Dinner at mine, 2nd Jan

Happy New Year! I was joined by G, ACC and the Baron on Monday evening for a belated New Year celebration which was a very enjoyable way to spend the last evening of the holidays.

Proceedings commenced with this bottle of Meursault 1er cru Perrieres 2007 from Latour-Labille, donated by G. It was a beautiful golden colour, opulent and rich with a marvellous finish. It was still drinking nicely, but perhaps coming to the end of its plateau. G commented that it still had that core of lemon which you find in great white wines. Perrieres is considered one of the finest vineyards in Meursault and is a contender for grand cru status but luckily for us, it's still a more affordable premier cru.

With our starter of smoked salmon, we had this trio of half bottles of vintage Alfred Gratien champagne - 1998, 1999 and 2000. These came from the Wine Society in a particularly self-indulgent order towards the end of last year. A quick trip had to be made to Habitat in the afternoon to pick up enough champagne flutes for us to drink them side by side. It was worth it, because the vertical comparison was very interesting.

The 1998 was fully mature, rich and honeyed, and had a wonderful finish. Apparently it was "autolytic" which you can look up on Wikipedia or take ACC's word for it that it means like a digestive biscuit, with those yeasty flavours characteristic of vintage champagne. The 1999 seemed fresher and much more youthful, while the consensus was that the 2000 wasn't ready yet, remarkable as it seems. I have one more half bottle of each, so now the difficult decision will have to be made as to when to drink the rest...

We moved on to the reds with our main course - a Volnay 1966 from Bouchard contributed by the Baron, and this Pommard 1966 from Patriache which G had brought along. With a label like that, how could one resist? I failed to take a photo of the Volnay, and the Baron took the bottle away with him, but I do recall that the label said it was specially selected by the Financial Times. The FT knew what they were doing in those days, as this was serious old Burgundy, smooth and with lots of fruit still. In the glass (on the left in the photo below), it looked remarkably youthful.

The Pommard, on the other hand, had a distinct whiff of the sugar bag and wasn't particularly subtle. By this stage, as usual, my notes began to tail off and became illegible, but I think the general view was that the Volnay was distinctly superior.

With the cheese, we had the remaining half of a bottle of Maynards 40 year old port which I was delighted to find in Market Harborough Aldi before Christmas. Aldi have a tendency to knock out some excellent port at Christmas, and three years ago my father visited practically every Aldi in the East Midlands in a quest on my behalf for the 30 year old, which they were selling that year. The same shop came up trumps again this time. It had notes of toffee, coffee and chocolate, and was exceptionally smooth. Although it had been open for a couple of weeks and kept in the fridge, it was fine, and actually rather nice chilled. It went down very fast and reminded me how much I love tawny port!

G then nipped downstairs and came back with a big bottle of vintage kirsch, which was served on the rocks. This was a very fine digestif and we sat around imagining running our own wine bar selling similar rarities. That sounds far too much like hard work to me - think I'll stick to drinking them instead. Thanks everyone for a great evening and sharing such old and fascinating wines, a very good start to the year!

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!