It's really amazing what you find lying around in your cupboards.
Here we have four wines that I've bought over the last four years and stuck in the 'not for immediate consumption' pile, hidden away in the closest thing I have to a cellar, behind the hoover in the hall cupboard.
Starting on the right we have that good old Oddbins favourite: 'The Chocolate Block' from South Africa's ever-zany Boekenhoutskloof. It's the 2006 vintage, I bought it four-and-a-bit years ago at my local Oddbins branch, well aware of the cult status it had amongst oddbinners at the time. The blend of Syrah (55%); Grenache noir (17%); Cinsault (15%);Cabernet Sauvignon (9%) and Viognier (4%) means it should have enough fruit and tannic structure to have settled down nicely over the 5 years since vintage and I'm hoping to pop it open in the not too distant future - watch this space.
Next up is a 2005 Abadia Retuerta Sardon de Duero 'Seleccion Especial' which apparently won the IWC red wine trophy in 2005 - so it must be good. I picked it up from the awesome little wine shop in North Berwick for about £20. Its a Tempranillo/Cab/Merlot blend with 18 months in oak, so I'm sure a couple more years in the bottle wont go amiss, but not much more.
Gewurztraminer sticks its exotic nose in next - Wolfberger 2008 from Alsace. Got it in Amsterdam last feb. Who's gonna argue with giving a Gewurz a few years in the bottle?
Finally making a well deserved appearance is a lovely little Pinot from Côte de Nuits Villages. Clos des Langres 2006 'Monopole'. £20-something after ex-staff discount (it pays to have had a few jobs around town) at Oddbins again, early this year. Who knows how this one will age? It's definitely going back in the box for a while though.
So there you have it - an eclectic mix, special perhaps because of memories more than aging potential, but should still be a pretty fascinating journey through a few years of wine.
Check back for tasting notes when they finally reach the glass!
No comments:
Post a Comment