Hi evereyone,

The event is over and a great time was had by all.


le/on Tue, 15 Jun 2004 12:12:23 +0200, tu disais/you said:-

>just the two of us are invited there by the owners, and the party is a
>surprise for her.

More by luck than by judgement, the surprise was total, right up to the
moment we walked into the dining room!

>Champagne Franck Pascal Cuvée Prestige '93

Claudine had decided to await our arrival to serve this, which is _exactly_
the opposite of what I'd had in mind. However it did enable me to see how it
was. Served in classic INAO glasses, instead of flutes or (spit spit) cups,
the wine was just what I hoped. Fine mousse, lovely nose without too much
yeast. The wine was a perfect "mise en bouche", it wasn't assertive, but
lovely and delicate. I have a horror of champagnes with an aggressive
acidity, and this had none.

>Champagne Bollinger Grande Année '90 Magnum. When last we tasted this at
>christmas it was in perfect condition. Apéritif when we arrive, and will
>carry over to (not) go with the soup.

However this completely eclipsed it - it would have been sad had it not.
Again, a very long, fine mousse, very slightly biscuity, though with no
trace of oxidation. Good freshness and fruit. VERY long and mouthfilling.
Actually, it went better with the cream of cauliflower soup than I'd feared.

>Fillets of Turbot with sauce au gingembre

Fish perfectly poached, decorated with some chives and surrounded with a
lightly gingered white wine sauce. A delight of a dish. The wine was
gorgeous and the marriage all I could have hoped, with each enhancing the
virtues of the other. Hints of white stone fruit on the Meursault, with a
lovely freshness, that gave no hint of the fact that the wine had spent 18
months in oak. As the wine warmed up, the charactistic hazelnut nose
developed in the glass.

>We then move into a hot entrée of a Ballotine de Dinde, farcie aux Morilles,
>petits légumes printanières.

For us, this was the least successful of the dishes. It was lovely, but the
turkey fillets were stuffed with a turkey forcemeat, lightly seasoned with
morels, and served with a creamy morel sauce. It wasn't exactly what I'd
expected, when I discussed the menu, and in fact, it was a tiny touch over
cooked, and the forcemeat was quite delicate in flavour. Also the portions
were too big. The accompanying vegetables - peas, & asparagus were perfect.
Had I known more accurately what Alain had in mind, I'd have served a white
hermitage, "Mule Blanche", which would have been a perfect match, IMO.


> Nuits St Georges Les >St Georges '89. Henri Gouges.

This was decanted 1 1/2 hours beforehand and had opened up beautifully. A
perfect burgundy red, with no trace of purple left, yet without having gone
bricky at all. That augured well. On the nose, hints of cherries and
undergrowth, game. Quite light textured in the mouth, but with oodles of
flavour, good level of acidity, cherries again and a lovely aftertaste of
wild bilberries. I found hints of beetroot, and a sort of truffliness with
it, but I was alone in this.

>Then comes charcoal grilled lamb chops, with ratatouille, and a couple of
>other vegetables as a garnish.

We had a carrot purée that was a real delight, and stuffed tomato, though
I'm not too sure what the tomato was stuffed with, some kind of puree,
possible a bean puree. The chops (only one per person, thank heavens) were a
bit thicker than I'd expected, but that meant they could be _perfectly_
pink. The ratatouille wasn't a proper one (long, difficult and painstaking
recipe on demand) but a garnish inspired by it, with tiny cubes of the
vegetables lightly sautéed in the faintest hint of olive oil. Lovely.

> Côtes de Bergerac Moulin des Dames (Ch Tour des Gendres) 1996. As it's a bit young I'll decant it 2 hours earlier to give
>it a chance to expand.

A lot of people were very dubious about the wisdom of serving a Bergerac
after a top Burgundy - "wrong order", "it will be eclipsed".

Well it wasn't. Very dark in colour, still with a faint purplish hint, this
wine was decanted at 7.30 pm, and we drank it at around 10.30 or so. Huge
legs. On the nose, blackcurrants galore, with blackberries and plums backing
up, no secondary aromas yet. The same fruits came through on the mouth,
which was very dense in feel. It didn't have the subtlety, nor the
complexity of aromas of the Nuits, thank heavens, but in its power it was a
perfect accompaniment to the lamb, with the fruit cutting through the
deliciously crispy fat from around the chop.

We then went on to cheeses (never Alain's strongest point, though the Cantal
I took finished off my Moulin des Dames very nicely) and a green salad.

And then the cake, a birthday cake of a plain génoise (sponge cake)
with a praliné butter cream icing.

Gorgeous, and exactly what Jacquie loves with plenty of butter cream icing
and three layers of the lightest and most fluffy sponge cake imaginable.

>excellent Bera Moscato d'Asti 2003, that we discovered in Lyon a couple of
>years ago, and bought this January.

Again, some of my friends thought I was mad serving a Moscato d'Asti.
"where's the champagne?". Well, after one sniff, and then another astonished
one, and a delighted sip, they were all converted. The wine with it's
freshness and sweetness stood up to the creaminess of the icing, and
although I don't think the wine was positively improved by the match, it
most certainly held up to the cake, and at the same time, helped to clear
the palate between mouthfuls of cake and enhanced the pleasure in eating the
latter. Good match again.

A lovely evening, our friends clubbed together to give Jacquie a combined
DVD player and Video recorder and I even got to give a speech!

--
All the Best
Ian Hoare
http://www.souvigne.com
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