2010

Bought as a palate calibration wine for the morning of Paper 2. Certainly a modern interpretation, but in terms of ripe and pure fruit, …

Clearly infanticide, but this was Grenache in a different league. Deep purple. Brooding, deep nose with a distinctive dusty and schist minerality layered over …

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, …

And this was a classic Riserva, with more marked, fine-quality oak and deeper black cherry. Mid-deep garnet with a hint of rim brick. Dark …

Dropped into Planet of the Grapes, shortly after getting back from Australia. With dinner, it felt appropriate to tuck into something Aussie, so picked …

Apart from the 10X label invasion, this exam example was a textbook Ripasso. Dried cherry and prune fruit. Broad, cedary aromatics. Touch of spice. …

The exam Marlborough Pinot – riper fruit, softer acidity than Central Otago, and suppler tannins, with less depth than Martinborough. Pale-medium ruby, with a …

Not quite as beautifully-balanced as the 2010 La Tour Blanche – which just had a touch more acidity – but showing the quality of …

For this round of sweet wines, I finally completed the Domaine des Forges set – and with the exam Côteaux du Layon. The quality …

This was José-Luis’ other blind wine, and usefully a Crémant – which I’d thought about having in the line-up. With the lower acidity than …