This was a special evening at the excellent Cail Bruich restaurant in Glasgow: a group of us who know each other from meeting online on the forum at www.wine-pages.com, had arranged a Friday night takeover of Cail Bruich, a tasting menu and corkage, so we could share interesting wines from our cellars. We were split between several tables of between eight and twelve covers. The menu was the same across all the tables, though the wines varied from table to table: the wines below were those on my table, and, I should emphasise again, were brought by us: they're not off Cail Bruich's wine list.
This was an excellent evening, full of terrific wines generously
shared by participants, terrific food from Cail Bruich and also exceptional
service from Cail Bruich, who coped amazingly well with us.
As well as praising the quality of the food, it's worth
saying just how well paced the evening was too - credit needs to go to
both the kitchen and the front of house at Cail Bruich for that. We were
not rushed, but had enough time to get through all our wines.
It was great to see front of house so interested, that they were busily
snapping photos of the wines with their 'phones.
Aperitif
1995 Domaine des Forges Coteaux du Layon Chaume Grains Nobles de Pineau
Quite a delicate nose with touches of honey, lemon, floral notes, and almost orange flower water.
Lovely palate. It is very sweet of course, but there's a massive acidity too, which keeps it perfectly balanced.
Very, very precise and focused. Very concentrated and powerful, but still very balanced.
92/100
Whites
with nibbles of Smoked Haddock Croquette, Steamed Bun and Spring Vegetable Tartlet
2006 Dr Konstantin Frank Rkatsiteli (Finger Lakes, New York)
Mid gold colour. Fairly intense, nutty nose, feeling very evolved. Something a bit marsanne like on the nose.
Fair palate. Bit of a spritzy zesty lemon note on the attack. This is
fading and drying out. There's something very familiar about the
flavour, but I can't pin it down. There's a rather odd combination of
length and falling short at the same time. Possibly a hint of oxidation,
but that might just be the Rkatsiteli. Really quite curious: it's
definitely not dead, but it's not entirely alive either. The moral seems
to be: drink your Finger Lakes Rkatsiteli before it gets to ten years
old.
83/100
1991 Coulée de Serrant, Nicolas Joly
A deepish golden colour.
Fantastic nose, with lemon, lots of white pepper, and some wet dog.
Remarkable palate. Though it takes a bit of getting used to. It's
slightly raisined, and there's a touch of oxidation. A wine to keep
going back to. Absolutely bone dry. Good acidity on the finish.
89/100
The smoked haddock croquette really brought this to life, though the spring vegetable tartlet did it no favours whatsoever.
Smoked Haddock Croquette, Brown Sauce
This was spot on. Can't say I'd ever have thought of brown sauce with a
brandade of smoked haddock, but it worked really well for me. Plus it
made the 91 Coulée de Serrant sing like Callas.
Steamed Bun, Ham “Jam”, Shallot, Beer Mustard
This didn't really convince me. Too much bun maybe, drowning out the
rest. Really it just tasted like an underseasoned onion sandwich.
Can't win 'em all.
Spring Vegetable Tartlet
This was really good: incredibly light pastry, and just full of the flavours of spring.
On to the first couple of courses:
2015 Riverby Sauvignon Blanc
An exclusive! The first bottle to be opened in the UK.
It has a lovely nose: very restrained, with some green peas, lettuce and a good minerality.
Very good palate. Very bright and focused. There's also a fab peppery spice note.
Very impressive and a very food-friendly sauvignon blanc.
Great restraint. Quite a firm minerality. A splendid sauvignon blanc.
93/100
It also worked exceedingly well with Cail Bruich's excellent mackerel
dish: in terms of food and wine matching, I find it difficult to believe
that any table could have had a better match at any point throughout
the evening.
Mackerel, Cucumber, Green Strawberry “Sauce Vierge”
This was delightful: I think it was soused mackerel, the skin side
blowtorched, mackerel tartare, green strawberry, marinated cucumber and
those tart-yet-fruity red blobs.
