White Beaune and 1970 vintage port

New Year's Eve has come upon us but there's time for one more post before Big Ben chimes the year out! This evening I'll be thinking of Paul who so kindly gave us the tour of the clock tower back in October, one of the highlights of 2013. The Torygraph has an interview with him today which is well worth a read.

I'm struggling to think of a theme for this post except that it's the second "white burg and port" report of the year as there was that rather interesting tasting at the Bakers' Hall earlier in the year.

The white burg we drank last night was a Beaune 1er cru Clos des Mouches 2006 from Yves Darviot. This was G's penultimate bottle and we drank it with some wild sea bass which I'd foraged from Selfridges food hall.

I adore white Beaune and this was no exception. It was a pleasing mid-pale gold colour and looked inviting. On the nose I found vanilla while G thought there was something floral going on, possibly heather honey. On the palate, it was dry, rich and full, but not blowsy. It was fully mature and in excellent condition. Possibly inspired by G's reference to honey, I detected a hint of beeswax, both in terms of texture and taste, but it wasn't unpleasant.

On a previous occasion, back in April 2010, we had a horizontal tasting and gave this a 9 while the 2005 received a 10. This time again we felt the 2006 scored 9 points and spent some time debating why this was. The best reason we could come up with was that it was lacking the narrow core of acidity that the best whites have - "the blade of Damascus" G said -  its backbone could have been firmer. Still, it was very pleasing and went down a treat, and it's sad that Yves has retired. I'll certainly be looking out for some white Beaune from Audiffred and Rateau at the Burgundy Portfolio en primeur tasting in January.

The vintage port was an old favourite, Smith Woodhouse 1970. We decanted this for lunch with friends on Sunday, but there was some left over so I had a cheeky glass last night and we'll be polishing it off tonight. It had flavours of prune and liquorice, and G thought there was a car tyre thing going on. This particular bottle was bottled in Oporto, whereas previously I've had it bottled in the UK - the famous bottle with the white splodge on, now a treasured part of my bottle collection.

Somehow this one seemed less developed than those were. If I'd been tasting it blind I doubt whether I'd have guessed it was as old as 1970. It's still a jolly nice drop.

In other news, I acquired a lovely fuzzy red notebook for Christmas, which I've decided to dedicate to wine notes instead of using scrappy little pieces of paper. A resolution for the new year is to make more detailed tasting notes in future rather than the "we drank this, it was great" that has been happening a lot lately.

Thanks for reading and I wish you a very happy 2014!

Dinner at mine, Sat 7th Dec

Last Saturday, ACC, Baron McG and G joined me for dinner. The date had been in the diary for a long time!

We kicked off with a bottle of blanc de noirs Cremant de Bourgogne from old favourite Domaine Felettig, and some Roka cheese crispies. Public transport problems added excitement but fortunately G and I managed to exercise self-restraint and there was still some fizz left for our guests when they arrived. We thought this has really come on since we bought it, and is developing nicely, and G suggested that I should set up a cremant ladder and store it for an additional year or two before drinking. Tempting!

With our starter of wild Irish sea trout, we had this bottle of Chassagne Montrachet 1er cru les Caillerets 2002 from Lequin-Colin. I got two bottles at a recent auction and G and I had drunk the first on an earlier occasion and considered it impeccable. Fortunately the second bottle was too, and it was everything you look for in 1er cru Chassagne, very classy and a great match with the sea trout. Definitely a 10 on the Premier Cru Project scale.

Then it was on to the piece de resistance, this magnum of 1971 Echezeaux from Prosper Maufoux, which was another auction find and quite a steal. The level looked promising, and the label was authentically filthy.

What can I say about this? It was everything I'd hoped for. The nose was very sweet and remarks about "hint of the sugar bag" were made (by me), but ACC thought this was unfair, and that 1971 was just a really great year for red Burgundy. It was absolutely delicious and went really well with the slow-cooked leg of lamb and gratin dauphinoise which I cooked. Baron McG was pleased to see there was some redcurrant jelly to go with it, and the wine and the food did go very well together.

Then it was on to the cheeseboard... these were mainly from Beillevaire on Montpelier St where the delightful shop assistant guided me to something which she called a Chablis (I think this must actually have been an Affidelice au Chablis) and the most amazing 2 year old Comte, as well as a Selles-sur-Cher which was practically climbing up the wall, and the saltier of the two Roqueforts they have. We also had some Stichelton from Selfridges - two blue cheeses because we were drinking port. As it was a special occasion, I'd also made some of my signature exfoliating hardcore oatcakes...

A few weeks ago G had tipped me off that Aldi of all places were selling a 30 year old tawny port. As there are no Aldis round here, I asked my parents to look out for it. Resisting the temptation to launch into a lengthy comparative socio-economic analysis of the north Northamptonshire / south Leicestershire region, it turned out that Kettering Aldi didn't sell it, but Market Harborough Aldi did! Thanks Dad for getting two bottles for me. It came in a hilarious extra-bulky and heavy decanter and wooden box. Given the price, £30, less than most 20 year old tawnies, we thought it was very respectable, and it did indeed come across as more complex than a 20 year old. I shall enjoy drinking the rest of it, and it has the added advantage that it will keep for a while after opening, so doesn't have to be guzzled in a hurry.

Alongside this, we had an unexpected treat from ACC, some 1997 Quinta da Roeda from Croft. He served this to us blind, so we had the usual couple of minutes of inaccurate guesses before its identity was revealed. When we found out what it was, it made sense - it had felt as though it might be 15-20 years old. It was fun to contrast the two styles.

We rounded off with an assiette de chocolat created by G, including some lovely Prestat chocolates supplied by Baron McG. All in all, a really fun evening. I hope 2014 brings more of the same!