31 not out

Posted on | August 1, 2005

On 4 May 2005 I celebrated my 31st birthday. However, I had to wait until 7 May - a Saturday! - to have a celebratory drink. I was joined by my friends Lucy Rundle, Linden Wilkie and his girlfriend Aiko. It was a long night…
We began with Krug rosè - easily the finest rosè Champagne that any of us had ever tasted, with beautiful richness of flavour and perfect balance. It’s Lucy’s favourite wine.
Next came a bottle of 1997 Weingut Prager Gruner Veltliner Smaragd, mature but still incredibly intense and acidic, and quite hard work by itself. We hadn’t started eating yet.
With Lucy’s main course - some lightly spiced meat balls - we drank three excellent and very different reds. Linden kindly donated a bottle 1970 Château Montrose to the proceedings, which - for a largely unsung Bordeaux vintage - showed quite well, though it was a bit tough - old-fashioned to our youthful palates, I suppose. A 1999 Domaine Chandon de Briailles Pernand Vergelesses 1er Cru rouge Ile des Vergelesses was outstanding. This has been a favourite red Burgundy of mine for a long time and was the first wine that I ever bought en primeur. It has a long way to go yet but even now, in this awkward, closed-up period, it is a beautiful drink.
The 2001 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill was not really to my taste - Californian Cabs rarely are - though Linden and Aiko admired it for its elegance and minerality.
The next wine was a real treat - 2003 Quinta do Noval Nacional. I have had Nacional on two or three occasions and it never fails to shine. The concentration and depth of flavour, even in such a young vintage Port, were amazing. Linden took home the dregs and finished them two days later - it was still fresh as a daisy, apparently. As a comparison, we also had a bit of 2003 Quinta do Noval. Not in the same league as the Nacional, unsurprisingly.
The final wine of the evening was a half bottle of 1999 Château Rieussec. This was not a great year for Sauternes but - having served the wine blind - Linden was utterly convinced that he was drinking Yquem. (I pointed out to him that I could never afford to give him Yquem, even on my birthday). It was indeed outstanding - rich, elegant and with plenty of balancing acidity. A bloody good wine and fantastic value for money.
A hard night’s work, then, but I look forward to seeing what my 32nd birthday wines might be.

Stuart George

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