FINE Wine & Champagne India - Winter 2018

quality and value. A 1968 CVNE Imperial Gran Reserva was
cedary and just starting to dry out on the finish but still a good,
mature wine a few years ago.
There’s not much to say about 1958, though it was a good year
for Barolo. Madeira of any vintage is usually a decent drink.
Cossart Bual 1958 is not a bad example of rustic, warming
Madeira in my experience.
FINE History
If you’re celebrating a 70th in 2018 then you’re in luck.
Although overshadowed by the awesome reputation of the ’47s,
1948 produced some magnificent wines in Bordeaux. Vieux
Château Certan 1948 was tasted – or rather, drunk – twice in
a short period over ten years ago. I noted it as “a monster of a
wine” because of its relentless tannins, which I suspect will keep
it going ad nauseam. It was also a great year for Vintage Port.
We will have to skip 1938, which was a poor year, but 1928
was one of those vintages when most, if not all, of the classic
regions made wonderful wines, though they are now likely to be
past their sell-by date. When last seen, Vieux Château Certan
1928 was just about hanging on in there. A better experience
was had with a deeply-coloured and still tannic 1928 CVNE
Imperial Gran Reserva. Ancient Rioja can be irresistible.
Centenarians can enjoy great Vintage Ports from 1908,
especially Cockburn’s, which was the preeminent Port producer
in the first half of the twentieth century before a long decline
that was arrested only when Symington Family Estates acquired
it from Beam Global Spirits & Wine in 2010.
The nineteenth century had several great “8” years (gr8s?). The
last pre-Phylloxera vintage was in 1878, which was also a seminal
year for literature: Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native,
Henry James’s Daisy Miller, and Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina
were published this year. Of course you’ve read them all.
There is a delicious reference to Chablis and oysters in chapter
ten of the first book of Anna Karenina. Levin, Oblonsky, and
Stepan Arkadyevitch are dining together:
“What shall we drink?”
“What you like, only not too much. Champagne,” said Levin.
“What! To start with? You’re right though, I dare say. Do you
like the white seal?”
“Cachet blanc,” prompted the Tatar.
“Very well, then, give us that brand with the oysters, and then
we’ll see.”
“Yes, sir. And what table wine?”
“You can give us Nuits. Oh no, better the classic Chablis.”
“Yes, sir. And your cheese, your Excellency?”
“Oh, yes, Parmesan. Or would you like another?”
“No, it’s all the same to me,” said Levin, unable to suppress a
smile.
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