Easy to Please

Many people think we're hard to please. The opposite is true. If a wine is half-way decent, it's got positives. Sure, we go on about little faults that taken holistically mean nothing. But that's our job - to see the good and the bad. So an evening with Niggle and Teacher-Ma'am showed that we're really easy to please.

Whites were the starting order of the day. A 2007 Pra Soave Classico may seem a little innocuous, but with a couple of years of bottle age, it had fattened up nicely. Clean and clear and uncomplicated. It went down quickly. Then a 2007 Bret Bros. Vire-Clesse 'Sous les Plantes'. Tasted last year, it was big with plenty of oak. This night, very New World with the diacetyl from MLF showing prominently, but an easy drink with up-front flavour.

Reds were in the same vein. A 1996 Greenwood Ridge Mendocino Cabernet Sauvignon which had 24% Merlot in the blend, was cool, blackcurranty and somewhat bretty. An interesting wine in the U.S. in its day and a fine, elegant drink, but not so much a pleasure now. The two 1982 clarets were a pleasant surprise, especially after the disappointments recently with what we have seen. So two wines without the top pedigree - they looked excellent. The 1982 Ch. Moulin du Cadet St Emilion Grand Cru Classe was refined and elegant with chalky tannins, fresh acidity and real style. A lovely tertiary hint added complexity. Well-liked was the 1982 Ch. Feytit-Clinet Pomerol, bigger, lusher, chunkier and weirdly with herbaceous notes. However, its mouthfeel was a bonus. Best of the Bordeaux we have seen from 1982 for a long time.

Then some stickies. A 2009 Spy Valley Noble Chardonnay, curiously broad and sour, almost ignoble, but not. Rich, sweet and open with delicate botrytis and melon-like Chardonnay fruit on sweet and broadly featured palate. A nice wine, but this did not compare to the Eiswein. A 2002 Grans-Fassian Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Eiswein had more golden hues, tight nose and searing palate with immensely concentrated sweetness, slately Germanic Mosel notes and striking acidity. Beautiful flavours, great density and line and length. It pleased us all. But then, we're easy to please!