I, on the other hand, would probably refer to myself as 'Anna Nicole'. The older the better as far as I'm concerned. Luckily, Borough Wines agrees with me and we have managed to get our hands on some lovely clarets from the mid 1990's. Now, many of you may like your wines young but good claret always needs time to mature, much like one half of the human race.
The majority are Haut Medoc but we also had a few St. Emilions in the mix. My favourite was the 1995 Ch. Beaumont. The chateau has been around since 1824 and they produce the quintessential claret. The '95 is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc and spends between 12 - 18 months in oak.
When I opened this one, red licorice and blackberry fruit on the nose at first then lovely lifted notes of fruit, followed by tobacco and leather notes. I had this wine with a dinner of steak and chips and it was delicious. After decanting, fabulous blackcurrant flavours came to the fore with plenty of soft silky tannins. The wine finished off with a long black plum finish. Delicious. I could have savoured this one all night long but this oldie would only last so long and before I knew it, the bottle had given up the ghost. Ah, well, on to the next....
The Chateau Beaumont 1995 is a steal at £30 in the marketstall.
