In our family, the Belgian connection means that we have Christmas dinners both on the 24th (Belgium) and on the 25th (UK). In Belgium a must for Christmas Eve are the boudins de noël – hard to translate into English. (“Boudin” is usually translated as “black pudding” or “blood sausage” but some of the boudins de noël are white!)
NV Louis Roederer Champagne Collection 244 - France, Champagne (24/12/2024)
IMO Roederer produces one of the best affordable NV cuvées (or should I now say multi-vintage?). This is not quite bone dry, lively fruited and mineral with a round quite rich undertow, moreish acidity and quite long finish. Fresh, yet rich enough, to go well with boudin de noël. Very good.
On Christmas day, the part of the family resident in France gathered together for an English style Christmas dinner with certain variants e.g. bûche de noël (yuletide log) substituted for Christmas pudding.
With zakouskis (appetizers) -
NV Champagne Trudon Champagne Monochrome - France, Champagne (25/12/2024)
This is a "house" champagne recommended by one of my favourite local cavistes. It is made by a grower at Festigny in the Marne valley 100% from Pinot Meunier. I don't think that, blind, I would have taken this for Champagne as it has has much more exuberant and juicy fruit than most others and less subtle notes of brioche and minerals. However it is very enjoyable in a quite full way and went down well as an apéritif with Christmas day starters. Good.
With foie gras d’oie -
2016 Caveau des Jacobins Côtes du Jura Vin Jaune - France, Jura, Côtes du Jura (25/12/2024)
Offered by Patrick, my son-in-law, along with a succulent foie gras d'oie, this worked at least as well as a pairing as a more conventional sweetie and was much kinder to the following wines. As typical, it is strongly marked by its voile(AKA flor) which gives it a certain kinship with dry sherry but also shows more generous fruit together with nutty and spicy hints, veering towards curry. The dryness and acidity cut well into the fat of the foie gras. Even more open and eloquent 24 hours later with a mousse de caille. Very good.
With capon, stuffing and root vegetables (parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, rutabaga, etc.).
1990 Albert Morot Beaune 1er Cru Teurons - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru (25/12/2024)
This was my last bottle and absolutely lovely. On my previous bottle, I commented on its medium body with plenty of quite rich red berry fruit left after so many years in addition to forest floor, discreet minerals, moreish acidity, silky texture and resolved tannins but felt a faint trace of TCA. Happily there was none of that in this bottle, just a wonderful experience of suave mature Burgundy, probably at its peak or just beyond. Excellent.
1996 Domaine Maume Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru (25/12/2024)
This was another last bottle, like the Beaune Teurons 1990 from Albert Morot. The contrast in style was very striking. In part it was a vintage effect (ripe 1990 vs more angular and acidic 1996) but also terroir effect (the virility of Gevrey-C vs the more mellow Beaune). This seemed much more than 6 years younger than the Teurons, with medium/full body, linear shape, bright savoury fruit, ivy touches, slightly earthy minerals, faint beginnings of forest floor and old book, lively moreish acidity, more matt texture than the Teurons and still present tannic firmness on the long finish. Perhaps I should have served it before the Teurons as, coming after, it seemed a touch brash. Excellent, however.
With the bûches de noël, one chocolate based and the other fruit based (Stilton next day) -
NV Graham Porto The Tawny - Portugal, Douro, Porto (25/12/2024)
This is darker and more robust than many tawny ports, making it a good pairing with Stilton and Chocolate desserts but it lacks the ethereal distinction of tawnies and colheitas from, say, Taylors and Niepoort. Good.
Posted from CellarTracker
I’ll save my burgeoning rant about Burgundy values to another day! The above two came from producers who were well reputed in the 90s but have since fallen off radar screens, hence not subject to some of the ridiculous secondary market inflation. In this respect Bordeaux offers much better value at the high end, except for some low volume cult growths like Pétrus.