Berry Bros in Belfast

[djewesbury]

Tonight, Anne McHale of BBR presents a tutored tasting of Burgundy, Bordeaux and Rhone here in Belfast. (Anne is from Belfast herself.) I will post a report here.

[flash_uk]

Have fun!

[djewesbury]

Have fun!

Thank you! We had a beautiful new venue in the top floor of the new MAC building and the tasting was absolutely excellent. Proper report follows tomorrow hopefully - but the 3rd wine of LaTour was a bonus.

[djewesbury]

Before I post my report, I should point out that Anne (who at 34 is very young to be an MW) is a good contact to have in BBR. She works mainly in the education branch (teaching in the room where we attend the Port Walk). She offered a tour around the premises whenever we're in London again. I've never seen the Napoléon Cellar so would be intrigued.

[DRT]

It is certainly worth doing the tour. AHB and I did it a few years ago and it was very interesting. Never did see Napoleon though.

Sounds like you had an interesting evening.

[djewesbury]

I'm only getting a chance to sit down and write this up now. We had an excellent evening in the company of Anne (her father initiated the Wine Appreciation Society in Queen's University about 40 years ago and is still going strong) and I would reiterate my advice to anyone to contact her if you're travelling to London and interested in a tour - Justin, perhaps worth doing next time you're in town?
The theme of the evening was Burgundy, Bordeaux & Rhône. There were three flights of three, poured blind, with each revealed after tasting and some information given about the wines, wineries and winemakers by Anne. We had some very good wines; my personal favourites are shown in this colour:

1. Flight 1 (all under £20/btl)
2. 2012 Berry's Extra Ordinary Claret, Château Villa Bel Air
   Dark purple, highly tannic, shades of new wood, aniseed; rather astringent. 50% Merlot, 40% CS, 10% CF.
3. 2011 Morgon, Côte du Py, Château Grange Cochard, Beaujolais
   Very light bodied, fresh, dryness follows later.
4. 2011 St Joseph, Domaine Pichon, N. Rhône
   Very woody, with a slight sourness, earthy, with a hint of barnyard or forest floor; leather and clove linger.
   
   Flight 2 (all 2009s)
   All wines in this flight were very good.
5. 2009 Monthélie Duresses, 1er cru, Bouchard Père et Fils, Burgundy
   About 50% opaque, a slight orange ruby, some pale bricking. No nose at first (though it warmed up to be quite beefy). Cigar box and tobacco notes, tight and dry at the finish. Good stuff.
6. 2009 L'Âme Soeur Seyssuel, Domaine Michel et Stéphanie Ogier, N. Rhône
   Dark ruby. Very heavily perfumed. Powdery tannins, some taste of parma violets. Acidity and barnyard.
7. 2009 Pauillac de Latour, Château Latour
   Very deep and opaque. Fabulous: meaty, big. That's all I wrote. It's not a great bargain, at £63, but it's a Latour, and it was a great pleasure to taste it.
   
   Flight 3
8. 2008 Berry's Gevrey-Chambertin, Domaine Rossignol-Trapet, Burgundy, France
   Brick colour. Very acidic nose, juicy rather than fruity. Rather past it.
9. 2009 Rasteau Violettes, Domaine la Soumade, S. Rhône
   Acid and light, quite meaty in the nose. Cheesy and sour, very very tannic. Not enjoyed.
10. 2002 Château Haut-Bages Liberal, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac
    Slight bricking, brown to ruby. Excellent. Light, balanced, beautiful acid, rather meaty, sharpness lifts it wonderfully. Wine of the night.

I enjoyed most of the wines, but the two Bordeaux in the latter flights were the best by far. The 02 Haut-Bâges was a clear winner over the Latour third wine, at almost half the price (£35 from BBR).
Good fun.

[AW77]

That's an interesting report. You really seem to prefer Bordeaux over Burgundy.

[djewesbury]

There were some good Burgundies; but yes, this time round the claret did it for me.