Thursday Night Warmup
So, I was meant to spend Thursday night preparing food for Friday night when I got a message from Alex which said: ‘I need someone to play with… I have wine!’ Works for me, I said.
I quickly put together a few ‘mid-week’ dishes: Foie gras and truffle pies, marron grilled with a fish veloute, a tiny bit of cheese and an apple and pear mille-feuille.
I also had at a hand (also for tomorrow night) a bottle of ’95 Pol (given to me by Christian Pol Roger!). Looking fairly developed, lots of smoke and clotted cream aromas. The palate very good, long, powerful.
Alex presented a bottle blind which I immediately thought to be Corton Charlemagne (although I did waiver after time). This turned out to be ’94 Bonneau du Martray. Delicious mazipan, rose petal, match stick and melon aromas. The palate is full, refreshing and begs for another sip. An excellent effort in 94. Very good with foie gras and marron.
The next wine was very good indeed, a Domaine Sirugue Grands-Echezeaux 2000. Lots of caramel and coffee oak aromas at first, followed by soy and Asian spice and that peculiar paprika smell you get around Vosne. The palate is very good, especially for 2000. Fine, luxurious tannins, full and long in the mouth.
Around now, Neville popped in to drop off some wine — luckily, I made enough for all and there was even a glass waiting for him. Neville seemed genuinely surprised at how much he liked the Ech.
Finally, on the mille-feuille, we had a Doisy-Vedrines 1981 I had in the fridge. This was a little reticent for having been in the fridge but a good wine nonetheless.
Thursday nights like this are a good omen for the weekend!
