My turn to host Monday Table last night at Melbourne’s Rockpool Bar and Grill. Paul Hanna was MIA but we ploughed on regardless. Sarah Ward did a remarkable job with the wine service and big G was in scintillating form. He was talking about a high profile Burgundian producer at one stage noting ‘he’s a lovely human being but tight…in fact if he was bitten by a shark he wouldn’t shout’.
Champagne Bracket
Freshly Shucked Oysters with Mignonette Sauce
Cured Ocean Trout with Celeriac Remoulade and Horseradish Cream on Toasted Brioche
1966 Taittinger Comte de Champagne: One of the very best aged Champagne I have had. Smells of brioche, toast, honey and orange blossom. Rich and textured in the mouth with terrific complexity and just enough prickle to keep things fresh and vibrant.
1961 Dom Perignon: Looking a bit tired with a deeper golden colour and loads of nuts and caramel. Good bottles I’m sure would be majestic as there is real depth and one gets the feeling that there’s underlying class to the wine.
Coche-Dury Flight
Wood Fire Grilled Glacier 51 Toothfish, Celeriac Puree, Seasonal Veg
2010 Coche-Dury Meursault: How good is this for village wine.? Has the Coche struck match thing by the box full. It has lashings of spicy oak but dense concentrated orchard fruits to match. It is piercing intense and razor sharp with a chewy, chalky structured finish that drives on long and strong.
1971 Coche-Boulicault Meursault: As this golden orange coloured white was poured out Big G quipped ‘f*ck me, he’s serving a Grand Marnier’. The wine’s appearance hinted at its age but boy was it good. It had true tertiary truffle nuance. There were notes of almond butter and cream. It was full and textured with the perfect amount of acidity cleaning up the finish and a lovely savoury flavour that lingers in the mouth well after the wine is swallowed. J-F’s dad sure knew how to make white Burg!
1981 Coche-Dury Meursault: Has just a faint whif of tca which is a real shame as this is pretty darn good off-vintage white Burg. There’s a touch of menthol, some mushroom and honey and some vinous sweetness in the mouth. It is creamy, textured and quite long.
2005 Coche-Dury Corton-Charlemagne: A complete waste to open this right now. If you have one, do not under any circumstance pull the cork in the near future. Tight, compact, dense and chewy. It is only the wine’s viscosity that sets it apart from the Meursault wines and hints at its Grand Cru origins. It has a suggestion of aniseed and the most pure of white peach aromas and flavours. There’s loads of geological material lurking just beneath the flesh.
2000 Domaine & Selection (J-F Coche-Dury) Meursault ‘Les Vireuils’: Fabulous drink. Some struck match to the aroma along with almond butter and peach. Full, rich and textured with lovely balance and proportion. Finishes with good cut and possesses fabulous length.
2007 Domaine & Selection (J-F Coche-Dury) Meursault ‘Les Vireuils’: Extraordinarily youthful. A wine that is so direct and piercing. Fabulous posture thanks to a high tensile, steely spine. White peach and citrus fruits have such great detail. It is so bright with all aromas and flavours so sharp and clear.
Clos de la Roche-Flight One
Wood Fire Grilled Redgate Farm Partridge with Pear, Parsnip Puree and House Cured Pigs Cheek
1976 Domaine Armand Rousseau Clos de la Roche: A wine that is a function of a hot year. Notes of dried fig, honey, cinnamon, scorched earth and confiture. There are some funky meaty notes and volatility that lightly burns the nostrils. It is a bit stewy.
1999 Armand Rousseau Clos de la Roche: Good colour and density. Spicy and earthy with nice floral nuance. It has nice depth of flavour and proportion and is a wine that has plenty of material on which to age upon over a long period of time.
1981 Domaine Dujac Clos La Roche: I really like this wine. Spicy, sappy and stalky. It has so much floral perfume coupled with beef stock and soy development. It is fine, delicate and lacy in the mouth and has real persistence to the finish.
1996 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche: Big sappy lift to the aroma. It has some sandalwood spice and pure cherry fruit. It is full and rich with the acid cut of the vintage. Just starting to drink really well.
2006 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche: Far too young. Jubey, meaty, minerally and tight. Good potential here but needs a decade or two in the cellar.
1962 Ponnelle Clos de la Roche: Delicious old Burg that is declining gracefully. The nose is better than the palate with aromas of antique furniture, sweet cedar, flora and earth. It is gentle and vinous against the gums with a faint kiss of minerally acidity on the finish.
Clos de la Roche-Flight Two
Wood Fire Grilled Flinders Island Milk Fed Lamb with Marinated Radicchio
King Edward Potatoes Sautéed in Wagyu Fat with Garlic and Rosemary
Mushy Peas with a Slow Cooked Egg
Radicchio, Cos and Endive Salad with Palm Sugar Vinaigrette
2002 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche: Sappy, sweet, full and smoky. Open for business but with plenty of material on which to age.
2002 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche: Quite meaty and sweet on the nose. Slightly wild in the mouth with some cherry fruit , musk and earthy flavours. It finishes with sweet tannins and has good length.
1999 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche: Some sandalwood and black cherry aromas. This is dark, deeply pitched and even. It is plush with great volume. Terrific wine.
2005 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche: Wine of the bracket for mine. It has some freshly grated ginger notes along with liqueur cherry and liquorice. It is sweet, dense, full, sappy, packed and stacked. The balance is impeccable and one suspects that this will peak in two decades, maybe three.
2009 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche: Floral nose with some orange rind and pot pouri mixing it up with dark fruits. It is mouthfilling and creamy with some minerality underpinning all of the flesh. A very good 09.
2009 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche: Really bright and crunchy for an 09. It has sweet, powerful red and black fruits. There’s something reminiscent of sarsaparilla root and it has big concentration without an ounce of heaviness. It is already giving so much and was the most clean and pristine Ponsot of the night.
Port Bracket
Marcel Petite Comte Gruyere Cow’s Milk Fort St Antoine, France
Colston Bassett Stilton Cow’s Milk Nottinghamshire, England
1940 Niepoort Colheita (decanted 1965): Remarkably fresh and fruity with nice spirit. It is full, sweet, chocolaty and textural with a kind of a liqueur feel a bit like a Rutherglen Muscat. For all of its luscious attributes there are savoury elements to the finish countering the big sweet flavour hit.
1958 Quinta do Noval Nacional Vintage Port: Not the deepest, most concentrated ‘Nacional’ but beautifully poised and proportioned. The spirit is clean with a gentle floral edge. There are dried fig, raisin, chocolate and liquorice smells. It is lacy and ethereal in the mouth. It has good cut and detail right through the palate and one is left with a wonderful inner mouth perfume once the wine is swallowed.
Cheers
Jeremy
