Relentless rain, but fortunately it is still abnormally cold (5oC this morning) so vegetative is limited. My worry is that we will go from straight winter to summer and that weeds will explode into life. I want to reduce our use of herbicides this year by mowing in between the rows but unfortunately we still have too much stone lying in the vineyard (Pedra Basta!). At the moment the ground is just too waterlogged for any machinery to venture out into the vineyard. So we just sit and wait for the rain to stop.          

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Château Grillet 2004 **** / *****

I have only tasted Château Grillet once before in my life - a rather disappointing 1979 that I picked up realtively cheaply in a wine oddments shop on the outskirts of Derby. Until recently the wine did not live up to its name or price. Now under the management of a new generation of the Neyret-Gachet family who have this 3.8 hectare vineyard since 1825, Grillet is worthy once more. Pale straw; restrained (closed initially though not over-chilled), opening up to reveal its wonderful perfume, apricots, blossom and something nebulous which I can only describe as being akin to a fine soap; lovely texture (suggesting low yields - Grillet was at one time regularly yielding considerably more wine per heactare than the appellation allowed),  rich, soft, creamy, fat but very well balanced with years still to live. Worth its price tag of  £59.00.  18.5

Cornas, Les Chaillots, Thiérry Allemand ****

From younger vines (less than 40 years old) on this small, relatively new estate (established in 1982): still deep and youthful in colour; classic, well-developed northern Rhone Syrah aromas: open, perfumed with black pepper, dark chocolate and blackberry; similarly opn and receptive on the palate, fine spicy character, great purity (blackberry and blackcurrant), lovely streak of acidity, not big but fine and taut, tannins verging on sinewy. Perfect now but should continue to develop for another five years.  £29.00 18 

Location: The Wine Society, Stevenage
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I am very grateful to Father Christmas for bringing me a mixed half dozen of Tuscan wines from the Wine Society which came together with a book called The Finest Wines of Tuscany by Nick Belfrage. This is part of a new series of regional guides published in association with The World of Fine Wine Magazine and, as you would expect, this is a well-produced and serious work but a good browse too. Most of the book is made up from profiles of leading producers in Chianti, Montalcino, Montepulcinao, San Gimignano as well as Umbria, Romagna and Marche. Each entry is supported by useful and well-written, realistic tasting notes. It was a real joy to drink two wines from this mixed case with the book at my side over Christmas. I am now going on a ten day detox but watch this space for more Tuscan Treasures in future.        

 Castello di Brolio, Chianti Classico 2001 ****

 Still very deep and youthful in colour; fine, complex, leathery, tar, slightly casky aromas, touch of tobacco over the top of perfumed fruit; full but fine, chewy fruit and meaty tannins, slight caskiness but this adds complexity, fine, firm and perfectly poised with lovely acidity, leathery, delicious, quintessential old fashioned Chianti (100 % Sangiovese whereas more recent vintages include Cabernet and Merlot in the blend). 18

Le Serre Nuovo delli Ornellaia, Bolgheri, 2006  *** / ****

The second wine of Ornellaia made from Merlot  (50%), Cabernet Sauvignon (35%), Cabernet Franc (9%) and Petit Verdot (6%): mid-deep youthful ruby colour; very tight and unyielding initially, quite austere, skinny too, but opening in the glass to reveal scented, spicy fruit; elegant rather than opulent, tight knit with an austere finish, better on day 2 and 3 after opening – needs another two or three years to show at its best. 16.5

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Chateau Haut Bailly, Pessac Léognan 2000 ****

With the turn of the decade I decided to plunge into my 2000s for the first time. I don’t really have a handle on the vintage as yet although I did taste a fairly comprehensive range of 2000s in the spring of 2002 including Haut Bailly. At the time I wrote‘fragrant, quite delicate, dry but very refined, not as fat or as rich as some but great finesse'. Eight years on my note is pretty consistent with this: mid-deep garnet; closed initially with an underlying cedary character emerging on the nose; firm, quite austere, typically gravelly tannins and restrained, tight-knit blackcurrant fruit, fresh expensive finish (so much fresher than the 2003s, some of which I have already broached). Good and looking better the following day – but better still with five more years in bottle.   17.5

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Chassagne Montrachet, Grande Montagne 2005 (Louis Jadot)

I am always rather nervous about broaching some of my finer bottles of white burgundy having had so many costly disappointments in recent years, mostly from vintages in the late 1990s and early noughties. On New Year's Eve thankfully this wine did not disappoint:  mid-straw to gold; rich, ripe honeyed aromas with smoky complexity; rich on the palate, almost to the point of sweetness, honeyed fruit yet minerally too, very fine now with the capacity to keep and develop over the next five years.

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Pol Roger Pure n/v ****

Brut Nature Champagne with zero dosage is very fashionable at the moment and was recently the subject of an extensive tasting in The World of Fine Wine magazine. Without any dosage to offset the naturally high acidity brut nature can taste skinny, one dimensional and very austere. But made from good quality, well-ripened fruit these wines can be supremely pure and refined. Pol Roger have named their brut nature 'Pure' and it is completely different to their 'White Foil', my usual house Champagne.  The Pol Roger Pure wine is steely,  slim (rather than skinny) with great verve and  finesse and, yes, beautifully pure. It emerged as one of the best wines in the World of Fine Wine tasting but I think it is better in the better in the heat of summer than a freezing Derbyshire winter evening when a slightly fuller more mature style is called for. A question mark hangs over how these wines develop in bottle so I will try and keep at least one bottle back for the future.   17.5  

