The opening course was foie gras ganache infused with passionfruit and some toasted brioche. The texture was like creme brulee, and the foie flavor was well balanced by the tartness of the passionfruit. An astounding creation. With it we drank the following:
1971 Moulin Touchais Coteaux de Layon
1990 Pinon Vouvray Goutte d'Or
1996 Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1er Trie Le Mont
The Pinon was the clear top wine in the flight, with the most richness and sweetness which was a great contrast to the passionfruit. I think the Huet would have been a better pairing if the foie gras had been more forceful, as it had much more acidity to cut through richness, and was not as sweet. The Moulin Touchais was a tasty wine but outclassed by the others in the flight. I trieds some a little later & it had a lot going for it, but not up against the Huet and especially the Pinon.
Next we were served some medium-rare Hamachi with oyster mushrooms in a yuzu broth. The fish and mushrooms were really good, but the broth was stunning. We only had one wine with this course, a magnum of:
1990 Pol Roger Champagne
This was a special release for the milennium, and had been cellared since. I always find that Pol Roger develops a mushroomy tone with age, and this bottle was no exception, making it a fantastic pairing with the food. Even better there were only a few real Champagne fans at the table so I got waaayyy more than my fair share of this wine.
The next course was a homemade rigatoni topped by lamb ragu with black truffle and a soft egg - heaven on a plate! There's no way to do justice to how good this course was. I could have eaten ten plates of it. We drank reasonably well also, with:
1996 Jasmin Cote Rotie
1997 Tardieu-Laurent Hermitage
1994 Peyre Rose Clos Syrah Leone
A very interesting flight, as each paired rather well with the food, and was a totally different expression of Syrah. The Languedoc was the best of the flight due to its better integration of young and old flavors, and its leathery and fruity notes played off the food well. The Cote Rotie was subtle and perfumed, but a touch overwhelmed by the food. The Hermitage was good but I could never quite nail it down. It's still rather young and ungainly, but not overwooded, just not well knit together at this point.
Our final dinner course was oxtail ravioli paired with a piece of rare Wagyu beef (Snake River Farms if that means anything to anyone...apparently it's really hard to get), accompanied by cauliflower/almond puree and a curry leaf jus. Another masterpiece by Shola. Stunningly good. We went cab for this course:
1995 Chateau Angelus
1992 Ridge Monte Bello
1994 Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale
2002 Shirvington Cabernet Sauvignon
Simply put, the Angelus was tight, but had obvious breed and potential, the Monte Bello was delicious though 7 more years won't hurt, the Arrowood was at peak & should be drunk if you have any, and the Shirvington took the wrong plane, ending up in a flight where it didn't belong (nice wine but really out of place). I thought the Arrowood was the best match with the ravioli, while the Monte Bello's extra degree of power made it a better match with the beef. All in all a yummy flight of wine though. I enjoyed the Shirvington on its own after the course. It was rather well balanced and full of fruit (about as high praise as you will get out of me for an Aussie wine).
Dessert was a chocolate cherry sorbet with smoked chocolate 'soil', candied chestnuts & crispy rice. Mmm...mmm...good. We paired it with a '54 Madeira (I didn't get the details) that was ok, but not anything that really caught my interest (disclaimer - I'm not a Madeira fan).
All in all it was an amazing night of food with some fantastic wines & really good company.