isn't good for drinking now; just that my palate would much prefer this in perhaps five years, but more probably ten (or more). 17.5-18+/20

Quinta do Vesuvio Vintage Port 1995: This wine has a fine colour, a very dark, matt red with moments of impenetrable black. The nose is truly enticing, with an earthy fruit character cut through with some very complex spice tones, starting off with a cigar box-like quality but then broadening out and dominating the palate, with a suggestion of spice bazaar, cloves and turmeric. Although the first taste is a little severe it subsequently (including some held back until the following day) settles down into a very supple and integrated composition. There is firm fruit, spiced as the nose revealed, with plenty of tannic kick and still a little warmth from the alcohol (although not distracting or notably 'spirity'). Creamy, well framed, with fresh acidity behind the bold structure, lifted and yet full of impact. Excellent length too. Approachable now although it still has quite a big style; it has years and years ahead of it in the cellar. 17.5+/20

De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon (NSW) 1995: From a half-bottle. I last tasted this five years ago and I didn't enjoy it; I was pretty harsh in my rating of it. I think that may have reflected my expectations for the wine as much as its intrinsic qualities. True to form, on this tasting the wine has a dark, burnished, orange-bronze hue. And the nose is perhaps as expected, showing an oxidative style - heralded on my last tasting I think - with a baked earth character in tandem with plenty of sweetness. This comes through on he palate as a marmalade richness, although with more of that stewed orange-sugar flavour. Long, bitter, with a fat and baked sweetness. An interesting wine; not a style I would actively seek out these days, but interesting nevertheless. 14.5/20