Monday 29 March 2010

A family affair

Posted by Tom Jenkins, Bordeaux Buyer
As a rule we don’t boast about all the fabulous dinners we enjoy at J&B, however, there’s always a first time... Last night we were entertained by the charming and extremely generous Luc Thienpont and his delightful family. We were put through our paces with multiple blind wines. We started so well; we picked Clos de Quatre Vents 2001, sadly our luck and skill ran out after that. Clos de Quatre Vents 2002 and 2004 followed, both utterly delicious; a testament to the great terroir and exceptional winemaking here. Then came a wine from Luc’s cousin, Alexandre. This was unmistakably VCC, but the year had us guessing. After a little assistance we eventually arrived at 1970; still tasting so young. Finally, we were treated to a magnificent bottle from the vineyard of Luc’s brother Jacques. We again picked the estate (Le Pin), but with limited experience with mature vintages (this is not a wine the J&B team often drink...), we struggled to pick 1989 as the vintage. It was quite simply one of the very finest bottles any of the team had ever tasted. Many thanks Luc for an exceptional, extremely generous selection of wines and a wonderful evening; the perfect start to our week.