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I have been on a sugar-free diet since the beginning of the month (which sadly precludes alcohol) but I allowed myself the luxury of sharing a bottle of white burgundy with friends this weekend. I should point out that following a sugar free diet means that my taste has changed and become much more sensitive to sugar.  Anything with sugar tastes very sweet indeed (thank goodness I have not had to taste any basic Aussie Chardonnay) and for some reason that I haven't fathomed out red wines taste slightly bitter. Anyway this wine is properly dry as it should be.  There have been problems with premature oxidation of white burgundies in recent years so I opened this bottle with some trepidation (although to be fair Louis Jadot were not one of the worst offenders). Despite the warm vintage I am pleased  to say that I foind this wine to be in perfect condition:

Chassagne Montrachet, Grande Montagne 1er Cru 2005 (Louis Jadot) **** / *****

pale straw in colour; open on the nose, ripe but subdued with beautifully integrated oak and a toasted almond and brazil nut character; soft, deliciously savoury - toasty flavours, incisive lemony acidity, minerally, great balance and poise with a well defined finish. This is top notch, perfect now and over the next three years. 18.5 

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I am about to go on a month's health and fitness plan which virtually rules out alcohol (apart from the occasional taste). At lunch with Brown Shipley Private Bank in Manchester I was very grateful to be given a choice of wines to accompany a plate of monk fish. I don't drink much dry white Bordeaux so I chose a white Graves from a hot vintage:

Chateau Olivier, Pessac-Leognan, 2003 ***

Youthful straw colour; very fresh and airy with lemon, lime and lanolin (Semillon doninating - 65% / 33% Sauvingon, 5% Muscadelle); lovely lime and grapfruit flavours with savoury oak, very crisp despite the hot vintage, quite full. perfect for a Manchester summer business lunch .  16 

Location: Brown Shipley, Manchester
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Le Reve, Carneros Sparkling Wine 1996 (Tattinger) ****

The title 'Carneros Sparkling Wine' does not do justice to this: still youthful in appearance with a fine,gentle mousse; quite soft and slightly sweet in style, the word 'soapy' came to mind on the first taste, fine blanc de blancs with a good, ripe wholemeal autolytic character, soft in style but still very fresh and well balanced, really very good indeed for its age. 17 

Dom Perignon 1996 ****

Fine youthful colour and good, lively mousse; restrained, lightly toasted aromas, I suspect not giving its all as yet; wholemeal toast and thinly spread butter, fine, gentle, still very fresh with well-defined acidity and toasty-savoury length. Lovely, plenty of life left and better on day 2. I expected more from this wine from a great vintage but I suspect this wine may still have some way to go. I still have one bottle left. 

Chambertin (Armand Rousseau) 1994 ****

Mid deep hue, looking quite mature on the rim; initially slightly lifted and high-toned but settled down with decanting to reveal supremely suave, scented, perfumed aromas; firm, quite lean initially but very suave, smooth fruit backed by crisp, mouthwatering acidity, still very fresh. Delicious wine with a beguiling scent from a very mixed vintage. 18

Chateau Cheval Blanc 1988 *****

Still deep and youthful in appearance, just a touch of browning on the rim; fully open and very forthcoming aromatic with a lovely leafy perfume (raspberry leaf), perhaps verging on green, Cabernet Franc dominating (apparently it made up 65% of the cepage in 1988); very fine, slightly herbal sweet fruit, supple, well defined with sinewy tannins, long and very fresh with plenty of life left in it. Overall very pure with near perfect balance and poise. I would expect this wine to develop for another ten to fifteen years. 19

Location: The Rookery
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Every year I try to celebrate my birthday with a wine from the year that I was born. It is fortuitous that this was 1961 but unfortunately no one had the foresight to lay down any Claret at the time! Instead I have a small stock of Rioja and Port from the said year and this year I added  Red Burgundy from the fine 1990 vintage (just in case the other wines were a let down):

Vina Pomal 1961, Bodegas Bilbainas ***

Still retaining good colour, garnet centre, tawny-brown rim; old fashioned woody, casky aromas, leathery with some fruit underlying, recognisably Rioja in style; retaining some strawberry sweetness, firm, fully mature and quite elegant though delicate, dry and rather dusty on the finish, a good bottle (others have been more brittle and dry) which survived until the next day.  15   

Pommard, Grand Clos des Epenots 1er Cru 1990 (Domaine de Courcel) ****

Good, bright mid-deep colour; fine, seductive aromas, ripe fruit refelecting the heat of the vintage, still holding together very well, just a touch gamey; fine, firm, dry tannins and tight-knit fruit underlying, well structured, verging on austere towards the finish (I think it was ever thus) but standing up very well. 17.5  

 Quinta de Vargellas 1961

See under Port notes 

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I share some of my best bottles with Philip Tuck who has a great appreciation of wine, especially Burgundy. He works for Hatch Mansfield who represent Louis Jadot in the UK and supplied the first of the wines below. 

Corton Charlemagne 1996 (Louis Jadot)*****  

Fine, lemon-gold colour; taut, minerally, quite powerful, very fine balance and fresh acidity, lemon butter flavours, restrained, beautifully integrated with perfect poise and finesee. Still remarkably fresh and taut after nearly 13 years. 19.5

Chambertin Clos de Beze 1995 (Armand Rousseau) ****/*****

Lovely youthful centre, just starting to show age on the rim; fine, ripe, quite rich and masculine in style, not as fragant or aromatic as I would have expected but opening up to reveal ethereal qualities after an hour and a half in the glass; fine concentration form old vines, firm tannins, tight knit with a touch of spice, very good depth, still young with room for development. Very refined. 18.5

Wehlener Sonnenhur Auslese (J.J. Prum) *****

Pale lemon to water-white rim; very fragrant, perfumed, floral, lime and grapefruit aromas, open, perfect; lovely racy, minerally, lemon and lime flavours, so fresh and refreshing, steely and minerally on the finish. The ideal wine for a spring evening.  19 

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