Great to revisit wonderful friends, Lyndsay and Diane at their magnificent home and Alpaca stud farm on the border of Queensland and New South Wales.

Monday

Perrier-Jouet La Belle Epoque 1996 - brilliant straw colour, persistent streams of fine bead. Sensational bouquet of brioche, biscuits, toasted sesame over gorgeous citrussy fruit. Immaculate palate, mouthfilling, fresh with such poise, balance and exquisite length. A delightful start. 94

Served with Maggie Beer’s famous duck pate topped with slivers of kalamata olives and coriander.

Seppelt Drumborg Riesling 1999 - Starbright green/straw. Incredble nose of toast, lime, a hint of oily petrol unfolding scents of peach, mineral and crisp green apples later. Fresh as a daisy on the palate with a distinctive floral character to the crunchy lime and redcurrant fruit. The best possible integrated acid cut delivers the perfect penultimatum to a long and glorious finish. 93

Denis Mortet Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux-St-Jacques 1993 - This wine has finally entered its’ peak drinking window. Solid dark core with maturie hues in the outer edges. Opened particularly feral with a fair dollop of duck pond but this dissipated slowly but surely to reveal a truly wonderful Burgundy that revealed spicy plums, game, sappy notes with a strong input from fine savoury oak. Silky palate with almost perfect ripe acids and fine tannins to round off a long peacock’s tail finish. 94

With oven roasted Chicken breasts atop eggplant and finished with baby capers, tomato, balsamic and fresh basil.

Tuesday

Hermann Donnhoff Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Spatlese 1998 - One of my favourite German producers and what looks to be a very successful vintage for this estate. Bright light gold appearance. Imposing nose of tropical fruit (mango), white peach, yellow nectarine and underlying citrus with some slatey/minerally undertones. Ripe, intense and ready to go on the palate but relatively light on its’ feet exhibiting a wonderful rounded mouthfeel, plenty of extract and controlled, complimentary acidity. Finishes ohso smooth and long - a beautifully constructed wine - but as I’ve noticed with the last few bottles opened, probably not destined for extremely old bones. I’d guess another 5-8 years will see this at its best. 92

Accompanied Tiger prawn salad - home grown rocket, baby lettuce, avacado, over-roasted cherry tomatoes and drizzled with olive oil infused with tomato and garlic.

Louis Carillon Puligny-Montrachet 2000 - for a village wine this punches well above its weight. Infantile bright straw colour. Classy mealy nose of grapefruit, almonds, an intriguing minerality and a lovely touch of (newish) oak. Very fresh and zesty. Exhibits an incredibly tightly structured palate, excellent line, a modicum of cirtus/grapefruit/underripe peach fruit with subtle smoky oak flavours, fantastic acid cut and a blinder of a finish. The austerity of this wine in no way dampened my enthusiasm for the enjoyment it gave last night. I’m sure better things are in store for those with the patience to keep their hands off this for many years to come. 92

Chargrilled Atlantic Salmon (marinated in a touch of soy, sesame oil, galic and ginger) served with a celeriac and potato mash and pan-fried young asparagus spears rolled in butter. Yummo!

Seppelt GR113 Rutherglen Rare Muscat - Drunk over two nights and benefitted from the aeration on the second night. Seppelt’s flagship commercial mucat and what a great example it is! Dark mahogany red fading to rich brown/rusty hues with a faint khaki rim. Potent nose of jumbo raisans, brandied Christmas cake, touch of molasses with strong rancio and v.a. notes playing an integral part in the wine’s counterbalance, complexity and stature. Unctiously and decadently rich palate with luscious flavours aka the nose. The sweetness level balanced perfectly by a grippy astringency that cleans up an almost interminable finish. Just brilliant. 95

Served with home-made passionfruit ice cream.

Wednesday

Piper-Heidsieck Vintage Brut 1990 - An exceptional Champagne drinking at its apoge’. From the glorious colour and heavenly nose harbouring insanely complex yeast, toasty and smoky notes to a palate riddled with abundant fruit, superb mouthfilling flavours, abundant refreshing acidity, swirling mousse and great finish, this blew us all away for its freshness, elegance, balance and sheer class. 95

Opened with smoked salmon, egg, yoghurt, mayonaise, capers and chives on a variety of flavoured crackers/biscuits.

