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I have just been to quite a big tasting of 2002 burgundy and all i can say is that it was one of the easier/nicest tastings that I have been to due to the high quality of the wines. Some of the producers there were: Billaud Simon Gerard Thomas Philippe Chavy JM Pillot Michel Bouzereau Daniel Rion Louis Carillon d'Angerville Boyer-Martenot Gerard Chavy JJ Girard Vincent Girardin Bertrand Ambroise Chandon de Briailles Jacques Cacheaux Louis Boillot Amiot Serville Rossignol Trapet Lucien Boillot If anyone would like any thoughts on any of the above let me know and I can try and fill you in best that I can.

There seem some fairly good collections out there. About time I start doing mine properly. Whilst lying in the bath this evening I forgot about a bottle (or rather half bottle) that I had squirreled away. It is a cask sample prior to bottling and the label says "Valdespino - Old Rum". For those who might not know Valdespino is a sherry producer. My old bosses were one of their agents and they did a bottling but all I know about the rum is that it spent about 40 years in sherry cask in Spain. It is without doubt the best rum that I have ever had. The sherry really adds a sweetness to it and gives real length and complexity. The nose is 60:40 sherry:rum. I am fairly sure that it is cask strength somewhere in the low 40%. I am sure purists would say that there is too much sherry but I just dig the flavours and wood that has been picked up. Glad that I started this thread as I might have "forgotten" this bottle

I might be able to get a few for you but wouldn't know how to get them into the US

Dwarnier, Another decent collection!! I might be banging on your door! Of the list 3 stand out: (1) Bundy Black - why oh why did you go for this? (2) Foxy's - what in God's name is this? (3) St. J Hors - what's this like as I almost grabbed a bottle earlier this week?

Not bad Marcus, not bad. I think that I might jump on Easyjet/RyanAir and bang down your door!! I know where you are coming from abou topening a bottle as soon as you get it through the door. Unfortuantely (a) my collection is much smaller and (b) the wife would not be so happy with so many bottles open and lying around the place. I have 20 or 30 bottles of whisky open and I never ever seem to finish a bottle. Do you find the same thing with yr rums?

For what it's worth, I've just been told that from 1st Feb, the Champenois are increasing their prices by about €1 (or for you unfortunate guys/dolls $1.25) a bottle. This is because of a small vintage!!

I've come across a litre bottle of this "aged rum" as it says on the label and believe that it might be quite good. Has anyone had this before and if so is it worth a go? PS It was bottles in Spain.

If you do not have too many bottles open it would be interesting to know which rums you have open and on the go at the moment: I've got open: Mount Gay Eclipse Mount Gay Extra Old Cockspur Cockspur VSOR Cruzan Single Barrel Angostura 1919 And some independent bottlings (whose names I would prefer not to divulge!) 26yo Jamaican 19yo Enmore 28yo Port Morant

Just had some Angostura 1919 (8yo) and thought that it was really quite nice. Quite a sweet palate with a moderately oaky finish. I think that once the bottle is finshed I will replace it.

I've seen the pamphlet and have to say that the tasting notes (for the previous bottling anyway) was one helluva lot of rubbish!! JM used to do our tasting notes for our whiskies but they were always a little convaluted that we had to re-write them.

Jason, I want to be bolder than you and say Bulgaria!! When I was working in Bordeaux my boss pulled out a bottle of 1955 Cabernet Sauvignon (nb pre-communist) that was one of the most memorable bottles I've ever had. This was about 1992/3. We drank it with a Bulgarian who was working in the lab for the vintage and he refused to believe that it was Bulgarian. A shame that past glories cannot be redisovered. (PS I have had some really nice wine from Uraguay)

I have only really had the Gruaud Larose 59 which is still very good and by no means over the hill yet. Comparing this one property to the few 1961s that I have had, I would say that I would go for the 59 every time. I am wondering whether the 1961s have rather taken the glory away from the 59s. As to half bottles, I have been lucky enough to have had a few 1964 Latour and this is still incredibly good.

Ruinart Rose is one of my favourites. I cannot agree with some of the posters here who think that Laurent Perrier NV Rose is good. Muton dressed as lamb. As for adding red wine to make a rose, does anyone know how often Buzy rouge is used or is the red wine from the Pinots used in the Champagne process? Also which is used, Noir, Meunier or both?

I always think that Escenzia tastes quite like honeyed rhubarb (accompanied with a bag of sugar). I love the really thick texture. I suppose balex is right saying that it is on the border of fruit juice/wine but there has been a small amount of fermentation. I know that some producers of Essencia (or however they want to spell it) had problems of refermentation due to the corks not being 100% sterile. Fortunately there wasn't a bill.

