A wonderful dinner that was years in the
organising by Jordi Orriols-Gil. It was a quite wonderful marathon all in all from a kick off
at 7pm we finished at midnight…The notes below are a little erratic that is
only because with some flights there was a bit of quiet and everyone was quite
studious with others the conversation flowed and I wrote far less. As always
when dealing with great wine the notes end up being comments and observations,
or even character assessments, rather than descriptors.
A mention must go to The Square whose service was good as ever and whose menu was really delicious (a couple of pics at the bottom).
Salad and Tartare of Highland Wagyu Beef
with Nasturtium and Bouton de Culotte
Ravioli of Wild Mushrooms with Melted Onions, Parsley Oil and Snails
Glazed Veal Cheeks with Cauliflower, Chanterelles, Parmesan Caviar and
Truffle
Breast & Croustillant of Pigeon with Confit of Vegetables and
Trompettes de la Mort
Burgundian Cheese
Rhubarb Fool
So, on with the wines:
Bollinger RD 79 en magnum - Rich,
opulent, a little dry Tarte Tatin, enticing with some saline.
Montrachet 1950, Comte de Moucheron – The Comte de
Moucheron were the owners of Chateau du Meursault and the owners of the plot of
Montrachet that was later sold to the Domaine in 1966. This was alive but fully
mature, as you’d expect. A dry butterscotch and orange character, tangy.
The wines were then served in flights of between three
and six wines. The glasses used were mid sized, bigger and some of the delicate
wines would have been too prone to oxidation as we were 14 people to each
bottle. No wines were decanted just poured straight from the bottle. Other than the magnum of Bollinger everything was from bottle format.
Flight 1: A brilliant flight of young
wines that really showed exactly the characters I expected of the vintages.
1999 – Such amazing vibrancy, so rich with fruit but so focussed, a shade of
graphite minerality but essentially a wine of opulent fruit, some of that fruit
is quite dark. Really very special, on reflection one of the wines of the
night. I have had this a few times and it is a stunningly exciting wine, no
doubt about that. If you own this be very excited.
2000 – A shade more bruised in fruit character, mulled fruit a little, a dash
of orange rind but only a tiny bit, light and elegant, no blockbuster,
gentle, good focus, became more generous, easily nice, a little grip on the end
but essentially very complete if short of being profound.
2002 – A shade degraded as you would expect, very 2002 to the 1999’s purity.
“Mulchy” there will be undergrowth to come soon, some mushroom but also
sweetness, young but on track to be a wine that has superb secondary and
tertiary class. Structure is very good, definitely there but very balanced,
retains it’s sweetness. On revisiting later is tightened up and kept it’s
focus.
Flight 2: Possibly the flight where I learnt the most, wonderful differences.
1980 – Interestingly Aubert noted that this was the second vintage (after the
‘79) where they did no racking, straight from barrel to bottle so as not to
lose anything. This wine reminded me of the Romanee Conti 1965 we had had the
previous evening. Incredibly clear, clean and pure, so persistent, like
rosewater, consommé and savoury notes all at the same time. Amazing and in most
peoples top three wines of the night, who would have thought…
1985 – More red colour and depth than the 1980, sweetness, life, very fine. Three of those assembled commented that it was not as perfect as another bottle
they had previously drunk together but to me this was high class and really pretty decadent.
1989 – This had a strictness and
correctness but certainly a lack of charm. Good weight and density as well as
darker, thicker colour, more robust but also a little clumsy. The tannin ws
definitely there, as was dark fruit but somehow the two did not meld as they
might. I was very re-assured by Aubert’s observation that this was a wine that
went into bottle “in a bad mood and has never really changed”. In isolation a
good wine from a vintage that has never been as great in Burgundy as other
European regions.
1990 – Superb, decadent nose, very 1990. There is an element of the 1999 about
this but may be more degradation. There is a little savoury side but
fundamentally this is a wine of dark but fresh fruit, succulent texture and a
dash of cleansing saline at the end. Odd though this may sound but it reminds
me of a Burgundian Haut-Brion 1989 in so far as it is just so hard not to like
it and yet it stands out as being of the vintage as much as the site.
Delicious.
1991 – If the 1990 has always been the opulent, generous, crowd pleaser then
the 1991 is the purists vintage, all freshness and red fruit with acidity to
focus and sort of perfect leanness. Such focus and life, nervous energy if you
like. Aubert commented that it corresponds exactly to the type of wine that he
likes to make. Poised and classy.
