Dinner of decadence, 8th August

It's been a fun couple of weeks!

Not wine-related, but can hardly go unmentioned - D visited from Pennsylvania at the end of July! It was her first visit to London and we had a delightful six days doing touristy things, meeting friends, eating fish and chips etc. Good times.

J and her family arrived a few days later and we met up a couple of times this week. A particular highlight was dinner at the Savile which G kindly hosted for me, J and J's wife. This will mainly be a photographic record, as conversation was flowing and notes were not made!

The Billecart-Salmon 2002 Cuvee Nicolas Billecart arrived in the nick of time and made an excellent aperitif. I seem to be acquiring rather a taste for it...

Upstairs in the dining room, we had my last bottle of 2008 Corton from Anne Parent, the white this time. I was slightly anxious that it might not have survived its time in the wardrobe during the recent heatwave but it was absolutely singing. Those who had sea trout for their main course reported that it made a great accompaniment. The label had slipped a little in the ice bucket!

Trademark blurry photo of this 2011 Vosne-Romanee Aux Champs Perdrix from Domaine Audiffred, which was a lovely, elegant Vosne.

It was perhaps overshadowed by the Hermitage La Sizeranne from Chapoutier, provided by G, which was rich and powerful and was something of a crowd-pleaser, although one possibly wouldn't want to drink a whole bottle of it by oneself.

My tiramisu was a work of art!

And finally, a half bottle of Rieussec 1983 was the perfect size for four and gave great pleasure to all concerned. Festivities continued into the small hours. I'm very much looking forward to going to Grand Rapids in September to investigate J's cellar, but thank god she has a Coravin because I'm going backpacking with D two days later! Just as well I have seven weeks to get ready...

Birthday dinner at the Savile, 20th July

On Friday evening, G and I had a joint dinner party at the Savile Club as we have both recently celebrated a moderately significant birthday. We held this in the Elgar Room upstairs, which was a very nice size for ten, and a random selection of ne'er-do-wells and miscreants were in attendance, otherwise known as family and friends.

On arrival we had a glass of this Champagne Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Nicolas Billecart 2002, which we tried in bottle earlier in the year. On that occasion, it went down in the blink of an eyelid, and I think it's fair to say that the same thing happened again. It was perhaps more austere in magnum than in bottle and with plenty of life to come, but had the same lovely floral notes. ‎I hope to drink some more in due course!

With the first course, we had this magnum of Chablis 1er cru Fourchaume-Vaulorent 2008 from Domaine Nathalie et Gilles Fevre. An old favourite from a great vintage, it had never been better. It was crisp and lemony, but with a breadth on the mid-palate that wasn't there when it was younger. it went really well with the sea trout. Sadly this was G's last bottle!

With our main course, a lamb tagine for the carnivores and a vegetarian one for the veggies, we had two reds. First, a magnum of Beaune 1er cru les Greves 2005 from Yves Darviot. This prompted much reminiscence about how we used to stay at Yves' house in Beaune back in the day etc.etc. The 2005s have taken a long time to come round but are getting there now. This had the classic violets on the nose and was very elegant. We have two magnums left and I would still not be in a rush to drink them!

The second red was a magnum of Chateauneuf du Pape Clos des Papes 1998 from Domaine Paul Avril. For me, this was richer and sweeter compared to the Beaune but was still not heavy. An impeccable mid-weight style of Chateauneuf, drinking perfectly now.

Beaune on the right, Rhone on the left

With pudding, we had a magnum of Rieussec 1983 - remembering from the famous 40th birthday dinner that one bottle of sweet wine is simply not enough! This was amazing, rich but with acidity that meant it was not in the least cloying. The marmalade element from the heavy levels of botrytis paired wonderfully with the lemon tart. G informs me that he has acquired three more halves to see if he can recreate the sensation.

It was an absolutely beautiful colour, too.

Then, with the cheese course, a real treat. G provided this Quinta do Noval Nacional 1960 which he acquired from an auction where they described it in the catalogue as "Da Silva 1960". Imagine his delight when this showed up. It was in great shape, still fairly dark in colour, and extremely complex on the palate, with notes of fig and prune and a certain creamy quality. The finish was extraordinary. Absolutely top notch vintage port. Thanks for sharing it with us, G.

And to round things off, we had a glass of Lemorton Vieux Calvados 1972, which was an excellent digestif with true essence ‎of apples.

All that remains is to say thanks to G for organising everything, to the staff at the Savile for looking after us so well, and to everyone who joined us - it was a really enjoyable evening. Now roll on the 50th in five years time!