Double birthday bonanza...

A meeting of "The Lads" – Ronaldinho, Chewy, Irish Peat, Halifax, Wattsy, Teardrop and Step-toe - was called to celebrate the birthdays of the first two mentioned. The venue was selected as No 1 Lombard Street and the brief was that the line-up, beautifully orchestrated by Halifax (aka Nobby), had to be top draw. Not a problem with this bunch.

As we gathered we started, post Peroni for some, with a magnum of Salon 1997, this was drinking superbly, nice focus but easy to enjoy, a dash of saline and citrus, no weighty biscuitiness which was not needed at this early stage. A cracking start.

The menu that lay ahead of us is below, with some pictures at the bottom of this blog.

Sauté hand dived scallop and prawn,chilli jam and coconut salsa

Pan fried olive crusted stone bass risoni,wild mushrooms and mushroom velouté

Truffled ballottine of chicken petit pois a la franchise

Stuffed fillet of pork sweet potato compote glazed cavolo Nero

Cheese

The two birthday boys have probably drunk more Ramonet than other mere mortals so a trio from this great estate was our starting stalls:

Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Ruchottes 2000 - quite bold and opulent with richness and breadth. This struck me as a little more Meursaultesque than Chassagne-like but I think that is more the vintage than anything…nice wine.

Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2001 - slightly harsh to say so but this was the weak-link of the trio. It was not prem-oxed or anything but was looser than I think we expected. There was a striking note on the nose of fresh mint. It may be just suffered by comparison with the others.

Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru 1988 (2 bottles because, well it was rather splendid) - This was an absolute joy, stunning. My tasting starts with "feck me" it really was that good. Superb balance, sweetness, a shade of lovely reduction - simply excellent.

From Ramonet to Mugnier for the first brace of reds…which were served blind, leading to the usual abusive "you know nothing" exchanges that have become the particular forte of this wonderfully direct group - sensitive sorts need not apply!

As a pair these were beautiful wines, such lightness of touch and confidence required to turn out wines like this that will gain weight with age but are stunning now:

Musigny 2001 - this was one of those rare occasions where Nobby got things spot on by saying this was "ding-dong". Primary, red fruit, so pretty, roses, wild strawberries, really focussed but fruited too, delightful. Definitely want to have this again...

Musigny 2000 - A little darker a little more texture, still elegant but a shade drier, superb. A rich weightlessness.

The quality of those wines took me straight back to the  Bonnes Mares 2008, Mugnier that I had 15 months ago in Chambolle-Musigny - a quality producer without doubt. On the topic of quality producers the second red Burgundy pair was from two rather special names - Rousseau & DRC.

Ruchottes Chambertin Grand Cru 1993 from Rousseau was incredibly youthful, very focussed with rich red fruits throughout, my scribblings have the word "lovely" about four times, I certain felt it showed more primary character than a 22 year old wine would normally, quality and poise, excellent.

La Tache 2000 from DRC was next, as we had this and the Rousseau side by side I think we all felt the Tache was the older wine. The texture was the odd thing, a little murky and bruised. There was acidity there and I liked the fruit character, which admittedly had nothing like the purity of the Rousseau. It was a odd showing for La Tache, lacking focus, I looked at my notes from the fairly recent La Tache "decades and decades" dinner tasting and there is some similarity. Anyhow, this group would never let a disappointing bottle change the mood. The next pair, of magnums, quickly had smiles all round. 

Hermitage 1990 from Chave was first up and was instantly a success, amazingly managing to combine meatiness with almost primary fruit, a dash of graphite but real energy. It's a good thing it was a magnum as there would have been a fight for more, a stunning wine. Several round the table saying it was a good few years behind the bottle format of this wine. Following that was always going to be tricky but Hermitage La Chapelle 1978 from Jaboulet had a damn good stab at it. It was at a different stage which was a superb contrast. Saline, iodine, some good grip and grunt, "pips and all" was a phrase someone used, there was lovely lack of compromise about this. Beef stock but good fruit too, a superb wine. As I write this I am two days away from heading to the Rhone -  a region I am loving more and more…these wines are amongst the very best reasons why.

