On Tuesday I made my way over to Holborn Viaduct for an informal wine tasting hosted by ACC in a pop-up art gallery, the Multiple Store.
Action shot of a black cab
This was the line-up, which included several familiar-looking bottles.
This one was new to me, a Bourgogne Blanc 2014 from Chapuis & Chapuis, which I thought was drinking very well now. It was elegant with good acidity and I got a sense of lime cordial on the finish. At just 11.5% this went down very easily.
I also enjoyed this viognier from Domaine des Josephins (no relation) which I thought would go well with Chinese or Thai food. It was also relatively low in alcohol at 12.5% but you wouldn't have guessed.
This Cote de Brouilly from Domaine Trichard had a fruity nose and was calling out for sausages. Then it was time to look at some art...
A sparkly sea bream skeleton for Christmas, anyone? If you want one, better get down there quickly as the gallery is only there till today. Thanks to the Burgundy Portfolio and the Multiple Store for a fun evening!
On Tuesday night, I attended this dinner in Pimlico, which I was very excited about. I managed to get completely lost in the short distance between the tube station and the restaurant, Shepherds, but found it eventually and was ushered through a long room apparently full of famous politicians, to a small, bunker-like private space with excellent sound proofing and circular table set for eight. In the corner was this welcome sight.
As my phone had been draining its battery even faster than usual, G kindly agreed to take charge of photographic duties, which is why we have some rare photos in focus for this post. Also present and correct were Henri Audiffred himself, ACC, the Baron, C, J and S.
We commenced with a glass of 2013 Beaune "Chaume Gaufriot" Blanc which was drinking very well now and accompanied us well into the first course which for most of us was potted crab and toast, but those with a seafood allergy were given salt beef instead and the restaurant gave them a different menu which shows admirable attention to detail.
At this point we also began to drink some of the 2014 Bourgogne Rouge which was the hit of the evening back at the en primeur tasting in January and is still available. Henri described this as a mini Vosne-Romanee and I'm very tempted to get another case.
With our main course of pheasant, we had a brace of red Beaunes, the 2013 and the 2011. I found it difficult to decide which I liked best. I've often found that this wine has a strong perfume of tropical fruit, particularly mango and pineapple, which makes it very distinctive, and it's a very pretty wine.
Meanwhile, the conversation had turned philosophical, and Henri was asked about his approach to wine-making. Fortunately ACC and the Baron were on hand to translate and I wished I'd brought a notebook to record it in more detail but to summarise, his aim is to let the wines express themselves, and to make well-balanced wines. Certainly every time I've visited the domaine I've come away quite overwhelmed because everything he makes is so good.
It emerged that Henri has been making wine for 30 years, which is hard to believe but apparently he started very young. He was asked if he remembered the characteristics of every vintage and said that he particularly remembers the difficult vintages. Conversation then turned to the 2016 vintage which has been brutal. Frost struck many vineyards seemingly at random, with one row of vines affected while its neighbour was fine. ACC compared it to three out of the eight of us present suddenly disappearing. It was difficult not to think of this...
Finally, with the cheese course, we had some 2013 Morey-Saint-Denis, some 2012 Vosne Chalandins, and then the jewel in the crown, 2013 Vosne "Aux Reignots" which is a premier cru. For me the Morey was immediately pleasurable, the Chalandins still had a lot of tannin and needed more time, and the Reignots was quite remarkable with a finish which went on forever.
It was now time for vulgar commerce and ACC produced the order forms. I think everyone agreed that whereas so often prices rise exponentially with quality, in this case they are very fair at all levels. They are available from the Burgundy Portfolio, where else. Thanks very much to Henri for coming over to London to share them with us, and to ACC for organising such a fascinating and enjoyable evening.
The other night, G came round to my place and we drank this Chambolle Musigny 1er cru Derriere la Grange 1988 from Maison Roche de Bellene, which he had brought back from his recent trip to Burgundy.
It turned out to be a case of Down On the Farm With Old Muck Spreader as the nose was distinctly pungent. There was also a hint of the sugar bag, and something else going on which I said was chemical but G corrected this to medicinal and said it reminded him of chartreuse. I'm not a massive chartreuse drinker but that seemed accurate. On the palate it was relatively light and smooth and more elegant than the nose, but we both thought we wouldn't have guessed it was Chambolle blind. It was fascinating to try it, and we gave it a low 8 on the PCP (premier cru project) - as opposed to TCP - scale. Thanks G for bringing it back and sharing it with me.
Then last night it was over to the wilds of SW2, particularly challenging when the Lord Mayor's Show gives an excuse for the entire London transport network to shut down, but it was worth it as ACC had some goodies in store. We began with this Chablis 1er cru Vaucoupin 2013 from Domaine Gueguen. This was on absolutely top form, with a lovely weight, and ACC detected some spice. Available from the Burgundy Portfolio.
I contributed this 2007 Pommard La Croix Blanche from Domaine Parent, which came out of storage fairly recently and has been positively guzzled since. This was my penultimate bottle and it was as good as ever, rich and sweet and generally very drinkable indeed. It's the kind of wine I can't imagine anyone not enjoying. The word "international" was mentioned, which was fair enough, but this has been one of my favourite wines of the year.
To go with our sticky toffee pudding, we had this 1986 Moulin a Vent which ACC brought back from the same trip, the same shop in fact, as the Chambolle above. Sometimes old Beaujolais can turn a bit raisiny, but that did not apply in this case, and it was drinking very well especially bearing in mind that it was 30 years old. Thanks very much ACC for a great evening!
On Sunday night, G and I were joined for dinner by P making a rare guest appearance. Being his usual incorrigible self, he had disregarded instructions to bring one bottle maximum, and arrived with two which he got at a recent auction. Oh well, what can one do...
We began proceedings with a glass of Pol Roger Pure, the low dosage version, which made an excellent aperitif alongside some Roka Cheese Crispies.
Then it was on to the main event, this Pommard which I am reliably informed was from the 1970 vintage. The label refers to Geisweiler & Fils, negotiants in Nuits St Georges, who I suspect are no longer going. The wine had been bottled in the UK and not moved basically for 45 years, and the level was impressive for such an old wine.
We thought it was very Pommard, smooth, powerful and rich, with considerable heft. A herbaceous, minty note was detected along with liquorice and a hint of the sugar bag. It was amazing that it had survived so well and we thought it must have been a total monster in its youth. It went down very easily and accompanied our roast chicken perfectly.
With our cheese course, we cracked on with this bonus bottle which was a 1967 St Estephe bottled by the same people in the UK. Again, the level was excellent. It refers to "Grand Vin de Bordeaux" on the label which according to G meant that it was own-labelled wine from one of the big estates. This was splendid old school claret, still drinking well, with lovely woody notes. Having drunk the 1970 Montrose a couple of weeks earlier, we thought there was a very real possibility that this wine came from the same chateau.
It's always really interesting to try these old wines, and I was delighted that they had survived so well. They also have the advantage of not carrying any hangover-inducing particles. Many thanks to P for sharing these treasures with us!
