Last Thursday evening the Gang of Four met up and caught a train to a mystery location in the East Midlands aka G's parental residence. We were celebrating G's 40th birthday, and it was quite a weekend.
Even before the train had pulled out of the station, G cracked open this bottle of fizz which he got in Paris. I'd never come across it before but apparently it's biodynamic and it was absolutely lovely.
On arrival at the mystery location, we were greeted by G's father and soon sat down to a hearty beef carbonnade made to my recipe (mumble actually Nigella's mumble before she got irritating) which went down a treat. I didn't make notes on the booze we drank but I did take plenty of photos.
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| Old friend, last bottle |
Later on that evening after everyone else had gone to bed, I realised I had better give G his present from me as my intention was that we should drink it over the weekend.
This is a 1950s bottling of marc from the Marquis d'Angerville. G noted that it's actually premier cru marc from Clos des Ducs, Volnay. Gratifyingly, he told me he'd had his eye on this bottle for a long time but due to its hideous price had never succumbed. It was absolutely stunning and even G's father, not normally a spirit-drinker, loved it.
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| Miniatures of madeira on the fireplace |
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| Breakfast! |
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| Stamford - just to prove we did go out occasionally |
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| G pours the kir, made with Domaine Joly aligote |
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| Benjy |
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| Wild smoked salmon from Scotland |
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| Cheeses provided by me, mostly from Beillevaire bien sur |
The next day, G gave us a tour of his cellar which none of us had ever seen. We proceeded down a precarious staircase and G got an electric shock from the light. Fortunately this didn't put him off.
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| Magnum rack looking sadly empty |
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| Bibelots |
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| Orchard |
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| Man with cat, in orchard |
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| G's brother's ginger ale - rather good, actually |
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| Ancient Tio Pepe |
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| Meursault Les Cras from Latour-Labille - love this stuff! |
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| My piano, in its new home |
On the Saturday morning we went into Oakham where G and I went to school, and had a look round.
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| College House, happy days |
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| School |
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| Pork pies! |
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| William |
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| Hadn't had this before - lovely |
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| What a classy back label too! |
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| A vertical of Darviot Beaune Greves |
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| Ready to start again |
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| G's father's coq au vin cooking nicely |
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| Fruit cake and ginger cake for breakfast on the day itself |
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| Greystoke |
To be continued...
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