All that lovely wine
I have finally got to drink those lovely wines that were won back in 2008. Two weeks last Sunday I went down to my old boss in Dorchester at his home outside of Bridport to partake of these iconic wines and some top-notch food too.
The wines were all very good, the '82 Cos Estornel and the '90 Yquem were showing the best, though the 1942 Barsac was also excellent despite its age - it had enough acidity to allow it to age as well as it has. The Leoville Las Cases still felt a bit young despite being from the 1986 vintage - I've had other wines from this vintage that have aged far more markedly.
In addition to the prize wines, I brought along a bottle of vintage Laurent Perrier ('99), and a bottle of Corton Charlemagne ('04) that I had bought from an old colleague for £20. It would usually be sold for £60 (Corton's are rarely sold for anything less), so I got a good buy there! Simon had a bottle of Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle which is a top cuvee made of three different vintages of L-P, and so it was interesting to drink it side-by-side with the straight vintage wine. He also opened up a fabulous Meursault 1er Cru, that was rich and complex as a good Burgundy ought to be. Jim bought along a super Graves (now known as Pessac-Leognan) from Domaine Chevalier, and it was a superb bottle of wine - I dare say I liked it as much (if not better) than the La Mission from the same vintage that I had a couple of years ago (though to be fair it's had the extra aging that the La Mission clearly needed).
The food too was excellent, we ate pheasant goujons with the Champagne and the Burgundies, followed by a starter of salmon mousse and king prawns. This was followed by the hallowed red wines and roast fillet of longhorn beef. Yum. Dessert was a rhubarb and custard tart and of course the Sauternes and the Barsac.
A great night, and if the photo uploaders on both here and facebook weren't playing such silly buggers, then there's be photos to show too.
The wines were all very good, the '82 Cos Estornel and the '90 Yquem were showing the best, though the 1942 Barsac was also excellent despite its age - it had enough acidity to allow it to age as well as it has. The Leoville Las Cases still felt a bit young despite being from the 1986 vintage - I've had other wines from this vintage that have aged far more markedly.
In addition to the prize wines, I brought along a bottle of vintage Laurent Perrier ('99), and a bottle of Corton Charlemagne ('04) that I had bought from an old colleague for £20. It would usually be sold for £60 (Corton's are rarely sold for anything less), so I got a good buy there! Simon had a bottle of Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle which is a top cuvee made of three different vintages of L-P, and so it was interesting to drink it side-by-side with the straight vintage wine. He also opened up a fabulous Meursault 1er Cru, that was rich and complex as a good Burgundy ought to be. Jim bought along a super Graves (now known as Pessac-Leognan) from Domaine Chevalier, and it was a superb bottle of wine - I dare say I liked it as much (if not better) than the La Mission from the same vintage that I had a couple of years ago (though to be fair it's had the extra aging that the La Mission clearly needed).
The food too was excellent, we ate pheasant goujons with the Champagne and the Burgundies, followed by a starter of salmon mousse and king prawns. This was followed by the hallowed red wines and roast fillet of longhorn beef. Yum. Dessert was a rhubarb and custard tart and of course the Sauternes and the Barsac.
A great night, and if the photo uploaders on both here and facebook weren't playing such silly buggers, then there's be photos to show too.