Chateau Latour, 1958

Last night it was time for a bottle of Chateau Latour, a much-anticipated quarterly indulgence, and the 1958 was stood up in preparation. A decent level, considering its age.

G successfully got the cork out intact - now that's what I call a cork!

Food was prepared - wing rib from Turner & George who deliver on a Saturday morning, very convenient - and some roast potatoes, along with reading material in the form of the Weekend FT magazine, the New Yorker and Lucky Peach. 

As for the wine, it was the usual very dark colour, with a pale rim. We detected plum crumble and cigar box on the nose. On the palate, it had a wonderful softness, and was almost as caressing as cough mixture. It was smooth, intense and seamless, and relatively fruity. We thought it wasn't as majestic as Latour usually is, but this isn't necessarily a criticism - it went down very easily. "Good quaffing Latour" said G while I said "Gosh that's delicious" or words to that effect. I thought it was really excellent, fully mature claret, but not one of the greats. 

And finally, the cheeseboard. I walked over to Beillevaire in Montpelier Street to get something worthy of the occasion. Here we have some 2 year old Gruyere, some Bleu de Bocage which I'd not encountered before - it's a pasteurised blue goats cheese from the Loire which had a slightly weird grainy texture but was otherwise very nice, a Couronne Lochoise (the doughnut-shaped goaty one) which was quite fresh and lemony, and the finest Epoisses in London. Having bought a Berthaud Epoisses in Waitrose last week, which disappointed me every night I wheeled it out, this was the real deal, and memo to self, it's completely worth the 50% mark-up. To round off, we had some old Dutch gouda from Selfridges food hall, which reminds me that we must do an order from the cheese shop in the Nine Streets, Amsterdam soon. Brokkel de brokkel.

And so the first quarter of 2014 draws to a close. Fortunately there are some fun things ahead, including a dinner with the fabulous Nathalie Fevre next week which I'm looking forward to immensely.

Beaune Lulune 2010, Domaine Emmanuel Giboulot

A few weeks ago, I was idly surfing the Guardian website and found an article about Emmanuel Giboulot on the front page. Not often that happens! Unfortunately it wasn't good news - he was being taken to court in Dijon for failing to use a particular pesticide on his vines. The article suggested that he faced a prison sentence if convicted, but there was quite an outcry (a petition was organised which now has over 500,000 signatures) and the prosecution is now asking for a fine of 1000 euros.

I don't know the ins and outs of the argument, but it seems that this pesticide may not be very effective at killing the insect in question, and may kill other creatures which have a positive impact on the environment. It also seems that that plenty of other wine-makers don't apply the pesticide either, but pretend that they have done so in order not to get in trouble with the Ministry of Agriculture. I applaud Giboulot for standing by his principles.

His wines are very special, in my opinion, and I'm very happy that I have quite a stash of them thanks to the Burgundy Portfolio. I've had the privilege of visiting the domaine twice and attending the wonderful dinner held in London in May 2012 - more on that here. The other night G and I cracked a bottle of his Beaune Lulune 2010 and it was an absolute stunner. We last tried it in Feb 2013, when we felt it needed more time - it's drinking very nicely now but there's no rush.

As Giboulot's wines are biodynamic, they benefit from a lot of air, so we double-decanted for an hour and 45 minutes. It was quite pale for a red wine, had trademark tinned strawberries on the nose, and was very pretty on the palate, with lovely light fruit, elegance and finesse but also lots of flavour and juiciness. The character of the terroir really comes through, and we felt this was wine made from happy vines. It was scintillating - one hesitates to use the word "ethereal" but it really does apply in this case. G said it was one of the nicest things he's ever drunk, and I agree.

This isn't a premier cru, but it's a clear 10 on the premier cru scale. I think I like it even more than Yves Darviot's 1er cru Beaune Greves which is saying something. I hope Giboulot is able to make many more vintages without government interference and wish him all the best for 7th April when the verdict will be announced.

Lunch at mine, Sunday 9th March

Last Sunday, ACC, Baron McG and G joined me for lunch. It was a beautiful weekend and felt like the start of spring as the weather was sunny and warm.