Wye Valley Asparagus,Crispy Egg Yolk, Smoked Hollandaise
Very simple, and an excellent little refresher plate at this stage in
the meal. A slow cooked egg yolk, so you had the unctuous texture,
without chasing liquid egg yolk across the plate. I'm not a great fan of gratuitous smoking of things that have survived
generations without being smoked, but the hollandaise worked very well,
I thought. Just a hint of smoke to lift it, without being at all dominant.
The smoked hollandaise and deep fried yolk meant that the Sauvignon
Blanc worked better with the asparagus than I'd feared, and better than
it often can do (too often it's too much like with like). However, both
the rkatsiteli and the Coulée de Serrant worked well, as did a 1996
Bollinger that made its way over from another table.
Reds
Nebbiolo flight
· 2001 Cordero di Montezemolo Barolo, Vigna Enrico VI
A very young colour.
A nose verging on the glorious. Really poised black fruit (blackcurrant particularly), with a layer of fresh tobacco.
A lovely palate. Just what it should be. If anything, it feels a bit young.
Fascinating palate. Very dry and drying. Soft tannins, but very evident tannins.
This is a jolly interesting wine now, but needs a few more years to really blossom.
93/100
2010 Adam's Rib The Red, Castagna (Beechworth, Victoria)
A very curious mint sauce nose. Very minty with lots of tar.
Fascinating palate: fresh, vibrant black fruit, and then you get a real
punch of the syrah (it's a blend of 70% nebbiolo and 30% syrah).
These layers of flavours continue flowing over each other throughout.
Carries its 14% alcohol very well.
I love this: a fascinating wine.
94/100
Un-Burgundy flight
· 2013 Riverby Estate Pinot Noir Reserve
Very, very soft red fruit on the nose, with a nice herbal note.
Soft, round palate. Quite a spicy touch with firm tannins.
Worked very well with the duck.
88/100
2000 Chateau Musar
Yup. Musar nose. Old sweaty leather. Oxidative. Sweaty and cheesy.
While Musar can swing every which way, I'm not convinced this bottle is
quite right. The 2000 is often described as a Burgundian Musar; hence why it was in this flight. It feels both a bit oxidised and a bit reductive on the
palate, and a bit cooked. I think this has got cooked at some point.
1996 Ridge flight
1996 Ridge York Creek Petite Sirah
Very attractive, very approachable nose. This is so much more approachable than the Santa Cruz Mountains merlot.
Lots of juicy black fruit on the palate. Very enticing.
Drying tannins on the finish.
92/100
1996 Ridge Santa Cruz Mountains Merlot
Quite a slight nose - black fruits. Slightly murky nose. It's not especially thrilling on the nose.
Round, full, soft black fruit on the palate, with big, spicy tannins on the finish.
There's something slightly curious about this, though I am rather liking it.
It's a bit too young and tight, I think. Slightly sweaty palate. Leathery tannins.
91/100
Under 300 cases reds flight
(Okay, I struggled putting these last two reds into a flight, but a bit
of research - including reading the label - revealed under 300 cases of
each were produced. And a couple of hefty reds should show well towards
the end of the meal.)
2003 Fetzer Coro Mendocino
A blend of 50% Zinfandel, 30% Syrah, 15% Petite Sirah, and 5% Grenache from vineyards in California's Mendocino county.
An intriguing nose. Soft, slightly herbaceous black fruit. With
aeration, this is really growing on me. Delectable and very balanced.
Wow. This is very good. Much better than I was expecting.
It's an intriguing blend, and it works very well. Lovely balance on the palate.
Huge depth with real spice. There's lots of zinfandel character, yet balanced by the other varieties.
Delicious and full of character. Very accomplished.
I'd buy more of this, though it doesn't look like it comes over here, so I can't, unfortunately.
Probably being a bit generous, but 95/100
1997 Domaine de la Grange des Pères, Vin de Pays de l'Herault
Fantastic nose with gorgeous rounded black fruit.
Rich, full palate. This is delicious, if rather hefty stuff.
But it feels a little simple compared to the Fetzer.
