The brief was simple, bring a ‘shit hot’ bottle. Everyone did and Paul Hanna generously dipped into his own cellar to put on one of the great Monday Tables. Scott Pickett’s chefs did a magic job behind the pots and pans and it was a memorable night. There were two cork taint casualties for the night, a 1983 Petrus and 2005 Rouget Echezeaux.
Champagne Bracket
Sydney rock oyster with lime and cucumber
Gougere with celeriac and truffle
Pork rillette and rarbit sandwich
1998 Dom Perignon Champagne P2: The nose has some toasty notes along with brioche, biscuit, orchard fruits and chalk. It is rich with a fruit sweet heart. There’s a line of minerally acidity and whilst the wine is still very fresh it is complex and a very good drink right now.
1985 Dom Pérignon Oenothèque: There’s some tertiary mushroom sneaking into the aroma profile. It has notes of grilled nuts, biscuit and decaying leaves. The palate is rich, full and powerful, with a touch of sweetness from the dosage and a lick of minerally acidity keeping everything in check. A lovely, mature bottle of Champagne.
White Burgundy Bracket
Spanner crab risotto, soy and mustard butter, tarragon, crab emulsion
2010 Henri Boillot Montrachet: The nose is very Montrachet, with whiffs of tinned pineapple, sappy orchard fruits and spearmint cream. It is rich and layered in the mouth. There’s outstanding depth of flavor and so much power. The finish is laden with chalky dry extract. A magnificent Monty.
2009 Etienne Sauzet Montrachet: You get the richness and ripeness of the vintage here but it is certainly not overblown. It drips with juicy white peach fruit and there’s a suggestion of spiced pear. It is unctuous in the mouth yet light on its feet. It builds through the palate and finishes with relatively low acidity but has plenty of energy and verve.
2001 Coche-Dury Corton-Charlemagne: There’s struck match to the aroma along with some menthol, toast and white peach. It is very deep and dense in the mouth with the strict line of Corton. It breathes up, gaining complexity in the glass and finishes with so much chewy extract. Length is very impressive.
1988 Bouchard Père et Fils Montrachet: The nose has some woodsy/earthy development. The palate is rich and textural, with layers of fruit, mineral and spice. The finish is fresh and minerally.
Aged Red Burgundy Bracket
Suckling pig, fennel, apple, turnip and mustard leaf
1985 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux: Highly perfumed nose of smoke, stems, rose petals and sandalwood. Very fine and lacy in the mouth with good depth of red fruit flavor trimmed with earth. It is a wine of elegance, class and excellent persistence.
1945 Ch Drapier & Fils Musigny: Very earthy and nutty aromas with some volatile lift. The palate is full and rich and full of tertiary flavour. It gains in the glass and is a very tasty wine.
1962 Bouchard Père et Fils Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets: Big G sourced this direct from the domaine and it was a marvelous bottle. It had so much aniseed and licorice along with red and black fruits that had a jube-like quality. There was excellent depth in the mouth and nice stony detail. It finished with great cut and really fanned out leaving a myriad of flavours in the mouth after swallowing.
1947 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays: Just a bit of brown sugar oxidation sneaking in here. It is sweet and vinous with notes of grated ginger and meat and game. The palate is full and round and length is very good.
1978 P. Dubreuil-Fontaine Père & Fils Corton-Clos du Roi: Very floral smelling of Arum lilies and rose petals. There’s a wisp of smoke too. Fruit flavours are very fresh and bright, vacillating between red and black. There’s a suggestion of meat and it is pure velvet against the gums. One of the wines of the night for mine, drinking superbly.
1950 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays: This is sweet and heady. It is full of sweet earth and nutty things and is quite salty in the mouth. It is round and fully mature.
Mixed Red Bracket
Sher wagyu rump cap, braised cheek, charred onion, green onion oil
1988 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux: This was a bottle from ‘The Cellar 2’ but all of us at the table believed it to be legit. It had complex aromatics of compost, smoked meats and red and black fruits. In the mouth it was rich and powerful with good rocky detail. It had great volume and length.
2005 Emmanuel Rouget Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux: Deep colour and a penetrating aroma of sarsaparilla, tart cherry and black earth. It is rich and chewy in the mouth with outstanding concentration. Fruit is sappy and at its core is something cool and stony. The finish is sinewy and very long.
1978 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle: There’s some bacon fat, smoked meats and licorice to the aroma. In the mouth it has a core of delicious raspberry fruit. You get some baked earth to counter the sweet fruit nicely and it is a wine of near perfect balance and harmony. Tannins are fully integrated but it is a wine that is still remarkably fresh and one that should age effortlessly for another few decades.
1963 Mildara Cabernet Sauvignon: A really nice bottle of Peppermint Patty with some of the after-dinner mint character that made this wine famous. It is quite spicy and complex with notes of green bean, tobacco, meat and earth. The palate is fresh and cassis fruits bright and crisp. It is full and velvety and flavours persist for a long time after swallowing.
1967 Penfolds Bin 7: A concentrated wine with really good depth and freshness. There’s some mocha and chocolate along with intense cherry and blood plum fruits. Flavours envelop the whole mouth and it still has some tannic chew. With air blackberry fruit intensifies at its heart.
Dessert Wines
Soft chocolate, poached quince, honeycomb, orange
1967 Château d’Yquem: Some volatility punches aromas of candied peel, vanilla and tinned peaches up into the nostrils. It is super rich, dense and concentrated in the palate with layers of flavour. It has remarkable length and for all of its luscious sweetness finishes bright and clean.
1945 Château de Rayne-Vigneau: A very delicate nose of earth, candy, honeycomb and coconut. In the mouth it has great proportion and balance, with just enough sweetness and a fine line of minerally acidity. Not a big wine but an ethereal one and a true joy to drink.
Vintage Port
Comte, lavosh, grapes, chutney, pickled fruit
1967 Cockburn Porto Vintage: To quote Big G, ‘we have a sizzle dick here’. The spirit is punchy and heady. The fruit has a real red wine quality to it, much like an aged Nacional. It is full and complex and really builds. All flavours are harmonious and it is certainly somewhere near its apogee.
