Popped into Majestic Battersea for some of their new and new vintage wines last week. Some tasting notes in rough order of likeability:

Latour corton grancey 2002
Fine red burg at it's best. Old looking but still great fruit and not mushroomy (not that I might that). Was newly opened so could have done with some time to breath.

La Dame de Malescot Margaux 2007
Great vanilla and choc flavours. Seemed good value at £20.

Chateau Musar 2004
Lovely soft tannins and noticeable sweetness

Hochar Pere and Fils 2007
2nd growth from Musar - nice but not as good as the previous 2. Good price though at 10.49 when buying 2

Nyetimber Vintage Rose 2007 I think
Nice light red fruit, easy drinking

Nyetimber Blanc de Blanc 2004
Really interesting nutty flavour. Yum

Waimea Pinot Gris 2011
Big round lush nice

Santenay 2010
Red burg. Nice light fruit, drink now. Not exciting though.

Te Tera Pinot Noir 2011
Smelled like Gamay, tasted like gamay. Ok but you can buy a decent beaujolais for a lot less.

Vergelegen Reserve Cab Sav 2006
Perhaps still a bit young. Heavy tannins and that underripe green thing that SA wines seem to exhibit often. Interesting in few years maybe.

Montenovo Godello 2011
Ok but watery like some Pinot Grigio

Domaine Jomain Puligny Montrachet 2010
Perhaps it was served too cold but tasted like 2 different wines not getting along - One dry chard the other the liquid smoke seasoning. My search continues for a sub £30 decent Montrachet...

Montagny 1er Cru Les Millieres 2008
Meh. Quite tropical for a white burg but not my thing

Vergelegan Sauv Blanc 2011
Dry, rounded. but NMT

Torre Aldea Rioja 2005 Gran Reserva
Ok for the price but a few extra £ gets so much more. Nice aroma but lacking distinction

Vina Pomel Reserva Rioja 1994
Cheap at £10 but also past it's best before date...

Cape Mentelle Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon 2011
Odd wine. Very sharp and young and has that Loire red kind of green note - not in good way though. Memorable for the wrong reasons.

De Forville Langhe Nebbiolo
A region I do so love but this has gone wrong - fermented Welchs' red grape juice kind of wrong. Possibly too young and with overripe grapes.

Phew.
A bit disappointed overall but may have enjoyed some of them more if they got decanted and also not to be ice cold.

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Viognier Reviews - my blog that does what it says in the title.
http://viognier.posterous.com

Phew indeed !
Suspect that you needed a drink to recover from that lot.

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Four wheels move the body - 2 wheels move the soul.

Fairly good selection in paper
I had one at my local last week and had a few of the same wines but in general the line up wasn't as good as yours
Would have been interested to try a few of the ones you had

Hochar Pere and Fils 2007
2nd growth from Musar - nice but not as good as the previous 2. Good price though at 10.49 when buying 2

Shame to hear this not got close to a Majestic to buy a couple to try out.
The 04 was good.
Not seen any 06 or 07 though ??

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He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.

.

Maj will deliver any 6 bottles FOC to most places in mainland uk.

However, more about this 2nd wine.
About 7000 cases were made for the 2007 vintage. Ralph tells me that the selection for the grand vin will become stricter in the future, to make sure than their fans are completely satisfied. So there will be more Hochar Pere& Fils on the market

The 2007 is a softer, going in the direction of a new world style, as opposed to the grand vin (If Mediteranean style is old world, which it was). Less oak is used, much easier when young, and very concentrated - A darker colour than the 2001 Musar ! very ripe Carignan - how dark is it ? The yeasts are not as authentic to my palate as the grand vin, because the body of the wine is not as composed, as from the oak and the skin & tannins of the ripe Cab Sauv. fruit, but this is due to proportions in the mix There is more Carignan and Cinsault in this wine, I believe, almost a splash of "Carmenere like fruit" in there by the feel off it ? I didn't ask about the exact recipe.
A nice wine with a full and fruity flavour, yet still has a Musar signature of sorts, should please a lot of folks.

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Duncan

Dunc,

My problem is finding 6 bottles though !!
honest I have tried before but never find anything I want to try.

Did buy the German parcel last year though via a friend.

Off to an auction on Saturday so keeping my powder dry then the Christmas fizz offers will appear !!

Any reds you would rec though sub £15.00 ??

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He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.

There was a 2005 Fronsac that would suit you. Absolutely none in stock down south, and none in the warehouse now. However - tut-nawth where you are, a ring around may find you a few in the stores. Worth a call or two.

Good luck at the Auctions - been looking me-self on the web, to see if any older red burgs that may be available. Private, small & deceased holdings etcetera.

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Duncan

It was a very nice wine - Just tried it along with slightly better.

Forgot one

Invivio MSB 2012
Very fresh, passionfruit. Summer sunshine.
First 2012 wine I've tried. The staff said the low yields in NZ meant it was a couple of quid more expensive.

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Viognier Reviews - my blog that does what it says in the title.
http://viognier.posterous.com

Latour corton grancey 2002
Fine red burg at it's best. Old looking but still great fruit and not mushroomy (not that I might that). Was newly opened so could have done with some time to breath.

Viog,

Those boys at Battersea need shooting. That Corton grand cru needs respect. I dont know the Louis Latour Grancey climat, but lesser vineyards further down the hillside make wonderfully powerfull burgundies that take 10 years to show of their best. You should have been mega impressed. It should not be old looking in the glass ! 2002 was a powerfull vintage for the Beaune 1ers
May be the Latour corton GC is just not up there ? Who knows

These Cortons are really firm and they have a cracked black pepper and vanilla oak mid palate sprinkling over the main hit of dark raspberry and black cherry and sweet undergrowth (sous bois). Plenty of acidity with that fine tannic power really cuts the palate. For me ..... You know when you swallow a decent Corton PN, it is leaps and bounds ahead of ordinary Beaune, has the taste buds and the tongue singing.

Just as well I wasn't there - I'd be calling them all the twerps under the sun for not serving properly.

BTW,

Just for info:

The Invivo '11 MSB was in Tesco for a while (somebody at the producers trying to move it) - don't buy the 2011 even at £6. quid or so. It is a hard nosed, unloved and gum numbing cuvee, with little or no tropical fruit notes to savour.

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Duncan