Burgundy lunch, 19th April

On Sunday, it was my turn to host lunch with honoured guests ACC, Baron McG and G. We had planned to kick off proceedings with a bottle of white Beaune 1er cru Clos des Mouches 2006 from Yves Darviot - so imagine our delight when Baron McG produced a bottle of the same, from the 2005 vintage! A Clos des Mouches vertical ensued.

It was interesting to see that the 2006 was in a much darker bottle than the 2005. Apparently the darker bottle protects against UV of some sort - but that's quite enough science bit for me. The 2006 was very good, but the 2005 whopped it - it was a brighter colour and more full-on and unctuous in the mouth, with a glycerine quality. We had some gougeres fresh from the oven, and found that with food and a bit of time, the 2006 improved considerably, but the final scores were 2006: 9, 2005: 10. Thanks to the Baron for sharing his last bottle with us. Fortunately G has more of the 2006 which is great news, as we think it will last another 4 years or so.


Next up were two premier cru Gevreys I brought back from Burgundy in January, both monopoles from Domaine des Varoilles. First we had the 2003 La Romanee, which was lovely. The nose jumped out of the glass and was quite heady. Baron McG detected Suze (which makes a change from curry). On the palate it was powerful, heady and concentrated with lots of liquorice, very easy to drink, and which went well with my beef carbonnade. It scored a 9.

This was followed by the 1999 Clos des Varoilles, which I'd expected to be better, as it was older and also from their named vineyard. However it was slightly disappointing after the 2003, still good but lacking oomph somehow. We thought it was complete and well-balanced but more old school and we suspected the winemaking may have changed generations in between. It scored an 8.


Then it was on to the wine ACC had brought, a 2002 Blagny 1er cru Sous le Dos D'Ane from Domaine Leflaive. Here's a photo of the bottle levitating - Blagny has amazing magical powers. This was the last vintage made of this wine, as the following year Domaine Leflaive converted the vineyard to chardonnay, which fetches a higher price - so a rare treat. I see from my notes I wrote CLASSY (must have liked it a lot to get carried away upper case). It was medium-weight after the Gevreys, and elegant with a lovely berry fruit, very Cotes de Beaune in style. It scored a 9.


Finally with pudding (rhubarb crumble) we had one of G's 1971 German rieslings which he picked up at auction recently. I didn't make notes but this is lovely stuff especially for less than £6 a bottle! It complemented the crumble very well.


As we sat around drinking coffee, G leapt into action, whipped on the Marigolds and did the best part of the washing-up, which was very kind. This whirlwind deserved an action shot - thanks to Baron McG for undertaking photographic duties.

It's not often one gets to drink 5 premier cru burgundies at a sitting - all in all, another great Sunday lunch!