Keith’s remarkable fine wine lunch

bordeaux burgundy restaurants

Keith’s remarkable fine wine lunch

Keith Prothero sipping 71 Coutet

A great lunch. One of the best.

It was hosted by Keith Prothero at the wonderful La Trompette in Chiswick. Keith (astonishingly generously) provided the wines, which we tasted blind, and then drank sighted. Here are my notes and some pictures of the wonderful food.

Dagueneau Silex Pouilly-Fumé 2007
Loire, France Very fine, precise and taut, and initially not really screaming Sauvignon Blanc. This is very fine with mineral depth and subtle green notes. Amazing purity and focus, and after a while some characteristic gooseberry notes emerge. 95/100

R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia 1981 Rioja, Spain
Amazing depth here: deep yellow colour. Mineral with good acidity and bold, complex notes of wax, herbs and toast. Intense, fine and expressive. 94/100

First course: grilled Orkney scallops with cauliflower purée, seaweed butter and morels

Ramonet Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet 2006 Burgundy, France
A really good 2006, this is stylish and smooth-textured with a faint hint of matchstick minerality and supple, pure, slightly sweet, fine expressive fruit, and a hint of toast. Beautiful weight. 95/100

Pierre Morey Bâtard-Montrachet 2000 Burgundy, France
Hint of apricot on the nose, which shows a bit of development. Toast, mineral and matchstick notes complement a palate showing pear, mineral and spice notes. Lovely powerful wine, albeit a little more avanced than many would expect. 94/100

Next course: roast breast of creedy duck with crushed swede, turnip tops, pearl barley and roasting juices

Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes 1980 Burgundy, France
Very fine, mineral and spicy, with some tar notes and quite a bit of evolution. There’s some warm spiciness here, as well as cherry and plum fruit still hanging on in there. 92/100

Joseph Drouhin Chambertin-Clos de Bèze 1978 Burgundy, France
Very sweetly fruited, fine and expressive, and with plenty of life left in it, even at 35. Nervous, fine cherry and plum fruit with a spicy elegance. A beautiful old Burgundy. 96/100

Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques Vieille Vignes 1999 Burgundy, France
So youthful, it’s just a baby. Lovely supple cherry and plum fruit with finesse and some assertive floral aromas complementing the sweet, supple fruit. Youthful, vibrant, expressive and fine. 96/100

Domaine Armand Rousseau Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques 1999 Burgundy, France
Quite reductive, with a noticeable matchstick character on the nose. Tight, mineral and spicy with youthful cherry fruit and some nice precision. Fresh and lovely, and worth cellaring for another decade to let the reduction die down. 94/100

Next course: slow roast short rib and ribeye of beef, smoked bone marrow, scorched onions and field mushroom

Château Haut-Brion 1990 Graves, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux France
An amazing wine: sweetly fruited, elegant and fine with such pure, delicately poised cherry fruit and yet also showing richness of texture. Subtle hints of gravel and tar. Fine and expressive, and quite brilliant. 98/100

Chateau Musar 1991 Bekaa Valley, Lebanon
Aromatic, sweet and rich, with complex, lively textured berry fruits and tertiary notes of herbs, spices and stewed plums. It’s a classic Musar with added refinement. Thoroughly delicious. 93/100

Château Latour 1978 Pauillac, Bordeaux, France
Fresh, fine and elegant with gravel and chalk notes as well as fine, fresh blackcurrant fruit. Tastes so youthful! Sweetly fruited palate with pure blackcurrant and cherry fruit as well as some complexity from 35 years of ageing gracefully. 97/100

Domaine Bruno Clair Chambertin-Clos de Bèze 2007 Burgundy, France
Fine, fresh cherry fruit with a bit of spice and really seductive plummy notes, as well as a bit of tannic grip. Pure and focused. 92/100

Château Figeac 1990 St. Émilion, Bordeaux, France
Structured, fine and fresh with a bit of grip. A mineral, fine, expressive wine showing herbs, spice and a bit of tar. Nice warmth and complexity. 94/100

Château La Conseillante 1989 Pomerol, Bordeaux, France
Fresh and fine with some spice and a hint of earth. Finely grained tannins underly the finely grained red cherry and plum fruit. Really expressive, supple and fine. 95/100

Château Coutet 1971 Barsac, Bordeaux, France
Intense, rich and ripe, concentrated and viscous, with sweet honey and spices as well as melon and apricot notes. Remarkable sweet wine. 95/100

5 Comments on Keith’s remarkable fine wine lunchTagged , ,
wine journalist and flavour obsessive

5 thoughts on “Keith’s remarkable fine wine lunch

  1. How do you distinguish between the matchstick of minerality in the Ramonet, the matchstick of reduction in the Rousseau, and the matchstick of too much sulphur in either?

  2. great notes Jamie. It was a pleasure to have your company. A way for me to thank you for the superb and free info you provide on wine world wide.
    look forward to the 2014 edition !!!

  3. Good comment KP. Out here in Alberta, always enjoy reading up on wines completely unobtainable in my market!!

  4. Great notes. 1978 Latour is one of the most underrated Latour ever. Had both 78′ and 82′ together years ago and 78′ was not that far off 82′.

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