We got other Rupert Spira goodies whilst out yesterday, a couple of espresso cups:

They have a black slightly metallic glaze which, when the light is right, burns with iridescence. I will feel much happier when I make a brilliant espresso into one of these.

Just so you know, if you are looking to pick up some Rupert Spira stuff this is the mark on the base you should be looking for:

That red glaze is amazing.

It is a few weeks early but I don’t mind. I’ve been given a bowl:

Isn’t it marvellous? This is by Rupert Spira, a properly famous ceramicist (don’t tell me you’ve never heard of him). It is about 15cm across and has a wonderfully deep red glaze which is flecked with blue. I am very pleased with it, it is an entity of livid beauty.

I really like Moss Wood wines when they are young. Last summer I had a 1999 Cabernet and ageing hadn’t done much for it, so I wasn’t expecting to be wowed by the 2000. I was right.

Semillon 2000, Moss Wood
A very toasty, buttery nose; if you didn’t know better you’d say it was oaked. It has some lanolin character as well which we are told is supposed to help us blind taste old Semillon. There is a hint of alcoholic warmth to the nose, but when the nose has such scale this doesn’t seem so bad. The palate is weighty with a mouth-filling roundness. I’d say it just about has enough acidity, but it does seem a tad on the blowsy side. There is a lot of ripe lemon fruit here. The finish is a bit hot and short, and there is really not too much in the way of complexity. However, for the very little money this cost me  I think it is not such a bad drink. The 9 year ageing experiment was interesting enough as well.

Cabernet Sauvignon 2000, Moss Wood
A crème de cassis nose, and bloody alcoholic crème de cassis at that; the blackcurrant and booze action here is just bonkers. It is very cedar woody as well. But you’d never guess this as the awful stuff Claret as the alcohol quotient is far too high. This doesn’t really worry me as I expect blood and guts from Australian wines, but what does worry me is how little real fun value there seems to be on the nose. Sure, there is plenty of fruit, wood and alcohol, but it just all seems a tad flat; when it slaps your nasal passages around it does so in a half-hearted sort of way. The palate has plenty of fruit, wood and alcohol as well, but it lacks the all-important acidity so just seems a bit soupy with those super-ripe tannins. The alcohol burn on the finish is a little distracting, too. When I purchased this I thought it was good time Cabernet Sauvignon, with nine years of age it just seems to have lost its vivacious spark. The ageing experiment was not a success with this.

I associate a degree of beetrooty reduction with Burgaud and this knowledge didn’t lead me astray when blind tasting this wine. I nailed it.

Cote-Rotie 1997, Bernard Burgaud
The nose is an elegant structure of fruit and beetroot, with a fine earthy character running right through it. There is the merest hint of greenness to it, but I think that just adds to the complexity rather than seeming unripe. It is refined and complex. This is a classy nose of harmony and delight. The palate is sleek and sexy, but has some pretty present tannins. These are described as ‘noble’ and that knowledge allows us to blind taste Burgaud and get it right. This is a really pleasing Cote-Rotie, I love it.

Thanks Peter!

I was not going to bother writing up this utterly delicious wine, but Peter ‘The Kid’ Palmer tells me I must. “People need to know”, he says.

Riesling Auslese Wehlener Sonnenuhr 1996, J J Prum
A linear, direct nose of ripe citrus fruit. The fruit is stellar in its intensity, but the minerality on the nose beats this into submission as far as shining beams of memory burning laser light goes. It is complex, harmonious and refined. And direct. It is beautiful. The palate has quite a lot of sweetness, but it seems secondary, even this beautiful, ripe fruit and body, compared to the stunning purity of the minerality and acidity. This wine screams into the pantheon of brilliant experiences and leaves a smoking trail through the hall of good times.

Sorry. It is nearly half-one in the morning.

Right, hot tips from the bargain village of the Cote de Nuits (the whole area is named after this village, surely it cannot be so bad?): what should you be getting?

The producer every lover of truly excellent wine needs to buy is Robert Chevillon. Buy any vintage you can find, they are consistent performers. Consistently excellent performers. The 1999 Les Saint Georges and Vaucrains I put in a little tasting were totally lovely, wonderful wines of charm, personality and class. I have vivid memories of 2002s from many Premier Crus burning with life, power and elan. You need to own some Chevillon Nuits Premier Crus.

I mentioned an Alain Michelot Premier Cru Richemone and it was good enough to recommend. If you go here then look at he embarrassment of riches on offer for not too much cash you should be able to find something to suit your budget. Clearly the 2006 Nuits VV is a bargain but that 2005 Richemone will be a superb example of a Nuits Premier Cru. Please save some for me to buy.