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| 1989-1990-1991 |
Flight 3: It is fair to say this was comfortably the most under performing flight, even those that were good had a degraded, powdery colour and texture.
1970 – It was noted that this was a very
difficult vintage with botrytis almost floating in the air as in 1965 and 1967.
The wine had some bruised oranges, then quite quickly mushrooms and mushroom
water*, it was a little weary but I did like it, long as well.
1971 – We tried two bottles. Neal Martin, whose birth year this is, said he
must have cursed the wine. The first was promising but ever so slightly corked
and once you noticed this you couldn’t avoid it. The second bottle was more
correct but not (cork aside) as good as the first. A shame, you could though
tell in that the first showed real class and texture as well as
savoury persistence.
1972 – Oranges and Verdehlo Madeira, a zesty powderiness, it was like must,
pretty exhausted, so beyond mature but my note finished “bizarrely enjoyable”.
1974 – This was noted as a rainy vintage like 1967 and 1977. There was sweetness
there and dry wood, a good surprise, not serious but really enjoyable.
1976 – Aubert commented that there are others who probably made better '76’s.
It was very hot but picked in the rain that finally came. Someone asked about
1976 and 2003 being similar and Aubert felt that 2005 has more in common with
1976 than 2003 does. I like this wine, clean, precise and really quite dense, a
great effort.
1978 – Sadly this was not as it should be. A Bual character and drinkable due to some sweetness but…
Flight 4: A lovely flight, clear candidates for the wine of even this night.
1962 – Not correct in colour or tasting
1964 – Wow! Stunning, fresh and pure, red-fruited bliss, energy and life,
vibrant. Not heavy just weighted perfectly and balanced, feminine even.
Exceptional.
1965 – Some soy and balsamic, nice, on the savoury yet focussed side of things.
Some mushroom came out and the colour did brown in the glass, elegant.
1966 – Delicious, nervous, so elegant, sweet yet savoury, some wood and nutmeg,
real depth, I could see the ’99 developing this way but then I could say that
for the 1964 as well and yet the two wines are quite different.
1969 – I made very few notes here sadly – I had it down as good but lacking a
little fruit sweetness.
1964 – Another bottle, a little less “red” than the other, very good though,
slightly more saline and savoury notes but the same focus. A magnificent bottle on any night but just shaded by the over 1964.
Flight 5: What our host would call mature wines!
1950 – Tea, some orange but lightly so,
citrus, sweetness, almost some butterscotch, a little vanilla, lovely,
elegant...with air some coffee notes appeared…fascinating. It was very
interesting to note that this vintage was all but written off by the critics…it
certainly “shouldn’t” be alive now!
1952 – Delicate, lovely, fresh, bright, a
little edge to it but there is some volume, fascinating.
1953 – Sadly not in taste-able condition.
Romanee-Conti 1953 – Clean and clear, very
very good, very persistent and focussed, real weightlessness but also
sweetness. Light and elegant, very fine.
1958 - Sadly not in taste-able condition.
1959 – A dash of caramel, a real
similarity of character to the Romanee Conti 1959 tasted a few weeks
previously. There is a viscosity and intense sweetness, incredible.
Flight 6:
1937 - Sadly not in taste-able condition.
1943 – Bacon on the nose to a degree,
richness but a light framework, in one place. It has an energy albeit
delicate…surprisingly long.
Not that any more wine was needed but Jordi always likes to keep the line of vintages going back so we went into the 1920's with:
Climens 1929 – Very much Brulee initially,
dried fruits quickly appear, good but fully mature of course.
Doisy-Daene 1928 – Fresher, lovely, toffee
apple character even some pecan…
What an evening, a great reward for Jordi's hard work in assembling these bottles. Certainly a tasting I can't imagine will ever be repeated. I don't think anyone has ever doubted La Tache's place at the top table of vineyards in the world let lone Burgundy. Possibly the most true identifier of a great site is the ability to perform year in year out and in a series of different vintage conditions. La Tache does this from extroverts like 2002, 1990, 1959 to the refined and elegant dancers of 1980, 1991 and more…wonderful (however biased I may be)...
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| The beginning and the end... |
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Salad and Tartare of Highland Wagyu Beef with Nasturtium and Bouton de Culotte
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| Ravioli of Wild Mushrooms with Melted Onions, Parsley Oil and Snails |
*Mushroom water - this is a note I have started to use a fair bit, it describes the smell you get when soaking dried mushrooms in hot water. This normally signals that Mrs Hargrove is making her mushroom risotto, always a good thing!
