It's not often that I get a chance to combine my two jobs but, as owner of Farr Vintners and co-owner of Crystal Palace Football Club, there are sometimes excuses to mix Football and Wine. The recent fantastic achievement of Crystal Palace FC - finishing in 11th place in the Premier League - was certainly deserving of a special celebration. Then we had further good news when our manager, Tony Pulis, won the Barclay's Premier League Manager of the Season Award. To put this into context, 11th in the top division is the second highest finish in the 109 year history of CPFC and 4 years ago the club was heading for bankruptcy and was one goal away from being relegated to League One (the 3rd division of English football).
Tony Pulis at Chez Bruce
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We decided to organise a celebratory lunch at South London's finest restaurant - Chez Bruce - and I came up with the idea of drinking wines from years that also featured special events in the life of Tony Pulis, from 2013 back to his year of birth, 1958.
In the restaurant's private dining room, 14 of us tasted our way through 55 years in 3 hours last Friday afternoon. The wines were accompanied by some outstanding food cooked by Bruce Poole himself. Guests at the lunch included Tony with his assistants Keith Millen and Gerry Francis (former England captain), 3 of the owners of the club, Gary Issott, who manages the Academy and Eagles legend Mark Bright - one of the club's greatest ever players.
Crystal Palace Team Photo at Chez Bruce
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The wine list was as follows:
2013 - Riesling 'Bannockburn' Central Otago, Felton Road, South Island , New Zealand.
2013 - Tony appointed manager of Crystal Palace on 23rd November
2011 - Puligny Montrachet Premier Cru 'Sous le Puits', Maison Verget, Burgundy, France.
2011 - Tony leads Stoke City to the FA Cup Final and a place in the Europa League
2008 - Puligny Montrachet Premier Cru 'Les Folatières', Domaine Sauzet, Burgundy, France.
2008 - Tony takes Stoke City into the Premier League for the first time in their history.
1988 - Duluc de Branaire Ducru and Chateau Pichon Longueville Lalande, Bordeaux, France.
1988 - Tony's daughter Stephanie is born. Tony plays for Bournemouth.
1985 - Chateau Lynch Bages, Bordeaux and Chateau de Beaucastel, Chateauneuf du Pape, France.
1985 - Tony's daughter Laura is born. Tony plays for Newport County.
1984 - Rivesaltes, Riveyrac, Vin Doux Naturel, Roussillon, France.
1984 - Tony's son Anthony is born, Tony Players for Bristol Rovers and Newport County.
1982 - Chateaux Latour à Pomerol, Léoville Poyferré, Grand Puy Lacoste and Talbot, Bordeaux.
1982 - Tony and Debbie are married. Tony plays for Happy Valley and Bristol Rovers
1958 - Rivesaltes, Domaine de Lacresse, Vin Doux Naturel
1958 - Tony is born on the 16th January at Pillgwenlly, Newport, South Wales.
Steve Parish, Tony Pulis and Phil Alexander
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Felton Road's vineyards are believed to be the Southern-most in the World and their distance from the Equator is even further than that of Mosel Valley at the other end of the Earth. This is New Zealand's only non-maritime vineyard region and cold winters and warm summers make this an ideal area for growing Pinot Noir and Riesling. This 2013 is very much in the German style and has only 9% alcohol. It reminded me of a good Kabinett wine with lots of lime juice notes, lovely freshness and a touch of residual sugar. The perfect aperitif on the first properly sunny day of the year.
The 2011 Puligny Sous Le Puits is a classic Verget wine from Jean-Marie Guffens. The colour is fairly golden with good viscosity but there is a great seam of minerality and acidity running through it. There is a touch of new oak that is not over-intrusive and flavours of mango, melon, apple and peach with a twist of citrus peel. Very well balanced with an ideal blend of weight, intensity and racy freshness. A fine white Burgundy that is good to drink now - or will develop well over the next 5 years.
The line-up of wines
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The 2008 Puligny Folatières from Sauzet is, for me, at its peak and was showing very well. At 6 years of age this has developed very nicely and is now nutty, rich and complex. The ripeness of the fruit and impressive density are well-balanced by good acidity. Rich but bright, this is a fine example of Premier Cru white Burgundy.
