My wife’s 60th birthday is in May and mine in July, so Winter Solstice in June is very close to the mid way point and makes for a nice astronomical connection. We have planned this 120th birthday dinner for a couple of years and invited some good friends to help us celebrate. There were 11 adults and our two sons. One of the great pleasures of having a wine cellar is deciding on which wines to open. I wanted a diverse selection and wanted some older wines and some not so old wines. There were many tough decisions and a lot of wines I really wanted to open that did not make the final cut. Next time perhaps.
The wines by decade:
1930s: 1937 Massandra Collection Madeira
1940s: don’t have any in the cellar
1950s: 1958 Vallana Spanna - the birth year wine
1960s: 1961 Ch. Batailley
1970s: 1976 Ch. Yquem
1980s: 1982 Ch. Haut Brion and 1982 Penfolds Grange Hermitage
1990s: 1991 Chave Hermitage
2000s: 2000 B Giacosa Rocche di Falletto Riserva , 2001 A Rousseau Chambertin Clos de Beze & 2002 Dom Perignon
2010s: not represented
The food:
Malaysian chicken dumplings with a spicy green chili sauce
Moroccan spice slow roasted lamb leg with potatoes with a mushroom and fig sauce
Cheese course
Black glutinous rice with Pandan leaf infused coconut cream sauce
Vanilla Pannacotta with raspberry coulis
Since I was the host and it was my party too, the following are my impressions of the wines from memory.
2002 Dom Perignon: First bottle a bit tired with most of the bubbles gone within a few minutes, but still very tasty with nice honey and toast notes. 2nd bottle much fresher more citrusy fruit, creamer and longer. Went really well with the dumplings.
1958 Vallana Spanna: Orange red colour, delicate earthy nose with perfumed dried cherries, a definite winner in the mouth, nice red fruits with earthy notes, long balanced finish, still had some tannins left to help provide shape, drank wonderfully for about two hours before fading. Slow-oxed for 12 hours and double decanted 2 hours before serving
1961 Ch. Batailley: slightly but definitely corked. Underneath the TCA was a pleasant old bdx that was on the down hill slope. Most of the fruit gone leaving a shell of tannins and acidity. Not awful but not worth drinking given what was coming.
1982 Ch. Haut Brion: This was fantastic, dark red colour, lovely leafy stony wet gravel Graves nose giving way to a beautiful balanced rich full bodied palate, long long delicate and refined finish. The real deal as a fully mature 1st growth and was drunk with a fair amount of ohs and ahs by all. Very satisfying and complete wine.
1982 Penfold Grange Hermitage: interesting contrast to the Haut Brion, dark colour, more inky and showing some american oak coconut on the nose. Meaty rich and full bodied with great depth and length. Had an interesting herbal element with made it more interesting. Not as complex as the Haut Brion but still very fine. Several guests stated this was the first time they had had a Grange that really impressed them and was also the first they had had that as fully mature. Grange really does need 30+ years to show its best.
1991 Chave Hermitage Rouge: Amazingly this was outclassed by the wines before it and the wines after it for me. Just a little bit lost in the crowd so to speak. Lovely raspberry fruits on nose and palate, refined tannins and lovely balance with meat and blood notes showing up as well. Lovely wine but somehow did not wow me. Perhaps not the best bottle…
2000 B Giacosa Rocche di Falletto Riserva: Ah Giacosa RL! Such a complete wine, layers and layers of depth and complexity, Powerful and yet refined, intense and balanced. Wonderul complex nose with all kinds of perfumes, red fruits and spices. Just drinking superbly. Just entering the very early stages of maturity, decades to go. Still quite primary but such a beautiful wine.
2001 A Rousseau Chambertin Clos de Beze: I was a bit worried about serving the Rousseau CdB after the Giacosa, I did not need to. The absolute essence of Pinot Noir with weightless powerful, endless fruit depths, refined and complete. Youthful but very enticing to drink now. Such balance and structure and refinement. Actually the Rousseau and Giacosa kind of played off each other and illuminated each other. Another winner
1976 Ch. Yquem: My first fully mature Yquem and a real eye opener. Has lost a little bit of sweetness but has gained so much more in depth and complexity. Incredibly rich with enormous mid palate concentration. Marmalade and honey and spices galore. Huge long palate and finish. Nice acidity shapes the finish. Yum
1937 Massandra Collection Madeira: if this was actually from Madeira and not Crimea it would probably be labeled as a Verdelho in terms of colour and sweetness. This must be completely immortal. At 81 years old it tasted young and fresh. Bright yellow colour with no brown at all. Nose was all caramel, toffee and rancio. The palate was rich with lemony fresh acidity providing and absolute contrast to the ripe figs and bunt sugar/toffee flavours. A mind blowing wine that will still be fantastic in another 80-100 year time (cork gods permitting). Absolute knock down winner for the cheese course match.
So in summary: a wonderful evening of good friends, good food, good wines and great memories. It was an evening where almost all the wines performed at or above expectations.
