Got together with some old friends to open some amazing bottles with great food yesterday afternoon. Over a few hours we ate and drank incredibly well, with a fresh caprese salad, a selection of cheeses from Murray's, braised rabbit ragu over saffron pappardelle and roast guinea hen with parsnip puree and roast potatoes.
Not a bad set of wines either...
N.V. Tarlant Champagne La Vigne d'Antan Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut
2000 vintage/2007 disgorgement again. Getting toastier and more savoury now with some time in bottle; the fruit's deeper in complexion and framed by doughy, fresh baked brioche, toast and vanilla cream elements. With some air it shows that remarkably silky, finessed texture I find in this bottling, and a bottle disappears all too quickly. Fantastic Champagne.
2002 Edmond Vatan Sancerre Clos la Néore
Another outstanding bottle, combining layers of fresh grapefruit and citrus with chalky, herbal, minty and more savoury elements. There's tremendous depth and balance here, a sense of purity and freshness to the flavours and remarkable persistence. Great wine, and a perfect combination with crottin de chavignol cheese over baguette.
1981 Emile Champet Côte-Rôtie
Random old bottle cull that was DOA.
2007 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru
Very pretty; fresh red fruits framed by floral, mineral and lightly spicy elements. It's still very primary, but very appealing to drink with a lot of textural finesse, gentle tannins and bright acidity that keeps it very fresh and lively.
2007 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny "Clos"
Consistent with my previous experiences with this. Obviously very youthful but very appealing to drink now with pure, dark fruit framed by fresh earth, green herbal elements and a gentle high toned spiciness, all conveyed on a polished, medium weight frame with superb balance.
2001 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
Flat out wow. A spectacular aromatic profile right away combining fresh dark fruits, tobacco, cedar wood and that Graves smoky/earthy flavour into a wonderful scent. It's very youthful with plenty of primary fruit and more savoury flavours just starting to emerge, but it's already incredibly appealing to drink now with the tannin not particularly aggressive, an incredibly finessed texture and a sense of real purity to the flavours.
1989 Château La Conseillante
A stellar bottle showing pretty much everything I'd want in an older Pomerol. Spectacular aromatics that keep developing with air, a wonderful fragrance combining all sorts of savoury cedar, truffled, smoky and exotic spicy elements and a palate presence that's pure silk, seamlessly layering luscious red fruits and plums with more savoury developed flavours. The tannins are mostly integrated and it has a remarkably plush, polished texture with a finish that just keeps resonating. Wow!