Per Terra ad Astra
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A rather appropriate phrase in Latin meaning, as I am
sure you all know, "from the earth to the stars":
especially apt if one follows the lifecycle of a wine
from the soil of the vineyard to its end users; in
the case of Cristal champagne, the
“stars” likely to be those loveable
rogues of the rap music fraternity.
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Luckily for us, there are plenty of other Grade A
champagnes around, not all so visible as Cristal and
Dompers. Krug Clos de Mesnil, Bollinger Vieilles
Vignes Françaises, the Clos des Goisses from
Philipponat (this latter wine marketed in a bottle
shaped like the vineyard and its reflection in the
river at its feet) all ring the right bells when
one's needs for celebration is such that profligacy
is the order of the day. But there is one
wine considered by the cognoscenti to be the ne
plus ultra of the region; a champagne so rare
that most will never encounter it, particularly not -
thankfully - in the wine bars of the City of London;
a wine described in the book 4000 Champagnes as
"…the most sought-after Champagne among
connoisseurs". Richard Juhlin, the author, goes on to
say, "This magnificent wine is so rare that only a
few people have had the chance to taste the
quintessence of Le Mesnil".
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Our offer coincides with the release of what is
probably the greatest vintage ever made at this most
noble champagne house: 1996. The question has already
been asked: is this the greatest champagne of all
time? It's a silly question, to which there's no
answer. But what is beyond doubt is that this is
about as fine as champagne gets.
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Barolo. It's an address, like Vosne-Romanée,
that inspires winemakers; the sort of place they
would like to make wine and then, on turning out the
lights of the winery for the last time, be buried
amongst the vines in the hope of becoming Grand Cru
terroir. The link between Burgundy and Piemonte,
Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo, has been discussed pretty
fully over the years. Time was when prevailing
thinking suggested that the Italian grape was related
to, was perhaps the very same as, Pinot Noir, which
is pretty extraordinary given their completely
different flavour and structure profiles.
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There is common ground, however. Unlike the
ubiquitous Cabernet Sauvignon (and many other red
grapes varieties, for that matter), both Pinot Noir
and Nebbiolo are interesting enough to be made as
mono-varietals i.e. unblended with any other variety.
In addition, both are unsurpassed at communicating
the voice of the vineyard: that concept of terroir.
One wonders how long it will be before the great
vineyards of Barolo - Brunate, La Serra, Bussia and
the like - are spoken of in the same tones as the 1er
Crus (who knows, maybe even the Grands Crus) of
Vosne. You can find below one of the best
Barolos we've tasted in years. In proper Barolo
style, this is one to put in the cellar and forget
about; 30 years of longevity wouldn't do it any harm,
although it will be absolutely delicious long before
then, thank goodness.
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As most wine merchants will be quick to tell you, it
is Riesling that is capable of producing the world's
most profound white wines, be they dry, off-dry,
medium, medium-sweet, sweet, or just a little puddle
of sticky ickypoo. In such a discussion, other
varieties may be mentioned - Chenin Blanc usually
comes up; Chardonnay would almost certainly be mooted
(anyone even thinking the words "Sauvignon" and
"Blanc" at this juncture should use a cheese grater
to flay off a small patch of skin from whichever part
of their body they feel is most disposable and then
rub it with pickling vinegar (this sort of thing
really can cure your problem)) - but debates are
transient. In short, we have a consensus.
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Excellent Rieslings are now being produced in
unlikely places: Chile; New Zealand; South Africa. It
can't be long before Kent is growing a few rows of
the stuff. But what it comes down to is that there
are three countries making the cream: France
(Alsace), Germany and Austria, and it's Germany that
produces the widest range of styles, where there's
most to explore.
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That Riesling still suffers the slings and arrows of
being unfashionable is a travesty. I promise you:
drinking off-dry white wine is not naff, cheap,
tasteless, or anything of the sort. German Rieslings
were once the most sought-after wines in the world;
the requisites of the finest tables in the land.