Really rich in the mouth. Very wide and mouthfilling. Very rounded and open.
92/100
Goosnargh Duck, Apricot, Peas, Lettuce, Girolle, Black Garlic
This was delicious. Very simple, but very nicely executed. Though, with all the wine, I could have probably eaten the other half of the duck breast too.
Sweet Rieslings
· 2014 Riverby Estate Noble Riesling
Delicate, precise nose. Lovely botrytis notes. I've got written down
here "risotto primavera nose" but have no idea what that means, and
can't really see how it would apply to a botrytised riesling: somebody
must have been talking about risotto at the time, or something.
Gorgeous palate. Very sweet, but that sweetness is kept entirely in check.
Rich, yet very balanced palate. Very, very balanced. Good acidity. Really bright.
92/100
Fabulous with the first dessert of strawberry, yoghurt and elderflower.
· 2012 Delheim Riesling Edelspatz Noble Late Harvest
Very precise, focused nose. Very fresh, ripe riesling fruit.
Lovely balanced palate. Huge acidity. Pretty impressive.
Interesting to compare with the Riverby.
91/100
Strawberry, Katy Rodgers Yoghurt, Elderflower Soda (sorry, no picture)
Other sweeties
· 1977 Lenz Moser Gewürztraminer Beerenauslese
A deep copper colour.
Oof. Fabulous nose that really wakes you up. Wonderfully precise nose, though not especially gewurz-y.
It's almost as though it's evolved from being gewurz and is now "just" an old Beerenauslese.
A lovely old BA.
A very, very good BA.
92/100
I wasn't a great fan of the rapeseed oil cake, which I found a bit
dense, but the white asparagus ice cream was absolutely stunning. The
Gewurztraminer Beerenauslese powered its way nicely through this.
Sweet red
2004 Linne Calodo Zinfandel Sweet Leona Leona's Vineyard, Paso Robles, California
On the nose, this seems fully mature. Sweet fresh and dried blackberry fruit.
Vaguely sweet, ripe, red and black fruit on the palate.
Quite concentrated on the palate, with a pleasing intensity.
Slightly musky and very deep. Lots of rich black fruit, with a nice spice.
Very good balance.
92/100
Went nicely with the Valrhona Manjari & Whisky Fudge
Other Wines
There
were several other wines that made it to our table, either as reserves
or shared by other tables.
1996 BollingerGrande Année (magnum)
Fresh bread nose. Lovely full palate. Very rounded. Utterly drinkable and delicious. 92/100
1996 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Les Clos Saint-Hilaire
Very precise. Huge acidity. Lovely white pepper spice. Touch of red fruit richness - presumably pinot dominated?
Lovely stuff, but it's just not thrilling me, and for me, it's in the shadow of the Bolly.
90/100
1995 Kuentz-Bas Riesling Cuvée Bicentennaire
A worrying coppery colour.
Old, clapped out riesling nose.
Even older and more clapped out on the palate.
There is still some riesling fruit in their, and it's not quite necrophilia drinking this.
But it's not really anything-philia either, as there's little pleasure or interest here.
Drinkable, but it is past it.
80/100
1991 Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot
An old, mature chardonnay nose. But the class is there.
Butter, butter, butter on the nose, with a hint of lemon, and a slight green vegetable-broad bean note. Showing its class.
Gorgeous old Chablis palate. Poised, nutty, buttery, creamy.
Very wide in the mouth. Massive length.
94/100
2012 Pierre Gaillard Côtes du Rhône Les Gendrines
Fresh, nutty nose, with fresh apricots and pears.
Super-rich palate. Very creamy. Lots of layers of interesting flavours.
91/100
2014 Jean-Luc Colombo Côtes du Rhône La Redonne
70% viognier; 30% roussanne. 13% abv.
Lovely fresh nose with a hint of rosemary and thyme and something rich.
Very good palate. Young, yet nicely rounded.
A little thin maybe. But there are some good herby-spicy notes.
