Take a look at the wines Decanter's editorial team has been drinking in the past week.
Wines we’ve been drinking:
Quinta do Feital, Dorado Superior Alvarinho, Minho, Portugal 2005
A really individual wine from old, ungrafted, organic vines in the Monção sub region of Vinho Verde. Most Alvarinhos are drunk young, but this proves that you can age them more than successfully.
I enjoyed this with my sister visiting from Australia over an incredible meal at Yashin Sushi, just off London’s High Street Kensington. Like a mature vintage Champagne without the bubbles, it was complex, mineral and yeasty, packed with apple skin, grapefruit and peachy notes. (Tina Gellie, associate editor) £23.85-£25.90, Bottle Apostle, Hedonism, Indigo Wines
Clerc Milon 2000, Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Pauillac, Bordeaux 2000
It’s not everyday that your Dad turns 90, so I thought I’d open a few special bottles for the lunchtime celebrations with all three generations of the family gathered in London. The wines included Taittinger’s Comtes de Champagne and a couple of half bottles of Yquem, which he used to drink in the 50s at Christmas when Yquem was an absolute bargain.
But arguably the wine which everyone enjoyed the most was the Clerc Milon 2000. It was the first time I’d tried it having purchased a case en primeur. Happily, it more than lived up to expectations. Not big but classically restrained with cedar, lead pencil, dry but sweetly fruited cassis, deft tannins and bright acidity. Just a touch of bottle age, this elegant claret will be very good for a few years yet.
And it went perfectly with my sister-in-law’s ox-cheek stew. Memorable wine for a memorable day. Alcohol 12.5%. From £67.50 at Cadman Fine Wines / Fine & Rare Wines. (John Stimpfig, content director)
Emiliana, Coyam, Central Valley, Chile 2001
Passing through London, talented winemaker Alvaro Espinoza hosted a vertical tasting of this biodynamically produced, trailblazing red.
This, the first vintage, was a stunner. A blend of Merlot, Carmenere, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, with a dash of Mourvèdre, it was still fresh as a daisy, round and harmonious with plenty of dark berry fruit and coffee complexity.
Coyam is a favourite of London sommelier Ronan Sayburn MS, who has listed the wine wherever he has worked since he first tasted it in 2002 in Chile – previously at Gordon Ramsay’s three Michelin-starred London restaurant, and most recently at new members’ club, 67 Pall Mall. ‘When you taste it, you just know you’re in Chile,’ he says. Alcohol: 14.4%. Agent: Boutinot (Amy Wislocki, managing editor)