The 1988 Chateau Duluc was still alive which, I suppose, is an achievement in itself for Branaire Ducru's second wine at 26 years of age. This bottle was recently released from the cellars of the Chateau and has a brick red colour with an orange/brown rim. There is some mature red fruit with some forest floor notes and a firm acidity. It certainly needs drinking up in the next couple of years.
There was no doubt that the 1988 Chateau Pichon Lalande is a far superior wine - as it should be at 5 times the price! The colour is still a dark red at the centre, although fading significantly at the rim. On the palate this is smooth and soft with red fruit, spice and herbs. However this bottle also had an herbaceous streak and just a bit too much green acidity. I used to drink this wine a lot when Farr Vintners bought 500 cases of it from British Airways in 2001, when they sold off the Concorde Cellar. To be honest it was much better then, the fruit is now fading fast and the acidity is taking over. My advice would be to drink up quickly - and this applies to most red Bordeaux from 1988. Whilst the 1989's and 1990's are still sweet and opulent the once-good 1988's are becoming rather lean with their best days behind them.
2 Vin Doux Naturels from Rivesaltes
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Next up was a wine that has always been a classic claret. Now fully mature, the 1985 Lynch Bages had a considerably deeper colour than the 1988 Pichon. This archetypal Pauillac still has a textbook 'cigar box' nose and has wonderful complexity. The palate still has good sweetness with ripe cassis fruit and hints of dried herbs, smoke, leather and grilled meat. Nevertheless, it is fully evolved and doesn't have quite the intensity that it once enjoyed. I'd drink this up fairly soon but it's still a fine glass of Lynch.
A complete contrast was the 1985 Chateau de Beaucastel. This now has a browning colour but a sexy nose of ripe, powerful Grenache. It now looks like an old Burgundy but the nose is unmistakably Chateauneuf du Pape with all sorts of farmyard and forest floor aromas vying for attention. Multi-dimensional, earthy, rustic and complex, this has the decadent sweetness of age. The liquid equivalent of a well-hung grouse, this would have been more suited to a winter's evening by the fireside.
The 1982 clarets, as you might have guessed, did not let us down. This vintage has been magnificent all its life. From the first time I tasted it in bottle in the Spring of 1985, this is a year that never had a dumb period and even now the wines are showing beautifully and with time in hand. The 1982 Latour Pomerol was from magnum and had a bit more intensity than a bottle we had a few weeks ago. Superbly silky, smooth, and creamy, this has always been a sexy wine and it certainly seduced everyone today with most people making it their wine of the day. Still rich with exotic spices, vanilla and cherry fruit with a touch of kirsch. At its peak, this is a lovely example of mature Merlot and a textbook Pomerol.
Also from magnum was the 1982 Léoville Poyferré. This is another very seductive wine with a classic Cabernet Sauvignon nose of sweet cassis but then an almost right-bank like richness on the palate. Still plump with rich plum and cherry fruit and sweet, ripe tannins.
The menu at Chez Bruce
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Chateau Talbot must have made their best ever wine in 1982. This is still impressively dark-coloured (probably darker now than some vintages that are 20 years younger). There is some strapping blackcurrant fruit with liquorice and spice. Good flesh and richness coimbine with a cedar and tobacco leaf Medocaine character. A very fine mature Bordeaux.
The final red was the famous 1982 Grand Puy Lacoste from a magnum. Even at 32 years of age this has a black colour at the centre of the glass and little fade at the rim. Such a classic Pauillac! This is a wonderful wine with a cigar and cassis nose, masses of sweet black fruit on the palate with ink density. There is opulence and class in perfect balance here. One to please hedonists and traditionalists. A really superb wine that in magnum has plenty of life ahead. Let's hope that the 2000, 2005, 2009 and 2010 develop as well as this 1982 has done.
We finished off with two fascinating Vin Doux Naturels from South West France which were served with a cake especially made for Tony by Dan, one of Chez Bruce's Palace-supporting chefs. The 1984 Rivesaltes Riveyrac was clearly made from red Grenache and reminded me of a sweet Southern Rhône red. Prunes and Christmas Cake notes. The 1958 from Domaine de Lacresse looked like it was made from mainly white grapes. Now honey and gold in gold in colour there is still impressive sweetness with notes of nuts and raisins.
This was a great lunch and I hope that Tony enjoyed it after all his extraordinary hard work and great achievements of the last 6 months. After a coffee, he was in a cab with Steve Parish, off to meet Marouane Chamakh's agent, already planning his team for next season, which kicks off on August 16th.
