2023 is drawing to a close, so the team at Farr Vintners have once again looked back on some of our favourite wines this year.
As before, these are not necessarily the most expensive or coveted bottles we have opened in the last 12 months, but ones that have stood out from the crowd. Occasion, company and quality in the glass are most important. There are of course some very rare, unicorn wines including Mouton Rothschild 1947 and a Madeira from 1834, but there are too esoteric, young and vivacious wines that can still be bought and don't break the bank.
Imogen Taylor writes...
1983 Cornas Auguste Clape - it was my parents 40th wedding anniversary this year, which presented a perfect opportunity for a party with a number of ‘83s. Ahead of the main event, my father deemed it necessary to do a little quality control on the bottle with the lowest fill. With suitably restrained expectations, the fragrance here absolutely floored us. So intensely umami – almost mushroom duxelle-like, with bitter orange, clove, and dried red currants providing just enough spice and fruit.
1931 Toro Albala PX Convento Seleccion - Tasted at 67 Pall Mall at a mini vertical of pioneering single cask, single vintage producer Toro Albala. I love sherry, and yet have never quite got my teeth into PX. This bottle, kept in barrel for a remarkable 84 years prior to bottling in June 2015 was a serious highlight for me. With 403g R.S/L, the viscosity was extraordinary, with the tiniest of sips persisting for minutes.
2012 Sadie Family Wines Kokerboom - A reminder of quite how exceptional old vine Semillon can be, and why everyone should be paying attention to South African wine. Drunk in April at a riotous long lunch with a motley bunch of international wine friends, this was still a baby, with intense preserved lemon, greengage, quince and creamy tarragon-led and lemon thyme herbal tones.
Joss Fowler writes...
2022 Chateau Latour - Commercially irrelevant as it won’t be released for years and most likely at a price beyond my means but this had me convinced that there is a telephone line to God in Pauillac, and it sits somewhere in the Clos of Latour. Like a spiced up and raspy version of the perfect, elysian 2009.
Over-performer of the year: 2005 Hauts de Smith - This wine is just plain banging. Quite a find, and opened chiefly to work out if it was still any good or not. Perfectly mature claret with that inimitable minty edge. I wish there was more.
2014 Puligny Montrachet Les Referts, Bachelet Monnot - A reminder that when it’s on form, white Burgundy is peerless. Pin-sharp, vibrant Chardonnay with the tension that could only be Puligny.
And, whilst this wine might have multiple entries: 2001 Yquem - Sublime and a wine of the Gods. Still with the energy and dynamis of the man it was opened in honour of.
Hugo Fenwick writes...
2007 Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay - Opened to celebrate a family friend’s birthday, the first sniff and taste illustrates why this winery is so revered for its whites. They are certainly giving Burgundy a run for its money. An incredibly impressive wine with more than a decade of age. I’ve already lined some up for our family Christmas and being half Kiwi myself, it’s great to be able to fly the flag for such a top New Zealand producer. What a wine - delicious!
Tom Hudson writes...
1978 La Tache, D.R.C.- How can the fuss about and prices of DRC wines ever be justified…?! If you’ve been lucky enough to drink La Tache 1978 on top form, all is explained ! Interestingly this bottle had a level 4cm from cork and the colour was pale but any doubts ended there. The bouquet from the decanter quite literally filled the room with an ethereal and heady perfume. An utterly sublime bottle of Burgundy with such phenomenal complexity, intensity and balance. Unforgettable. It was the perfect pairing for roast teal and woodcock, fresh from the Western Isles of Scotland and all thanks to the enormous generosity of a friend who likes nothing more than to share the best of what he has in his fantastic cellar.
1834 Malvasia Reserva Velha Madeira, Barbeito - Isn’t it the traditional rule about old Maderia that you have to decant it a day in advance for every 10 years of age…? So that would have meant opening and decanting this bottle 19 days in advance of pouring ! As it happened it was carefully decanted 3 days in advance and stored in a wine fridge before serving. It was hard to predict what it might be like; completely over the hill certainly being a possible outcome ! On the contrary. Not only was this the best wine served on the day (in august company) but probably the most exceptional wine I have tasted and enjoyed for years. A clean, rich, tawny colour like Jacobean oak. A bouquet which had so many layers there was something new to be found every time you went back. The concentration of flavour and texture on the palate was quite remarkable and yet it somehow retained freshness, verve and zing. What Michael Broadbent would call “rapier like acidity” cutting through the core. And then the boundless length ! Lingering quite literally for minutes on the palate afterwards. Sweet and yet so clean. It almost possessed its own electricity ! A truly sensational bottle.
Stephen Browett writes...