Then, just like everything else, someone pointed out
that the poor and disadvantaged should have the right
to enjoy German wine, too, at which point the German
equivalent of Bernard Matthews started mass producing
(from his residence, Black Tower, and probably ably
assisted by his girlfriend, Blue Nun) sugary, cheap
rubbish for the masses. The brand - and by "brand" I
don't just mean German wine, but off-dry wine and,
yes, Riesling too - was destroyed. That was decades
ago, yet we're still suffering the hangover. My
advice to you would be to buy a Riesling; spend some
money; get in something a little special. By strange
coincidence, there's just the thing below…
| Vintage |
Wine |
Drink dates |
Case size |
Price In Bond |
| 1996 |
Salon Le Mesnil, Champagne, France
Notes: The nose here is broader, richer, than any young champagne I have ever had in my glass. It is already complex, with notes of chocolate, toast, wisps of dried fruits and a medicinal, healthful note. The mouth is very broad, very full and absolutely stuffed with mineral notes that can only come from the soil in which the fruit was grown. 1996 Salon is very backward and super-chalky, the acidity (this wine does not go through malolactic fermentation) is lime-like. Length and intensity put this in a class of its own. Phew! If you are after a wine to mark the most joyous events in your future life, look no further.
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2015-2030 |
6x75cl |
£615.00 |
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Unassailable, inimitable Salon
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Aimé Salon made his money in the fur trade in
the late 19th/early 20th century. He'd always dreamed
of making the finest champagne, so once he had
shucked sufficient numbers of small, furry creatures
from their pelts he fulfilled his life's ambition by
buying a hectare (in vineyard terms, a handkerchief
plot) of the finest land in Le Mesnil: the heart of
Champagne chardonnay country.
Salon the wine is unusual in a region of blended
wines. It is 100% chardonnay and the product of just
one terroir. Six years after he founded his eponymous
house, his wine was house fizz at Maxim's in Paris.
Such impact did the wine have in Champagne circles
that Krug went on to launch its own mono-cru from the
village of Le Mesnil; de facto praise doesn't come
much higher than that.
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The nose here is broader, richer, than any young
champagne I have ever had in my glass. It is already
complex, with notes of chocolate, toast, wisps of
dried fruits and a medicinal, healthful note. The
mouth is very broad, very full and absolutely stuffed
with mineral notes that can only come from the soil
in which the fruit was grown. 1996 Salon is very
backward and super-chalky, the acidity (this wine
does not go through malolactic fermentation) is
lime-like. Length and intensity put this in a class
of its own. Phew! If you are after a wine to mark the
most joyous events in your future life, look no
further.
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I know, I know. It's a crazy price to pay for a
6-bottle case of champagne. So if the
McLaren-Mercedes SLR is a bit OTT, how about the SL55
AMG:
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This is a neighbouring house to Salon, founded way
back in 1760. Laurent-Perrier bought Salon in 1989
and, already owning Delamotte, have run the latter
house as a second label for Salon ever since. In
years when Salon is not made (and they are the norm),
all the fruit from the Salon vineyard goes into
Delamotte. I was blown away by the quality of this
vintage.
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The nose is very rich and toasty here, with
pronounced nut aromas. In the mouth, the wine is
rounded, a sensation assisted by the super-fine
mousse: always a sign of high quality in champagne.
This vintage is restrained and elegant; ripe and
controlled. There's nice, subtle grip right at the
end of the very, very long finish. Dripping with
mineral terroir. Richard Juhlin says: "The village's
aromatic fingerprint is clearly etched - both in nose
and palate - in the '97...the mineral notes are
beautifully woven together…"
| Vintage |
Wine |
Drink dates |
Case size |
Price In Bond |
| 2001 |
Barolo, Pio Cesare, Piemonte, Italy
Notes: The nose here is slightly muted by its youth, but there are already complex aromas - fascinating, as only wine can be - of blood and iron, red cherry and plum. There is an overriding smokiness common and classic in the wines of Barolo. Whoa! This is young; very backward in the mouth and highly structured. There are fine, medium, wonderfully textured tannins and great fruit concentration to this full-bodied mouthful. The profile is entirely parallel. The finish is off near John O'Groats, where it is residing in a bothie, shrugging off the elements and polishing its caber. Don't be in a hurry, but quietly prepare to be highly rewarded. (94/100 The Wine Spectator)
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2011-2025 |
6x75cl |
£114.00 |
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Anyone starting off on that path that winds through
the subject that is Italian wine quickly arrives at B
for Barolo. It comes after Barbaresco, a DOC
(Denominazione de Origine Controllata) long in
Barolo's shadow, emerging over the last few decades
under the direction of the genius wine maker Angelo
Gaja.
