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White Truffle Dinner
Chez Patrick Restaurant, 26 Peel Street, Central, Hong Kong
Tasted December 13, 2011 by Goldstone with 811 views
Introduction
Our annual White Truffle dinner was delayed this year and eventually we got together just the four of us at the end of the season......but fewer people meant that we really abandoned any compromise on the wines and Chef Patrick responded accordingly with a short but perfectly-matched and exquisite menu.
Flight 1 - Creme d'Asperge, des de Saumon Fume & Carpaccio de Truffe Blanche/ Creamy Asparagus Soup topped with Carpaccio of White Truffle and served with Diced Smoked Salmon. (1 note)
Beautiful the way the Cappucino segues into the richer, smooth creme of the asparagus and matched perfectly with the acidic cut and mid-palate weight of the wine.
White
1995 Jean Noel Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets
91 points
Light gold-bronze , very bright and fresh in colour. Nose is flint, granite and smoke from a garden bonfire, with pleasing old oak. Palate is lovely lemon zest and candied lemon rind on the initial attack with a very nice sharp, fresh, lifted lemon juice mid-palate and well-integrated oak and just the slightest hint of cork on the back end. Moderate length and resonance but very enjoyable. With extended time in the glass this grew in richness and resonance...gosh, it's getting quite heady. Really enjoyable and probably at its peak. I was thinking that this might deceive as a Grand Cru....erm, then we got the real deal with the same producer's 1996 Batard Montrachet.
Flight 2 - Tartare de Gambes, Celeri at Pomme Fruit avec Marscapone a la Truffe Blanche/King Shrimps Tartare with Celariac and Apple Marscapone and White Truffle. (1 note)
This dish totally stopped us in our tracks and reduced everyone to their own world of "mmmm's"....fresh, sharp and light...but rich...the marscapone does a duet with the white truffle shaving.....then the marscapone adds body and oomph....silence-inducing.
White
1996 Jean Noel Gagnard Bâtard-Montrachet
95 points
Significantly more golden in colour than the preceding Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru 1995 also from JN Gagnard. Nose is initially muted because a bit cold but then...wow..lovely fresh white toast hinting into brioche, hints of old-fashioned white Turkish Delight with the powder in a sandalwood box, sandalwood joss stick smoke. Palate is.....oh gosh....like shifting up suddenly to 180kmh in a powerful Merc on the autobahn, it pushes you back into your seat....the acidic cut combines with a depth of burnt caramel from the top of a creme brulee....then sharp, sun-kissed, hand-crushed lightly roasted whole lemons cut in. Very heady, long and extremely resonant on the finale....wow! This is a wine of beauty and has a long life ahead of it. Thanks Jean-Paul.
Flight 3 - Escargots Fermier en Croquille avec Creme d'Ail Doux/Farm-raised Snails in Crispy Pastry Shell served in a Mild, Creamy Garlic Sauce. (1 note)
Gorgeous....and paired perfectly with the power but feminity of the Hill of Grace.
Red
1985 Henschke Shiraz Hill of Grace
94 points
From our museum collection bought with Runny from the winery. Decanted briefly after a 4-hour double decant. Lovely semi-transparent, blood red, bright, lively colour. Nose is .....WOW!...perfect horse stables with fresh hay and fresh horse shit strewn on the floor....hints of eucalyptus....milk chocolate Toblerone with that nougat element....some light acetone....complex and utterly gorgeous. Palate is pitch-perfect feminine, evolved, balanced and harmonious....redcurrant and red cherry/black cherry fruit, lots of orange earth from Ayers Rock.....it has a subtlety and red vs black fruit tension compared to the Grange 1986 drank alongside it. This is lean and with no fat but volupturously angular...despite the contradiction in terms. Very complete.... resonant..... gorgeously resonant....red fruits and light tannins....but still a very present tannin spine.....toffee and caramel and Crunchie Bar emerged with time in the glass...but still with that steely linearity as a central characteristic.The Spanish rack of pork really accentuated the elegance, mint and eucalyptus elements of the wine. Really lovely but, for me, it was blown out of the water by the 1986 Grange that followed.