Right, it is now 5pm and I am feeling a little better although I am finding it tough. 10cl bottles is because production of Eszencia is measured in litres and I think retails for ove £60 here in the UK. I think that this one had 1% alcohol but to be honest i found the writing on the bottle too small to read! {EDIT: didn't read your message properly but now that I have my brain has closed down and don't quite get what you are asking } The Chablis GC Vaud 2000 - this was a little strange and very different from my tasting note of a month ago. Both occasions had a wonderful nose - cream and honey with a touch of peach/apricots. However in Nov the acidity was fantastic and woutwatering but last night it seemed to be lacking this edge. There was an MW present who is a great fan of B-S and his comment was that it was not a young wine anymore which is very different to the earlier version. Having said that both "versions" were buttery, spicy and a little toasty with some tropicla fruit accompanied by a really good length. I would discount last nights one as the tasting in November had Mr Billaud-Simon present and overall I would rate it very highly

Had a little session last night Pol Roger NV Brut Chablis Grand Cru Vaudasir 2000, Billaud Simon 2001 Argiano Rosso 1998 Argiano Brunello 2000 Argiano Suolo 2001 Noemia de Patagonia 2000 Solengo 1990 Pichon Comtesse 1970 Rebello Valente 1996 Tokaji Eszencia (10cl bottle) as there were only 4½ drinkers I am this morning incapable of give any tasting notes and don't even want to think about wine. Suffice to say that the best 2 were the 2001 Noemia and 2000 Solengo. Can't really compare the Eszencia as this is extraordinary.

Agree with Mark Som that the 99s are a more attractive proposition. Having said that the 99s aren't ready to drink yet IMO and the 97s are very nice now and very under-rated. I would think that it might be worth a punt and it should be good drinking for a few years yet. The one that I have had quite a lot of is Cos which I think is a very good effort. Has anyone noticed that a lot of the 1997s all taste a little alike (from the same appellations)?

If you want the king of sweet wines, you should try and get some Tokay Essencia. I had 4 bottles - one of which I had before my wedding (both the night before and the morning of) and 2 of the other bottles have been open for about 6 years. I believe taht one of them has about 700 grams a litre of sugar which makes even Yquem look a little "dry". PS This is not the same as Aszu Essencia

Can you get the vintage Lillet in the US?

This one comes down to experience (ie having in the past seen wines of a similar fruit/tannin/acidity develop over the years). If you don't have the confidence, the best person to ask this is the producer, who should be able to know how long it will last. This information is not a secret and the wine merchant should be able to get this for you. Here in the Uk we all tend to keep our red wines too long, but the sweet wines and fortified are much better lasters. Sweet wines tend to last longer because of the residual sugar. The problem with tannic red wines is that by the time the tannins have become nice and soft the fruit might have died out. There was some concern over some of the 1988 vintage from Bordeaux.

I have been fortunate enough to have spent a short amount of time in Tokay and must say that it is one of the most unspoilt wine making regions I have ever visited. I still remember going down into a cellar cut deep into the hills. The ceiling was quite low but it twisted and turned for 100s of meters (having originally been built to hide I think from the marauding Turks). Lovely people, lovely wine.

Thanks for the info on the sweet Loires. Madeira - yes it is a long time! By law a vintage madeira has to spend 20 years in cask and even the Colieto (sp??) I think have to spend 10 years in wood. I will confess to not knowing too much about the 2000 vintage in Tokay. If you are interested I could ask a friend of mine whose father has a property there. Even if it only a half decent vintage, the wines should be able to stand the test of time. Coop, I have recently had the Palmer 82 and can tell you that this is not yet past it and has improved quite a lot in the past few years. Then againa I suppose it all depends how it has been stored as I know that the cellar where this came from can keep wines in pristine condition for decades.

Never had the "pleasure" of having had a Napa CS sparkler. Are they on par with Australias "wonderful" sparkling shiraz?

I suppose the classic wine for long term keeping is Port but again the 2000 vintage is quite pricy! As mentioned Bordeaux is starting at a hefty premium but some of the Sauternes might be affordable. If you want some alternatives that shouldn't be "too" expensive (and last for a long time) why not try: Madeira Coteaux de Layon/Chaume Vouvray Tokay Champagne (??) Of course the better wines will have more chance to stand the test of time. Many wines these days are made to be approachable at a young age as this is what the market demands. Gone are the days when your Bordeaux would have been "undrinkable" until it was 10-15 years old! The other way of looking at things is to cellar some wines from 2000 for say 10-15 years (until they are at their peak) and then sell them and replace them with something else (although this misses the point about the birth year)

Do you think that it is wrong for an importer (who is not the agent) to buy wine off a consumer on the secondary market (whichever country that might be in) and then sell it wherever? As for Bordeaux, antiquated- perhaps, collusion- yes, but no problems with a gray market. The fact that you can only buy from a negociant in France rather than directly from the chateaux is in my view anti-competitive and something the EU could easily sort out should they so wish.