88/100
Equipo Navazos Jerez-Xérès-Sherry La Bota MMX "Florpower - Más allá" nº53
12%
A mid-deep coppery colour.
There's lots of flor on the nose - it's like sherry-lite. Nutty, toasty, raisiny.
The flor influence is evident on the palate too. Bone dry. Presumably palomino fino?
It reminds me of some Chilean palomino fino I once had.
It's a bit bonkers, full of interest, but I'm struggling to convince myself that I really like it.
87/100
1945 Pierre Janny Rivesaltes Vieil Homme
Bottle No. 704. 16%
Leathery, antiquarian bookshop nose, with rich, slightly raisined black fruits.
A touch figgy on the attack. Grapey, raisiny palate, with lots of fruit cake. Great depth.
Pretty much unbelievable that this is over 70 years old. Really enjoyable.
94/100
1990 Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque
Very medicinal nose - minty, cloves, eucalyptus.
Fabulous garriguey black fruit on the palate.
A bit young really, as there's still scope for it to integrate further.
93/100
As part of Tom Cannavan's Glasgow Festival of Wine in June 2016, I attended a couple of "masterclasses" (actually a chance to escape the crowd of the walkround tasting and sit down and taste some wine in comfort!). This was a selection of interesting wines from Italy, selected and presented by Zubair Mohamed of Raeburn Wines in Edinburgh.
The grand setting of Glasgow's Trades Hall.
2012 Blanc de Morgex et de la Salle, Maison Vevey Albert, DOP Vallee d'Aoste, 12.5%
£18.60 per bottle.
I'm not sure I've come across the Prié Blanc grape before. Vineyard
adjacent to Mont Blanc. Ungrafted vines, as there aren't crampons small
enough for phylloxera to get up there.
There's loads of minerality on the nose. Herby meadows-y notes, but also a hint of toffee-honey.
Very crisp, minerally palate. Opens out nicely in the mouth. There's a wonderful clarity to this, and it's difficult
given the terroir not to think of bubbling mountain streams.
An interesting wine. Great length.
Very nice, very drinkable, very expensive for what it is.
89/100
2010 Il Pigro della Marca, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, La Marca San Michele
£21.00 per bottle.
Aged for two years in botti grandi.
A deep, rich nose with butter and white flowers, and a bit of an oxidised feel.
Full palate. I wouldn't guess this was verdicchio if I didn't know.
Whether it is a bit oxidised, or made in an oxidative style, I don't know, but on the palate, it could be anything.
83/100
2010 Morus Alba, Vignai da Duline, San Giovanni al Natisone, Friuli
£22.99 per bottle.
60% Malvasia Istriana; 40% sauvignon blanc.
Quite a golden colour.
Rubbery, sweaty, cheesy nose. Very curious. A dense, solid nose, with some quite extracted distilled florality.
Lovely palate: very rich and full. Hugely interesting. Deep and complex, with massive length.
93/100
2013 Rosso di Gaetano, Azienda Agricola Le Coste di Clementine Bouvéron, Lazio, 13%
£15.00 per bottle.
A blend of mainly sangiovese, with some merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and grenache.
A vibrant, youthful colour.
Fascinating nose: Rubbery and yet also very floral red fruit.
Gorgeous palate. Lots of red fruit. Very pure and juicy. Very clean finish.
There's a touch of Vimto on the palate. Which is not a criticism.
92/100
2005 Nerello Mascalese Vecchie Vigne Etna Rosso, Calabretta, Etna, Sicily
£18.99 per bottle.
Scented, lifted, very compelling nose.
Delicious palate. Very pure red fruit. Very clean, pure finish.
This is really good. Packed full of character and lovely fruit, lingering all the way through.
Great length.
93/100
2009 Valpolicella Superiore Monte Lodoletta, Dal forno Romano
£61.00 per bottle.
How much? That sets the bar very high.
A bit of a mini Amarone with the grapes being dried for 1½ months. Aged in new oak for 36 months.
An inky, very dark colour.
Massive oak on the nose and not a lot else.
