Domaine Audiffred dinner, 15th November

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.