We decided that Vinolokal might be the right place for our 2020 staff Christmas party. Lily has been doing a bit of part time work for us during the year, so she got a flag. Cousin Lucy is an automatic starter and Big Pat did a few local deliveries, so he is in as well. Our Patrick spent 10 minutes scrunching paper for us back in June to pack orders with and decided that he was also a worthy attendee.
We kicked off with a 2010 Dom Pérignon Champagne It had complex aromatics of toast, vanilla, candied fruits, dried apricot and brioche. It is full and creamy in the mouth with good volume and depth. Mousse is vigorous, bead fine and length of flavour excellent. Chef Ryan was pulling out all stops, devising a special menu for us. He had sourced some fresh bluefin Tuna and the resultant sashimi with wasabi root and leaf was one of the finest seafood dishes of the year for mine.
Next on the menu was a wonderfully rich a decadent pressed terrine of duck and potato. It was served with a pickled salad that countered with piquancy and the whole package was triumphant. It worked a treat with a 1996 Pierre Bouzereau-Emonin Meursault Les Narvaux. The colour of this wine was fresh, with a green tinge. It had plenty of white mushroom to the aroma along with almond butter and ripe peach. It was full and round, with a sweet core of fruit and good cut from grapefruit-like acidity. A perfectly mature white Burgundy.
Sauvignon Blanc is usually best ingested via way of its role as a blended component of Yquem. There are a few exceptions however and the wines of François Cotat are case in point. A bottle of 2012 Domaine François Cotat Sancerre Cuvée Paul was remarkably unevolved. There were all sorts of meaty, exotic fruits…think paw paw, rockmelon and dragonfruit. It was rich, layered and intense, with such great volume and drive. There are subtle wild herb notes and a finish that drives on and on. Chef had treated fresh South Australian crayfish to a saltimbocca preparation. The combination of sweet flesh, with cured piggy goodness and sage made for a surprisingly wonderful combination and sang with the Cotat.
Aged red Burgundy with aged beef seemed to be the right combo for main course. Our bottle of 1972 Charles Noellat Nuits St. Georges Les Lavières had a good fill and good colour. The nose was immediately punchy, smelling of dark earth and smouldering autumnal leaves. There was a hint of spice and something sweet and vinous at its heart. It was lacy and ethereal, fanning out on the finish with its length of flavour carried by a fine line of minerally acidity.
There are not many better desserts than the perfect lemon tart. Actually, tarte tatin is better, but lemon tart is really good, and Ryan’s version shone. A Rockford 2012 Cane Cut Semillon was the perfect sweety to wash all the tart citrussy things down with.
If you are a back-up bottle at any of our dinners, you are in serious danger of being opened. Being Christmas, we could not simply take our 2012 Thierry Allemand Cornas Chaillot home. Out with the cork, unlocking deeply pitched dark fruits, coupled with gamey meatiness. There are notes of leather and black olive and it has a glossy feel against the gums. There’s still tannic chew and a savoury and long finish.
Happy Christmas to all.
