On Sunday we had great fun hosting Guy Dennis and his fiancée Marie-Pierre. It was great that Guy had found a partner so charming and generally lovely. Shame only one of the other four things Guy brought along was any good.

The meal was a great success (once again) for the meat of Woodlands Jersey Beef. Once again their ribeyes stunned us with their tenderness and depth of flavour. We couldn’t have wished for better steaks and they were wonderfully complemented by macaroni and cheese made according to the Hawksmoor recipe.

Guy and Marie-Pierre turned up an hour early, which is always exciting. This meant Dani was yet to shave and I hadn’t had a shower and was still wearing my Teletubbies t-shirt. We soon dropped into the swing of an early lunch by popping one of my bottles of fizz.

Champagne Brut Blanc des Blancs 2000, Pol Roger

I admit I didn’t notice when this stopped being ‘Brut Chardonnay’ and became ‘Brut Blanc des Blancs’, but I don’t suppose it’s that important. It had a very attractive nose of bread and complex apple fruit. It seemed fresh but there was a lot going on when you smelled it, clearly more complex, if perhaps not as many laughs, as the Gratien I popped when I came out of hospital. The palate was toasty and complex with many layers of flavour and those flavours really persisted too. As Champagnes go it was utterly delicious and refreshing but clearly showing the style and class to age for a reasonable period of time. I’ve had Pol Chardonnay that I’ve aged for a long time and I see no reason why this would not age just as well. When the 2002 comes out it’ll be cracking!

Then we had the first of Guy’s wines.

Cotes de Jura Chardonnay ‘Fleur des Marnes’ 2002, Labet

Orange, oxidised, dead.

I admit I rarely drink Cotes de Jura Chardonnay, but isn’t it asking a lot of any white wine, let alone one from this appellation, to age and survive for a decade? This could have been very nice at one point, but that doesn’t mean it’ll get better, especially over such a long period of time.

Guy took it home to make vinegar. Presumably that simply required writing the word ‘Vinegar’ on the label.

So Guy opened a backup white.

Macon ‘La Roche Vineuse Vieilles Vignes’ 2002, Merlin

A tiring nose of old Chardonnay with little fruit remaining but a hint of minerality. It was tired on the palate too, but the acidity was pretty good. Never really dies first, the acidity, eh? We were presented this (like all of Guy’s wines) blind and we thought it was minor Chablis from the mid-nineties, I wondered about an anodyne, tired white Rhone as a possibility. It wasn’t bad, but why on earth keep a wine like this for ten years? I bet it would have been an absolute delight when it was up to five years old – I think I’d have loved it on release. When it was ten it didn’t have much to say, it certainly hadn’t improved. What a waste of time and money.

With our cracking steaks we had the first of Guy’s reds. It had been decanted for an hour.

Chambolle-Musigny 2008, Roblet-Monnot

A nose of pepper, spice and stewed, prune fruit. A bit rough and rustic, not much refinement. The palate had harsh, tough tannins and raw acidity – extremely spiky with not much in the way of harmony and certainly no elegance. This was a tough, punishing wine. Again presented blind I thought this was a rather unsophisticated Cornas. Guy then told us that it was not Syrah and I exploded into a rant about how evil bastards should not be allowed to do such things to Pinot and if it had the temerity to actually be from Burgundy I’d be tempted to pay them a visit and disembowel them when I’m next in the area. Not only was it Burgundy, but actually Chambolle. The least Chambolle-like Chambolle I’ve ever been unfortunate not to have avoided. Guy kept apologising that it was too cold, but temperature does not turn Chambolle into Cornas. He also said someone whose taste I rate really liked this wine – I feel there must have been some kind of mistake. This was the worst Chambolle I’ve had since I last opened a bottle of Groffier; it had no redeeming features.

This bottle of Burgundy was so bad I felt offended that someone could commit such crimes and wanted to open something to restore my equilibrium. I popped a bottle.

Beaune Premier Cru les Greves 2007, de Montille

Delicious strawberry fruit nose, really very pretty. It smells soft and charming, with no hint of silliness with alcohol or new oak. The palate has a very slight suggestion of rigor to the tannins, but it is mainly all about that lovely, lovely strawberry fruit. The acidity us spot on to keep it fresh and juicy. Pretty good length to it as well. It may not be the most throbbingly complex bottle of Burgundy the world has ever seen, but it was the perfect 2007 Beaune and, as such, an utter delight to drink.

Guy’s final offering.