The current wine joke is that the best Nuits-Saint-Georges producer is in Chambolle, or Vosne, or Volnay… There is some truth to this. Mugnier make excellent Nuits Premier Cru Clos de la Marachale, with its charming beauty and brilliant harmony, in Chambolle. This is a very individual take on a Nuits Premier Cru, it is priced quite reasonably and is another reliable performer.

In Vosne there is Premier Cru Murgers from Sylvain Cathiard which is clearly a fine wine. It was the first wine I reported on on Elitist Review. Two of my favourite Nuits Premier Crus come from Primeaux, in the form of Clos des Forets and Clos de l’Arlot from Domaine l’Arlot. M. de Smet’s at l’Arlot wines have been constant drinking buddies with me since I first understood that Burgundy is best. Never let him give you a lift, though, his driving style is terrifying.

Volnay may sound strange source of Nuits but de Montille have acquired some Premier Cru aux Thorey, and by all accounts it is good stuff. The partner picked some up whilst in France. There is also the one vintage only best Nuits Premier Cru made out of Nuits, again aux Thorey but this time from Dujac. Made only in 2005 it is a compelling interpretation of Nuits and a bold and characterful wine for an only attempt.

Finally, of course, there is Gouges. Some of the truly memorable wines of my life have been Gouges. When talking of the consistency of a producer like Gouges you talk over decades rather than a few vintages. They are great wines which, in many vintages, will live forever in your cellar. But then, if you want what is best (and that’s what we care about on Elitist Review), you should be buying more Robert Chevillon.

If I’ve missed anyone out (and obviously no one should be thinking of Grivot here) please add a comment.

From me to me obviously. Cavon de Bacchus is a great place to go shopping when you are in Nuits. The hot tip from Burgundy is to buy Nuits as it is the bargain village of the important Cote, but we are on the other Cote tonight. I think the “lack of Grand Crus which would drag the price up”-effect that plagues Nuits to some extent is true with Pommard and Volnay. However, Pommard and Volnay are names which slip off the English tongue more easily than the odd ‘Nuits’, so might be purchased more readily. I’ve got a lot of Pommard (and also a lot of Nuits*) that I have considered screaming bargains.

With everything I’ve got in the flat at the moment I found myself selecting this as one of my least grand wines for popping at half-midnight. I’ll be drinking well over the next year.

Volnay 2005, Domaine Michel Lafarge
This is a nose of livid (positively incensed) cherry fruit. There is the very slightest hint of grassiness blended in with the fruit, like a raspberry leaf with raspberries, which reminds me a lot of other vintages of this wine I’ve tried. There is a degree of scale to the nose. Refined scale, for sure, but definite scale. There is a lively edge to the acidity on the palate, more raspberry leaf. The tannins are a tad on the severe side. Bums, I was hoping for something a tiny bit more lewd, but this is a very correct Volnay. Lafarge claims his role is to conduct the symphony of the vintage and harness than in his wine; there could be more soul in this symphony.

*I had a damned good bottle of Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Richemone from Alain Michelot at Restaurant La Cabotte in Nuits last week, lovely meal, lovely wine**.

**OK, my thoughts on Nuits to buy will be the next post.

After me bad-mouthing this producer (possibly un-necessarily, we’ll see if/when the wines come good) my chum Jeremy gave us this to try.

Riesling Kabinett Trabener Gaispfad 2007, Weiser-Kunstler
This positively reeks of lemon sherbet. I like lemon lemon sherbet very much. It has puppy fat and charm, a really attractive nose that just promises pleasure when you get around to drinking it. The palate is clearly quite ripe, and the fruit as a consequence it is at the exotic end of the kind of flavours you’d expect in a kabinett. It has a good degree of concentration and I like the acidity no end. My stomach doesn’t like it, but I’m lapping this up. Not, if we are brutal in our honesty, the most electrifying wine of utter gorgeousness in the world, but it is not short on charm. As far as drinking wines go you couldn’t get much better.

My old photoblog at whatinterests.davidstrange.net was all very nice, but sub-optimal in many ways. Also, the webcam software for my phone stopped working after a ROM upgrade…

Rising up to replace that site is the Elitist Review Photoblog hosted by that kind chap Mr Flickr. I can upload pictures from my phone, tag them and so on. Each blog will have a link to pictures tagged specifically with ‘drinks’, ‘food’ or ‘wine’ in the white box under the calendar to the right of the page. There is also a link to all pictures in the navigation section to the right.

