Primum
Familiae Vini lunch
Remarkable wines from the 'leading wine families'
9 February 2012
The Primum Familiae Vini (Latin for
‘leading wine families) is a club of 11 elite family-owned
European wine producers who have banded together to help promote
their wines. I attended a wonderful lunch at The Square, during
which each family showed two of their wines: one younger, one older.
‘We make fabulous products,’ says
Baroness Philippine de Rothschild (above). ‘We don’t have
to be here: we are here because we want to be.’ She added a bit of
flattery: ‘The English press are the best in the world. They are
the best connoisseurs in the world for Bordeaux wines.’
Robert
and Paul Symington
The PFV members seem to enjoy their
association and lunches like this, as well as the marketing utility
they offer. They also help sell each others’ wines in different
markets. ‘To sell each others’ wines is a huge privilege,’
says Paul Symington.
Charlotte
Hugel
I was sitting between two PFV members,
both of the younger generation. To my left was Charlotte Hugel,
vintage 1991. She was born at the same time as the PFV, so she has
grown up with this extended family. She’s currently studying law
and economics at Strasbourg University, and will work outside the
family firm, before perhaps returning to work in it. To my right was
Philippe Sereys de Rothschild (vintage 1963), who runs a private
equity firm as well as working in the family wine business. He got
three words into his particular speech before he was heckled by his
mother.
Philippe Sereys de Rothschild
The wines were fabulous, as was the food.
It was a succession of great wines. Peaks and no valleys. Between
them, the PFV can put on a bit of a show.
THE
WINES
Champagne Pol Roger Blanc de Blancs
2000
Concentrated, toasty and intense with real precision. Taut, fine
and precise showing lovely weight of citrus fruit and good acidity,
with some structure and plenty of finesse. 94/100
Champagne Pol Roger Blanc de Blancs
1988
Complex, taut and toasty, with fine citrus fruits and some
apricot richness. Still quite youthful. The palate is fine and fresh
yet complex and full with powerful flavours and real vitality.
Fabulous wine. 96/100
Hubert
de Billy of Pol Roger
Joseph Drouhin Montrachet Grand Cru
Marquis de Laguiche 2008 Burgundy
Concentrated, fine and toasty with freshness and intensity.
Complex with well integrated oak and lovely fruit: some peach, some
pear and a hint of cabbagey complexity. Precise and elegant. 96/100
Joseph Drouhin Montrachet Grand Cru
Marquis de Laguiche 1990 Burgundy
Complex, rich and roasty. Broad flavours encompassing honey,
spice and white peach. Fine and toasty with nice depth of fruit and
some subtle nuttiness. This has evolved really nicely, and still has
some freshness. 94/100
Robert Drouhin (above); Frederic Drouhin (below)
Château de Beaucastel Roussanne Vieilles
Vignes 2009 Châteauneuf du
Pape
Rich and toasty with notes of peach, honey and pear. Sweet fruit
here, but fine with it, and showing some exotic more tropical fruit
notes. The palate is rich and powerful with a rounded texture and
sweet fruit, but there’s some seriousness too. Just delicious.
95/100
Château de Beaucastel 1990 Châteauneuf du Pape
Wild, crazy aromatics of cherries, herbs, spice, animals and
leather. Wonderfully elegant, expressive palate showing delicate
sweet fruit alongside more savoury spicy, animally, meaty notes. Not
at all heavy or rustic, despite the wildness of the aromatics.
96/100
Francois
Perrin of Beaucastel
Torres
Mas La Plana 2007 Penedes, Spain
Lovely dense, expressive blackcurrant fruit with richness and
sweetness, but also nice spicy structure. There’s a hint of
earthiness and some mint right in the background. Lovely fruit and
real finesss here. 94/100
Torres
Mas La Plana Gran Coronas Gran Reserva 1982 Penedes, Spain
Elegant, refined, evolved, earthy, spicy nose has delicate,
leafy berry fruits. The palate is fresh and elegant with subtle
herbs and linear fruit. Beautifully focused, this is so fine and
expressive. 97/100
Vega
Sicilia Unico 2004 Ribera del Duero, Spain
Rich, sweet, powerful and intense with lovely sweet berry fruits
and notes of herbs, vanilla and coconut. The palate is structured,
dominated by ripe sweet fruit, as well as some vanilla and caramel.
