Corney and Barrow Xmas Claret

By mthomas

Although the Standard announced that London was a ‘Snow go zone’ I trekked to Corney and Barrow’s Xmas Claret Tasting at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery near Warren Street last night. Despite my reservations about Bordeaux it was a worthwhile exercise with the following wines being shown;

Corney & Barrow House Claret, 2006, £7.64
Château Bel-Air Graves de Vayres, 2006, £9.80
Corney & Barrow Company Reserve Claret Ets J-P Moueix, 2005, £9.89
Château La Courolle, St Emilion, 2007, £11.69
Corney & Barrow St Emilion Ets J-P Moueix, 2005, £12.59
Corney & Barrow Pomerol Ets J-P Moueix, 2006, £15.29
Château de Lamarque, Haut Médoc, 2003, £16.19
L’Hospitalet de Gazin, Pomerol, 2006, £22.49
Les Songs de Magdelaine, St Emilion, 2006, £26.09
Roc de Cambes, Côtes de Bourg, 2006, £29.24
(Prices reflect a 10% Xmas discount).

I was led through the tasting by Will Hargrove, Corney’s amiable Private Customer Manager, who had some helpful insights into the wines. Overall the 06s were surprisingly approachable, with the Hospitalet Pomerol my pick of the night. It is already showing some interesting vegetal and subtle ‘forest floor’ notes. One to enjoy opening every year over the next decade to see how it evolves.

The wines from Mouiex also showed well but I was disappointed with some rubbery and green notes in some of the other wines. The Roc de Cambes was too oaky for me although Will had a good stab at reframing it as more ‘mocha than vanilla’. A fair point but still too ‘Starbucks’ for my taste. I guess the price reflects the investment in expensive wood…

There were some wonderful photographs on display by Colin Hampden White who followed the En Primeur campaign last March. I liked the way he seems to capture the personalities of the winemakers although the one pictured might not invite the warmest of  feelings…

The exhibition is well worth a look:

Rebecca Hossack Gallery
2a Conway Street
Fitzroy Square
London
W1T 6BA