By: Simon Roberts
What started out as a spontaneous Sunday evening treat turned into a memorable experience yesterday with some superb food, exceptional wine and more importantly, great company. Thank you so much to Don and Ellen and their son Ryan for inviting me to their lovely home. What could be better than Yorkshire pudding with English peas, mashed potato, roast beef and real gravy? These are food I miss and long for!
The evening started with a 1999 Bize-Leroy Meursault Les Narvaux. Every time I try Madame Leroy’s whites I find something different in them; they are intriguing. This vintage is drinking really young with not much of the tell tale mineral notes. This Meursault had a richer texture and balance. Butterscotch and apricot on the mid palate and a long honeyed finish. This Meursault was a great intro to a very special evening.
We sat down for dinner and Ellen’s Yorkshire pudding was perfect! A few secrets on how to get them to rise were shared while tasting the roast beef that was cooked to perfection on the big green egg. I drowned my beef and potatoes in some old-school gravy. Bravo to Don, that was proper gravy!
So what could possibly compliment a meal like this? The Don hit the nail on the head again with a 1952 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, if you don’t mind! This bottle held great memories, it is from Don’s father’s collection, which was split between the brothers after his father’s passing.
I think Don’s dad was smiling down on this one; it was a flat-out wonderful wine. You never know what you are going to get when you open these old Bordeaux bottles and this one looked like it had a rough life. It had a severely tattered label, a crumbling cork and a mid-shoulder fill. It was decanted for 3 hours, something that had me a little worried as these older Bordeaux can fall off with too much air. My worries were unfounded as this wine proved to be a thoroughbred that grew in stature in the glass as the evening went on. The wine had a savory spice nose with damp forest floor nuances springing from the glass. On the palate I got a really well balanced integration of acid and fruit with a sous bois tone to it, a little Burgundian, in fact. However this classic Bordeaux powered through as it sat in the glass and showed cedar, a slight hint of spearmint and clove, and a soft, resonating finish. This was a bottle that is drinking at its peak, a truly memorable wine.
We finished this meal with a few stories and a wonderful tawny port from Taylor Fladgate, another mystery bottle that drank exceptionally well, with candied caramelized fruits and walnuts dancing on the palate. It paired perfectly with the velvety soft cake balls covered with white chocolate.
Dinner with The Don… not a bad way to spend a Sunday evening at all! The star of the show?
It was a tough decision for me: Don’s Gravy, Ellen’s Yorkshire puds or the 1952 Mouton? Tough choices indeed, especially with the Mouton being the underdog at the start of evening, but much like a thoroughbred does, it outlasted everything else and won on the line !