What a disaster!

14 May 2010: We had a few friends round for supper last night.....the excuse was to help Paul and Julie offload some of their wine collection before they move home in a couple of weeks' time. I was a little preoccupied with the cooking....so this is my account of what I tried. We started with a 1990 Ramonet Bienvenue-Bâtard-Montrachet which still had plenty of acidity and a lovely bouquet of butter, honey, brioche, lime blossom, macadamia nuts, with a medium length finish. The 1990 Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet was sadly madeirised. Then we tried Eric's 2002 Vincent Girardin Le Montrachet. So youthful still, but definitely very promising - I loved the minerality and raciness in a wine of such concentration, structure and depth. Went very well with my gougères! Perhaps a less appropriate match with the foie gras and brioche. I think we opened a 2000 Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet for that....but I didn't pay much attention to it.

Then came roast chicken, with braised carrots, rosemary potatoes and truffle mâche salad and the red wines. This seemed to be order they were served: 2000 Drouhin Musigny, 2000 des Chezeaux Clos Saint Denis and 2000 Mugnier Musigny. All I recalled was a less attractive Drouhin Musigny and a pretty fruity Clos Saint Denis but seemed to lack concentration and the finish was a little short. The 2000 Mugnier Musigny would appear the best red of the evening - an intellectual wine, with thoughtful balance of raspberries, red cherries, earthy and spicy character, perhaps a little reserved and not so generous. Drinking well now - will continue to evolve over the next 5 - 6 years. I would score it 16.5/20. However, the better wine with food was probably the Clos Saint Denis, much more approachable. I would score it 15.5/20.

Just when everyone was feeling rather happy, Richard took Paul on a tour of the wine room, aka wine cupboard. Not quite sure what actually happened, but what resulted were a few broken bottles, including a 1962 Leroy La Romanée and a half of 1990 La Mission Haut Brion. What disaster! Whether it was out of consolation or rage, he decided to open a 1992 La Tâche and left me out of it as I was busy with the task of picking up the shards of broken glass and mopping up the precious red juice with stacks of kitchen towel. I stole a sip from Debra's glass - thought it was ok but I was in such a livid state to really think much of anything. Didn't think it was a wine to go with the cheese course though.

We discovered a new cow's milk cheese called Couserans from the Ariège mountains in the Pyrénées. It was quite tasty, lightly nutty, earthy, with a very faint creaminess, and a semi-soft pâte. Still preferred the Irish Gubbeen though, just a little richer and spicier. We also had Reblochon and Wensleydale. Sort of my thing now, a mix of English and French cheeses to make it more interesting.

For our simple dessert of berries and cream, we had a 1996 Climens. A lovely bouquet of dried apricots, honey, marmalade and dried citrus peel. Not too rich, just the right amount of sweetness.

At least, everyone seemed to have a good time and enjoy themselves, which was the main thing. Time to impose one new rule at home: pretty good idea what it will be!