Steven Spurrier: Fine wines to drink and keep

Decanter’s long-standing consultant editor hand-picks fine wines for drinking now and recommends others to lay down in the cellar.

From the cellar

Dinner for Sarah Kemp at Brooks’s

A ‘save the date’ note for 26 September last year from Christopher Burr MW, to join him and his wife for a dinner in honour of Decanter’s recently retired managing director Sarah Kemp, was written in stone. Wines were provided by the guests, which included Sarah’s husband Brian St Pierre and son Patrick, 16.

I brought my own Bride Valley, Blanc de Blancs 2014, which Lafite’s Christophe Salin said reminded him of Champagnes from the grand cru village of Cramant where he was born. With the pan-fried foie gras came Royal Tokaji’s Nyulászó First Growth 6 Puttonyos 2008, crackling with energy, then a superb Drouhin, Clos des Mouches Blanc 2010 in jeroboam – the last vintage the company bottled in this impressive size.Two Grands Echézeaux reds followed: a Drouhin 2006 and Domaine d’Eugénie’s 2009 from magnums, then a splendidly youthful Château Lafite Rothschild 1985 – all matching the roast grouse.To finish dinner, the Léon Beyer, Quintessence Pinot Gris Sélection de Grains Nobles 1998 was an Arabian Nights glass of perfection and my wine of the evening. As no one wanted to leave after a great meal, Burr ordered two bottles of Warre’s 1985 Port, marking the year Kemp joined Decanter, and seeing us late into the night.

For the cellar

Vasse Felix, Tom Cullity 2013

Vasse Felix is Margaret River’s founding wine estate, set up by Dr Thomas Brendan Cullity (1925-2008) in 1967. Among his first plantings were Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec vines, the first Vasse Felix commercial vintage being 1972. David Gregg joined as winemaker a year later and in 1984 bought the estate from the Cullity family.

The Holmes à Court family became owners in 1987, and Paul Holmes à Court the director in 2004 and sole owner in 2008. The icon Cabernet blend Heytesbury was created in 1995, and Tom Cullity replaces it as a single-vineyard blend from the same Home Vineyard, created by Virginia Willcock, Vasse Felix winemaker since 2006 and Winemaker of the Year at the 2017 Australian Women in Wine Awards.

Willcock was in London recently to present her wines. We tasted Heytesbury 1996 (94pts, drink 2018-2030), 2008 (94, 2018-2035), 2010 (95, 2020-2040) and 2012 (96, 2018-2040). She also presented the new Tom Cullity 2013 – ‘the most significant wine I’ve made in my life’: 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Malbec and 4% Petit Verdot, beautifully fragrant with a touch of Lafite violets, superb texture with polished firmness and perfect tannins. A true icon wine, it is almost understated, so subtle, with a magnificent future (97, 2019-2045).

The Spurrier selection