Saturday Lunch at The Square, Bruton Street, London

The Square, 6-10 Bruton St, London W1J 6PU
Tasted Saturday, January 18, 2014 by Goldstone with 259 views

Introduction

I dropped into my long-time favourite restaurant at the end of a brief trip to London and was delighted to see how it has kept its exemplary unfussy standard of food and service. As I was eating alone, I decided to try some of the wines offered by the glass which took me into some pleasantly unfamiliar territory. The food was divine and as it was a quiet Saturday in mid-January I got the nearly undivided attention of the charming and accomplished assistant sommelier.

Flight 1 (1 Note)

NV Taittinger Champagne Les Folies de la Marquetterie 92 Points

France, Champagne

Disgorged in 2009. Golden bronze colour. Little mousse but beautiful full and masculine bead. Nose is yeasty bread, elderflower and shoe cream. Palate has a fresh uplifted attack with a lanolin middle and an absolutely brilliant elderflower mouth coating back end that is full and rich but very fresh and goes on forever. Wow! The has the body and length of a white Burgundy Grand Cru. From a single vineyard of very old vines. With an hour in the glass it developed an incredible richness on both the nose and the palate. One of the best NV I have drank.

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Flight 2 (1 Note)

2006 Domaine des Baumard Savennières Clos du Papillon 87 Points

France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières

Bright and golden. From bonsai old vines apparently. Nose is WOW! Weight depth and purity of Chenin Blanc with masculine but integrated oak. Gosh, I want to keep bringing the glass back to my nose...very pure and heady. Palate is initially mouthwateringly fresh but then the weight of the fruit and the oak takes over and it has a slightly leaden middle before the freshness of acidity reasserts itself on the finish. It has that slightly flat and warm nettles palate that I don't like in a white wine. Foursquare. Definitely needs food but not what I ate... maybe it would suit a creamy fish casserole. Nose is 92 but palate is 86. So I'd score it 87 because the palate leaves the stronger memory.

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Flight 3 (1 Note)

2012 Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis 88 Points

Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Roero

Light vibrant green-gold colour. Nose is very appley and light but precise. Palate is fresh green apple acidity and a quite weighty but fresh fruitiness that lingers on the tongue. Slight resonance. Almost no oak. Beautifully made. Really excellent with the truffled Jerusalem artichoke salad. Artisanal but very appealing. Resonant. A real discovery. I could score this higher.

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Flight 4 (1 Note)

2010 Domaine Maillard Père & Fils Chorey-les-Beaune 87 Points

France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chorey-les-Beaune

Near purple tinge to the crystal-clear transparent ruby colour. Nose is gorgeously invitingly Red Burgundy more pronounced dew-damped sous bois than strawberries. Palate is very attractively light, vibrant and fresh with great purity. It went very well with the Red Mullet. Moderate length and no reverberance. It seems a perfect wine for drinking young and cool. I imagine that the vintage raised it's game. I kept getting seduced by that nose.... A great red wine for pairing with fish. It soured with extended time in the glass.

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