A night to remember

As if the festive season was not enough, the first few days of 2013 provided a number of opportunities to enjoy great wine.

One such was the 42nd birthday of a dear friend and one of Malta’s most enthusiastic wine lovers. Ten of us gathered for an evening of top Bordeaux, good food, conversation and friendship – just what good wine was intended to do.

From Pomerol, Chateau Lafleur-Gazin 2004, which incidentally is a vineyard in its own right and not the second wine of Lafleur or Gazin, showed the classic qualities of this vintage with a tannic structure and finesse – just about approachable, but will reward cellaring for another five to eight years.

It comes from just across the lane that separates the vineyards of Pomerol from those of Saint Emilion, Grand Corbin Despagne 2000 and Cheval Blanc 2001, the former being one of the most underrated Grand Cru Classes of the appellation.

The 2000 is now showing extremely well – smooth, fine and elegant, just beginning to take on tertiary, developed flavours. I have often been disappointed with Cheval Blanc 2001; however, now that it is over 10 years old, it is beginning to show its classic velvety structure. It is spicy and complex and has a very long, elegant finish. It will benefit from another 10 to 15 years of cellaring.

Equally young but austere is the La Mission Haut Brion 1998 from the Graves area of the left bank vineyards just south of the city of Bordeaux – still very tannic, tightly knit and closed.

The biggest disappointment of the evening was Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1978. I had tasted this wine several times before, and although 1978 was not a great vintage, I had always enjoyed it. This bottle was a total disaster. It was dull and brown in colour, murky and oxidised, with a sherry-like aroma.

The wine was sourced from a reputable internet site a couple of years ago but had clearly suffered from bad storage some time in its past, which shows that with the increase of this type of wine buying, also in Malta, one has to be extremely careful in establishing the provenance of the bottles concerned.

Mouton’s neighbour, Chateau Lafite Rothschild has in recent years achieved great popularity; its price has gone up, especially with demand from China.

The 1999 vintage is now drinking very well. Classic Cabernet flavours, with a great sense of terroir and identity. Not the greatest Lafite ever made, but still special and an experience to taste.

To finish off, we went back to Saint Emilion and two very special wines from two of the greatest vintages of the last century. Chateau Clos Fourtet is Premier Grand Cru Classe that in recent years produced some fantastic wines which highlight the privileged position of the chateau’s vineyard on the famous limestone plateau. On this evening, we went back to 1982, probably the last great vintage of the older era of wine-making.

I have tried a number of bottles from this vintage in the last few months. This was not the best, proving that with time, there are only great bottles, and not wine. Still, it was very enjoyable, showing full mature flavours; smooth and easy drinking.

The last wine of the evening came from the southern slopes of Saint Emilon and the newly promoted Chateau Canon La Gaffeliere from the super vintage of 1961. And yes… this was a great bottle.

We decanted it about an hour before but it appeared closed at first in the glass. Half an hour later, it opened up into a mesmerising wine, ever changing and everlasting, until it disappeared into the annals of my history of great wines tasted.

mike@michaeltabone.com