Dinner at Otto's, 20th May

On Friday evening, G, D and I went for dinner at Otto's. This was D's first visit, my second, and about G's hundredth!

Past experience indicated that the Canard a la Presse served more than two, so we had it between three of us on this occasion which worked perfectly. En aperitif we drank some Arteis 2002 champagne which was pleasantly mature, and then Otto recommended a white Pernand-Vergelesses 2011 from Girardin with our starters, which went nicely with my first asparagus of the year. I made sure that I limited myself to one piece of bread, remembering what happened the first time we went to Bocuse.

G had made a special arrangement that we could bring along a couple of bottles from our own cellars. D contributed this Sterling Vineyards cabernet sauvignon from 1973 which was really interesting. It had a heady nose of sweet fruit, then rounded out on the palate and ended very dry indeed with some serious tannins still present and correct.

I wrote about the duck press process previously, so won't repeat that here, but once again it was all very theatrical and D even got up to try his hand at operating the duck press! The results were as delicious as I remembered. I'd actually forgotten all about the pommes souffles which were like cushions of air inside a potato casing - like potatoes which have gone to heaven.

There was a much-needed lengthy pause before we were served the second course of duck, the legs along with curly bits of skin.

Finally, with the cheese course we had this 1907 Malvasia from D'Oliveiras which G had been keeping for this occasion. It had been standing open in my flat for a couple of weeks and transporting it safely to the restaurant was my key task of the day - fortunately I had my trusty bottle bag, made by Maman AduV, which did the job perfectly. G tells me that it was bottled in the 1970s so had spent around 65-70 years in cask and it was a deep brown colour. This was textbook Malvasia with notes of marmalade and toffee. We reserved a glass for Otto and had no problems polishing the rest off between the three of us.

Altogether it was a splendid evening and while the wine list at Otto's is excellent, it was lovely to drink some of our own things alongside the amazing food. I think this may become an annual event, because one of these days we must get round to trying the Poulard de Bresse and the Homard a la Presse! Until next time...

SPNS dinner, 13th May

On Friday it was time for the next instalment of the Chronicles of the Swiss Pinot Noir Society, and for once we had a full turnout!

I found the others picnicking on quails eggs from P's estate and after some confusion with ice cubes, we commenced with this Gaillac "Gouleyant" from Georges Vigoroux which is made from Loin de l'Oeil and Sauvignon, also provided by P. I certainly hadn't come across Loin de l'Oeil before - apparently it is native to the Gaillac region. It wasn't particularly cold so the ice cubes did in fact come in handy. For me, it was an agreeable, refreshing aperitif and G described it as pleasant quaffing wine. Good with quails eggs.

Then we moved upstairs to the dining room and cracked on with my contribution, this Chablis 1er cru Vaulorent 2008 from Domaine Nathalie et Gilles Fevre. I was gushing about this domaine in my post yesterday and this wine was absolutely top-notch. It had a lovely weight and was big and rich by Chablis standards. This was my last bottle but apparently G still has some magnums... there is probably no rush, to be honest. 2008 Chablis 1er cru Vaulorent from N&G Fevre - #nuffsaid read the comment from the Twitter-loving ACC. Absolutely.

We moved on to a pair of pinot noirs. First, this Spatburgunder 2012 Weiler Schlipf from Schneider, contributed by T. This had an interesting nose which for me had earthy and animal elements. It was pretty and definitely a food wine. There was some debate as to whether it was a typical pinot - T compared it to a Gevrey-Chambertin but I couldn't see much resemblance myself!

This Bourgogne Hautes-Cotes de Nuits 2013 from Domaine Felettig, on the other hand, was definitely very Burgundian. It was brought along by ACC. This was already drinking well and reminded me of a baby Chambolle. I found it relatively light, soft and elegant although G described it as rich and powerful! The comments in the book were universally positive and I think we all thought this was our kind of wine.

Next up was this Barolo 1986 from Bruno Giacosa which G got at auction. As with all these things, there was some uncertainty as to whether it would have survived, since the provenance was unknown.

