White Truffle Dinner

Our annual homage to the white truffle culinary skills of Chef Bombana at Toscana, five of us agreed to bring at least one bottle of our very best wines as tribute. Quite a night.......particularly for a Monday. Fantastic food, especially the Fettucini with mushroom and white truffle. Special thanks to Runny for producing two of the greatest ever Granges and to Daniel, Jason and Greg for some great wines that gave them a run for their money.

All the wines were decanted only briefly before being served, which possibly reduced the scoring for several but not, i suspect, the relative rankings.

• NV Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brut L.P. 89 Points

  France, Champagne

  Subtle nose and lovely mousse. Soft and very enjoyable on the palate. Noteworthy that people actually commented on it when they were being distracted by white truffle menu choices and Grange '71 being poured.

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• 1959 Chateau Musar 95 Points

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  Sourced for me by Ralph Hochar. Decanted briefly before drinking but stood upright for 2 days before opening. Thinning red but not bricking in colour, white miniscus......hard to believe it's nearly 50 years old. Very sweet on the nose, light notes and distinct white peppercorns. Still very good structure on the palate, very sweet, great length. This evolved Lazurus-like in classic old Musar style and was still improving after 2 hours in the glass.........more fruit emerged and the sweetness diminished, with some lovely mushroom and then white chocolate notes emerging. And then it steadily got heavier and even more complex over time. Superb length. It stood up remarkably to the 1971 Grange and won 4 out of 5 votes for the flight.......to everyone's surprise and because, as Jason remarked, " this evolved through 4 great wines in one glass". It was the second-favoutite WOTN for three out of the five of us, which is remarkable given the wines it was up against.

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• 1971 Penfolds Grange 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia

  Stunning. Filled the room with its aromas. Fantastic balance. Exceptional length. Absolutely gorgeous. Reaffirmed every great thing I have experienced with this wine in the past year. Is still rock solid to perform for another 5-10 years. I thought this would effortlessly blow away the 1959 Ch. Musar but we all agreed it just lacked the special multi-dimensionality of the Musar (except one of us who hoarded his glass and gave it more time). I'm surprised I marked it down so heavily from the last time Runny and I drank it. On its own I might have 99 pointed it given a bottle between two and a whole night to savour it. But with only a glass and a half on this night it didn't quite hold its own when pitched against some impressive competition.......and we were stingier on the points with all wines tonight.

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• 1986 Château Haut-Brion 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Gorgeous deep red colour. No trace of bricking. Could be mistaken in the glass for a 1996. Wow, the palate is awesome. Tons of fruit, lovely harmony of fruit, oak and tannins. Still quite young and grippy with years and years ahead of it but beautiful to drink now. Good length. Super. Quite superb. I love it. Was still great after 2 hours in the glass.

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• 1976 Château Mouton Rothschild 84 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Clouded. Muddy barnyard nose. Great depth and an earthy, terroir-driven character in the palate. Slightly porty. Prunes and stewed fruits. A bit muddy. Well past its prime, not helped by not having been stood for a day or so and probably by imperfect storage. The only disappointment of the night.

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• 1985 Dominus Estate 95 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Incredibly bright, alive, light colour. Huge viscosity in the glass. Sweaty saddle and Cussons Imperial Leather soap on the nose. Almost Shiraz-like. Beautifully round in the mouth. Absolutely gorgeous. Stunningly good. Great structure and balance. Wonderful " in your head" sensations. Enormous length. Unbelievable that it's so old......more like a 1996; so vibrant and fresh. Only fault is that it wasn't quite so multi-dimensional as the Haut Brion 1996 .....or as, especially, the 1959 Musar.

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• 1986 Penfolds Grange 97 Points

  Australia, South Australia

  Black, black colour. Lost myself in reveries on the nose...deep, deep, lovely warm sheep shearings, vanilla, oaky....touch of hot eucalyptus notes....lovely hot sultry nights. On the palate, young and muscular, mouthfilling, tooth-coating, unctious. Gorgeous harmony. This is history in the making. Needs a few more years to fully resolve itself....to get to the 1971 state of grace. Could be the best Grange ever. Just continued to get better and better.....but still has so much more to give in the future. Potentially the best wine I have ever tasted...on a night when I was trying to keep my scores down. Four out of five voted this WOTN....the fifth vote went to the Grange 1971.

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• 1990 Château La Conseillante 96 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Super deep red semi-translucent colour. Bright, vibrant, lovely violets and flowers nose with green peppers. Lovely heady but light perfumes which put all 5 of us to silence. Gorgeous on the palate - harmony, fruit, lots of complexity. Good grip. Will improve even more. Some wonderful " in your head" qualities; quite ethereal. Wow.......enormous length. I've not drunk much Pomerol in the past but this has converted me. Lipsmackingly good.

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• 1997 De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Sémillon 88 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Big Rivers, Riverina

  A good finish to the evening. Very well made and welcoming but just a few yards short of the sophistication of a good Sauternes. Overshadowed by the previous wines of the night but a nice way to finish the night off (so we thought....)

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• 2005 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 88 Points

  New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough

  Drunk over cigars as a nightcap. A very good wine but understandably overshadowed by the wines that preceded it over dinner.

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The irony is that the Grange 1986 which stole the night was popped and poured as an emergency addition when the originally selected red wines flowed faster than the food was served. We're still not sure how Runny just happened to have it with him.

All the more memorable because the hotel is being torn down in January 2008 so an annual institution has passed into history but we saw it off in style.