Night of Indulgence - Four Wines with Dinner
(Cross-posted from Netscape Forum, wines tasted on 8th Feb 2006)
Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Vintage Reserve 1998
Onion skin gold in colour, youthful in its mouthfilling richness with deep bready flavours bubbling up with the fizz from the base of the glass. Even garlic bread could not subdue it.
Drouhin Pouilly-Fuissé 1996
Good not great but definitely not past it. Light gold in colour, youthful for its age, no distinguishable fruit but the flavour broad and the texture creamy. Lovely with my Scallops (complete with roe as we do in NZ), wrapped in bacon and served on a chardonnay cream sauce but even better with Neil's Chevre Frais - Goat Cheese "aux herbes", wrapped in chargrilled eggplant and served with crispy pear & walnut greens with a honey dressing. This dish bought out a very pleasing nuttiness in the wine.
DRC Échézeaux 1993
My heart sank as the capsule was removed to show a pile of gunk on top of the cork, and it sank even more as the cork extraction process started and I could see the cork had a pinky colour, right to the top. But the bottle showed no ullaging and the cork itself was only wet to 3/4 of the way up. Neil took a sip, he slowly nodded approval, his eyes rolled in a dreamy fashion and the smile grew on his face. DRC Échézeaux 1993 showed good colour for a 12-year old wine. I had long ago been led to believe a Burgundy of this age would be dominated with brown hues, but not this one. Pinky red-brown garnet was the colour with more pinky red than brown in the light of the restaurant. As for the experience of tasting this wine, the texture was silky and the flavours savoury and earthy without being dirty, with a concentrated infusion of cherry, beautifully integrated oak and a long savoury finish with that pinot intrigue that just goes on and on. It tasted as I expected a good aged Burgundy to taste though much more youthful, however. I matched it to Confit of Duck in a red wine and rosemary jus with orange essence. It delivered on the night.
Chateau Sahuc Lès Tour Sauternes 1996
Bright lemon gold in colour, tasting much drier than I expected with a honeyed butter and mellow citrus/lime zest character running through it, a delicately viscous texture and a beautifully balanced sweetness coming through on the finish. With a Crème Brulee flavoured with fresh vanilla and lemon zest, it was faultless.
Sue Courtney