Menu:
Quail drummettes
Oysters with champagne vinaigrette & salmon pearls
Boudin Noir in a filo casing
Fresh baked rolls with truffle butter
Truffled Eggs, Scrambled
Carpaccio with truffle, fresh herbs & pecorino
Wild mushroom & truffle risotto
Truffle & Quail Angnalotti
Roast Spatchcock with truffle, served on freshly made egg noodles with truffle-butter
Mini wagyu sirloin, sauteed mushrooms and a truffle jus
Beetroot & spinach with toasted pine nuts salad
Wild rocket & shaved parmesan salad
Home made Sorbet of cantaloupe
Lemongrass & coconut Creme Brulee
Wines:
1976 Bollinger Grande Annee Champagne
Honey, creme brulee, caramel and some sherry styled notes on the nose. There is an appealing biscuity character to the palate, but it trails off very meekly. Likeable in some regards, but looking pretty tired overall.
82/100
1985 Pol Roger Brut Champagne
Good colour to this, with the bead quite energetic. Toffee apple, pear and brioche character on the nose. Medium bodied palate with truly good balance between the acid and subtly sweet aged flavour. Enjoyable and close to its peak.
88/100
1992 Mount Mary "Triolet"
One day I hope to try a Triolet that I like, but this sadly was not going to be it. The nose is a strange mix of peat, lime, earth and grass, with the palate carrying across the grassy and green characters and not really showing anything more of interest. Very poor.
75/100
1993 Salomon "Library Reserve" Undhof Kogl Riesling
Opened with orange peel, peach and some petrol aromas. Light to medium body, with restrained acid and some balanced residual sweetness carrying into a slightly too short finish. Seemed to be fairly fresh still and should carry drinking well for another 5 years.
88/100
2003 Nicolas Joly Savennieres "Clos de la Coulee de Serrant"
Decanted since early in the morning! Golden orange colour. Ginger snaps, caramel, lime, plum and a spirity character that was prominent to start but lifted away to show strong scents of pineapple and lychee. A delicious roundness to the palate that coated the mouth but retained balance and focus, finishing clean and long. Full of unique character, challenging and superbly interesting.
92/100
2004 Thierry Violot-Guillemard 1er Cru "La Platiere"
Iodine, herbs, earthy and meaty characters. Palate shows firm tannins, with decent structure. A nice wine but lacking in both texture and excitement to be more to me.
87/100
2005 Bouchard Père et Fils 1er Cru "Clos des Chenes"
Dense colour and nose with black cherry, some coffee, and well integrated oak. Structurally excellent with fine tannins there to support some bold, powerful fruit. Very clean, modern and vibrant despite the density. Lots of potential to develop over the next 10 years here.
91/100
1997 Bass Phillip "Reserve" Pinot Noir
Murky medium red with some slight bricking around the rim. A complex, intriguing savoury nose of earth, mushroom, spice and game. Palate has real texture, finesse and depth. Excellent length. For my taste, I thought this ready to drink. A gorgeous wine that was greatly superior on the palate to a 375ml bottle that I tasted last year.
92/100
1966 Mildara "Yellow Label Bin 35" Cabernet Shiraz
Leather, spice, tobacco and smoke on the nose. The medium body palate is resolved in all aspects and is really enjoyable to drink. Doing more than just hanging on, a very nice fully mature wine.
88/100
2002 Domaine Armand Rousseau Pere et Fils Grand Cru "Clos de la Roche"
Perfumed, bright nose of red cherry, raspberry and light vanilla. Very approachable, elegant and a silky texture caressing the palate. Very nice now and should be even better having built complexity in 6-7 years time.
90/100
2000 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Grand Cru "La Tache"
An exceptional, compelling nose. Swirling, shifting aromas of five spice, lavender, cassis, smoke, cola and pencil shavings - just wonderful! The palate is not quite as interesting, but is still excellent. Medium bodied, slightly plump and approachable now due to the incredible balance between acid, tannin and fruit. A beautiful wine with a great future over the next 10 years.
93/100
1990 Yarra Yering "Dry Red #1"
The nose on this leapt out of the glass at me with blackcurrant, raspberry, chocolate, tobacco, smoke and leather. Brilliant length and balance to the medium bodied palate. Great complexity and the kind of wine that you want to really spend time enjoying, lest you miss a layer. I think this was probably my wine of the night among some very strong competition.
93/100
1994 Howard Park Cabernet Sauvignon
Blackcurrant, cedar, tobacco leaf, tea leaves and spice. Had me fooled for Bordeaux. The weight of the palate is an outstanding feature, it has intensity and depth of flavour without any feeling of it being too heavy or overbearing. Everything is well integrated and balanced. A great pleasure to drink now and for the next 5-7 years.
92/100
1990 Clos du Mont Olivet "La Cuvee du Papet"
A young, deep red colour. I found the nose appealing with pepper, earth, cherry, kirsch and some violets. The palate was surprisingly medium bodied and restrained rather than explosive. An interesting texture and spice to the palate, but the finish seemed to trail off before I was ready for it to end. I enjoyed the remains of the bottle the next night and it remained very similar in character, but I would probably drink this over the next 5 years.
91/100
1999 Guigal Brune et Blonde
Fragrant and floral with some pepper, briar, cherry and redcurrant. Slides effortlessly along the palate, very smooth and supple. Very nice drinking now for my taste.
89/100
1999 Torbreck Run Rig
Bold, perfumed nose of violets, blackberry, coffee and apricot. Plush, delicious mouthfeel and shows lovely length on the palate. Overall, this wine is still very youthful, but it seems to have the structure to go the distance and take on some complexity. I would love to see another one in 6-7 years.
92/100
Photos:
