The start of En Primeur and other things have got in the way of writing up the evening when 1 Thomas More Street hosted a seriously memorable Presentation Dinner. Two months of work by Adam, Bernadette and Davina saw the office converted out of almost all recognition – the entrance to the sales floor had a trio of musicians in it, the drawing room furniture had evaporated and two soldiers stood on guard at the entrance!! Even before crossing the threshold the change was appreciable from the flags – one British and one French. All this for as deserved an award as you can image in the World of Wine – Aubert de Villaine being “crowned” Decanter Man of the Year. Now we at C&B are very privileged to have the relationships we do but you could really see just how lucky from the wines on display that evening.
Before (and during!) the big group photo outside the office Salon 1997 was poured from magnum with Didier Depond in attendance. The 1997 was tighter (as you would expect) from magnum than bottle, a brilliant start to the evening and as much a wine as a Champagne as Salon always is.
As one of the pouring team, I am afraid that from here my version of events will be different from those that will no doubt appear in Decanter as we were behind the scenes checking the wines and then serving them. First up from the the cellars of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti was Le Montrachet 2003, now this I going to sound absurdly understated but it was gorgeously drinkable and balanced already. There was real depth but no hint of hot 03ishness (if that’s a word). The glass we poured changed through the evening and was spectacular throughout. From this most magical of starts we moved to the two reds – La Tâche 1991 & Romanée-Conti 1971 – both these and the Le Montrachet were direct from the Domaine’s stocks and had been shipped for the event. The Romanée-Conti 1971 had been re-corked at the Domaine in 1996 and was awesomely consistent across the bottles and quite honestly the best wine I have tasted with so much ripeness whilst being developed yet youthful, simply extraordinary. The La Tâche by comparison was younger tasting and more primary (everything is relative). The two wines next to each other just showed the Domaines prowess so well, one majestic example of basically “perfection” the other a brilliant example of the Domaine’s consistency and skill at making great wine in less glamourous (compared to it’s predecessors) vintages. After the presentation (another glass of Salon 1997 served – poor things!) we served together – Fine de Bourgogne 1991 and Fonseca 1963 – some people had both, some were more restrained and went for the Port. Both were cracking examples of their type, the Foncesa to my mind was still youthful but at the same time drinking brilliantly. The Fine – and I always think I shouldn’t be suckered into these things – was lovely too, elegant but not with out punch, ok so no a patch on the wines but a lovely thing to have at such a unique evening.
A note on serving, the wines were all just opened and poured from bottle, no decanting, except for the Fonseca which was decanted at 5pm. The temperature was deliberately cool to allow evolution in the glass.
The evening ended gradually with a few of the home team making use of the garden for a chat and a cigar (Petit Robusto from Hoyo de Montrerry – but I digress into one of my other passions) over a glass of the Fine. And that was that, a night that was without doubt the most unique since we moved to 1 Thomas More street and probably a lot longer…it will live long in the memory.
Read more about this event on Decanter, Jancis Robinson and Anthony Rose’s websites:
http://www.decanter.com/news/297988.html (additional filmed interview)
http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a201005184.html
http://www.anthonyrosewine.com/journal/2010/5/man-all-seasons-aubert-de-villaine-domaine-de-la-roman%C3%A9ee-conti