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wines at The Sampler
Tasting some great wines at one of London's most interesting wine
shops
I’ve written here before about London
wine merchant The Sampler. As well as being a wine shop with a
superbly chosen range, they were pioneers in bringing Enomatic
sampling machines into the London wine retail scene. The idea is
that customers can come in and put money on a card, and then spend
that trying wines in tasting pours of three sizes (the smallest of
which is quite adequate to get a good impression of the wine). This
is the current roster of sampling wines: www.thesampler.co.uk/store/
Each Christmas they put on some rather
special wines for tasting, which they describe as ‘icon’ level.
I went to the Islington shop to try them out. To taste all these
wines will set you back £320.62, but that is considerably cheaper
than the cost of buying them all (£6579).
Château Lafite Rothschild 1985
Pauillac, Bordeaux
Finely aromatic and mineral with some earthy hints. This is
really expressive and balanced on the nose with subtle cedar, gravel
and plum fruit notes. The palate is supple and expressive with some
green leafy hints and elegant structure. Nicely mineral. A light,
balanced wine that’s drinking well now. 94/100 (£755 The Sampler,
or £37.75 for a tasting measure)
Château Lafite Rothschild 2001
Pauillac, Bordeaux
Taut, smoky, spicy nose with roast coffee notes and savoury,
gravelly aromas. The palate is savoury and taut with blackberry and
blackcurrant fruit as well as some earthy structure and more of
those gravelly notes. Backward at the moment with focused fruit.
Correct but not as enticing as you might expect. 93/100 (£970 The
Sampler, £48.50 for a tasting pour)
Château Margaux 1983 Bordeaux
Sweetly aromatic nose of cedar, tar, spice and cherry fruit.
Showing some evolution with a seductive side as well as some
savouriness. The palate is fresh and restrained with earthy, tarry,
cedary notes, as well as some sweet fruit notes. Showing quite a bit
of evolution, with a drying finish. This bottle, according to a
fellow taster, isn’t as good as this wine can be. 91/100 (£550
The Sampler, £27.50 for a tasting pour)
Château Petrus 1975 Pomerol,
Bordeaux
Beautifully framed aromatic nose with focused cherry fruits and
notes of herbs, earth and old wood. Nicely complex. The palate shows
good concentration with savoury, taut herb-tinged berry and cherry
fruit. It’s really fine and expressive, yet still has a lot of
tannic structure. Firm with bold structure and focus, as well as
some mineral notes. A striking wine indeed. 95/100 (£2100 The
Sampler, £96.67 a tasting sample)
Domaine de la Romanée Conti
Romanée
St Vivant Grand Cru 1976 Burgundy
Very pale in colour with some orange notes. Remarkable aromatics
on the nose: sweet cherries, spice, a hint of earth and a suggestion
of some medicinal notes, but it’s really pure and beguiling. The
palate is dense and fine with good acidity and a citrussy character
with some faint red cherry notes. There’s a bit of savoury grip
under the elegant fruitiness. Fully mature, but a distinctive and
immensely interesting wine. 96/100 (£635 The Sampler, £31.75 for a
pour)
Federico Paternina Rioja Gran Reserva
1928 Spain
Sweet, spicy, warm elegant nose with cherry fruit, herbs and
complex woody notes. Very attractive with a citrus peel character.
The palate is dense, elegant and spicy with lovely bright berry
fruits (still!) and warm spiciness. Lots of life left in this wine
which has aged beautifully. Elegant and expressive. 96/100 (£300
The Sampler, £15 for a pour)
Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon 1990
Northern Rhône,
France
Complex nose of spice and herbs with fresh cherry fruit still to
the fore. The palate is beautifully fresh and expressive with bright
berry and cherry fruit as well as fresh peppery notes. Nice
precision here, but it is still quite firm and tannic with a drying
finish. A fresh expression of Hermitage. 93/100 (£450 The Sampler,
£22.50 for a pour)
Weinbach Quintessence de Grains Nobiles
Tokay Pinot Gris Cuvée
d’Or 2000 Alsace
Gold/bronze colour. Lovely sweet honey and apricot nose with
lively spiciness and some notes of fresh hay and orange peel. The
palate is viscous and concentrated with bold flavours of wax,
apricot, citrus peel, grape skin and syrup. Wonderful concentration
and a long sweet finish. Memorable. 96/100 (£180 The Sampler, £9
for a pour)
Château Rieussec
Sauternes 1967 Bordeaux
Gold/bronze colour. Complex, beguiling nose of sweet citrus peel
and peach, with some pith, grape and wax notes, too. The palate has
a savouriness to it as well as the sweetness and shows lanolin,
herb, lemon and apricot notes. Still fully alive and drinking
beautifully now, with a really long finish. 95/100 (£250 The
Sampler, £12.50 a pour)
Penfolds Grandfather Tawny Port 1945
Australia
Totally remarkable. Orange/brown in colour with a super-complex nose
of spice, fugde, raisins and treacle. The palate is immensely
concentrated with lively notes of old casks, leather, spice, raisins
and citrus fruit. Amazingly alive and complex with an eternal
finish. Impossible to spit. 97/100 (£389 The Sampler, £19.45 a
pour)
See
also:
The
Sampler Icon tasting 2011
The
sampler Icon tasting 2012
The
Sampler Icon tasting 2013
The
sampler Icon tasting 2013
Published
12/11, wines tasted 12/11
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