1947 Mouton Rothschild – This is a wine that I’ve not tasted for a very long time. I doubt that I ever will again. We wondered if, at 76 years old, it might be on the decline. But far from it. It still has a dark colour and the most extraordinary nose of cassis, eucalyptus and mint. This is archetypal Mouton and blind I’m sure we’d have been guessing at least 30-40 years younger. A sensational Pauillac from the golden era of Mouton. Everything that I have tasted from here between 1945 and 1962 has been great and this vintage comes very close to matching the legendary 1945 and 1949 produced at this great château.
1997 Pouilly Fuissé La Roche, Domaine Guffens-Heynen – This rarity from Jean-Marie’s cellar was served at Noble Rot Mayfair alongside a great Chevalier Montrachet from Domaine Leflaive, but it didn’t feel in any way like a lesser wine. The nose was just like crème brûlée and this carried through to the rich and creamy-textured palate. There were also notes of grapefruit and hazlenuts. Despite the richness, there was a fine balancing, lemony acidity very much present. A sensational bottle of mature white Burgundy from the Master.
1999 Côte Rôtie, Jamet (magnum) – This magnum was what Jamet is all about and tasting more youthful than a bottle tried last year. The unmistakable Syrah nose of bacon fat, black olive tapenade and saddle leather was followed by a gloriously spicy palate with hints of barbeque smoke, grouse and black pepper. Rich yet bright and vibrant. This was one of the greatest wines that I have tasted from the Northern Rhône.
Oliver East writes...
2013 Cristal – Utterly perfect. Incredibly balance combined with power and weight. The last decade of so of Cristal releases have been quite exceptional but 2013 and 2008 of course set a benchmark for the whole Champagne region!
2003 20 year on dinner - A very refreshing surprise. As we met with friends from the UK winetrade to check in on the solar vintage of 2003. For a long time, it has been a vintage that most people talk down and rightly so in many cases and the summer of 2003 was unyieldingly warm. Hot days, hot nights and the wines often showed it. Some had a burnt characteristic, some we just too much. Quite some surprise then to try 13 bottles from Champagne, Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Loire, the Rhône and Napa - even Gravner’s skin contact Ribolla from magnum was fresh and interesting. The highlight of the tasting was the amazing 2003 Forts de Latour. From day one, this wine has been extraordinary and now 20 years on, its still an exceptional glass of wine. Notable mentions go to a remarkable 2003 Cornas, Clape and a rather special Batard Montrachet, Leflaive – no sign of the vintages heat challenge here.
1978 Rioja Gran Reserva Blanco, Castillo Ygay - The superlatives are endless. So complex, so elegant and a real treat. What’s more, the wine remained in excellent condition in the bottle 4 days after opening and perhaps even improved. A super-rare wine and its not difficult to see why Luis Gutierrez got so excited by the most recent release of this wine (1986 vintage). Apparently, the next release will be 1998 but we might have to wait 5 years or so before they release that! Wine of the Year? Absolutely!
Thomas Parker MW writes...
1997 Côte Rôtie Côte Brune, Jamet - Jamet's 1997 Côte Rôtie is the wine that started my obsession with the Northern Rhône. When a very generous customer of Farr Vintners suggested this bottle of the extremely rare Côte Brune from his cellar as part of a stellar line-up over lunch, I couldn't resist. This is as good as it gets when seeking this style of wine. Aromatics to die for, blending fruit and wholebunch spice with Syrah's meaty yet ethereal character. Intense, yet weightless, and at a perfect point of maturity, an absolutely stunning wine.
1982 Trevallon Rouge (magnum) - Bridging the gap between Bordeaux and the Northern Rhône, Trevallon stands alone. The wines can lean closer to one region or the other depending on the vintage, but always have a solar depth that showcases their Provençal origin. The late Eloi Durbach produced singular wines, full of character which can at times hint at rusticity but at their best are both hedonistic and cerebral. This magnum of 1982, drank as part of a four vintage vertical including 1989, 1986 and 1990, was magnificent. Certainly benefiting from the large format, it still has a density and sweetness of fruit from a great and warm vintage, but has too the meaty, smoky complexity of Syrah and the cool, cedary tones of Cabernet. Unique and brilliant.
1947 Mouton Rothschild - Stephen sums up this bottle well above. The more I think about this bottle the higher it ranks in my all-time wines. 76 years old yet deep, alluring and full of life. Often the oldest wines are more interesting than they are great, but in a line-up that included Moutons 1986 and (very underrated) 1962, a vertical of Noel Verset Cornas, Krug 1988, a trio of rare red Burgundies from 1985, Yquem 1975 and more, it still rose above the crowd.
1989 Pouilly Fuissé Dixième Vendange, Guffens-Heynen from jeroboam - I couldn't miss this off my list. Large format, pristine, iconic Guffens Chardonnay from my birth year, opened at the domaine with the great man himself in very good company. A wine that would put most lofty Côte de Beaunes to shame.