Traditionally, Barolo and Barbaresco are considered
the king and queen, respectively, in the royal house
of Piemontese wine; Barolo the more solid, masculine,
Barbaresco less foursquare, more elegant. These
descriptors have now largely become irrelevant and
both regions are recognised as capable of producing -
from the Nebbiolo variety - some of the world's most
profound wines.
The Pio Cesare estate was founded in 1881 by a man
named Cesare Pio. Perhaps some familiarity with China
convinced him of the sense in reversing his names
when christening the estate. I know not. What is
clear is that, from its own estates, padded out with
fruit from growers with whom relationships have been
exploited for a century and more, Pio Cesare is
making some of the finest wine of Piemonte. Prices
are within the bounds of what is reasonable too.
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The nose here is slightly muted by its youth, but
there are already complex aromas - fascinating, as
only wine can be - of blood and iron, red cherry and
plum. There is an overriding smokiness common and
classic in the wines of Barolo. Whoa! This is young;
very backward in the mouth and highly structured.
There are fine, medium, wonderfully textured tannins
and great fruit concentration to this full-bodied
mouthful. The profile is entirely parallel. The
finish is off near John O'Groats, where it is
residing in a bothie, shrugging off the elements and
polishing its caber. Don't be in a hurry, but quietly
prepare to be highly rewarded. (94/100 The Wine
Spectator)
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N.B. A quick word on decoding German wine
labels…
In my view, this is the single biggest bugbear for
the brand German wine. Successful wines have
easy-to-remember names like Jacob's Creek or Fat
Bastard (I kid you not); they don't have names like
Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Auslese
because anyone who wasn't raised on oompa bands and a
high fat, meat-and-potato diet won't remember them.
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In any event, taking the example of the
Karthäuserhof wine below, one can glean the
following information from the ticket:
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Eitelsbacher - this gives you the name of the
village where the vineyard is located, in this case
Eitelsbach. The -er suffix effectively means "coming
from", as in Englander (hailing from England), or in
JFK's case, Berliner (originating from Berlin). As we
all know, what Kennedy should have said on that
momentous day in June 1963 was "Ich bin Berliner" -
"I am a citizen of Berlin" - rather than what
he actually said "Ich bin ein Berliner", roughly
translating as "I am a sweet, comestible item
approximating what we in the US would refer to as a
doughnut". One imagines that this error somewhat
undermined the solemnity of the occasion.
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Karthäuserhofberg - the second word on
the label of a German wine of this quality is the
name of the vineyard. The name usually has a story to
tell. Here, Karthäuserhofberg translates as
Carthusian's Hill, implying that, at some stage the
vineyard was under the auspices of a monastery.
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Riesling - the grape!
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Auslese - one of the 5 levels of quality used
throughout Germany at QmP level (the equivalent of
the French AC). Because much of Germany is on the
cool side for the production of wine grapes, quality
is measured by ripeness of fruit and therefore
sweetness in the end wine. Auslese literally means
"selection", meaning that the pickers trawled through
the vineyard gathering only the ripest bunches of
fruit. Adding an -n to the end of the word
auslese simply makes it plural.
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As an addendum to the above, I may just add that the
fruit sugar levels required to attain Auslese - and,
indeed, Kabinett, Spätlese, Beerenauslese and
Trockenbeerenauslese - are not the same for all
German wine regions. Mosel-Saar-Ruwer have the lowest
requirement, essentially meaning that the wines
coming from these regions are the driest at each
quality level.
