A wine of all wines - the 1855 Scion!

26 Feb 2011: Quite a bit of email exchange and organisation had gone on during the past couple of weeks about food and wine pairing for this dinner at Le Mieux Bistro with a few of our wine lover friends.  I was so looking forward to trying the line-up, especially this legendary wine - 1855 Scion by Taylor's!  The menu and wines as follows:

Crab meat tomato tian, uni cucumber mousse, crispy prawn ravioli with celeriac remoulade

(paired with 1990 Dom Pérignon Oenothèque Rosé)

Panfried fish fillet on shellfish egg white custard
(paired with 1990 Laville Haut Brion)

Slow-braised abalone, chicken and ham consommé

Wagyu ox-tail gratin

Roasted Australian lamb rack or Roasted Kurobuta pork loin with penne in truffle sauce
(above two meat dishes paired with:
1961 Cos d'Estournel
1959 Margaux
1961 Margaux)

Platter of cheese and Dessert Plate
(paired with 1855 Scion)

I am not normally a fan of sea urchin but the chef's presentation of sea urchin on a wasabi-flavoured cucumber mousse went so beautifully with the 1990 Dom Pérignon Oenothèque Rosé.  I was less impressed by the prawn ravioli.  The 1990 DP Oenothèque Rosé: a deep salmon hue, once in contact with air in the glass (afraid the best we could find was a white wine glass), the wine exhibited an intense nose of candied fruit, rose petal jam, spice and savoury character.  The balance, structure, precision and harmonious integration put this wine in a class of its own.  Stylish, elegant and showing an amazing freshness, with a delicate mousse and a finish that went on for a very long time.  Disgorged in 2007, the 1990 was the first Oenothèque Rosé ever released.   Drinking absolutely beautifully now, and for my personal preference, I would probably drink this within the next 4 - 5 years to enjoy this wine with freshness, but much longer for lovers of more mature styles, when more of the truffle and undergrowth character would prevail.  19.5/20

Next course was a most delicately pan-fried fish fillet on a bed of shellfish-flavoured egg white custard.  I thought it went very well with the 1990 Laville Haut Brion.  I had this wine decanted for about 45 minutes before serving and the wine continued to develop in the glass.  Ideally, we should have had a bigger Bordeaux glass for this wine.   A golden colour.  The wine gained body and complexity upon contact with air.  The initial jasmine, lemon curd and honey notes gave way to more complex notes of smoke, Oriental spice (ginger,  cardamon and liquorice), hazelnuts, quince and dried apricot.  Opulent, yet poised.  Lingering finish, accented with bitter almond.  One criticism would be the slightly higher alcohol content rendering the wine less "gluggable".  Drinking perfectly now and will be interesting to see how it continues to develop over the next 5 - 6 years.  17.5/20 

The abalone and consommé was an interesting interlude but I did not think it was a really necessary addition.  I would have gone for a glass of fino sherry but Richard thought the Laville Haut Brion did the pairing just as well.

The wagyu oxtail gratin was definitely my favourite amongst the dishes this evening.  The melted cheese blended with the intensely flavoured jus caused quite a sensation!  The meat was tender and moist.  And rightly-sized portion! 

The Kurobuta pork was slowly roasted with intense flavours, but the penne accompaniment was probably not ideal.  I thought a celeriac purée or a bed of truffled mash potato would have been better. 