We then hit a double "corked bottle" speed bump. Both Trotanoy 1982 and a magnum of

Figeac 1982 were corked -  a real shame. We had a brief squabble about whether you could taste "round" the cork but moved on swiftly and with good reason. A magnum of Margaux 1983 awaited. This is a wine I have long wished to have, something of a legend. There is a lovely lush texture and then a quiet extrovert, expressive character with a dash of spice, this is still youthful in magnum but is simply splendid. The expectation was high and it delivered.

The next wine, which was served blind, will be amongst the most memorable of the year without any doubt. It was effortlessly complex on the palate. The nose was far less remarkable, a little neutral to me but apparently it smelt like a "rotting hedgerow" to one of our number. Either way (the polite version of "whatever") the palate somehow managed to combine; bovril, marmite, butter, pastry, Tarte Tatin, nuts and more. It was not bone dry by any stretch, I loved it. It was revealed as Rayas Blanc Doux Liquereux 1950 - Ronaldinho's birth year - special. Vouray Mouelleux Reserve 1976, Foreau was possibly more conventionally brilliant, smokey, briney, real richness, lovely, lovely wine. A very dry and hot year of course. I have reading (and hopefully drinking) to do on this producer. The wines quality was as marked as my ignorance of it.

A Russell and McIver bottling of Cockburn 1955 followed and is a reminder, if we needed it, that mature Port is a category nobody should be forgetting about, this was long, precise and clean, not heavy, but full of gentle Christmas spices. A real highlighted even in this sort of company.

With the room, that we had sensibly been tucked away in, needed for dinner we were politely moved to the bar area where a couple of "glamourous super-subs" were opened:

The Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2009, Tollot-Beaut reminded Nobby of "Egg Custard" or may be he was just pining for his train back ooop norf. It was broad and good, nicely savoury to balance the ripeness of 2009. It did slightly struggle for attention with a magnum of Chambertin Grand Cru 2000 from that chap Rousseau. The Chambertin, unsurprisingly, was superb, rich, balancing sweet fruit, saline and savoury seriousness perfectly…

And with that the box marked "Mission accomplished" could be firmly ticked…great bottles, great people, great abuse…who's birthday next?

The Birthday boys…a happy couple…

Sauté hand dived scallop and prawn,chilli jam and coconut salsa

Pan fried olive crusted stone bass risoni,wild mushrooms and mushroom velouté

Truffled ballottine of chicken petit pois a la franchise

The "Lads" at The Greenhouse…

So a gathering of what - for reasons of confidentially - I seem now to refer to as "The Lads". The Greenhouse was the venue and sadly we were five not seven but with Nobby shuffling the deck winewise we had a hell of a line-up.

Salon 1997 is always a good place to start, it is showing a lovely balance, Lemon, citrus with a little shortbread, good life, it has a slightly saline edge...very long future ahead but it is no waste to drink now. Interestingly the sommelier served it decanted in the Zalto white wine glass…both of those things showed the wine well at this stage. The menu had been prepared specially, you don't get 2 stars easily...

Canapes

Beef, Avocado, Wild Mushroom

Cornish Crab

Mint jelly, Cauliflower, Granny Smith apple, Curry

Veal Head

Mint, Peas, Herbs

Native Lobster

Potimarron, Grapefruit, Vanilla, Tarragon

Dover Sole

Beetroot, Red Wine, Vadouvan spices

Chicken

Erbette, Snail, Wild garlic

Strawberry

Thyme, Sesame, Milk

So now it was time for the line up to go up a notch. We did the three whites one by one and blind, only blind for a few moments that is.

