These are notes from an excellent dinner with wines pulled from our collective cellars.
With blanched peeled white asparagus wrapped in smoked goose breast with EVO and black pepper:
1989 Henriot Brut Champagne - a fair bit of colour betrayed the age, and the nose was the sort I prefer, with complexity that comes only with a bit of age. Mellow but with enough acidity to balance nicely, this was a good match to the food.With a salad of smoked tuna and smoked salmon:
1999 Albert Mann Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Furstentum Vielles Vignes - a nose of spice, flowers, the usual lychee, and some pear was beyond criticism. Served only slightly chilled, it was very smooth but weighty on palate, almost luxuriant, and excellent length. No rush on this wine!With duck and goose foie gras:
1996 Henri Maire La Vigniere Vin de Paille - in the Rhone, they usually dry the grapes on straw mats (hence the name), but in the Jura, where this wine comes from, they more often suspend the grapes until they raisin before pressing. They also keep it in cask for several years, which accounts for the Sherry-like colour of this one. Made from Savignan grapes. Looking at the colour, one thought of Madeira, Sherry, and such wines, and so the nose containing red fruit and a bit of truffley je ne sais quoi came as a surprise. It had tons of concentration and fruit, but an equal ton of acidity, so it was very difficult to judge the actual sweetness of the wine. 15% alcohol. Raisins came in only on the finish.With duck breast and wild mushrooms:
1989 Drouhin Chambolle Musigny 'Les Charmes' - surprisingly dark in colour, with a very good mature fruit driven Burgundian nose. It was sweet in the mouth, but displayed a surprising amount of acidity; so much so that it was definitely better with food than tasted alone. Good length.With rare rack of lamb cut into chops, served with a sacuse made from the Mouton:
1984 Ch. Mouton Rothschild - most of the 1984's were of dubious quality and need drinking up, but this wine was both better than the average 84, and will be much longer lived. The nose was pretty good (until you compared it to the next wine) and it was dark, perhaps even darker than the 1987, although it showed much browner at the edges. It was a bit hollow in the middle, then finished stronger, if a bit acidic. An interesting comparison to the 1984 Lafite, which is much lighter on it's feet and more elegant; the Mouton comes off as a bit of a clod in such company, but on the other hand it has softer tannin, though more of them, than I recall the Lafite having (admittedly several years ago).1987 Ch. Mouton Rothschild - another maligned vintage, but if you are selective, you can do very well here. I have often enjoyed wines like the Pichon Lalande and Sociando Mallet, for instance. The nose was instantly more complex and pleasurable than the usual cedar and currant. More complex on palate as well, sweet and with good length, this wine has developed tremendously in the last decade and drinks well now but will hold. I think that this is the best 1987 claret I have tasted.
With cheeses (and many of them!):
1985 Mas Daumas Gassac - this wine is from the days before the producer was well known (and became increasingly expensive). I have followed this wine from the first vintage in 1978 when it was 100% Cabernet, and I think that this vintage is my favourite. Very dark, with a good nose of fruit, a hint of mint, and a bit of cocoa. Ripe, sweet and tannic still, it could use a few more years. This wine has always been a bit of a chameleon for me - the last bottle I had (which sadly was MY last bottle) showed much more Burgundian; I think the bottle here was superior, and indeed was as good as I've ever tasted, but it was not at all Burgundian. Very hard to place this if tasted blind!On its own (as it should be):
1988 Ch. Rieussec - this Sauternes has really come into focus in the last few years. Golden colour, showing ample Botrytis, and honey in the nose, it has become a lovely balanced wine that will continue to develop for years. Fine end to a memorable dinner. Maybe I was in a particularly agreeable mood (what? do I hear a chorus of No!) but there wasn't a single false step in wine or food, and the only clinker was a somehow spoiled bottle of Morin Calvados Hors d'Age that had gone all watery and strange (maybe our host's wife has started watering his liquor?). I shall have to find my own bottle and further investigate this perfidy!