Very silky palate. Very big. Very full. Very oaky. There's no finesse or elegance here.
It's definitely not my preferred style of wine, and seems to need years.
I know oak costs money, but £61 for this oak monster just seems
ridiculous. What am I missing? Are the grapes individually polished by
Vestal Virgins or something?
The only reason I could see for me to buy this would be as an
investment, in the hope that Romano dal Forno isn't a bubble that's
going to burst.
It is certainly very unapproachable at the moment. I also find myself
questioning how long this will last: is there enough to it to keep it
going for the 10+ years it seems to need? Is it all superficial
structure?
Not for me.
86/100 (being generous and making allowances for my tastes)
Excellent evening this week at La Locanda restaurant in Gisburn, with
the charismatic Il Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano (yes, the Leonard Rossiter-Joan Collins vermouth
lot), who turned out to be a good speaker and passionate about the wines
of his Col d'Orcia estate.
Count Francesco Marone Cinzano
The reds were all double decanted a few hours earlier.
We started with the simplest tomato bruschette served with an
intriguing, yet delicious olive oil and Cinzano cocktail: 1 part Cinzano
Bianco, 2 parts Prosecco, 2 parts watermelon juice, 1 part gin, and ½
part EVOO from the Col d'Orcia estate.
The first wine, a Rosso di Montalcino, was served with an excellent
antipasti of (clockwise from bottom left) bresaola of
Chianina beef, salame di Cinta Senese, a fabulous lightly smoked
goose cured goose breast, and a truffled wild boar mortadella that redefines your perception of mortadella.
2013 Rosso di Montalcino Banditella, Tenuta Col d'Orcia, 14.5%
10,000 bottles produced. Some ageing in French barriques.
Bright red fruits and cherry. There's a hint of violets and savouriness of tobacco.
Young and vibrant palate. Very fresh and zippy in the mouth.
Very mouthfilling for such a young, simple wine.
There's a nice savoury touch on the very expansive middle.
I really like this. Lots of interesting flavours unravel as it sits in the glass, yet it retains a vibrant freshness.
The downside is that it certainly doesn't hide its hefty 14.5% alcohol.
89/100
The Col d'Orcia olive oil reappeared with some bread (and in the bread):
two breads one (the paler one in the background) made with 10% olive
oil, and one (in the foreground) made with 40% olive oil, but otherwise
identical. The first was very tasty, with a good chewy texture; the
second was remarkable, with an almost brioche-like friability.
Primo piatto was pici (a thick handmade spaghetti) with an intriguing wood pigeon ragu.
The pasta was excellent, though the ragu, while having all the flavour
you'd imagine it could, was a little underseasoned and a bit dry - to
the point that I wondered if the pan had been left to boil dry. Though I
think this was how it was intended, as we were recommended to season it
with the olive oil, which did indeed bring it to life, and add the
seasoning that was needed. Probably would have been best to do that in the kitchen though, as I noticed a reticence to add the oil on other tables.
This was served with the 2010 Brunello di Montalcino. 2010 Brunello di Montalcino, Tenuta Col d'Orcia, 14.5%
c.20,000 bottles produced.
A very poised nose showing a fair bit of maturity. Great restraint. Some cherry fruit.
Immediately attractive on the palate. Very silky.
Then it explodes with big, slightly sour fruit.
Very integrated, and showing a nice elegance.
Very, very long.
Complex without being overly deep.
Much improved with the food.
91/100
In an interesting, and quite brave move for rural Lancashire, we moved
from two reds, to a white, with Caciucco de pesce azzurro con gnocchi
soffiati. We couldn't quite work out all the fish that were in this
light stew, but there was definitely mackerel, tuna (possibly a couple
of varieties), monkfish, possibly swordfish. I'd never had gnocchi
soffiati before: light, free-form, airy; like a poached mashed potato
maybe.
2013 Pinot Grigio Sant'Antimo, Tenuta Col d'Orcia, 13.5%
A mid straw colour.
Rich nose with almonds and ripe stone fruit - peach, pear. Lots of peach. Bright citrussy note too.
