Château Batailley – 1988

A straight down the middle cedar-and-cassis Pauillac. Tannins are resolved, but the fruit is still surprisingly dark. Neither smoky nor animalistic, but the cedar becomes ever spicier: clove and allspice. There is just a touch of further tertiary elements about it, the suggestion of Chinese food. The finish is dry, liquorishy, acid-driven and perhaps not very long. I found it structurally a little slight to begin with, but it gains some weight with time. 

90/100

Berberana – Rioja – Reserva – 1970

A very aromatic bouquet of raspberries and cherries. Obviously no longer tannic, with mature but delightful fruit, a complex finish where savoury elements mingle with the now well-integrated oak, and a lingering floral aftertaste. Very Burgundian in style. Delicious and immensely satisfying, long-lived wine from one of the great Rioja vintages.

95/100

Château Haut-Bailly - 1989

Premier cru from Graves. Unquestionably cassis-driven and left-banky, with a good dose of Graves tobacco smoke, then game and cedar. At different moments it makes me think of both eggy custard and bacon. Gravelicious – a delightful blend of smoke and fruit, surely drinking at its best now.

94/100

Lafarge – Clos du Château des Ducs - 1993

Plum fruit overlaid with tertiary notes, leathery, biscuity and meaty. Lean, fine and a slightly bitter finish. Aeration brings liquorice to this most savoury of Volnays.

93/100

Lafarge – Beaune – Grèves – 2000

Smooth, maturing premier cru. A lightly defined bouquet of cherry and violet comes through with a wisp of volatile acidity; the palate seems relatively fragile and the remaining acidity dominates the mouthfeel. It heavies up with time, moving towards a slightly porty character. I think we have caught this wine at an awkward moment; I’d like either more aromatics or a more defined secondary and tertiary character.

88/100

Dry River – Riesling – Craighall – 2000

Dry River is one of New Zealand’s most admired wine producers, although not easy to come across! In the past I have prized the odd mature bottle from the hands of Zubair Mohamed of Raeburn Fine Wines, Edinburgh.

A surprisingly dark bronzed orange colour, with a very German, mature petroliferous Riesling nose; the sort of bouquet that suggests a sweet character. But it is bone dry to taste, with a creamy, waxy texture, and abundant lemon and lime fruit; the finish is particularly light. Beautifully mature now, it is difficult to imagine this is drinking at anything other than its peak.

94/100

El Maestro Sierra – Fino

Just a touch darker and more oxidized than the average Fino sherry, with none of the lanolin or chamomile character that comes through, but a little more salt and vinegar crisps, and definitely nuttier than usual; a Fino taking its first steps down the road to being an Amontillado. Maybe just seems a little flat in the middle. 

90/100