Sometimes Dr Loosen wines just seem a bit simple, sometimes they seem like they will not age, but when you buy the right stuff in the right vintages by merkin can they be fantastic.

Riesling Auslese GoldKap Erdener Pralat 1997, Dr Loosen
Bit orange, which I suppose shouldn't worry me as it is so old and so ripe. Still gives me a moment of doubt when I pour wines of this colour. The nose has ultra-pure lemon fruit and an incredible mineral character which just burns its stylish personality across your mind. It is very fruity. It is just so charming but also rigorous in its lively style. The palate also has a screaming acidity and bonkers minerality which add to its memory forming character. The lemon rich fruit is better than real lemons actually are. If you could imagine the worlds most finely balanced and refreshing, rather than heroic, margarita, with an incredible complexity and a real level of life then it wouldn't be as good as this.

We have just been to France and liberated a batch of wines. We thought these two would go well with roast beef.

Recently, I have been reminded that relativism is absolutely false (good Morey is very Morey-y), so I shall attempt to avoid using any relative comparisons between these two wines. I'll stick to saying what each one is like as a unique entity.

Bandol Cuvee Speciale La Miguoa 1997, Domaine Tempier
This has a wonderful nose of very ripe cherry fruit, it is quite juicy. There is a grilled meatiness to the nose as well and it is very earthy. This is a elegant and refined Bandol nose. Strangely, it doesn't smell of arseholes. The harmony of the nose tickles my fancy quite a lot, I like scented and perfumed red wines. The palate is a bit tougher and drier than I would have hoped for given is expressive nose. There is a strange acidity to it as well. It has some length, but alas it is just not the nice. Bums, I prefer nice. It is just a bit old and tired. I realise 97 wasn't the greatest Bandol vintage but I'd expect more from La Miguoa.

Bandol Cuvee Special La Tourtine 1997, Domaine Tempier
What a nose! It bursts with bramble black fruits, with a great density and power of expression. This smells of what I want from Mourvedre. Sure, there is also some brett on the nose, so there is a slightly sweaty arsehole character, but the scent of fruit and rich, well-matured compost is very pleasing. The palate has a massive tannic structure, with dark, powerful fruit. On the palate it is just edging down the wrong side of perfectly mature, but there is a lot of pleasure here. This will serve us well with a good hunk of meat. Oh meat, how I love meat.

I suppose you might wonder which is the best to buy (of a recent vintage, obviously, you don't want to be buying these): La Miguoa or La Tourtine. I used to think “La Tourtine, obviously”, then I began to edge toward the refined beauty of La Miguoa, before deciding I preferred Pibarnon.

Weingut Fritz Haag make extremely distinctive wines, which I hope I do a good job of blind tasting. They have a brilliant purity of expression which, whilst you can sometimes confuse with Prum or Thanisch wines, you’d hope to get right. This is because there is a very strong vineyard character which is recognisable vintage after vintage.

Riesling Auslese Brauneberger-Juffer Sonnenuhr 2007, Fritz Haag
An intense, pure nose of lime fruit and slate minerality. This is very focussed and direct. Very beautiful, too, in a linear sort of way. Just smell this and you’ll love it. I love it. The palate is certainly sweet, but it fizzes with fresh acidity and an incredible minerality. There is a real streak of complexity and an wonderfully long finish. The focus is arresting and enlivening. This is a finely sculpted entity of stunning brilliance and as such, this is the kind of thing we really seek out when it comes to German wine. Thrilling.

I have a lot of happy memories of Huet Premier Trie wines from the late eighties and early nineties, this just doesn't seem to live up to those memories.

Vouvray Moelleux Premier Trie 'Clos du Bourg' 2005, Domaine Huet
OK, sulphur may be varietal character for Chenin Blanc, but this is really preservative-tastic. If we are honest, this is not a terribly attractive character. It has some of the damp wool, rotting wood and general mould that one would hope for, but that sulphur is really distracting. I am not happy smelling this. The palate lacks the zip and life one would hope for from a Vouvray. It certainly tastes of a lot, it has complexity in that sense, but what it tastes of just doesn't compel me. I'm worried by its lack of personality. 1990 Clos du Bourg Premier Trie was a thrilling exciting and, let us be honest, orange wine of style and class; this just seems to be dull and pedestrian. I'd expect so much more from a supposedly top producer in a really throbbing vintage. Could it be that since they've been bought out they have sold out? More tastings required, I suppose.