13 November 2010: I came home after teaching for the entire afternoon. James just left the house after an early evening cocktail with Richard. I was greeted with a rewarding glass of 1999 Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet by Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize) – tiny production, only 292 bottles made with 0.06 hectare of vineyard. This rare wine, after having been opened an hour, showed much freshness, minerality and rather restrained character of lemon, spice, wrapped around with hazelnut and buttery notes. Further time in the bottle would probably add more weight , complexity and length to the wine. 17.5/20
Richard then sat me down to guess our red wine of the evening. Medium ruby core, garnet at the rim. Complex and mature bouquet of violet, rose petal, black fruit, blueberry, blackcurrant leaf, tobacco, lead pencil, cedar, cigar box and coffee. Silky tannin, reasonable acidity (perhaps with a little addition of volatile acidity from the age of this wine). Robust yet elegant, incredibly complex, and finishes extremely long. I was very pleased with my guess of Right Bank Bordeaux and eventually Cheval Blanc, but I was miles out in terms of the vintage…..1947. The wine still tasted so fresh that it was just incredible that it was more than 60 years old! Drinking at peak now, and will continue to drink well for the next 10 – 15 years? Class act! And it was bottled by a negociant (Calvet-bottled)! Apparently quite a common practice in those days. 19/20
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