The waitress did a great job of getting the cork out in one piece and it turned out that we needn't have worried - it was fine. The nose was certainly mature and I found it quite sweet, but on the palate it was integrated and supple, and it had a wonderful finish. It was a treat to drink this mature Barolo.

With pudding, we had a 1973 Tokaji 5 puttonyos brought along by D. This was old school, fruity tokaji, with dried fruit and figs going on. I think D made the right choice of sticky toffee pudding to go with it, but it did go well with my frangipane tart too. G made a reference to filthy wine-making but the results were delightful.

I was amused by the back label.

Finally, I'd brought along this 1998 Eiswein which T had left behind last time from Weingut Hafner in Austria, made from pinot noir grapes. After a quick bath in the ice bucket we opened it. For me this had notes of apricot and G described it as pleasant, lightweight Eiswein. I think we all liked it, but it suffered from being served after the Tokaji.

As usual, we repaired to the garden where the heaters took the chill off a surprisingly cold evening, and conversation continued until various cars arrived to whisk people off into the night. Another very enjoyable evening, thanks everyone!

Chablis tasting, 10th May

On Tuesday, I made my way over to Highbury Library (a wine bar) for a tasting of wines from the Yonne hosted by the Burgundy Portfolio.

Once again, we were in the downstairs room and the buzz of a party happening upstairs was audible as we commenced with a glass of Cremant de Bourgogne blanc de noirs from Domaine Gueguen. This is made from pinot noir and gamay and was refreshing and enjoyable. The Gueguens have only been making wine for a couple of years but already they are already very accomplished.

Next up was a Saint-Bris from the same domaine, which is made from sauvignon blanc grapes. This was quite soft, not as bracing as some sauvignons from the New World, which some of us may regard as a good thing!

Then it was on to Chablis proper - a comparison of the 2014 Petit Chablis and Chablis from Domaine Nathalie et Gilles Fevre. I've been a fan of this domaine for several years and one of the highlights of my visits to Burgundy was our day trip to this domaine in September 2013 which I wrote about here.

ACC explained that the appellation "Petit Chablis" refers to the classification of the vineyards and is not a qualitative assessment as such. This wine is completely unoaked and was very drinkable with good acidity. The Chablis itself was a step up, as you'd expect, with a heavier mouthfeel and was smart and polished. It went down very well at my office Christmas party last year and hopefully we'll be doing the same this year, when it will have an extra year on it. It was clear that the 2014 vintage was excellent.

Then we moved higher up to the scale, to a pair of wines from the premier cru Mont de Milieu vineyard - the 2014 and the 2013. I tried the 2014 first. This had a delicious, mouth-watering citrus core down the middle and an extraordinary finish which went on for minutes. I had to wait some time before I could move on to the 2013, which was easier drinking at this stage, softer and more knitted together. I did think there was a discernible similarity between them though, a certain honeyed quality. ACC waxed philosophical, telling us that we can never step into the same river twice, and when you're judging wines from different vintages you have to consider the fact that one wine is older than the other in addition to the characteristics of the vintages themselves. I think in a few years the 2014 will be spectacular and I can't resist adding some to my cellar even though G tells me I already have too much wine. I don't think family and friends will object to helping me out with it in five years' time...

Finally, we tasted the premier cru Vaucoupin 2013 from Gueguen next to the premier cru Vaulorent 2012 from Fevre. The Vaucoupin was excellent, I got a hint of mushrooms on the nose, and ACC made us hungry by talking about veal, chicken and guinea fowl at this point (fortunately the food came out shortly afterwards). It was very accomplished with great finesse.

But Vaulorent occupies a special place in my heart - more on that in the next blog post - and for me the 2012 was the highlight of the evening. ACC described it as more brooding and referred to preserved lemons. It's complex and based on recent experience could perhaps do with even longer to develop. There has been awful weather in Burgundy lately casting a big shadow over the 2015 vintage and prices are sure to rise in future, so I'm very tempted to grab a couple of bottles while I still can.

