Sunday lunch in Brixton, 12th Sept

Last Sunday G and I went round to ACC's pad in Brixton for lunch. It was an absolutely beautiful autumn day, and there were lots of goodies on the menu!

We kicked off with a comparison of two whites, my Bouzereau Meursault 2002 and an Auxey-Duresses 1995 from Domaine Veronique de MacMahon provided by ACC. The Bouzereau was its usual self and I have blogged about it before so won't go over it again. The Auxey was fascinating. It had a nose of lemon and honey. I think if I'd been tasting it blind I would have mistaken it for a riesling, as it had a core of lime juice acidity. Very vibrant and we all liked it. It made the Meursault seem quite fat by comparison. Check out the classy wax seal!

Then we had a comparison of two reds: a Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru Abbaye de Morgeot 2006 from the Marquis de MacMahon provided by ACC versus an Echezeaux (grand cru) 1997 from Denis Thomas which I brought along.

The Chassagne was lovely - a gorgeous ruby colour. Very pretty and scintillating. It was classic Chassagne and reminded me why this is my favourite style of red burgundy, perfumed and elegant. We gave it a 9 for premier cru project purposes. Which, consulting my giant spreadsheet just now, is remarkably consistent as we had a half of the 2001 a couple of years ago and gave it an 9. Pleasing.

The Echezaux was rather a mystery as I picked it up for a bargain basement price at a recent auction. We weren't familiar with the producer but made the assumption that you don't get to produce grand cru burgundy unless you have some idea what you're doing (with perhaps one notable exception ahem) and it didn't disappoint. It was browner than the Chassagne, not surprising given its age, and more meaty on the nose. Rich, serious, delicious, intense, and mellow. That's probably enough adjectives. ACC liked the label and in particular the way the E of Echezeaux is in red. That's very classic, apparently.

Then we moved on to the hard stuff and in particular this old Bisquit cognac. At this point I was starting to flag and my handwriting becomes completely indecipherable except for "PRINCE BERNARD" which I clearly thought was an important point to note. Also "1956". Presumably the label detectives thought it was made then? It was very mellow and there was no fieriness left in it, which worked for me.

The food was great as always as ACC is very talented in that department - the smoked haddock and lentil terrine and tarte au praline were particular highlights. Thanks very much to ACC and we shall have a rematch in due course (better expand my terrine repertoire quick)!