I made a dinner by restaurant Jacques Le Divellec. I have for Jacques Le Divellec a special friendship as he shows an enthusiasm which is incredible. I do not know many chefs after such a career who would stay until 1:30 am in his restaurant, just to know “how it was”.
I arrive in the restaurant at 4:45 pm to open the bottles, and Olivier, sommelier full of attention has already prepared things to let me operate. The difficulties are numerous, as almost every cork broke into pieces, and required my full care. What amazed me the most is that when I took the Margaux 1952, I saw that the capsule, which I had photographed in my cellar before delivering the wines, was hollow, more than expected. I cut the capsule, and horror, the cork had fallen in the wine. Immediately I checked the smell and was relieved. The smell had no defect. I decanted the wine, Olivier took the cork out of the bottle and I poured again the wine in the bottle. This double decanting is not in my philosophy, but there was urgency. The highest positive surprises where the smell of the Richebourg DRC 1942, absolutely great, and the smell of the Latour 1916, of a complete perfection. I was happy. A wine that I had added displeased me as I imagined an accident of temperature, making the wine torrefied (all that is checked only by the smell).
Here is the menu that Jacques has made, based on great and rare products : Œufs brouillés crémeux à l’oursin / Belons frémies au champagne / Saint jacques au foie gras de canard poêlé / Bar sur peau braisé au saint-émilion / Bécasse sur canapé, coulis de truffes / Stilton / Emincé d’agrumes, mangue et pamplemousses.
The guests arrive very late as Paris was very crowdy, and after explaining how to enjoy the dinner I let Olivier open a wine that I had added to the program. When walking in my cellar, I saw a Laurent Perrier Grand Siècle very old (probably around 1960) with one fourth of the volume which had disappeared. It was a good occasion to make a didactic entrance in the world of old wines.
I asked my guests not to say : “this is maderised” as it appears like a sentence of condemnation. I told them : enjoy this wine as it is, and it was delicious. But one guest told me : “it is sure that with your presentation, we enjoy it. But it must be said that if we had this champagne at home with friends, they would say : your champagne is dead”. And I agreed. This is the attitude towards wine which makes the difference. Because, with objectivity, this champagne has nothing more to do with a Grand Siècle. But nobody could find any defect in what we drink which is delicious. I thought that this didactic moment was efficient. This champagne largely evolved would be great with foie gras. It went well with shrimps and small pieces of grilled salmon.
We had the urchin with two champagnes. The Champagne Pierre Gerbais Brut réserve à Celles sur Ource is a very convenient champagne, with not a significant personality, put there to help the Champagne Krug 1981 to shine. This one shone more than by the vertical with Rémi Krug, as it was in a situation of gastronomy. It showed a very iodic aspect combined with lovely pink fruits.
We had on one plate one single oyster but so huge that with the fingers of the two hands put in a circle, it would be impossible to let the oyster be surrounded. It had a delicious cream, and with the Puligny-Montrachet les Pucelles Veuve Génin 1959, the combination was gorgeous. The foot of this oyster named “pied de cheval” (horse’s foot), is very sweet. And the cream was perfectly combined with the Puligny.
I had warned my guests of a possible defect of the Margaux 1952 which I had not tasted but only smelled. When I saw the sauce of the scallops, I was afraid of a fight with the Margaux, but Jacques was right, it went well. The Chateau Margaux 1952 expanded in the glass and became velvety, soft on the tongue, sensual, and had this magic which belongs to Margaux. It was a truly characteristic Margaux, pure of sensual pleasure. I adored it, and while writing these lines I regret to have not put this wine in my vote, as it was a very great Chateau Margaux.
But what happens now is of a great magnitude. On the meat of the delicious fish, the Château Galan « Land limited by Saint-Julien” Vve Bordessoulles 1929 is incredible. The colour is the one of a young wine. Incredible. The smell is pure. The wine has not a great density, as it is only a cru bourgeois supérieur, but age has developed in it greater qualities. What is naïve is the English mention added on the label to let think that it could be a Saint-Julien. But the wine deserves respect. It was great. The wine which was associated to it is incredible. I had smelled the Chateau Latour 1916 by opening and I knew that we would have an incredible wine. And it was. This is one of the greatest Latour that I have had. A fill in the neck associated with an original cork has to be noticed as a rarity. The cork broke, but had perfectly played its role. The wine has a colour of a great youth. What strikes is the density, the weight of this wine on the tongue. Very pure, complex as a Latour can be, it is immense. By usual notation, this wine deserves a 3 digit note.
As we had 12 wines, I had decided that we would drink Richebourg, Domaine de la Romanée Conti 1942 alone, as I was happy with the smell of the wine, and it would be good to have it as a transition. This wine has a smell which is the temptating charm of Burgundy. The year does not give power, but subtlety. I had already shared with Aubert de Villaine a Grands Echézeaux 1942 DRC, as he likes this year. And this Richebourg is great, very typical, with a very great length not created by the power but by the subtlety.
The wine that I had added, a Savigny la Dominode Roger Poirier 1953 has probably had an accident before my possession, it is as cooked. I did not try further. On the contrary, the Corton Cuvée Charlotte Dumay Hospices de Beaune Vanier 1945 is a magnificent and glorious exemplar of what Burgundy has made as best for a stellar year : 1945. On the small bird with a long bill, the combination was a dream. This Corton is of an incredible complexity, not so easy to understand.
On Stilton, a classical wine that I like to present : very cheap but performing wonderfully due to the age, a Château Salins Rions 1ères Côtes de Bordeaux 1941 is exactly proper. No power, no density, but a great subtlety amplified and rounded with age. A very convenient wine at this moment of the dinner.
The chef who works for Jacques came to see me before the dinner to adjust the dessert. And we had a delicious combination with one of my favourite wines : Château Suduiraut 1928. This Sauternes is one of the greatest ever. I had imagined that it would shine more with the mango than with the pink grapefruits. In fact, it is the pink grapefruits which sent the Suduiraut to the moon. It gained a length which is incredible. Whenever Suduiraut 1928 appears in my dinner, I vote for it as first. It was not the case today, as it was one of the most discrete of all, even if very great.
I am always pleased when 8 wines belong to the votes of the guests who vote for only four wines. It shows that these 8 wines attracted the interest of guests. Four wines had the honour of votes as number one. The Latour 1916 five times, Richebourg Domaine de la Romanée Conti 1942 four times. Château Galan 1929 and Suduiraut 1928 got one vote as first. The Richebourg was in every vote, which is not frequent. The vote of the consensus would be : Latour 1916, Richebourg Domaine de la Romanée Conti 1942, Suduiraut 1928 and Corton 1945.
My vote has been shared in the same order by one guest and with a different order by another guest : Château Latour 1916, Richebourg Domaine de la Romanée Conti 1942, Corton 1945 and Suduiraut 1928.
The familial atmosphere by le Divellec pleases me a lot. His enthusiasm, for a man who is 72 years old is remarkable. He has nothing more to prove, but he was passionate by the experience of such a dinner. Even if the star was Latour 1916, I am happy that he has created a real gastronomical event.
To finish, just the years of the wines : 1981, 1959, 1953, 1952, 1945, 1942, 1941, 1929, 1928, 1916. A nice visit within history.