Cotes-du-Rhone Villages ‘Saint Gervais’ 1990, Domaine Sainte Anne

A lovely, soft, perfumed nose of fruit, herbs and grilled meat. It’s deliciously mature. Some alcohol shows on the nose but it is by no means excessive and the whole impression of the nose is one of mature harmony and accessible pleasure. Smells rather good! The palate has a hint of dryness, but there is more than enough of that soft fruit to keep you interested. Tannins are a touch dusty, but it is not past it by any means. Good complexity, good length, pretty classy! Tasted blind I thought this was a good Northern Rhone or a sophisticated Mourvedre-based Southern Rhone from the early nineties. Last guess pretty much right, the oldest Cotes-du-Rhone I think I’ve had that’s been more-or-less in top nick. Rather lovely to drink; thank you for bringing this, Guy, we greatly enjoyed it.

We popped a Schafer-Frohlich Auction Auslese 2009 to have with cheese that thrilled and excited with its violet wand-esque acidity, then drew the afternoon to a close. I still needed that shower and after eating rather a lot and fighting through a mixed bag of wines I was feeling rather tired. A nice kip worked a treat.

It was lovely to see you, Guy and Marie-Pierre; shame about the wines.

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This was published on Elitistreview

The charming Ricard Sariola joined Dani and I to celebrate St George’s day with a wing rib of beef. Roast beef is about as English as things get and so am I! We also tasted Riesling, Burgundy and a selection of heroic Mourvedres. Truly we are serious chaps to undertake such an engagement for Monday lunch!

The food was a simple affair. Sausage and duck gizzard salad to start then roast beef with goose fat roast potatoes and green beans cooked with garlic and anchovies. We then ate a truly staggering about of cheese. After all that food, and an immoderate amount of fine wine, I was impressed by the ease with which Ricard managed to get home.

We began our afternoon with a bottle of Jacquesson Cuvee 735, the latest release in this impressive series of semi-non-vintage Champagnes. This was based on the 2007 vintage and it showed the abundant fruit of the year, but had good elegance and a honeyed complexity from the large proportion of reserve wines in it. These wines are ready to drink on release but when I’ve stuck them in the cellar I’ve found they age with remarkable grace gaining real weight and showing a lot more complexity. They are well worth seeking out.

First course was duck gizzard and Old English sausage salad. The Old English sausages came from Beechcroft Farm and are made with the pork of Oxford Sandy and Black pigs which are exceptionally tasty. Just follow this recipe with chopped up sausages added to the gesiers as you fry them.

We had three 2009 Riesling Kabinetts with this. First was Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg which was a brilliantly pure and direct expression of Ruwer Riesling. Painfully acidic and rigorous but an exciting and nervy drink to enjoy. Willi Schaefer’s Graacher Domprobst had a shade more fat and richness, but still great acidity and an edgy minerality to it. This was a step up in terms of complexity from the Karthauserhofberg. Finally a Berncasteler Doctor from Erben-Thanisch utterly blew us away. Certainly lacking nothing in terms of focus it slashed painfully across my stomach, but had an incredibly intricate and sophisticated minerality to it and a massively long finish. This was a truly great Kabinett and I couldn’t have enjoyed my last bottle of it more.

Whilst we were waiting for the beef to rest and for Ricard to create his peerless horseradish sauce we had a quick bottle of Burgundy: Volnay Vendanges Selectionees 2005 from Michel Lafarge. This is pretty much as winsome and pulchritudinous as village Volnay gets. Highly attractive fruit with a silky texture of polished tannins. Great acidity for a 2005 as well. This just seemed charged with life and begged to be drank, but I’d bet it’d improve for ages if that’s the kind of thing you like doing.

Rather idiotically, I forgot to take a picture of the wing rib of Aberdeen Angus beef, also from Beechcroft Farm, but I suppose this lack of photographic evidence might make it easier to believe it tasted far better than it looked, glorious as that was. I’ll move straight onto the reds.

Ricard had decided he wanted to do Mourvedre as the main theme and we had three to try. First was Altos 2005 from Jumilla. It was certainly alcoholic, but this didn’t show too strongly due to the lovely, scented nose of grilled meat, herbs and flowers. Not as tannic as these things can get it was really pleasurable to drink – I thought it slipped down a treat for such a biggie and was showing at a highly attractive stage of development.

Las Gravas 2001 also from Jumilla was simply delicious. It had matured and softened to a perfumed loveliness, whilst still retaining enough vigour and energy to make it a lively drink. Extremely complex and with massive length. I don’t know the wines of Jumilla at all but if they can be this good, and carry their heroism so discreetly, I’ll look out for them.

