Notes from an exceptional dinner put on by Albert Givton at La Terrazzo in Vancouver.
We started with some hors d’ouevres – some Stellar Bay oysters, a delightful crab salad on a taro chip, and a tuna tartare, with some bubble.
1982 Krug Collection Brut – fair bit of colour now, a nose like a toffee apple, finishing with tons of acidity. A second bottle very similar but with a livelier presentation and a bit less acidity.
1989 Bollinger Vielles Vignes Francaises – a very rare curiosity, made from Pinot Noir grafted onto pre-phyloxera root stock on a couple of small parcels, and tended at about triple the cost of a normal vineyard. It is Bollingers super luxury cuvee, and goes for a couple of thousand bucks a bottle at this age (maybe triple the price of the Krug). Interesting material including a video at http://www.wineanorak.com/champagne/bollinger_part1.htm
The wine had a bit less colour and a nose of yeast and nuts, great and precise flavour intensity and power, and a long tasty finish.
The first course was a burratta salad with tomatoes, herb salad and old balsamic with basil and olive oil, which may seem odd when you see the wines, but it worked very well.
1982 Ch. La Mission Haut Brion – we had quite a bit of discussion about the tragedy of this property being acquired by the owners of Haut Brion in 1983, after which it was never allowed to seriously compete with Haut Brion again (although 89, 200, and probably 2009 and 2010 seem to have surpassed any limitations). This was then the last vintage made completely under the old regime. As a Parker 100 point wine, it is of course expensive and hard to find. It was dark, with a killer nose of plum and cedar, and on palate it was mellow, smooth, and very long, with some pleasant earthy smokiness. It is one of the greatest 1982s I’ve ever tasted. No rush.
1982 Ch. Cheval Blanc – in contrast, this wine was fully ready and presented a much softer riper nose, lighter colour, and on palate it featured elegance over power. Good length, greatly enjoyable, but the La Mission was my clear favourite. The Cheval needs drinking.
1982 Ch. Leoville Las Cases – served as a blind wine, this seemed younger in terms of colour, showed a sweet typical claret nose that picked up some greenness and cedar with time, and ample fruit but a harder tannin backbone that indicated that even more time is needed.
Next up was butternut squash dumplings with sage prosciutto and apple celery butter and duck breast with an apricot glaze. And three more great wines.
1982 Ch. Latour – a dark brooding wine with an earthy wine with depths of complexity that harboured elements of tar, spice and herbs. A big presence on palate, no surprise for Latour, but also lots of bright fruit, light on its feet and delightful. Still lots of tannin and a long life a head, but magnificent now. If I had an hour left to live and either the La Mission of the Latour as the last wine to drink, I’d have some serious trouble choosing!
1982 Ch. Lafite – Lafite is always connected in my mind with elegance as opposed to outright power (which is Latour’s normal attribute) but this was a brawny Lafite. The nose was a delicately scented mix of berries and cedar, and as it opened in the glass, it picked up some pencil shavings and anise. On palate, while it still shows considerable tannin, they are softer and the flavour concentration is excellent. With time, some additional tobacco notes showed up. Great wine.
1982 Ch. Mouton Rothschild – while I am generally a bit critical of Mouton and hold the opinion that it should still be a super second growth, and often prefer Las Cases in any given year, this was one of Mouton’s star performances. I’ve tasted this wine since a couple of years after release and over time thought that it started out very impressively, but flagged a bit in mid term tastings. Well this one was back on form, a very good bottle indeed. It needed quite a bit of time to open in the glass despite having been decanted some time before, and the typical lead pencil element was evident right from the beginning, along with some deep plummy notes as well a hints of cassis and strawberry. A big wine on palate, it seemed to gain weight with time in the glass and was impressively long. For me it came in second to the Latour by the slightest margin. I’d have a hard time ranking it and the La Mission.
The next course (I should stress that they were quite small courses, a few bites each, lest I give the impression that we were more glutton than gourmet) was beef tenderloin and veal cheek with rosemary demi.
1989 Ch. Haut Brion – stunning wine, dark and with a complex bouquet which included all of the expected participants, tobacco, cedar, pencil shavings, black fruit, plus some smoky tarry mushroom elements. Lots of soft tannin, an opulent wine with impeccable balance. This drinks beautifully now but should have a long life yet ahead.
1989 Ch. Petrus - another highly rated wine like the Haut Brion (both RP 100 pointers) but as usual a very different presentation. A concentrated fruit tart sort of nose, with a backdrop of road tar and ripe cherry with some truffley elements, sweet in the mouth, but with a good tannic structure, great length, a totally different sort of presentation than the 1982. I gave the trophy to the Haut Brion for this flight, but it was close.
With roasted Dijon crusted rack of lamb and seared foie gras:
1961 Ch. Latour – the last claret was both a revelation and a disappointment. The first because it reminded us of the longevity of great Bordeaux vintages, and the latter because this bottle was slightly corked, which made it moot to try and guess what the wine could have been save for the fatal whiff of TCA. Having said that, it presented pretty well considering, but lacked the usual fruit levels in both nose and on palate, retaining excellent balance. Too bad, it I normally a stunningly good claret.
With a mascarpone cheesecake (not too sweet) wrapped in phyllo:
1967 Ch. d’Yquem – I’ve had the opportunity to sample this a couple of times before and this bottle was in keeping with previous experience. It was clear amber colour, had a nose of honey, lemon and pineapple with vanilla and both coconut and roasted cashew mixed in. Intense in the mouth with crème brulee notes and a very long finish. More developed than the last bottle I was fortunate enough to taste a few years ago, but just as enjoyable.
With Stilton and parmigiano chese:
1955 Taylors Port – I would not normally arrange a dinner with both Sauternes and Port – that’s just my own preference developed over the years, but I certainly wasn't going to complain about the mix in this event! I’ve been fortunate enough to taste this twice in the last three years and this bottle compared well with the previous one. Pale garnet colour, warm fruit in the nose with jammy berries and some cocoa hints, not too hot. On palate, smooth and medium length. A good well stored bottle.
