With a starter of mildly smoked eel we had a curious "Muscadet":
2009 Domaine de la Sénéchalière (Marc Pesnot) Vin de Table Français Nuitage - Vin de Table Français
100% Melon de Bourgogne. This undergoes an overnight carbonic maceration - not something I have heard of with Muscadet before! But the results are very good if very atypical to what Muscadet has in my experience been. Usually I have liked Muscadet with long lees ageing, but I don't sense much leesiness here. Instead it smells very ripe - like ripe apples or pears with even a bit of honey and hay. A sunny wine for sure. The palate has tremendous energy and electricity and is quite full bodied for Muscadet. No points for typicity, but this is a lovely, lovely wine!
With a lovely main dish of grilled secreto of Iberico pork we had a nice, young N. Rhône:
1995 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie
Still seems young to my tastes, but this is a lovely youngster! Lots of meaty aromas, something floral, too, though I'm not sure it was lavender (like I was told Jamet should smell like!
) and a delicious hint of funk. After the sweet and boisterous aroma the palate was a bit of a surprise in being a bit on the austere side (this is a plus for me - after the scent I was worried I would find this a bit cloying) with still strong structure that suggests that there is no hurry at all with this wine. But neither did I find it criminal to open now! Lovely.After this, the sommelier gave us a taste of 2008 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre, which was very generous of him. But sadly this was something I wasn't very keen on. It smells so strongly of oak that I can't sense anything beyond. The palate is better with lovely zip but also a strange yoghurt/lactic note that was actually quite off-putting. Not my style of Chablis at all.
For dessert I had a small glass of 2009 Domaine de Montesquiou Jurançon Grappe d'Or.
My first impression was very positive with lovely bittersweet character and I seem to sense a bit of honeyed and apricotty botrytis as well (but maybe my senses were being deceived - IIRC Jurançons don't usually get botrytis?). Rich and sweet but racy and deliciously bittersweet and high in acid. Sadly the longer it was open the more dominant the oak became.
And finally we descended into the cellars of the restaurant to try the newest Contadino.
2010 Frank Cornelissen Contadino 8 - Sicily, Etna DOC
13,5% abv. A strangely vivid red colour. Wonderful, pure fruit on the nose and a bit of something savoury. It seems darker and sweeter in its fruit tones than the Contadino 7. Deliciously tannic, pure fruit, bittersweet. It smells and tastes just like pomegranate. Lovely.