Crozes Hermitage (2001) - Paul Jaboulet

Wow. This Jaboulet Crozes Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert 2001 is **lovely**. I really love Cotes-Du-Rhone wines and this is just so drinkable! A sweet edge to the fruit on the palate, just a little grip and texture. Quite light, reflecting the vintage. We are planning to buy lots for christmas drinking...

Rating: *****

Chateau De Chassagne-Montrachet (2003)

Dry. More when we finish the bottle...

Rating: (**)***

Fleurie (2004) Georges Duboeuf

Now this is the kind of wine I am happy to drink all evening. Light, refreshing and sparkling with flavour. Georges Duboeuf is onto a sure fire thing here with an excellent Fleurie (unlike the Tesco version which we were not impressed with). This wine comes from the 39 superior villages of Beaujolais and tastes like it. Excellent... we'll be getting more!

Really lovely with white fish, salmon and seafood. Especially if you are not a big white wine drinker.

Rating: 4/5

Saint-Amour (2003)

Bizarrely the Saint-Amour is a Beaujolais from the village of Saint-Amour. Saint-Amour is one of ten villages that make up the Beaujolais Crus, usually offering a large increase in quality from ordinary Beaujolais. This vibrant cherry-coloured wine has a really lovely flavour of strawberry and briar-wood. Nice but not as nice as the Fleurie...

Rating: (***)**

La Croix De Beaucaillou (1997)

Mmmm. We have been taking our time over this lovely lovely bottle of Bordeaux. Deep-coloured, powerful, ripe, exquisitely well-balanced and perfectly harmonious.

We first tasted with Fillet steak, needless to say fantastic, and then with strong cheeses. As it is so lovely we are taking our time testing with other foods...

Rating: Still tasting...

Morgan (2004)

Morgan (2004) is a Beaujolais is produced by Georges Duboeuf. A prominent Beaujolais bottler, Georges Duboeuf produces more than 25 thousand cases of wine annually. He is almost single-handedly responsible for the annual Beaujolais nouveau phenomenon, and has won countless awards for his wines. These wines are easily recognizeable by the flowers on the labels, and the distinctive Duboeuf insignia.

Morgan is north of Brouilly (Just to the west of Belleville (north of Villefranche), Brouilly encompasses some 3,000 acres) and its wines seem to vary from light and fruity to more deep and serious. The soil is a crumbly slate which the locals call roche pourrie (rotten rock).

This is a lovely light and fragrant wine that is perfect for the evening.

Rating: (***)**

Gigondas (2001)

This is a lovely Gigondas, from Rhone valley, which is light and very drinkable. I quite liked this wine although I admit that Trine found it a bit sharp in places and perhaps that makes it not as suitable for evening drinking. Good with food, it certainly had a lovely flavour that complemented our Pasta dish.

Rating: (***)**