Proceedings commenced with a bottle of cremant de bourgogne from Domaine Felettig, and G produced an Israeli fig liqueur - which I'm glad to say he had been given, not paid good money for - to put in it. I think it was better without, but you have to try these things. The cremant went nicely with some pork scratchings from Turner & George (previously the East London Steak Co) who are firmly up there on my list along with the Ginger Pig. I hope everyone's teeth survived.

Then it was time for some serious food and drink. To start, we had this bottle of 2008 Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru Les Folatieres from Domaine Bzikot. I thought it was wonderful, but G was less convinced and felt it lacked acidity. No accounting for taste.

To go with it, I had made this chicken, apricot and pistachio terrine the day before which was a great success even if I do say so myself!

Then we moved on to the reds. ACC kindly brought this village Beaune 2009 from Domaine Audiffred, which was as wonderful as one would expect. You can tell it's a Beaune made by someone who is based in Vosne, but that's fine by me. To go with it, we had a beef stew - I'd planned the menu before the weather suddenly changed...  

The piece de resistance was this 1973 Beaune Greves from Moillard which ACC and the Baron gave me for my birthday last year. This was amazingly good considering its age and the alleged poor vintage. It was very fine and still had it all going on. Thanks very much to both of you!

Finally, we had this Clos-Vougeot 1982 from Domaine Lamarche, which G picked up in a recent auction. It was noticeable that this had not lasted so well and had baked characteristics but nevertheless was very interesting to drink.

I failed to take further photos, but honourable mentions must be made of les fromages most of which came from Beillevaire - the Epoisses in particular was absolutely perfect, and of the excellent Charbonnel et Walker chocs which the Baron brought along, just the thing with a post-prandial espresso. All in all, it was a lovely occasion!

Bony dinner, 25th Feb

On Wednesday G and I braved the Piccadilly Line to Knightsbridge to Chabrot Bistrot des Amis for an evening with Fabienne Bony, the winemaker at Domaine J-P Bony based in Nuits-St-Georges.

Proceedings commenced with a glass (or two) of Cremant de Bourgogne, which is primarily made from pinot noir, although she's thinking about doing some chardonnay next year. This made a very enjoyable aperitif.

Then we sat down and had some Nuits-St-Georges "Les Damodes" 2012 with our starter of pork terrine. I was reminded of my first encounter with this wine at the City tasting a couple of years ago, when we tried the 2010 vintage and it was the smash hit of the evening. On this occasion Fabienne thought it was served rather too warm, and I agreed, but nevertheless it showed well with an enticing fruity nose, good acidity and general succulence. Damodes is on the north side of the village, towards Vosne-Romanee, and most of the vineyard is premier cru. Fabienne's part isn't premier cru, but as far as quality is concerned, it could be.

With our main course of duck with honey on a bed of Puy lentils (which was delicious) we had the jewel in the crown, Nuits-St-Georges Les Pruliers 2010. Fabienne approved of the duck combo as she and her husband often drink these wines with duck. Pruliers is a premier cru, in the middle of a group of premier cru vineyards further south. For me, this had a massive hit of blackcurrants and was very smooth, really great. I sometimes find NSG hard work, but these wines are much more approachable and enjoyable to drink than most! They are in a softer, more charming style with plenty of finesse, rather than tannic monsters.

With the cheese, a Rocamadour supplied by my favourite cheese shop down the road, we had some Passetoutgrains 2009. This was very different from the NSGs, as you'd expect, and there was some controversy at the decision to drink this with the cheese, but I think it was absolutely correct - the "farmyard aromas" worked very well with the chevre, and this was packed with flavour. It's unusual for a Passetoutgrains in that it's 1/3 gamay and 2/3 pinot noir - the proportions are usually reversed. I thought it was fantastic and excellent value at £13.50 a bottle if memory serves - my order sheet was rapidly completed and handed to ACC...

Finally, dessert was a glass of cremant de bourgogne rose with little pieces of fruit floating in it. My phone had died at this stage but J kindly let my take this photo with his. By this stage I'd already eaten the floating fruit. It made for a very pleasant, refreshing end to the meal.

Thanks to Fabienne and to ACC of the Burgundy Portfolio for organising this event, and to Chabrot for the excellent food. Finally, for those curious about the Slovenian accordion music channel, G wasn't making it up - you can find it here. I don't think it's actually 24 hours a day as it doesn't seem to be working at the moment but hopefully it will be back in action this evening...