Finally I had popped a bottle of Chateau Pradeaux Bandol 2001. Hell’s bells it was a beast! I’d wager the alcohol was at least 15% and the tannins were straying to the distinctly severe side of the intensity motorway. Lovely fruit, though, and a lot of it so I think I need to keep my last bottle for a long time to let all its wildness resolve. I imagine, given long enough, it’ll turn into an extravagantly opulent and ravishing scented old lady. I hope so!

As we gorged ourselves on quality cheese we had a bottle of 2009 Riesling Auslese #45 from Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg. The fruit/sugar/acid balance was electric fun and thrills, and the minerality was great too, but I suspect this wine either needed popping a year ago or in five years’ time. Riesling may be the stuff, but sometimes it doesn’t always show itself at its most luridly attractive.

Our final taste of Burgundy bleached from my mind the requirement for Ricard to try some of our 100 year old Marc de Bourgogne, which he should feel disappointed about, but as we escorted him to the station in the pouring rain he looked remarkably chipper. I think we can do that ‘entertaining’ lark and do it well – I certainly enjoyed myself!

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This was published on Elitistreview

Yesterday I had a great meal at La Trompette in Chiswick. The food was marvellous, the company brilliant, but sadly the red Burgundies we took along were extremely disappointing.

This was only my second meal at La Trompette and based on the food and highly interesting wine list it is a shame I have not been there more often. Pity it is a bit out of the way now I live in Winchester.

We started off with a bottle of Pol Roger 2002 brought by an agent of Pol who wishes to remain anonymous. It was just the business. Quite ripe with luxurious fruit, great acidity that was in perfect balance and really complex. A glorious wine that would just age and age. Only just about to appear on the market and I will definitely be scoring some, if you like champagne to age then you certainly should too. I thought it was easily the best since the 1996, our un-named agent thought it better than that. Undoubtedly brilliant.

Our first white wine was Chablis Grand Cru Blanchots 2004 from Raveneau. I find it hard to describe quite how brilliant this wine was. Tasting blind I would never guess it as a 2004, and probably not as Chablis, but rather something grand from Ramonet. It had layers of powerful flavour all finely balanced by great acidity and fresh lemon fruit. There was a rich, weighty density to it but it never seemed less than refined and classy even with its power. The development it showed in the glass throughout the meal was utterly compelling, and I only say it was not the best Chablis I have ever tasted because it was quite unlike any Chablis I have ever tasted. Truly magnificent, a hilarious joy to drink and revel in throughout the meal.

We tasted this with some seafood bisque with a salt cod croquette. The bisque had a good, rich flavour that was quite fishy enough and the salt cod was OK, but not my favourite thing ever. The richness of the soup was a good match for the power of the Chablis and the acidity of that kept the soup seeming fresh and delightful. This was a good dish.

Then came two 1990 Lamarche Premier Cru Vosne-Romanees. I’m sorry, Per, but I just thought these were rubbish and on their way out so I am going to be rude about them. The Chaumes was almost fruitless and quite dried out. Even thought it was effectively dead I didn’t think it showed any signs that it would have been terribly much more fun when it was younger. There was nothing to enjoy here.

The Suchots had the redeeming feature of a little bit of fruit remaining, but again this tasted largely of stewed tea with dried out tannins and nothing to titillate on the palate. As 1990 was quite a fun, fleshy vintage I was disappointed by how lean and dry these wines were, but not that surprised. I’ve never had a good Lamarache from around this period and these showed that either they were harvesting frighteningly early, had petrifying yields, or simply couldn’t make wine for toffee even in a vintage as forgiving as this one.

The dish we drank them which was, fortunately, far, far better: a little lasagne of rabbit with ceps. The rabbit flavour was rich and gamey enhanced by the mushrooms and I just shovelled this down. It was totally winning and the kind of thing I want to eat on regular occasions in the future. Brilliant flavours, a marvellous texture and simply scrummy. Top nosh!

Then we popped my two wines and I utterly despised them and felt cheated at having purchased them. Confuron-Cotetidot provided a Clos de Vougeot and Echezeaux 2006 and, whilst we felt it was instructive to drink them, I don’t think any of us would feel the need to patronise this producer with our funds based on these examples. The Clos de Vougeot was slightly better, it had some nice fruit and, whilst the tannins were hellishly extracted and harsh, they might have resolved in time.