There was a competition at the end to identify this mystery bottle. I identified it as a Fevre but not as the Mont de Milieu 2010. I'd given up making notes by this stage but in retrospect I could see that it had that distinctive honeyed quality. It's not for sale, but was another opportunity to step into the Mont de Milieu river. Thanks ACC for another very educational and enjoyable tasting!

Stuff out of storage and recent drinking roundup

April was a challenging month for a variety of reasons, but now we're into May, the weather has suddenly improved and there are several wine-related occasions on the horizon which I'm looking forward to. But first, a quick catch up of what has been going down lately.

This Saint-Aubin 1er cru les Combes from Thomas Morey came from the shop in Puligny-Montrachet in September 2013. I have fond memories of glasses of Bourgogne Blanc from Domaine Bzikot being served at 3 euros a pop in the same shop. It was a pale golden colour and lively on the palate - lemony, floral, elegant and refreshing, with good acidity. G commented that "a judicious dollop of oak" had been applied. It went down well and we awarded it an 8 on the premier cru project scale. Looking at the spreadsheet, it seems as though it was quite typique.

I'd been looking forward to drinking this white Corton grand cru 2007 from Domaine Parent for years now and finally the moment arrived! We decanted it half an hour beforehand. It was a nice golden colour with an opulent nose and lots of vanilla. On the palate, it was rich and massive but well-integrated and had a lovely weight. There was perhaps a mushroom thing going on. It was great with crab and avocado, and positively regal, but not a monster - no supercharged vanilla ice cream here. G thought the power was starting to come through about 45 minutes in, which suggests decanting for longer next time. A lovely wine, and I can't wait to drink some more of it and also to compare it with the 2008.

This Pernand-Vergelesses 2010 Les Belles Filles from Domaine Ludovic Belin also came out of storage recently. It was a glossy purple colour with great legs and a fruity nose. I thought it was blackcurrant, but G who knows his currants better than I do identified it as whitecurrant. The palate was congruent, light and fruity, and it was drinking nicely now. A pretty wine and a useful mid-range addition to the wine rack.

G and I drank my penultimate bottle of this Pommard 1er cru Largilliere 2008 from La Maison Romane on Wednesday night - I was feeling self-indulgent! I stuck it in the fridge for half an hour or so beforehand. As before, it had a heady nose of sweet red berries and was like drinking summer pudding. It's certainly not your average Pommard. Pure and delicious, this is one of my favourite wines ever and the word "transcendental" springs to mind. It was an instant 10, as always, and I'm very happy that I have one more bottle left, thanks to the Burgundy Portfolio.

Last Saturday, G and I joined ACC at a certain chicken-related establishment in South Kensington for a boozy bank holiday weekend lunch. ACC brought along a bottle of 2011 Chassagne Montrachet from Domaine Bouard-Bonnefoy comme aperitif, and I brought along a bottle of 2006 Meursault 1er cru Gouttes D'Or from Domaine Moret-Nomine. These were both excellent examples of their type.

For reds, we had this old Saint-Amour which ACC had picked up on a recent trip to Paris. This bore little resemblance to Beaujolais, shall we say. A hefty dollop of syrah had clearly been added to the mix, and very nice it was too.

We also felt it was time for another bottle of Latour - not much left now - so I brought along the 1963. The label had fallen off, but there was nothing wrong with the bottle itself. Fine luncheon claret.

On Wednesday G and I drank some of this Old Amontillado Sherry from Sandeman which he told me is an 80s bottling and the wine itself probably 20 years old at that point on average. I enjoyed it - it was a beautiful dark amber colour with burnt caramel on the nose, and medium on the palate. We had failed to chill it, which was an error. It's in the fridge now and I'm looking forward to having another glass this evening.

Finally, a brace of Marcs de Bourgogne, from an unexpected source in the UK. One is from Jacoulot, the other from J Boulay. The Jacoulot is the best of the two in my opinion, with more complexity than the other, which is lighter. I've been very happy with both of them although I understand that new stocks from Felettig are about to arrive next week so that should keep me going for a bit!