Jim's Loire: Jamie Goode

Showing posts with label Jamie Goode. Show all posts

Thursday, 26 February 2015

Chez Bruce: a tough day at the office with Keith Prothero, Nicolette Waterford and others

Nicolette Waterford: Keith's guest of honour
Nicolette looks after PR for The Chenin Blanc Association
and a number of other accounts

Yesterday was definitely one of those tough days at the office – lunch at Chez Bruce stretching from around midday to 17.30. A small group of us – Christelle Guibert, Neil Beckett, Jamie Goode, Nigel Platts-Martin, Neleen Strauss and Greg Sherwood – invited by Keith Prothero – the luncheon legend plus director and shareholder in The Sampler – to welcome Nicolette Waterford, who runs the PR for The Chenin Blanc Association and various other PR accounts, to London.

Most of the party were welcomed with the 1996 Bollinger RD Extra Brut Champagne from magnum. However, as I'm not drinking Champagne because of their shameful treatment of 'Champagne Jayne' and Champagne is far from his favourite beverage, Keith kindly allowed me bring a bottle of 2004 Les Cormiers Saumur Blanc Château de Villeneuve for our apéro.

Young Keith Prothero considering

the 2004 Saumur Blanc

Keith Prothero

Greg Sherwood (Handford Wines)

Dr Neil Beckett (editor of World of Fine Wine) @work

Is Neil about to take the pledge ....

Neleen Strauss – High Timber. London

Nigel Platts-Martin, London's leading restaurateur

giving the flight of red Burgundy serious thought

Dr Jamie Goode, sans anorak!

Christelle Guibert

Limbering up for the off ...

(above and below)

First flight:

2004 Meursault J-F Coche-Dury

wonderfully expressive with complex nose, vibrant wine

One of my top wines of the lunch

2008 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru Domaine Leflaive

currently less expressive than the Meursault

2007 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, Bonneau de Martray

Initially closed but opened up in glass showing

increased complexity and length

Accompanied by: crab tartlet with thinly sliced scallop salad,

bisque vinaigrette and chives

Second flight:

The red Burgundy flight

2001 Chambertin Grand Cru, Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils

– bricky with lovely delicacy

2001 Musigny Grand Cru Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier;

2001 Clos St Denis Grand Cru Domaine Dujac

1942 Castillo d'Ygay Gran Reserva Especial Bodegas Murrieta (served blind)

Musigny – silky texture and increasingly seductive as it opened up

Clos St D: silky concentration
Blind – d'Ygay: bricky to orange colour but markedly more
dense than the 2001s, this vibrant 1942
still had lovely texture with tones of balsamic. What a treat!
if bought young there is no way HMRC would
agree that this 72-year-old is a 'wasting asset'
ie a life of less than 50 years

Accompanied by: Rare-roast venison loin with rocket,

truffle, Coolea and hazelnuts

Third flight:

1978 Château La Mission Haut-Brion, Graves; 1982 Château Haut Brion, Graves;

(today these two would be Pessac-Leognan an AC that started in 1987)

1986 Château Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac (served blind)

(1982 La Mission – corked)

1986 Mouton noticeably more youthful than 1978 and 1982

Though aging enjoyed the delicacy of the 1978 La Mission

Accompanied by: Roast veal and sweetbread with

lyonnaise fondant potato and wild mushrooms

Fourth flight:

1986 Château d'Yquem, Luc-Saluces, Sauternes

(Unfortunately I failed to take a pic of the bottle!)

1989 Le Marigny Selection de Grands Nobles, Vouvray

Domaine des Aubuisières, Bernard Fouquet

Bernard Fouquet's 1989 showed brilliantly with its

passerilage fruit and character to the fore

rich concentration but marvellously vibrant and long

Keith and some others thought it superior to the d'Yquem

though to be fair 1989 is the superior vintage,

while the Fouquet was only a small fraction of the price of the Yquem

Accompanied by: vanilla mille-feuille with Yorkshire rhubarb,

blood orange sorbet and lemon curd

Undoubtedly a great occasion, very privileged to be there and very spoilt by Keith's generosity. The food was just excellent – not flashy but of a very high quality. My thanks to Sara Bichiorri, Chez Bruce's sommelier and her staff, who looked after us so well.

Quote of the lunch (Nigel Platts-Martin):

"I don't want wines that want to be my best friend!"

and what was off the record? That would be telling....!

Keith making sure he doesn't neglect the essentials

Tuesday, 10 February 2015

The U.K.'s Top Wine Influencers as measured by @WineOwners: in @Number 2!!?

The Top 10 UK Wine Influencers

Scores of the Top 14 influencers

Over the weekend Nick Martin did tell me that I had done very well in their new UK influence measure but I was astonished but, of course, pleased to see that I was second in their list. No surprise that Team Jancis takes top spot but I would have thought that people, for instance, like Jamie Goode, Fiona Beckett, Tim Atkin, Victoria Moore, Matthew Jukes and William Lyons would be measured as having more influence than myself and my blogs – Jim's Loire and investdrinks.

Thursday, 31 July 2014

Fine 2012 Muscadet from Eric Chevalier – dare I say mineral!

The back label

Eric also makes good Pinot Noir

Eric Chevalier is probably best known for his Fie Gris (Sauvignon Rosé)* but this fine 2012 La Noë Muscadet Côtes de Grand Lieu Sur Lie is a reminder that Eric also makes very good Muscadet. This 2012 is lightly golden with considerable weight, very clean and precise and a lovely mineral character. Yes 'mineral' character!

I'm aware that some 'flavour führers' have cast doubt on using 'mineral' as a descriptor on the grounds that science suggests that roots are 'merely supplying water and dissolved mineral ions' as Jamie Goode explains in his fine new edition of Wine Science. Jamie does wonder whether science isn't missing something here:

'That underlying geology impacts wine so strongly is undoubted. The cost differential between a grand cru Burgundy and a lowly generic Bourgogne, or even a respectable village level wine, is such that there is a significant financial incentive for winegrowers to do all they can to improve the quality of their wine. But even where great care is taken in the vineyard, yields are dropped and the highest level of winemaking is practiced, there seems to be a quality ceiling that is imposed by the vineyard.

So we have a dilemma to solve: how is it that soils seem to be so important for wine quality, when science indicates that they are only playing a limited role in influencing the flavour of grapes?' Jamie Goode, Wine Science – Soils and vines

What I think is important here is that mineral best describes the character of what I am tasting. I could use grapefruit, perhaps, but that doesn't encompass the full flavour. So I'm opting for 'mineral' here and will continue to do so.

The Sandeman figure in their cellars@Vila Nova de Gaia

During our recent visit to Porto we took a consumer visit through the Sandeman cellars. It was fascinating listening to and watching the reaction of the people of the visit. In particular one question: "Wine is often described by citing fruits – strawberry, cherries etc. do you add these to the wine?"

The answer is no – any fruit extracts used are added illegally. But the interesting thing is that the person who asked the question was no fool and thought it perfectly possible that these fruits were added to wine hence the use of these descriptors to evoke the taste wines.

*PS: Actually it is hardly surprising that Eric is known for his fie gris as this variety is incorporated in his website's url.