Bastards night at Monday Table this week, with our chance to explore Criots, Bienvenues and Bâtard. Our host was a sneaky bastard with a few of his options questions. He engaged Jason Staudt from The Stokehouse to cook for us and the meal was splendid in every way.
Rock oysters & cumquat
Kaviari caviar service & donuts
Spanner crab & potato cake
2008 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut: Still very youthful, but starting to relax and shows its dosage a little. Fresh orchard fruits, biscuit and brioche. Fine, fluffy and intense. Cut by the wonderful acidity of the vintage. Very long.
Yellowfin Tuna & aged tomato
1995 Blain-Gagnard Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet, Grand Cru : Fully mature and drinking nicely. Some honey development and smoky mineral notes. It has a core of sweet peach fruit and some spice. It is creamy and layered with relatively gentle acidity.
1998 Domaine Ramonet Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet, Grand Cru : Old but not tired. Has some toffee apple development. The palate is soft and gentle and shows sweet fruit and spice. There is still some structure and moderate length.
2001 Domaine Leflaive Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet, Grand Cru : A fabulous nose of honeysuckle, Arum lily, mint, white peach and mango. Such great intensity in the mouth and unctuous through the mid. It is sappy, deep and so long. Brilliant wine.
2017 Domaine Jacques Carillon Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet, Grand Cru : Showing a bit of wood spice today. It is deep and layered, with intense white peach fruit. There are gorgeous florals and it has terrific presence in the mouth. It is all here it just needs a few more years in bottle.
John Dory, pippies, peas & caviar
2001 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet, Grand Cru : This was very good, but perhaps not at the level of the Bienvenues. There were some tropical notes and a hint of apricot (some botrytis perhaps?). It had smoky, gunflint reduction and was deep and powerful. It had great complexity and chew and was very long.
2014 Domaine Thomas Morey Bâtard-Montrachet, Grand Cru: There are white peach, lemon and florals spice notes on the nose and in the mouth. It is elegant and beautifully balanced. It is a wine of latent power and lovely poise. Still plenty to give.
2017 Domaine Thomas Morey Bâtard-Montrachet, Grand Cru: This was really firing on all cylinders. Thomas’ version of Bâtard is always elegant and this is, but there is explosive power here too. It has the most pure core of white peach fruit. There’s aniseed spice and Arum lily too. The flesh is cut by lively, minerally acidity and the finish drives on and on.
2017 Domaine Jean Chartron Bâtard-Montrachet, Grand Cru : A spicy and rich wine. Complex and layered, sappy and powerful. Classic Bâtard that has concentration, build and depth. Unfurls nicely in the glass.
Abalone, coal kissed in the Josper
2017 Domaine Hubert Lamy Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Cuvée Haute Densité, Grand Cru : Intense citrus and white peach. So much geological matter. Linear, deep, unctuous and chewy. Such great presence and detail and the cut to the finish is like a cold steel blade. Length is imposing and there is saline minerality and chalky dry extract a plenty.
2016 Domaine Hubert Lamy Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Cuvée Haute Densité, Grand Cru : Preserved citrus, white flowers, mint and smoky mineral. Generous in the mouth, with good flesh through the mid-palate. Ripe and explosive, sappy and long.
2015 Domaine Hubert Lamy Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Cuvée Haute Densité, Grand Cru : Supremely youthful. So much intensity of white peach fruit. A suggestion of spearmint and flint. Unctuous and layered, explosive and direct. It simply powers on and on. Built for long aging.
Duck, Fig & Thick cut chips
2017 Christophe Roumier Ruchottes-Chambertin, Grand Cru: Dark fruits, licorice and sarsaparilla root. Beautifully balanced, with great acid drive. Builds through the palate and fans out. Very stony finish.
2017 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes : Extremely pure, no artifice here whatsoever. Sweet red and black fruits. Plenty of plant matter including the heady scent of violets. Fleshy yet elegant and beautifully balanced. Fine and long.
2013 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes : Very tight to begin with and showing plenty of meaty reduction. It is red fruited and a little tart from some volatility. The 2017 is far better.
2017 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Ruchottes-Chambertin, Grand Cru: Earthy and pure, cool and stony. Richly fruited with notes of black cherry, raspberry and blood plum. Great breadth and depth. Thoroughly engaging and really quite delightful.
Chocolate Bon Bon
Peach trifle tart
1989 Château d’Yquem, Sauternes: Tinned peaches and vanilla along with some honey and caramel. Sweet, but not overly so. Nice texture and a finish that is clean and invites another sip.
1840 Cantine Florio Marsala Superiore Riserva ACI 1840 : Monet’s birth year ! This was bottled in 1962. It is quite woodsy and earthy and has bitter chocolate and citrus rind notes. It is very savoury, having lost most of its sweetness. It is intense and engaging and has a finish that lasts and lasts.