Willian Fevre Chablis 1er Cru “Montee de Tonnerre” 2000 - Infantile pale straw/white colour. Reticient nose at first that eventually offered up some chalky minerality, a touch of lemon zest and some green melon later. Exceptionally tight and unyielding palate, way off being ready. It was decided then and there to pop this away in the fridge under cork and have a look at it the next night. The following day we were impressed by the way this had opened out with much more fruit evident on both nose and palate but with the steely resolve of a top-flight Chablis. If you have any, earmark your next bottle for opening early in the new decade. 90

Ch. Leoville-Las-Cases 1985 - Lovely wine but not up with the very best I’ve opened over the last several years. Still holding a healthy dark ruby core grading to a little amber/pink in the edge. Opened with a fair amount of barnyard and wet earth with underlying hints of cedar, pencil lead, herbs, dark plums and blackcurrant. This slight dirtiness dissipated slowly over the course of an hour. The palate was silky, rounded and relatively sweet showing mostly red fruits, subservient oak, low acidity but a little short on the finish. An excellent wine but as mentioned earlier just a little out of sorts with the truly great ‘85 LLC’s I’ve tried before. 90

Served with a platter of soft blue cheeses, black olives and pickled vegetables.

Thursday

For dinner I prepared fresh medium-sized banana prawns with liberal quantities of crushed garlic, chopped ginger, lemongrass, spring onion and chilli, a little sesame oil and some sweet Indonesian soy sauce, quickly panfried and finished with a few dollops of sour cream and topped with finely chopped shallot.

The heat of the dish did little to dampen our enthusiasm for Trimbach’s 1997 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile, an enthralling wine revealing outstanding integrated aromas and flavours of apricot, peach, citrus and honey, infused with the beguiling minerality Trimbach always delivers with their best wines and the merest hint of petrol. It’s been quite a while since I’ve looked at a bottle of this and I’m glad I’ve kept my hands off the remaining bottles. In keeping with this Domaine’s proven track record, this wine possesses equally impressive qualities in the mouth with perfectly-wrought acidity levels and a terrific depature of considerable duration. The wine had no trouble coping with the heat of the dish; the potency of the fruit and acids easily coping with the moderate heat of the dish. Drink anytime over the next 7-10 years. 93

Lyndsay procured a lovely piece of locally-raised beef eye fillet that was coated in ground black pepper, left in the fridge for 24 hours, then oven roasted in the juices of baked garlic knobs and finished in a horse radish sauce. Served with clay pot steamed potatoes, julienne carrots, brocolini and green beans.

As a precursor to the meal, we opened a magnificently (although somewhat atypical) elegant 1978 Ch. Leoville-Las-Cases that disappeared, seemingly, in next to no time. Such a surreal nose compared to the ‘85 the night before. Gorgeous sweet bouquet of red fruits and cedar with perplexing undertones of cigar box, mint and subtle savoury oak. In the mouth, this wine excelled with an almost unfathomable silky personalility coupled with a profound dilineation. Fully mature and totally seductive, the balance, mouthfeel and ultimate finale were all of the highest order. Without a doubt, the best bottle of this wonderful wine I’ve had the pleasure of trying. 95

What followed had the four of us, literally shaking our heads interspersed with “oooh’s” and “aahh’s” amongst other profanitities. With their 1982, Ch. Calon-Segur have produced a monumental effort. Strikingly more youthful than the just-opened Las Cases and with several decades of superior drinking in front of it, this wine threw up a bevy of classical left bank nuance - cassis, anise, cedar, spice box (cardamon), tobacco dwell with lavish savoury complimentary oak to produce a medium- to full-bodied claret with a bouquet to die for and palate that would hold its own with more expensive counterparts from this revered vintage. This wine has it all! I could wax lyrical for some time on this, but trust me, if you can get your hands on well-cellared examples at a reasonable price, buy as much you can afford. 96

We finished this session with a little offering from Australia - Henschke’s old vine Shiraz - Mt Edelstone. From the very good 1994 vintage, this youthful, bright red displays bucketloads of sweet plum, licorice and christmas cake fruit, plenty of glycerin with ample fine, ripe tannin to shed as it matures over the next 10 years or more. I was particularly impressed with this wine as a youngster and bought plenty. My decision to do so now seems to be paying dividends. A solid 92 points with a slightly higher rating expected in time.

