A great dinner at Bilson's, a top French styled restaurant in Sydney, almost spoiled by a waiter with a severe attitude problem, but rescued by superb company, food, wine and significantly better service when we asked for another waiter to look after us.
- Tarte Fine of Local Lobster with Mousseline of Spinach
- Grilled Fillet of Murray Cod with Yabbies, Sauce Gribiche and Watercress
- Black Rockfish Quenelle with Petrossian Caviar
- Rack of Lamb with fennel and tomato
- Roasted Partridge ‘en Salmis’
- Selection of Ripened Local and Imported Cheese with Fresh and Dried Fruits
- Assiette of Dark Bitter Chocolate
1981 Bollinger VVF
Light gold colour. The nose is surprisingly fresh with floral characters as well as complex nut, earth, ginger and slate aromas. So long and rich on the palate, but with precise focus and incredible balance and complexity. One of the top Champagnes I've had, one of the top wines in fact. I kept a small amount until the end of the dinner, and though it was warm it was still brilliant after 4 hours. Thank you to Danny for a memorable experience.
98/100
1988 Bollinger VVF
Darker in colour than the 1981. An interesting variety of aromas, with yeasty Vegemite, mushroom, aspirin and cedar. Palate has spice and texture to it, but it lacks length. Was given plenty of time to come around, but started to smell like rotten citrus after around an hour. It doesn't sound all that appealing from the note, but despite that, it was interesting and it was a peek at what a representative bottle may be like.
87/100
2000 Bouchard Corton Charlemagne
Soapy at first, but that lifted after some swirling to show lovely floral perfume, citrus peel and minerality. I thought the structure on the palate was top class, elegant but with a depth and length that proves this has potential for greatness. I slightly preferred the 2002, but I think both were excellent.
92/100
1982 Chateau Trotanoy
The amazing colour I have come to expect from well cellared 1982 Bordeaux, deep ruby red with no real signs of significant age. The nose initially was very herbaceous, but given time in the glass this amazingly retreated to be replaced by aromas of tobacco, chocolate, blackcurrant, cherry and some integrated briar character the only hint at the earlier aroma profile. A delightfully lushness to the palate with structure provided by the balanced and fine tannins. Excellent, and only got better as time went on.
94/100
1964 Dupont-Tisserandot Mazis Chambertin
There were some frowns around the table due to the poor service, but it was fun watching peoples expressions change so dramatically after the first couple of sniffs of this wine. Intoxicating, swirling, perfumed aromas of cherry, spice, strawberry and tea. Long, delicate, balanced and with wonderful texture. I kept switching between this and the Trotanoy as my favourite red of the evening, but they both stand apart as brilliant wines. One of the best red Burgundies I have had to date, thank you Firoz.
94/100
1996 Roger Sabon Secret des Sabon
As the name indicates, details on this are deliberately to be a bit hard to come by. From what I've read, around 80 cases produced, believed to be mainly Grenache but it is a field blend of all 13 permitted varieties from 100+ year old vines in two vineyard plots planted by Roger Sabon's Grandfather.
Intense nose with framboise, kirsch, Chinese five spice, pepper and a little bit of smoke and earth. Surprisingly good structure for the vintage along with deep, rich red fruit and good length. Approachable, but with potential to get better over the next 4-5 years.
91/100
2001 Chateau Guiraud Sauternes
Strong coconut and honey, peach and citrus on the nose. The palate is approachable with quite a bit of sweetness but plenty of cleansing acidity. No real depth to it yet, and I wonder if it is maybe entering a bit of a quiet period, it was very good but maybe didn't show the concentration and excitement I was expecting.
88/100