As for the wines:

1961 Cos d'Estournel: a garnet hue through the cloudiness (because Shirley had not had time to stand it up).  Intense cigar box and cedar bouquet, showing just a hint of volatility.  Medium body, structured and balanced, silky texture.  Lengthy finish, beginning to dry out a little.  This wine probably saw its peak about 3 - 4 years ago.  17.5/20

1959 Margaux: ruby core.  This wine was a fine contrast with the 1961.  The rather masculine 1959 represented concentration and power, while the more feminine and demure 1961 focused more on depth and elegance.  Complex nose of dried fruit (fig), cedar, tobacco, undergrowth and leather.  Well-structured, robust and concentrated, this wine would continue to evolve for a long while (10 - 15 years).  The perfect wine to go with a fine piece of rib-eye or sirloin!  19/20

1961 Margaux: ruby core.  Like the 1959, the wine needed time in the glass to develop, to take on weight, body and complexity.  The wine blossomed from its rather muted existence into a fine young lady, despite its age!  The extraordinary bouquet was expressed by fruit and floral,  adding to the undergrowth character.  Very silky tannin and a good level of acidity to keep up the freshness.  An exceptionally elegant wine, with finesse, depth, subtle richness, and a lingering finish (comparatively longer than the finish for hte 1959).  This wine could be evolving for another 12 - 15 years.  A defining benchmark style for Maragux.  19.5/20

The restaurant was very kind to allow me to bring cheese (and crackers, nuts and dried fruit) to add to our menu, and the staff brought the platter and the condiments out in lovely presentations.  I had organised a platter of stilton, a hard cheese called Piave made by Cooperativa Lattebusche (slightly sweet tasting, with a subtle nutty flavour - rather like a young Mimolette but straw yellow in colour) and a Pont L'Eveque which had not quite achieved its full maturity and tasted rather raw.  I had thought the stilton and Piave would go well with the port, and the soft cheese was just to complete the assembly!  (I must say you have much better assurance of having a decent cheese platter at these smaller restaurants if you could persuade the restaurant to let you take your own cheese!) 

Nothing quite prepared us for the 1855 Scion.  This extremely rare piece of histroy came presented in a hand-blown crystal decanter ensconced in a magnificent wooden case.  Originally owned by a distinguished Douro family which had been handing down these casks of port from generation to generation, Taylor's discovered these two remaining pipes dating back to pre-phylloxera 1855 in 2008. A subsequent tasting revealed the remarkable fact that this wine, despite a century and a half of storage in the hot climate of Douro, showed an amazing crispness and vibrancy, with such concentrated magical complexity.  The wine was practically flawless!  These remaining two pipes were eventually acquired by Taylor's in 2010 and proceeded to release these rare bottles, in beautiful presentations!   Our friends George and Kathy were so generous to share with us one of these treasured bottles - a wine of historic significance.

Wow!  What a wine!  All the descriptions used above were so appropriate!  Fresh, crisp, full of energy!  Deep mahogany colour.  A mesmerizing bouquet of coffee, chocolate, treacle, dried fig and walnut, complete with a sumptuous body and a luscious sweetness, balanced by crisp acidity.  The mouthfeel was sensational, with the wine coating the palate, then slowly releasing its concentration and intense flavours as it glided down the throat, with a finish that went on for a very long time!  It was an ethereal sensation.  Thank you so much, George and Kathy.  It did not need anything to pair with it.  A legendary masterpiece epitomising quality, craftsmanship, concentration and complexity, and more importantly a historic remnant!  20/20

I reproduce for you the tasting notes from the Scion booklet, which came with every wooden case:
"A halo of pale amber adorned wiht subtle olive highlights surrounds a core of deep mahogany.  The wine envelops the nose with a sublime and heady fusion of opulent and seductive aroma.  A rich dark redolence of molasses and fig is overlaid with complex notes of roasted coffee, cigar leaf, black pepper and cedar combined with a subtle nuttiness and the discreet scent of fine oak wood.  Concentrated to a magical quintessence, the wine wraps the palate in a dense and sumptuous coat of luscious flavour interwoven with a crisp and vibrant acidity.  Rich mellow flavour of astonishing intensity persists into the endless finish.  The wine resonates like a stentorian voice calling down the centuries in a language no longer spoken in the world of wine."

The 1855 Scion was the type of wine that left you speechless, in search for a description that would match its effect on you..........what a treat, what a discovery!