Meursault 1er Cru Les Boucheres 2011, Chateau Genot-Boulanger is a wine I do not know at all. I'll be totally honest and say I had an inkling towards white Bordeaux so fresh was this. That was never going to be likely but "nothing ventured" and all that. The freshness was from a nettley "good greenness". This looks to have a good future and when it was revealed as Meursault it made me think of the tight, mineral styles like Roulot, nice wine.

Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru 2011, Francois Carillon was the bottle I took, only the second time it has been made. Francois Carillon as an estate being first made (fully) in 2010. This is from a tiny 0.045 hectares. It was good to have it after another 2011, it opened up more and more with time as you'd expect. There is a slight lemon sherbet element but also some of the saline quality, clearly it is a "nipper" now but has a good future and it was fun to keep re-visiting it. Pretty classy.

Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru 1986, Ramonet was so obviously much more mature, it was in now way tired, it was unctuously classy and moreish, there were elements of toffee and butterscotch but always with a drive and liveliness, really lovely, propper breadth too, it wasn't afraid to be Batard, full and quite masculine, the empty glass smelt like a sweet wine. Splendid.

The three Burgundian reds were served in turn so that we could look at each but also look at them together:

Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru 1993, Rousseau was absolutely delicious straight "off the bat" with red black fruits and a soft persistence, a lovely freshness went through the wine that kept it lively and airy, rose petals showed and a delightful balance. Very good indeed, very 1993 and very Pinot.

Chambertin Grand Cru 2001, Rousseau was every bit as good as I have dared hope. My note reads: Orangey tang and delicious, delicious brooding rich red and black fruit, a "puppy", very primary with a stunning palate but delicious now, does have a savoury edge, cheese and smokiness, love this...  

Romanee-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru 2001, DRC - followed the Rousseau (not easy) brilliantly, lots of flavours, good fruit but also herbs, pencil shavings, less obviously so young, a little spice and herbs again, the some power too, graphite and just a dash of white pepper. Very complex.

It was a truly glorious trio, just what those two producers and Burgundy are, and should always be, about - complexity and drinkability. We then had two pairs of Bordeaux. It was one of those splendid occasions when nobody was bothered about a "winner", a real treat all round.

Magdelaine 1990 and Margaux 1985 formed the first flight. For the Magdelaine I had "Ink-like colour, showing well, bold, iron-like, savoury but with enough sweetness, rich, beefy, stocky, then dates, lovely" it is certainly on the savoury side as Magdelaine always is. A magnum of the Magdelaine 1985  was a real treat recently and much as I understand the reasons why it no longer exists in its own right (it nows forms a large part of Belair-Monange), I do feel it is a shame. We were a long way off with guesses, being on the other bank of the river but I am never unhappy to get this wrong (with a few exceptions). The Margaux was splendid also, a little drier and more reserved initially it somehow it had a bolder core and then became more lifted and aromatic, really lovely.

With "lunchers" energy not even starting to dip we were into the last pair of reds Cheval Blanc 1981 and Cheval Blanc 1959. I have to say I count my lucky stars every time I get to drink these older wines, the 1959 I really mean by that, when knowing they are from good cellars and are genuine. The way things are these days we would (at work) sadly run a mile from the wines from 1945, 1947, 1955, 1959 and 1961. But first the 1981. This was "forest floor" in character but then really quite rich, it was a quite degraded but sweet "naughty" smell, fresh with good lift, a confusingly good Cheval, (fortunately) I can't remember what I though it was. And so to the Cheval Blanc 1959, I always find these very good but fully mature wines difficult to describe but then that is the very nature of complexity. My jottings say "sweet, savoury, leathery, tobacco and soy, more soy, more sweetness, dates, amazing savoury texture, more ferrous than frivolous". It really was quite something, I think I guessed 1955 because the few of those I have had have the same energy and colour.

The final wine of lunch was de Fargues 1986, it was the only wine of the day that may be didn't quite show its full potential, it was still good and not faulty but it lacked energy, there were bruised dried apricots, lots of rancho richness and lots of the brûlée character.

