One of my favourite wine merchants in London is The Sampler in South Kensington. Not only do they have a wide range of wines available for sale, but what really draws me back time and again are their 80 wines on tap thanks to the Enomatic machine. Credit goes to them for maintaining such a cumbersome system, which requires regular maintenance and is prone to breaking down. It is a marvelous system for wine geeks such as myself who will while away an entire afternoon sampling wines from obscure appellations such as Bierzo and Jura. This month's WOTM was unearthed in their "Icons" cabinet, which is reserved for rare and usually mature wines.
Wine: Domaine de Chevalier 1983
Tasting note:
Hailing from the Graves region, Domaine de Chevalier is one of the rare Bordeaux producers that is noted for the quality of both its red and white wines. Recent vintages have displayed sumptuous fruit and pronounced freshness. This wine, from a vintage that yielded a large, high quality crop but was overshadowed by 1982, showed remarkable verve and definition. Pale ruby colour with an enchanting nose of tobacco, dried leaves and smoke. Fully mature yet in beautiful condition, showing flavours of dried leaves, prunes and cocoa nibs captured in a silky, ethereal frame. Finishes pure and long.