Very sweet fruit profile with some wood apparent. A really
distinctive style. 94/100
Vega
Sicilia Unico 1953 Ribera del Duero, Spain
Bottled in 1963. 80% Tempranillo, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5%
others. Elegant and slightly Porty on the nose with lovely sweet
spicy notes and some minerality. Really complex on the palate with
sweet cherry and plum fruit, real freshness still, and a warm
spiciness. Amazing stuff. 97/100
Château
Mouton Rothschild 2000 Pauillac, Bordeaux
Warm , spicy, meaty nose with some savoury earthy notes and
hints of iodine. The palate is dry and spicy with some meatiness, as
well as earthy notes. Quite angular, lacking fruit, and with a
savoury, drying finish. Still, a nice drink, but not as good as it
should be. 91/100
Château
Mouton Rothschild 1961 Pauillac, Bordeaux
Dense notes of spice, earthy, smoke and meat here give this wine
a savoury complexion. It’s evolved yet still quite fresh tasting,
with iodine, meat and spice notes, as well as some berry fruit
character still lurking around. Some sternness here, but it is
complex and beguiling. 96/100
Antinori
Solaia 2008 Tuscany
Rich, vivid and quite intense with bold raspberry and blackberry
fruit, with some spiciness. The palate is concentrated and quite
pure with good tannic structure. Youthful and polished, this a
sophicticated, correct wine but lacks just a little in the
personality stakes. 93/100
Antinori
Solaia 2001 Tuscany
Notes of meat and bovril on the nose. Evolved, spicy, earth and
with a dry meaty character. Earthy and drying on the finish. This
hasn’t aged as well as you’d have expected, but it’s still a
nice drink. 91/100
Piero
Antinori
Tenuta
San Guido Sassicaia 2006 Tuscany
Spicy, minty and savoury with a slightly animal nose. Savoury
and phenolic. Structured, spicy, savoury palate is quite rustic and
spicy, with meaty, animal overtones. Angular, with a drying finish.
91/100
Tenuta
San Guido Sassicaia 1996 Tuscany
Fresh, dense and spicy with some earthy notes. Savoury yet quite
elegant with some dense spicy character and fresh berry fruits. This
is ageing really nicely, and shows good elegance. 94/100
Priscilla
Incisa della Rocchetta of Tenuta San Guido
Hugel Gewürztraminer Sélection de Grains Nobiles ‘S’ 2007
Alsace
Golden colour. Amazingly intense and sweet with a soft texture.
Marmalade, apricot and cream notes. Powerful and intense with low
acidity, making it seem incredibly sweet and luscious, with a long
spicy finish. 94/100
Hugel Gewürztraminer Sélection de
Grains Nobiles 1976 Alsace
Minty nose is really distinctive, with some sweet fruity notes,
although the mint dominates. The palate is fresh and not too sweet
with really distinctive mint and herb notes, as well as subtle
apricot fruit. Very distinctive wine. 94/100
Etienne Hugel
Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Auslese
Goldkapsel 2010 Mosel, Germany
Wonderful nose: sweet apricot, melon and peach notes.
Concentrated and powerful palate with spicy crystalline fruits and
citrus character. Textured and very sweet with incredible depth and
length. Stunning wine. 96/100
Egon Müller Scharzhofberger
Trockenbeerenauslese 1990 Mosel, Germany
Quite a deep orange/brown colour, but as fresh as a daisy. Sweet
and intense with rich apricot and citrus notes. Powerful, richly
textured, spicy palate with a long finish. Great concentration and
complexity. Notes of marmalade, spice and apricot. Remarkable.
97/100
Egon
Mueller
Graham’s Vintage Port 2007
This is just beginning to close down a little now. It’s rich
with powerful sweet black fruits and good structure. Lovely fruit
quality. This has bags of potential, but cellar it and come back in
15 years. 95/100
Graham’s Vintage Port 1963
Supremely fine elegant nose of pure, sweet cherry fruit. Sweet
and silky. The palate is pure and smooth with lovely texture and
elegance to the sweet red cherry fruit. So pure and elegant, and
probably drinking at its peak now. 97/100
Wines
tasted 02/12
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