Roche de Bellene Côte de Nuits-Villages
Vielles Vignes 2010
Côte de Nuits-Villages AOC
Laithwaites £12.99
13.50%
100% Pinot Noir
Not a great deal on the nose. A bit spirity. Not inviting. Woody, bordering on dirty, taste. Not good.

Domaine des Beaumont Morey-Saint-Denis 2008
Morey-Saint-Denis
Laithwaites £30.00
13%
100% Pinot Noir
Lovely oaky nose.  Vanilla and ageing fruit. Mmm. Gentle tannin, some bright acidity, great length. Wonderful, and can only get better.



Domaine Jean Grivot Clos de Vougeot
Grand Cru 2007
Clos de Vougeot AOC
Laithwaites £100.00
13.50%
100% Pinot Noir
Tantalisingly light on the nose. Pretty dry.  I think the Beaumont Morey St Denis at £70 less is more attractive at the moment.

Château Les Riganes 2010
Bordeaux AOC
Laithwaites £9.79
13%
52% Cabernet Franc, 36% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon
Definitely a CF nose.  Pencil shavings and not a lot of blackcurrant. Very dry indeed. No good for solo drinking, but maybe with steak.

Le Grand Chai Haut-Médoc 2010
Haut-Médoc AOC
Laithwaites £12.99
13.50%
75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot
Produced by Le Chai au Quai
Plenty of fruit on the nose, and cedar.  Appealing and typical. Ditto on the palate. Nicely furry tannin and enough sweet fruit to make it nicely drinkable. Good.

Next few wines served in a decanter – always gets you in the mood.

L’Epiphanie à Tertre Daugay 2009
Saint-Emillion Grand Cru AOC
Laithwaites £30.00
14.50%
80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc
Produced by Château Tertre Daugay
Wonderful nose. Ah, hadn’t seen the price. Damn! Fabulous taste as well. Huge and the absolute essence of St Emilion, concentrated and expanded. Yum!



L’Epiphanie de Durfort Vivens 2009
Margaux AOC
Laithwaites £30.00
13%
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot
Produced by Château Durfort-Vivens
Another outstanding nose. This is tropical fruit, and some kind of floral eau de cologne. Like walking into Jo Malone. This is even more of an epiphany than the St Emilion. Hard to believe there isn’t any tropical fruit in this.  There is such elegance and perfume and just general gorgeousness. Wow!



Château Langoa Barton St-Julien
3ème Cru Classé 2009
Saint-Julien AOC
Laithwaites £60.00
13%
54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc
Cedary, typical nose.  Not as out there and impressive as the two Epiphanies. Savoury and lovely in the mouth.  Beautiful fruit/oak balance.  Exactly right.

Château Angélus St-Emilion
1er Grand Cru Classé 2009
St-Emilion Grand Cru AOC
Laithwaites £255.00
13.50%
60% Merlot 40% Cabernet Franc
I admit that I absolutely will not use this wine for a tasting or a Birds with Bottle programme, but just had to taste it because of the price. I might be an MW but I still buy normal wines and am still in awe of ultra-expensive wines. Cedar and blackcurrant.  Just what you’d expect. The cab franc is quite forward. There’s still a lot of tannin.  This needs time.  Don’t rush it.

Château Pavie 1er Grand Cru Classé 1989
St-Emilion Grand Cru AOC
Laithwaites £100.00
13.50%
60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc,
10% Cabernet Sauvignon
Produced by Château Pavie
Very brown colour. Really aged.  Smells like prunes in syrup. Beautiful taste but absolutely not for lying down.  Buy this and open it that weekend.  A great illustration of what happens to claret with age. Moments away from being too old.

Rex Mundi Shiraz Merlot 2011
Oc IGP
Laithwaites £8.99
13.50%
60% Shiraz, 40% Merlot
Produced by Vindivin
I’m voting this the worst label ever, unless you know better. I would never, eve,r pick this wine off the shelf. It’s got a deep, rich, spicy nose. Very sweet, too sweet, really.

Château Millegrand Mourral Grande Réserve 2010
Minervois AOC
Laithwaites £8.99
13%
40% Syrah, 40% Grenache, 15% Carignan, 5% Mourvèdre
Produced by Domaines Bonfils
Not a great deal of aroma. Bone dry, with quite a lot of tannin.

Meridion par Pierre Perrin Côtes-du-Rhône 2010
Laithwaites £10.99
14%
50% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre, 20% Syrah
Produced by Famille Perrin
Not much aroma. Light, easy, French and dry.

Domaine Yann Chave Le Rouvre
Crozes-Hermitage 2010
Laithwaites £19.99
13.50%
100% Syrah
Nice syrah nose.  Pretty interesting.  Dry and French and with all sorts of savoury stuff going on. Pretty good.

Hommage du Rhône 2011
Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC
Laithwaites £16.99
14.50%
70% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 5% Mourvèdre
Produced by Hommage du Rhône
Light on the nose. Very savoury and interesting, but the alcohol leads.  I guess that’s typical.

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mel