The Echezeaux was simply shocking. Incredibly extracted with bitter, hard tannins that totally overwhelmed what soupy, over-ripe fruit managed to show through. It was totally lacking loveliness and I couldn’t imagine a less enjoyable bottle of Echezeaux. Both of these wines suffered from being monolithic and remarkably simple, so even if you did age them and somehow the fruit didn’t die before the horrific tannins, they’d never become the complex, engaging drinks one wants from Burgundy. And they didn’t provide any pleasure, and Burgundy should be pleasurable in the extreme.

These shockers were meant to match some lamb with Jersey Royal potatoes. The lamb was excellent and had a great flavour; I loved it. The Jersey Royals were presented in an impressively silly manner, but there is nothing wrong with silly and they tasted fantastic. It was a great dish and I was only disappointed I didn’t have any remotely good red wine to drink with it. I was really embarrassed by those two Confuron wines; everyone kept trying to placate me but there was no getting away from the fact that they were simply dreadful.

Finally we had Rieussec 1997 with rhubarb crème brulee. An inspired combination. The Rieussec was singing – time to drink as the acidity seemed to be softening a little but its gloriously rich and decadent characters were a perfect foil for the sweet and sharp flavours in the rhubarb crème brulee. This was the wine and food match of lunch- highly delightful.

I cannot recommend La Trompette highly enough: the food, service and environment made it a truly top rate place. They’ve got a great wine-list too if you cannot manage taking your own stuff. Based on the red wines we had we shouldn’t have managed taking our own stuff. The Lamarches used to be awful and now were awful and pretty much passed it, but then I expect you knew they would be anyway. The Confuron-Cotetidots were boring monoliths made in styles totally unsympathetic to Burgundy and Pinot Noir. After my recent experiences with their wines I will never buy from them again and I suggest you don’t either. But do visit La Trompette, you’ll have fine-dining frolics.

Here is La Trompette’s website.

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This was published on Elitistreview

I promised myself a bottle of Champagne to celebrate surviving going under the knife. As I know my GP reads this site I should add I did not open this bottle until over 48 hours after my operation. I definitely did not have any alcohol in that 48 hours, oh no… No Pimms, no G&Ts, nothing like that…

Gratien is one of my favourite Champagne houses. Their non-vintage is a great drink and usually good value, whilst the vintage wines are often stunning. I have some 1996 vintage left and the last bottle I had was really exciting.

Vintage Champagne Blanc de Blancs 2007, Alfred Gratien

Wonderful, attractive, vinous nose that is an absolute joy. It is very fresh and fruity, and also very winey; it smells more like a slightly oaky Chablis than most Blanc de Blancs Champagnes. But that fruit on the nose is absolutely lovely, you cannot sniff this and fail to think you’ll be having a good time when you drink it. Brilliant mousse! Really fine and soft texture. The lively acidity is a thrill as well and harmonises wonderfully with the great apple fruit. Again, it is quite Chablis-like, but with bubbles. Very long, very stylish, extremely good. It won’t age, needs drinking pretty soon, but there is nothing wrong with that. A wonderful bottle of wine that was a great celebration of still being alive – at £35 from the Wine Society you should be snapping this up with glee.

Just as an aside, I had some Bollinger 2002 recently. It cost double the amount, also wouldn’t age more than a year or two, and was inordinately more ordinary. That was just a really dull bottle of fizz that I found a real chore to drink and, given the price, it was hard to feel anything other than robbed when drinking it. The Gratien B de B caused no such feelings and I would recommend it ahead of Bolly 2002 without a second’s hesitation.

We drank the Gratien with duck gizzard salad with Montbeliard sausage added. I’ve given the recipe for duck gizzard salad here, and we just sliced up the smoky, porky, yummy sausage and fried it up with the gizzards. A richly tasty, hilariously pleasurable salad (that would scare most neurotic salad eaters) which was great with lively, delightful, vibrant Champagne. The fruit and vivacity of the fizz was a great foil for the rich complexity of the salad. Lunch at its best!

This was published on Elitistreview

Last weekend we had the good fortune to visit the Tully family in Jersey. Whilst Edward Tully and I ran the Oxford University blind tasting team we tasted quite a lot of wine together; indeed, in one academic year over three thousand different ones. Student life was not always a trial. Our last trip to Jersey was cancelled due to volcanic activity so it was a great delight to finally be able to fly over and see Edward, Kathryn and their young (and remarkably tall) daughter Lydia.