Friday through to Monday

Zilliken Saarburger-Rausch Riesling Auslese 1993 - another gorgeous German Riesling looking particularly fresh and with many years of development in front of it. The aromatics and palate just terrific for the intensity of heady perfume and succulent, vibrant fruit. Beautifully balanced acidity rounds out a superbly crafted, lengthy wine. Top marks. 93

Hudelot-Noellat Vosne-Romanee Romanee-St.-Vivant Grand Cru 1993 - Absolutely stunning. One of the best Burgs I’ve opened. Just entering its peak drinking window. Mind-blowing bouquet - typical R-S-V florals (violets) and sublime elegance but underpinned with alluring notes of satsuma plum, blackberry, game, spice, truffle and sap. Just as brilliant in the mouth - supremely elegant with subtle power and a nobility rarely found. Perfectly structured with sympathetic acidity and profoundly good silky tannin structure followed by a superb, mesmerising finish. 97

Niepoorts Vintage Port 1970 - my first hit-out with this producer and what a blast! Sensational colour - bright ruby with some rust in the edge. Sensational nose of brandied cherries, almonds and a small amount of lift. Simalrly endowed palate - amazingly elegant yet with underlying power and strength to carry this through another two decades, possibly more. Alarmingly easy to swallow with a subtle astringency from the spirit and tannins providing the perfect foil to the amaretto/cherry flavours. Super length. 95

Louis Roederer Cristal 1996 - another brilliant wine in the prime of its life. Almost impossibly bright yellow/green colour, fantastic beading. Sumptuously decadent, intense floral nose of green stonefruits and citrus, brioche, baker’s yeast, toasted wheat and minerals - everything here beautifully honed. The palate delivers complex, super-concentrated flavours, immaculate line, superb swirling mousse yet walks a tightrope with a delicacy that beggars disbelief. Ethereal finish! 97

Chateau Suduiraut 1983 - Much more of an orange/gold colour compared to the previous (light straw/gold) bottle I opened in April. A very impressive wine but several notches below the previous bottle. Looked fully ready with developed, broad and much richer, honeyed character than the racy thoroughbred opened a few months back. Still harbours a solid core of apricot/marzipan/peachy fruit underpinned by spicy French oak. Mouthfilling and quite unctious but looks decidedly ready and albeit an excellent quality was one of the few disappointments of the week (based solely on the previous bottle’s stellar performance). 90

Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru “Charmes” 1996 - Brooding and quite powerful, this surprisingly masculine, full-throttle Burg delivers a level of drinkabilty that two previous bottles have failed to achieve. Barthod has, somewhat atypically, fashioned a bold Pinot Noir with lavish amounts of newish oak to garnish a wealth of sappy, plummy and chocolatey fruit. Ripe acidity and polished tannins provide the platform for at least another tens years of superior drinking. 93

Denis Mortet Vosne-Romanee Grand Cru Romanee-St.-Vivant 1996 - Another exceptional wine from the selections I shipped for my week long holiday. Possibly needing a year or two to achieve “nirvana”, this exceptional wine brims with (particularly for Mortet) the perfect balance of fruit and new oak, pinotphiles seem to be always seeking; the “Holy Grail”, so to speak. I’ve been critical of the levels of oak Mortet gives his wines at times, but with this superb effort I have no grounds for complaint whatsoever. Possessing a dazzling array of nuance similar to the sensational ‘93 R-S-V from Hudelot-Noellat (see above), all this great Burgundy needs is a few years to further integrate and soften and a similar rating will be in order. 95

Francois Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru “Montee de Tonnerre” 2000 - another Chablis “youngster” from quite possibly the best producer from this appellation. Insignificant colour development, a slightly reticent nose that blossomed in time with tell-tale notes of calciferous soil, seaspray, lemongrass and hints of meal. The palate’s tight yet offers a glimpse of things to come, holding abundant reserves of citrussy/steely extract and natural minerally acidity. Finishes long, clean and particurly dry. Verging on outstanding now, with more more in store for those with patience. 91

McWilliams Mt. Pleasant Lovedale Semillon 1996 - Still barely out of nappies, this Hunter Valley unoaked, low alcohol Semillon holds a glowing yellow/green colour, infantile grassy/soapy aromas with the first vestige of nuts and honey that no doubt will come more into play with further bottle age. The palate’s crisp and a touch spritzy with good extract levels, an anbundance of natural acidity and a dry cry crisp finish. Expect a higher rating when this excellent wine matures in 5-10 years. 90

Chateau Pape-Clement 1988 - An excellent wine exhibiting a relatively opaque dark ruby colour holding right to the meniscus, a brooding nose of black olives, cedar, weedy blackcurrants and savoury oak and a medium- to full-bodied palate with plenty of extract replicating the nuance found in the bouquet. Melting fine-grained tannins and ripe acids suggest further cellaring could benefit this wine’s evolution. Just not as inspiring as the bottle I opened a few months ago. 90