Preamble Tasting July 2000
Magic Carpet Wines al fresco
Kevin Crowley
1. Chardonnay Mendoza, Omnium, 1999
Fresh, quite stern, surprisingly unbuttery, fruity. Lovely. 12.5%
£6.49
2. Macon Villages Solutre, Drouhin, Burgundy, 1999
Lovely nose, decidedly mineral taste, with a hint of caramel. Subtle,
elegant, fruity. Very good, better than above but pricier. 13%. Solutre
is one of the villages of Macon.
£10.29
3. Chardonnay Martinolles, Aude, 1999
Unoaked and quite unusual - muscat taste? Quite New World style, good
acid, but not quite my cup of tea. 12.5%
£7.99
4. Gewurtztraminer Hugel, Alsace, 1998
Wonderful nose; china tea and fruit. A little flabbier than previous vintages
but still a great, honeyed, very well-made wine. 13%
£11.19
5. Beaujolais Villages Boisset, 1998
Pinky colour. Good nose, missing most of the synthetic odours I dislike
in Gamay and its typical maceration carbonique method of extraction. Quite
stern, a bit acid, warm finish. Not at all bad (this from someone that
doesn't like Beaujolais - in case you hadn't noticed. Prejudices being
broken down here.) 12.5%
£7.69
6. Chinon Champs Vignon Drouet, Loire, 1997
Cabernet Franc from Loire. Nice warm nose. Cherry flavour, quite complex,
some tannin. Will keep a long time. Nice, but way too young?. 12.5%.
£6.79
7. Palacio de la Vega, Tempranillo, Navarra, 1998
This was very cold, and didn't show a big nose. Fruity. Quite tannic,
but likely to develop. I prefer their Crianza, which is good wine and
great value. 12.5%. Apparently "temprano" means early; Tempranillo
is the early ripening grape.
£6.85
8. Pere Ventura Tempranillo, 1984
This was tasted blind. A lovely, rich, light colour. Guessed a Cabernet
Sauvignon blend. Turns out to be Tempranillo but with some Cabernet (phew!).
£5.99
9. Campo Viejo Reserva, Rioja, 1995
This has a rich, deep red; quite brilliant. Spicy nose. fruit, tannin,
acid. Warm, lovely, complex, balanced. Despite supposedly "dearer
and worse" grapes I think that the quality has improved with the
years; it shows well against modern well made wines without losingall
of its traditional qualities and remains a personal favourite. 12.5%
£9.59
10. Campo Viejo Gran Reserva, Rioja, 1991
Blind again. Similarly rich but darker. Quite dumb. Complex palate;
feels young. Great wine.
£14.35
11. Maglieri McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon, Australia, 1997
Really deep red, huge nose. Wonderful fruit, still some tannins. Fruit
pastilloes. Great. 14%
£12.49
12. Cahteau Musar, Hochar, Lebanon, 1993
Cloudy - we got the end of the bottle. Huge burnt rubber nose. Loads
of fruit. Ends like a sherry. Perhaps too petrolly; one of my favourite
wines but not showing well tonight. 14%
£14.89