Jason and I went on our first wine tasting without our late father David Delmonico. I think we did okay. So I decided that I would share a few thoughts with you on the wines we tried out. (This is also the first ever blog I have written!)

We met in London on a fine crisp day and got to the venue mid morning, giving us plenty of time to sample the wines. Sensible!

We kicked off at the top table with a pink champagne from Fourney pinot noir with some chardonnay a super brut rose, crisp with lively bubbles, strawberry tones, lovely bubbly that we needs to be in our bins for summer 2010.

Always on the look out for a new bubbly we tried out a rather nice rose (again) from Collalto, a nice not too sweet flowery sparkling prosecco which we hope to introduce to you.

Having fortified ourselves we moved on to the main tables & started with the Muscadet La Hallopiere from the Loire. A white wine with a flowery aroma, easy to drink at any time. Quincy, Touraine & Sancerre still remain good quality and a delight to drink.

The beaujolais Fleurie 2008, Brouilly 2008 & the Morgon 2008 & Gamay all continue to deliver consistant flavours & colour.

The white Chablis retaines its usual robust flavours & we always like the Moreau Pere Et Fils, rich with orchard fruits, a fine burgundy which we will no doubt continue to stock along with the fine Mercurey 2008 which Jason and I both agreed was pretty good. The Puligny Montrachet were sample was an excellent example of great wine from a small grower, it was simply ....gorgeous, while the Saint Aubin 1st Cru is a punchy wine with terrific flavours & Jason was bowled over with the Maranges 1st Cru

By this time it was definately time for a break and food. Lunch was supplied at this venue & a top notch lunch it was too, so thanks from Jason and myself. No respite, lunch was served with an excellent selection of wines including Sancerre Blanc 2008, Massaysa Rose & Chablis.

After lunch we tackled the good solid reds of Bordeaux.Chateau Liversan, Chateau Siran & Madiran. From the Lebanon the good dark coloured massaya and one of our all time favourites the italian Barolos & Argiano incl top of the range Suolo and Solengo which were seriously good.

I could have lingered over the Italian wines a little longer but time was marching on. We made headway towards the sweet wines to finish the day off.

The Muscat de Rivesaltes was gorgeous, not too sweet & full of flavours. But the Tokaj selection was a winner. the late harvest was beautifull & can be drunk at any time, the sweeter ones are ones to sup after a meal, from sweet to sweeter with the sweetest having a super long after taste. All these Tokaj have wonderful aromas and are sublime if you like a sweet dessert wine.

As we left the venue Jason and I had a quick slurp of the Armagnac from Chateau Montifaud. Beautiful. Ask Jason for a bottle, its on the shelf.

We had a good day, sampled some gorgeous wines and came away with lots of thoughts and ideas for 2010

Suzanne's Wine Tasting Blog
March 2010