Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve dinner is the main Christmas gastronomic event in Belgian but as an Anglo-Belgian family we compromise in celebrating both with the appropriate traditional dishes
Champagne Tradition brut – De Sousa & fils, Avize, made from Chardonnay 50%, Pinot Noir 40% and Pinot Meunier 10%, was served with savoury starters and “boudins de noël”. It was a crisp and quite fruity medium/light weight champagne with some elegance; 15.5/20
Champagne Grande Année 1996 – Bollinger – Alc. 12% - continued on the “boudins de noël”and into the lobster ragout. It was a much fuller and richer affair than the De Sousa with enough body and structure combined with lively acidity to make an elegant pairing for even more consistent dishes, even red meat; 17/20.
Rivesaltes Grénat sur grains 2009 – Domaine Boudau – Alc.15.5% - was chosen for the chocolate rich “buche” and did the job very well with its sweet young Grenache fruit and grippy finish; 15.5/20.
Christmas Day
Though taking place on Christmas Day this meal had a lot of Franco/Belgian influence, e.g. some foie gras, a fishy entrée, capon rather than turkey (much tastier and less dry IMHO) and cheese before dessert.
Champagne Royale Réserve non-dosé – Philipponnat – Alc.12% was served with the starters including some foie gras. It was very dry, crisp and mineral but in also had a certain roundness, white fruit and biscuit touches which allowed it to work as a starter though not ideal for the foie gras; 16/20++.
Chablis 1er cru Forêt 1995 – Domaine François Ravenneau – Alc. 12.5% - was served with scallops, flakes of truffle in sauce and was delicious showing gently honeyed, citrus and mineral aromas on a medium/light body with underlying roundness and gras perfect for the scallops but still steely enough, I think, to cope with some flat oysters; 17.5/20.
For the stuffed capon, I stood up three bottles of older Burgundy so as to have reserve in the case of a dud.
Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux Saint-Jacques 1976 – Camille Giroud smelled a bit horsey on opening but this aromas receded into the background as mature Pinot fruit and flower aromas came up. The palate was medium bodied with some depth and the gently hinted sweetness of healthy elderly wines; there was perhaps some drying towards the finish but not enough to spoil the overall enjoyment of a mature Burg; 16.5/20++.
There was a clamour to open one of the reserve bottles but faint odours of cardboard and walnut showed on La Grande Rue 1978 – Lamarche
and, believe it or not, it was the same with Le Corton 1988 – Louis Jadot . What a shame because it was clear that there was fine ripe Burgundy underneath both 
. Dow’s Vintage Port 1977 – Alc.20% - served with Stilton and then more chocolate “buche de noel”. This made us forget the corked burgs. A bottle a few years ago disappointed slightly but this one was really singing with rich round mature fruit, a velvety touch on entry and mid-palate combined with plenty of grip and structure towards the long finish. Perfect with the Stilton but not quite so ideal with the chocolate buche; 18/20.
Further TNs on the week's other wines will follow including on the Bürklin-Wolf and Weinbach pictured at the top.