Turning wine into words

Words, words, words. Over a couple of sessions, we drank a selection of serious wines, starting with a Cantemerle ’05. As everyone else thought it was delicious, it would have been curmudgeonly of me to say that although it had been open for a couple of hours, it would have benefited from another five years. So I abstained from curmudgeonliness. Even so, although 2005 is a great vintage, it needs longevity. We moved on to a wine I had never heard of, let alone tasted, but was ready: an ’06 Clos Louie, from Castillion in the Côtes de Bordeaux. Only in business since 2003, it has pre-phylloxera vines: 70 per cent merlot, 27 per cent cabernet franc and only a soupçon of cab sauv. Seriously good, seriously promising, it is not yet as expensive as it is bound to become.

Then to Burgundy: a 2009 Marsanny from Bruno Clair. Marsanny’s reputation is growing, partly because viniculture is improving and partly because it is good value when compared with greater names.