Fifteen Years On: The 2002 Vintage
After this week’s forays into the 2002 Bordeaux and 2002 Loire vintages at fifteen years of age, here I mop up with a baker’s dozen of tasting notes on a mixed bag of wines from other parts of the wine world. I begin in France in Champagne, before moving down the road to Chablis, and then on to Bandol, Tuscany and Germany.
On the whole these wines showed well. The two wines from Champagne were in fine fettle, especially the 2002 La Grande Année from Bollinger. A flight of three wines from Chablis were less convincing across the board, although I was very impressed by the evolution of the 2002 Grand Cru Bougros Côte Bouguerots from William Fèvre. In a small flight of red wines, featuring the Rhône Valley, Bandol and Tuscany, there is no doubt that the wines from Provence’s most famed appellation won out, both the 2002 La Tourtine and 2002 Migoua from Domaine Tempier showing very well, as did the 2002 Cabassaou I reported on earlier this week. Having said that, I was rather entranced by the savoury, evolved and acid-fresh character of the 2002 Sassicaia from Tenuta san Guido, a vintage which winemaker Sebastiano Rosa told me had been heavily criticised after its release. While its acid-fresh and minty character may not work well in the eyes of the Super-Tuscan cognoscenti, it seems to work well enough for my palate.
I finish up here with a quartet of wines from Germany, all fashioned by the hand of Ernst Loosen. There were no disappointments here, the wines originating from some of the finest vineyards of the Mosel, from spätlese to auslese and even an auslese goldkapsel wine, clearly laden with sweet botrytis concentration along with the vibrant citrus and slate-infused fruit of the Riesling variety. It is difficult not to be impressed by these gloriously sweet and concentrated infusions, and I was rapidly taken in by the succulent energy and pinpoint balance of the 2002 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese and the biscuity botrytis-tinged richness of the 2002 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel, two stunning wines. I can’t ever imagine giving up Philippe Foreau’s demi-sec Vouvray or Claude Papin’s Quarts de Chaume for wines such as these, but I can certainly understand their appeal. (16/11/17)