What a lunch it was, wonderful wine, lots of great chat and the chance to look at some try great wines and wines that might go to even more special places…thanks as ever to "The Lads".

nb My only regret is that there is no picture of any labels or a line-up shot, for this I blame Ronaldinho fully, he distracted me…how is another story...

When will I ever learn…I didn't need this delicious Negroni….

Chateau Margaux - a mini tasting

On Thursday last week it was great to have Alexandra Petit-Mentzelopoulos and Aurelien Valance of Ch. Margaux at the office to do a tasting for the team. They are keen to get closer to their customers and consumers and this was a great opportunity to hear what was going on at the estate and taste one example of each of the wines they are currently producing. Alexandra is the daughter of Corrine Mentzelopoulos, the owner of Ch. Margaux, and Aurelien is the Marketing Director for the Chateau. Aurelien spoke about how much R&D was going on at the Chateau and how they do not want to "die stupid", things - 
closures, clones, selections - must not just be left to chance. 

So on to the wines:

Pavillon Blanc du Chateau Margaux 2011 - I was very interested to taste this especially as I have recently had the 2007. The 2011 is a lovely wine, taut on the opening, white fruit and good texture, a little lanolin too. Coming back to it after the reds it had opened up a lot to reveal a little lychee, coconut and melon but without being in any way sweet, very complex. I think that along with great white Burgundy and German Riesling this is a great style of wine to have in the cellar. The wine itself is, unusually, 100% Sauvignon Blanc and does not go through malolactic at all, it sees 8 months on oak only 25% of which is new, this has dropped in recent years from 33-35%, a good thing in my book. 1000 cases are made now, before 2005 it used to be 3000. The team there are also looking at bottling more in magnum in the future, I've never seen it in magnum!! The plot that the wine itself is made from is 11 hectares in size and 4km from the main property it used to be planted with red varietals but was prone to frost. From a marketing perspective it is a little strange to have the second red wine and the first white wine sharing the "Pavillon" name so it may well be that the white becomes Chateau Margaux Blanc soon, we will have to wait and see. It was while tasting this that Aurelien mentioned the procedure that the Chateau goes through in selecting it's corks. They buy bags of 500 made from only the cork in the middle of the tree, they then randomly take out 50 and place them in glasses of water, when the water is tasted later that day if any has an aroma that is anything but perfectly neutral then the whole bag is binned! Oh, and on the Blanc the bottle itself has a neck just a fraction narrower so as to keep the pressure higher and reduce the chance of any oxidation.

Next up was Pavillon Rouge 2008, roughly a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 10 Cabernet franc. The wine leads with a classy new leather and tobacco nose, the fruit is there but quite closed down, young for sure but not too young to appreciate. Aurelien made two linked comments that make Pavillon rouge more and more interesting. Firstly that due to the wine going up in price massively on the secondary market they are making more and more effort with it in terms of selection "it has to meet the price". Secondly, that because of the fact they have made more and more "savage" selections to make Chateau Margaux itself the very best it can be the Pavillon now contains many plots that would have been in Margaux in the 80's. One further result of these selections there will be a third red before long destined for the established traditional markets and on-trade representation - probably named Margaux de Chateau Margaux - and the fourth wine would be sold in bulk. And so to the "main man"...

Ch. Margaux 2004, having said "man" I think it is best to say that Margaux is the most feminine of the first growths by consensus. The 2004 is a really lovely wine. Bordeaux as it used to be in many ways. Very classical, lots of lovely elegant red and black fruits with no one fruit shouting at you. The tannic structure is there but coats the tongue rather than attacking it. It is approaching drinking now but at the same time will age and develop gracefully over the coming decades. In both pricing and style the 2004's are arguably the last classic drinkers vintage. This wine just shout "drink me" at you. The alcohol is always very low, by modern standards and this adds to the easy elegance of the wine.

It was a crack tasting filled with priceless nuggets of information. Brilliant to see a first growth showing their wines outside of the Chateau and being open to lots of questions...