Edward had a few old bottles of dubious provenance that he had picked up very cheaply at an auction and, sadly, some were simply dead. These included a half of Heidseck Dry Monopole 1928 and Chateau d’Yquem 1960, both of which would have been intriguing if in condition. The rest of our drinking was rich and varied, with some bottles absolutely engorged with pleasure and others which were quite surprising. Here are the notes on the whites:

Vin de Laurence 1998, Mas de Daumas Gassac

This was our first drink on arrival and by arse was it a weirdie – given it blind I asked if it was supposed to be as it was and suggested it might be stupendously shagged-out Sauternes or really freaky Madeira. It is brown. There are lots of funky, oxidised, acetone aromas here and virtually nothing in the way of fruit. That being said, if you like Madeira, or possibly are a necrophiliac (please don’t tell me if you are a necrophiliac, I just don’t want to know that information), there are characters you might enjoy. It certainly isn’t simple. The palate has good acidity, plenty of sweetness and perilously little in common with normally-made whites. Real length to the flavours, though, and if you can recognise that conventional does not equate with attractive you may well see merit in this wine. Ageing potential? Cripes! How much more spent, knackered and absurdly crapulent can it get?

Riesling Kabinett Scharzhofberger 2002 auction wine, Egon Muller

When Mr T told us he was going to pop this my excitement was protrusive; I tried it at the Grosser Ring tasting years ago and it was super-beezer. I am surprised by how muted the nose is. Sure, there is lime fruit and great minerality, but it doesn’t explode with refulgent brilliance. I fear this is in a bit of a middle-aged hole. Yeah, that is what I get from the palate as well: the fruit is demure and the minerality burns with merely timorous intensity. It is clearly an incredible kabinett of real style and class, but it is so tightly wound at the moment it takes my most perceptive and analytical tasting faculties to disinter its sophisticated charms. Come back in five-plus years time.

Brut Chardonnay 1995, Pol Roger

Can I be ego-maniacal briefly? Well, it is my site so if I cannot here then I don’t know where else I can. So: we were given this blind and I nailed it instantly – it was a true piece of blind-tasting mastery. Ho ho ho. Brilliantly biscuity on the nose with an incredibly stylish lemon fruit character – this is a stunning, pure-Chardonnay fizz from an extremely serious Chardonnay vintage. Serious class, I’m telling you. The mousse is delightfully fine, and the interplay between mature flavours, ripe lemon fruit and great acidity just leaves me gagging for another taste. To me, this is clearly superior to and in far better condition than the bottle of Salon 1996 I popped a couple of weeks ago. If you’ve got some of this in your cellar then you have purchased supremely wisely, it is great now but clearly will just keep on getting better for many years to come. Blanc des Blancs Champagne at its most tumescently satisfying.

Champagne Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill 1996, Pol Roger

Wow, such density and depth on this nose. The Pinot influence is strong but it doesn’t seem overbearing or ponderous. Very attractive, in all honesty. The palate is scrumptious. Its fruit is ripe and strident with a fiercely bold whack of acidity and the flavours just go on and on. If you want scale and decent complexity in your fizz-necking experiences this delivers all one could possibly ask. Excepting sparklers at the loony-nutcase-hatstand end of explosively stylish greatness, such as Krug 1996, this is the complete Champagne experience.

Riesling Clos Ste Hune Vendanges Tardives Hors Choix 1989, Trimbach

The ravishing purity and finesse of this nose speak to and emotionally effect me in a allure-charged, beauteous style I find hard to articulate. It is bewitching. Considering this is a selection of old vines that have been late harvested in a hot vintage it seems amazing that it is not power that defines its set of aromas but rather svelte, understated sophistication and carefully composed elegance. Yeah, there is candied orange fruit, lots of ripe lime characters, some petrol and all that stuff one is supposed to find in mature Riesling, but that isn’t what this nose it is about. It is a coruscating entity of breathtaking purity and unrestrained beauty. Its alive, and it knows it is good. The professional wino in me feels I should talk about the fine acid, rich minerality and layers of candied fruit which this obviously possesses, but reducing this scintillating entity to a list of component parts seems risible. As I swirl it around my palate I feel its lambent intensity and fulgurous exquisiteness shining focussed beams of enjoyment directly into my pleasure-centres. Tasting this is an incredible experience both viscerally and intellectually – it is intensely flavourous yet totally delicate and beguiling. The harmony is, if I may say a rude word, frankly mind-buggering. Bottles like this show that the limits of pleasure really are yet to be defined or reached – totally up for drinking and the best bottle of this I’ve witnessed.

Part 2 (the reds) will follow in a few hours.

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This was published on Elitistreview