Bit of a buttery, creamy note on the nose with aeration (apparently there's a splash of chardonnay in it).
Some talcy minerality. Really developing on the nose in the glass and with aeration.
Some white flower and honeysuckle aromas now.
Very intense, deep palate. What a mouthful! There's lots of fruit, but also some extraction.
This is very far from a typical Italian pinot grigio, and indeed there's something reminiscent of an Alsace Pinot Gris.
With that bit of extraction, there's even something of an Alsace gewurztraminer about this (though without the flavour).
Maybe if Zind Humbrecht made Italian pinot grigio?
There's a hint of woody spice on the finish. Maybe a little hot.
A fascinating wine, but it's a bit to big and pushy for me.
87/100
Meat course was a very good coniglio in porchetta con fagioli
all'uccelletto. Rabbit that had been boned out and beaten flat, then
wrapped around some sort of cured sausage, slightly reminiscent of
morteau sausage, except that it certainly wouldn't have been anything
French. The beans are cooked with tomatoes and sage in bottles in a
bain marie. This was a fantastic dish (which I hope to find has made its
way on to the à la carte next time I go), though very filling, given
the denseness of the meat. It was also, very sadly, a singularly poor
match with the 2007 Brunello Riserva, which it completely dominated.
However, reverting to my glass of the Rosso di Montalcino with which
we'd started the meal, that was a much better match: a bit like the
classic Beaujolais and charcuterie match.
2007 Poggio al Vento, Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG,
14.5%
A big, unusually meaty nose. Though there's also some semi-dried ripe red fruit, with tobacco, leather and a touch of sous bois.
Very integrated nose. Nice elegance.
With aeration, a bit of a bitter chocolate note comes along giving it a
very rich feel. There's a nice floral perfumed note too - sort of purple
flowers.
The palate is enveloping and cossetting, with some deep, slightly sour fruit. Very integrated palate.
Soft integrated tannins.
I think this is clearly benefiting from having been double decanted
several hours previously, as it is nicely softened and feeling very
integrated.
But there's also a fairly primary feel to the fruit, and it's clearly got lots of life ahead of it. 30-40 years easily.
Elegant and delicate too.
While the rabbit bullied the Poggio al Vento, it was superb with some
Pecorino Toscano DOP, the saltiness of the cheese really lifting the
wine.
The Pecorino Toscano was one of three pecorino cheeses, alongside a
rather lovely pecorino al tartufo, and a wonderful pecorino di grotta
(matured in caves till strong and a bit spicy).
With the cheese was served Col d'Orcia's super-Tuscan. 2012 Olmaia Sant'Antimo Cabernet, Tenuta Col d'Orcia, 14.5%.
100% cabernet sauvignon from a single vineyard (Olmaia).
A very, very young, intense deep inky colour.
Big black fruits on the nose. But also lots and lots of smoky oak, together with a dried leaf note.
Deep, yet precise.
On the palate, it's just huge and massive. Lots of ripe fruit. Massive
grippy tannins (apparently 2012 was drought-ridden, which has emphasised
the tannins).
On its own, this was hard work and really needed the cheese to make it enjoyable.
88/100
Finally, after what had been a bit of a marathon meal, we moved onto a
sfogliatina con crema al Moscadello, or what we'd call a custard slice
in English.
This wasn't entirely successful, as it looked like either the puff
pastry had risen too much or they'd not made enough of the
muscat-flavoured cream, as there was just a bit too much pastry in
relation to the filling.
The cream was flavoured with Col d'Orcia's muscat, which we naturally drank with it.
2011 Moscadello di Montalcino Pascena Vendemmia Tardiva, Tenuta Col d'Orcia, 12%
A very charming nose. Lots of muscat character.
Some clear lemon-orange notes on the nose.
Really poised, elegant palate. This is delightful, with none of the showiness that muscat can have.
Very balanced and elegant.
93/100
2004 Linne Calodo Zinfandel Sweet Leona Leona's Vineyard, Paso Robles, California
