Savennieres and others on a Friday night

Some good friends came round tonight to celebrate one of their birthdays. It was a really nice evening.

Of late, I'm becoming acutely aware that life's richness lies not in things but in people - friends and family. So it's nice that we've been able to entertain a bit over the holiday season. In the last few days we've also had a very enjoyable visit from Fiona's sister and her family, who were visiting London from Devon. This was particularly successful because their two oldest kids are teenagers and our boys relate really well to them.

But back to wine. I've been enjoying a Loire Chenin over the last few days. Domaine du Closel 'La Jalousie' Savvenieres 2005 is reasonably serious, with complex notes of straw, herbs, honey and a bit of cheesiness. There's really high acidity, too, which keeps it fresh. At 14% alcohol, this isn't a shy wine, but it works really well with food, and in particular hard cheese. It's the sort of wine that will continue to evolve over many years. But we also had some other wines with dinner:

Leo de la Gaffeliere 2004 Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux
This is one of those wines that needs to be decanted, because initially it's a bit tight, savoury and dumb. A few hours after opening it's showing perfumed, leafy, sappy red fruits with an attractive palate that combines a savoury spiciness with some leafy, earthy tannins. A digestible, attractive claret with the potential for mid-term ageing. 87/100

Cosme Palacio Cosecha 2005 Rioja, Spain
A very attractive modern-styled Rioja, which combines ripe dark fruits with a spicy, tarry, woody edge to create a more-ish, rather savoury wine that tastes quite delicious. 88/100

Teusner 'Albert' 2003 Barossa Valley, Australia
An old vine Shiraz, this shows a sweetly fruited aromatic nose with a bit of liqueur-like richness. The palate is sweetly fruited but has a savoury, spicy edge and some firm tannins under the rich, pure fruit. Some alcoholic heat on the finish. Attractive, but not quite pulling together as a whole. Not as good as I'd expected it to be. 89/100