Notes from a wine dinner.
1990 Pol Roger Brut (magnum) – things started off very well with this wine, which was correctly guessed as a 1990. It showed not as much colour as some from this vintage (perhaps being from magnum helped) was clean with bright acidity and no oxidative notes, just apple and nuts in the nose and a pleasant yeastiness that adds to complexity. Long clean finish.
Served with quail eggs three ways – halved eggs topped with truffle paste, black olive paste and whole egg dipped in EVOO and rolled in za’atar, a Middle Eastern spice blend that includes sumac, salt, sesame, thyme, marjoram and oregano.
Next up were a pair of Chenin blancs from the Loire.
1999 Bourillon d’Orleans Vouvray Coulee d'Argent Vielles Vignes Sec – I was a bit worried about the dry Vouvray at this age but it came through beautifully. Light colour, clean lemony nose, interesting wine.
1997 Domaine Closel Savennieres Cuvee Speciale – I had pegged this as having a better chance of having held up over time (the initial acidity in young examples mandates a 5-7 year aging period if you value the enamel on your teeth) but it was showing more colour, and more age than the Vouvray. More complex flavours on entry, but it tailed off a little at the end and was less engaging.
I served the wines with scallops in saffron cream sauce with hints of white pepper and cayenne, which played well off the wines, I think improving them over the tasting experience without food.
1999 Dr. Thanisch Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Auslese – I always find that with the sort of food I was serving, a Sauternes tends to be too sweet and overpowering, as well as often lacking the same degree of acidity needed to cut the fat of the food, and I usually opt for a German Spatlese or in this case, an Auslese. It was instantly identifiable as to grape, with a classic Riesling petrol nose, quite rich in the mouth with a long clean acidic finish, nicely balanced.
I served a slice of duck foie gras (a kilo among 8 people), seared and with coarse salt, on a simple bed of sautéed endive and apple, deglazed with Sherry wine vinegar.
After that combination I needed to serve a palate cleanser. I heartily disagree with the all too common use of sweet sorbets as alleged palate cleansers, when in reality they are palate cloggers, too sweet right before you start to taste the most serious wines of a dinner. A non-sweet sorbet does work well – rosemary or unsweetened Earl Grey tea sorbets for instance. I chose instead a plate of sliced avocado, which in texture segued nicely from the rich fatty foie gras, and dressed with lemon juice, soy sauce fleur de sel, and a drizzle of EVOO (in this case from Waiheke Island in New Zealand).
The next trio of wines was blind, but rather than mixing up several different Bordeaux, I served three in a vertical as I always find that an informative exercise.
1983 Ch.Grand Puy Lacoste – mellow claret nose with slight tea hints, and in the mouth the relative lack of fruit made the remaining tannins seem harder and more dominant than they would have otherwise seemed. OK, but almost certainly better a few years ago.
1982 Ch.Grand Puy Lacoste - this turned out to be my favourite. Excellent nose of cedar and currant, a lovely sweet entry, which made it very appealing, and a long smooth elegant finish. Nothing not to like here and it will last a long time yet. One of the nicest 82s in recent memory.
1970 Ch.Grand Puy Lacoste – I had always enjoyed this wine but hadn’t opened one in several years, so wasn’t sure what to expect. It failed to live up to the 1970 idiom, in that it didn’t fool people into thinking it a decade younger than it was. It showed its true age and although what was there was pretty good, the fact that I remembered what it had been blunted the enjoyment. Not to say the wine was flawed or bad – it certainly wasn’t, it was just fully mature claret. It was still showing a nice sweetness on entry and some good fruit in the middle, with medium long finish, and was pleasant to drink, but tasting it along side the 1982 made it seem less than it really was. That’s always the risk of vertical tastings!
I served boneless rack of lamb, first coated in a mix of cumin, cinnamon, cloves, aniseed and cardamom and seared off, then cooled and wrapped in phyllo pastry and cooked rare, served on a Port reduction. The accompaniments were roasted fennel and leeks, finished with balsamic vinegar, and potato strata with baked garlic, fresh thyme, and bacon included.
With a selection of cheeses, I opted to open the first bottle of a wine I had obtained from London 20 years before. It had never been labelled, but shipped straight from the bins with the cork branded and the top of the cork marked with the vintage, and the obligatory splash of white paint to guide cellaring position.
1963 Fonseca Port – opened several hours a head and double decanted. Far deeper colour than many 63s currently show. Nose seemed a snitch warm to star with but either it changed or I accommodated and after a bit it seemed just right, showing red fruit, spice and tarry caramel components. In the mouth it was….damn near perfect! Layers followed layer of complexity and the length was monumental. This is the best Port I’ve tasted since the 1927 Taylors a few years ago. I know there have been differing reviews of this wine, not at all surprising given age and varying cellar conditions, but this bottle was superb – Port doesn’t normally get much better than this. I hope the other bottles show the same!
We finished with coffee, chocolate truffles, and ripe strawberries with black pepper ground on them.
I intend to open a bottle of another 1997 Closel later today, the Les Coulees, to finish off the quail eggs, and to see how that bottling has held up. Happy to have a couple of bottles more of the Bourillon Vouvray in the cellar