Flight 4 - Paupiette d'Agneau "Vapeur" au Chevre et Sabodet en Jus au Romarin/ Stuffed, Steamed Lamb Fillet with Goat Cheese and Sabodet in Rosemary Jus & Carre de Porc Espagnol "Pate Negra" en Sauce Brune aux Cepes/Spanish Pork Rack "Pate Negra" in Brown Porcini Sa (2 notes)
Chef Patrick had wanted to serve the Lamb as the first dish with the white wines....we overruled him but then realised that he would have been right. That said, it paired perfectly with the two stunning reds....as did the "Pate Negra" Spanish pork chop, which was stupendous: very succulent, mouth-watering and chewable...exceptionally balanced by the Porcini sauce, that was much less overpowering than one normally experiences.
Red
1986 Penfolds Grange
98 points
Decanted for around an hour before serving then consumed over the next 2 hours. Deep still totally opaque colour with a purple hue on the meniscus...this doesn't look 25 years old. Nose is Bazooka bright pink bubble gum, a koala bear's bum and the eucalyptus tree it's shitting in...lovely rich and ripe black and red currant fruit...no tertiary hints...very light acetone for a Grange....shoe polish cream, but not ordinary shoe polish... attractive mustiness but more refined than "sweaty saddle"...this is complex and forever sniffable.....just on the nose it created a deep and long resonance inside the head. Palate is .....oh, gosh....it's that Alice Down the Rabbit Hole experience again......combined with smoking opium....I have gone to another place..."Earth to Goldstone, hello?"....this is beyond words of description....like opium: why bother to write or talk?....the resonance inside the head is endless and totally takes you into your own world.....resonates forever....I was sat at the table but I wasn't there. This is a psychotropic and utterly bewitching wine. My wine of the year and certainly one of the best wines I've ever drank. I'm probably being churlish not giving it 99-100 points. Thanks Runny....!
Red
1996 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque
96 points
Alluring colour, a mix of blood red and purple, translucent....just transparent at the broader edge of the glass. Nose is immediate velvet...plush velvet curtains in a dark and locked-up room...there is something deep and dark that tries to pull you down into an abyss....oak furniture cream...smoke...new mocassin leather...wafts of smoke...and something like solid old mahogany furniture in the background....wow, this is beguiling stuff. Palate has an initial cherry-driven acidic attack then dry roses, fresh violet flowers and....Bang!...a huge rolling thunder, shock and awe endless resonance. As it develops in the glass there are..black cherries...acetone in a soaring resonance inside your head manner....a lightness of touch that is powerful but not weighty....hints of kirsch...quite alcoholic...just brilliant stuff...a wonderful lasting impression of "cherry personified" but cherry in such intensity that I have never experienced before...lovely light Barolo-like etherial headiness. Thrilling! Stunningly made. My first "La Turque" and I can see why CortonCharlie at a previous dinner alluded it to Grange in its exotic uniqueness. Runny pointed out that its label doesn't quite match the quality of the contents and that we should penalise it a couple of points.....he was out-voted. What a wonderful wine.....JP, thanks so much.
Flight 5 - Notre Selection de Fromage Fermiers de France/Chez Patrick Selection of Fine French Cheeses (1 note)
Red
1987 Mas de Daumas Gassac
89 points
Opened without much time in the decanter over French cheeses after we were running out of Hill of Grace 1985, Grange 1986 and Cote Rotie "La Turque" 1996...tough competition. Colour is "No way! This looks like a 1996 or younger". Nice feral nose....again, feral is the resounding adjective..together with high acetone in a good way. Palate is quite tannic and primary black cherry/red cherry...still fairly adolescent at 24 years. Lovely deep fruit and went really well with the Roquefort cheese but seems too adolescent and not sure it will ever evolve into post-teen maturity. Would probably have benefited from being drank as the centrepiece of a nice dinner rather than coming on late in the game after some superstars had scored some spectacular goals. JP....merci!
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Comment
Closing
A stupendous dinner that matched the level of all our previous White Truffle annual dinners and many thanks to Chef Patrick and his team for producing such a great meal and to Runny, Jean-Paul and Daniel for their great silence-creating wine contributions.