Rhône

To begin with, I didn’t quite see the quality, but over time it shone through. A very good, new oak influenced, rich, but subtle, …

A duplicate entry here – the other one is in my previous book – but the difference is a little more tannin maturity. Still …

In the Syrah / Malbec line-up, all the Northern Rhône Syrahs were from the 2011 vintage, to maximise comparability. The quality of this stood …

A decent Condrieu, though perhaps not as high up the scale as Villard’s 2010s, that stood on the knife-edge between fullness and crispness; ripe …

This was an oddity picked-up at the Cave de Rasteau after riding Ventoux. Drunk perhaps a bit old – so with somewhat more faded …

The 2nd wine bought in Samoëns for evening / dinner drinks at the chalet, and a very refined, elegant Syrah it was. Perhaps not …

The bloody, gamey notes on this, coupled with plenty of peppery, spicy aromatics made this a decent enough match for a game stew on …

Perhaps this is coming around, to more like what I tasted en primeur. The first couple of bottles were a bit over-rich and flabby, …

So, the real opening was with this – chosen to compliment a main course of game (rabbit, pheasant, venison and squirrel) and beef-shin stew. …

A great start to Christmas Eve dining that changed continually with aeration and warming, to reveal a rich, complex, but balanced white. This certainly …