It’s been almost two months now since many countries have been in lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The wine world is no different, and those of us involved in wine, however peripherally, are all wondering what we’re going to find when we eventually come out the other side of this coronavirus thing. The one prediction I will make is that it won’t be same as how things were in the world of wine we abruptly left behind when we began social-distancing in mid-March.
As British wine writer Tim Atkin MW wrote in a recent online post, “Until we have a vaccine, I don’t see how the wine trade can return to business as usual, whatever usual will eventually mean.” He was referring to well-established traditions such as large trade and consumer tastings where people crowd around winery stands tasting and spitting with abandon. Nope, that’s not likely in the foreseeable future.
How about travel to far-flung wine regions around the globe, and those cherished, intimate visits with winemakers and winery principals? Or those post-tasting long table lunches and dinners with fellow wine critics, communicators and writers? Or the wine tourism visits of wine lovers to all those consumer tasting rooms, many of whom travel in large groups? I can’t see too many of these typical wine activities resuming in the near future either. At least not without intrusive new social distancing measures being in place. But the wine world is nothing if not resourceful and it will revive, in some modified form. Grapes are still being grown and harvested, and wine still gets made, regardless of this virus. Thank goodness!
Meantime, while we wait for the wine world to re-open in some fashion, those of us who love wine have been reduced to opening the bottles we have put aside, in some cases for many years. My own modest cellar has been raided more than usually, and I for one am happy about this, as it’s given me the chance to drink wines that I had set aside years ago to mature or for a ‘special day’. Well, the special days are here!
Here then are some of those ‘special’ wines that I’ve opened and enjoyed at home over the past few weeks, with brief tasting notes. Enjoy vicariously!
Chateau Gigault Cuvée Viva 2003, Premiers Cotes de Blaye, Bordeaux
A dusty, leather, sage-brush, tobacco leaf nose; cedar, sour cherry, leather and tobacco leaf flavours, fading red fruits. Acidic backbone, tart finish.
Valenciso Reserva 2010, Rioja, Spain
Smooth, soft, supple, elegant; a well-balanced ‘modern’ Rioja. Impressive, and not too oaky or oxidative in style. Lovely balance of primary, secondary and tertiary flavours, with ten years maturity.
Chateau de la Rivière 2005, Fronsac, Bordeaux, France
I bought this bottle when visiting this famous chateau in Fronsac. Elegant perfumed nose: earth, savoury charcuterie, black fruits – cherry, blackberry. Smooth, savoury, earthy palate, with well-integrated tannins and sweet oak. Smooth, balanced and fully integrated, it was perfectly ‘à point’, as they say in France.
Louis Jadot Pernand-Vergelesses 2012 Clos de la Croix de Pierre, Premier Cru En Caradeux AOC, Burgundy, France
Racy, refined, somewhat muted. Good structure: acidic backbone supports red and black fruits, mineral, wet stone, muted oak. Muscular, masculine, less about sweet ripe fruit, more about structure, breeding, class.
Philippe Chavy Meursault 2013, Burgundy, France
Deep gold. Complex nose of citrus, nutty almond, brioche, vanilla and clove. Pronounced flavour intensity, with lemon, almond and pastry flavours; rich, full, and intense. Good acidity and citric fruits suggest even further aging would have benefitted this delicious white Burgundy.
Clos Dominic Priorat Vinyes Baixes 2009, Porrera, Priorat, Spain
An intense nose: earthy, savoury, gamey, dark fruits, clove, cinnamon, tar, dark chocolate. Funky, savoury, herbal ‘garrigue’ flavours: blackberry, raspberry, black cherry, tar, mocha. Rich, spicy, complex; quite funky/gamey/earthy. Well-aged, and not getting any better.
Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Hunter Semillon 2007, NSW, Australia
Deep green-gold. Intense, vibrant nose of lime, waxy lanolin, honey and toast. Rich, full-bodied, with lime fruit plus tropical fruits (gooseberry, guava, passionfruit) and a waxy, nutty richness. Long yet fresh, with a great acidic backbone. An outstanding Aussie classic. The rewards of patience.
Wynns John Riddoch Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 1994, South Australia, Australia
An Aussie classic, made from the top 1% of Wynns’ extensive vineyards in the famed Coonawarra Terra Rosa soils. Deep, intense, dark colour (still!). Intense, profound nose of cedar, cigar box, pencil shavings, black fruits, smoked meats and game, and haunting iodine, violet notes. Deeply flavoured, with beautifully integrated black fruits, smoky oak, velvety tannins and balanced alcohol. A powerful, complex, sublime cabernet. One for the ages.