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If this is still a mystery, or if you would like
further information, please do not hesitate to use
the internet…
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2005 Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling
Auslesen, Karthäuserhof
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(being a wine made from a selection of ripe bunches
of riesling grapes gathered from a hillside vineyard
once owned by Carthusian monks situated in the
village of Eitelsbach. It's very simple, really):
Karthäuserhof is one of the two finest producers
in the Ruwer Valley, the other being Maximin
Grünhaus. As in the nearby Saar Valley, here are
produced some of the most expressive, terroir-filled
wines made anywhere and from any grape variety. If
you want to have some idea of what this extraordinary
grape is capable of, these wines couldn't be a better
place to start.
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N.B. There are tiny amounts of these wines
available. We will endeavour to ensure no one is
disappointed.
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The paradox of riesling is here to be seen. How a
fluid can be both as cool and focussed as winter wind
off the steppes and yet full of the warmth of summer
is beyond me. And yet here it is, ripe like hedgerows
in August, zippy like a splash of sea spray. Simile
is the easiest method of describing these
extraordinary liquids, as you may have noticed!
Yellow and - extraordinarily - red berries are to be
found on both nose and palate, along with melons at
their apogee of ripeness. Blimey! (I use this word in
tribute to Steve Irwin.) Do they get better than
this?!
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This is yet denser, but more infantile than the
above. The fruit is so rich and there are dry notes
of citrus peel, plump and plush. This presses out on
one's cheeks, so broad are the flavours and the
inherent minerality of the vineyard comes through
more precisely, the acidity singing out like a
castrato over the baritones. This must surely be the
zenith of what riesling is capable. Oh…hang
on…
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Now this is just getting silly. This is like a squash
made from riesling: a cordial of super-ripe, almost
over-ripe grapes. Yellow cherry tarte tatin; peach
jam; little apricotty bits, all stapled together by
mineral underpinnings and twists of spice. Cheese,
please. Or just sit in the garden and shoot anyone
who tries of interrupt the experience.
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| Vintage |
Wine |
Drink dates |
Case size |
Price In Bond |
| 2005 |
Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Auslesen No. 36 Goldkapsel, Karthäuserhof, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany
Notes: Dam! (as one fish said to another, having swum into a wall). The Goldkapsel moniker is reserved for the stellar heights in any given German cellar, which seems pretty ridiculous given what appears above. This is a glossy, satin concoction of the ripest fruits. We are veering towards ickypoo here, but without any sense of lard. Concentration not seen since Stephen Hawking decided to teach himself Sanskrit in ten minutes, and all the mineral complexity one could ask for. Dried and fresh fruits wash over the taster. There are hints of caramel. If one were sufficiently decadent to crave cheese made from the milk of an endangered species - snow leopard, perhaps - this is what one would select to accompany it. Heady, heavenly ambrosia.
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2015-2030 |
6x75cl |
£204.00 |
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Return to online list format |
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Dam! (as one fish said to another, having swum into a
wall). The Goldkapsel moniker is reserved for the
stellar heights in any given German cellar, which
seems pretty ridiculous given what appears above.
This is a glossy, satin concoction of the ripest
fruits. We are veering towards ickypoo here, but
without any sense of lard. Concentration not seen
since Stephen Hawking decided to teach himself
Sanskrit in ten minutes, and all the mineral
complexity one could ask for. Dried and fresh fruits
wash over the taster. There are hints of caramel. If
one were sufficiently decadent to crave cheese made
from the milk of an endangered species - snow
leopard, perhaps - this is what one would select to
accompany it. Heady, heavenly ambrosia.
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A typically busy German wine label
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Richter makes a style of Riesling that I love:
complex, full of terroir and with a lightness of
touch that seems to sum up, quintessentially, what
the grape is all about. All vineyards in Brauneberg
have now been consolidated under the name Juffer, but
add the -Sonnenuhr bit and you have the quality core
of the village.
This is super-fresh when sniffed in the glass. Citrus
notes dominate: lemon aromas are twined around
chalky, mineral notes. In the mouth, the
concentration of the vintage is instantly evident and
the minerals flow right from the front of the palate.
There is a delicacy here; the sweetness is not in the
least cloying, rather the softness of summer air
playing in citrus groves, the trees quite possibly in
flower. Enchanting stuff and the sort of riesling
made only here in the Mosel.
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