Dinner at home with Mrs L, PH, VK and Ms C

Partly to celebrate PH's recent promotion, and partly as an excuse to open some nice wines, we had a few friends over for dinner. Dinner was "omakase" with the resident chef i.e. me trotting out various experimental dishes from the Itsu cookbook which I have to say is excellent. I now have a deep respect for the training that real sushi chefs undergo, as last night's attempt was a dismal failure (aesthetically speaking, at least). But the soba in mushroom broth turned out to be excellent, and shall now form a permanent part of our household menu

• 2004 Dom Pérignon Champagne 95 Points

  France, Champagne

  Hello again, nothing much to add to recent note, this really is a terrific champagne

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• 2006 Château-Grillet (Neyret-Gachet) Château-Grillet 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Château-Grillet

  Robust and zesty with delicious pineapple and pear notes, with a slight mineral edge. A big wine no doubt, but lean and sinewy with no excess fat. For me, the gentle crispness is just about right in terms of acidity level.

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• 1993 Château Léoville Las Cases 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

  I am rapidly running out of this delicious LLC from an unheralded (=reasonably priced) vintage. Not as rich and inky as some recent vintages, it is a classic old-school combination of mature wood and mineral aromas, velvety fruit and fine rounded tannins. Most enjoyable drinking

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• 2003 Château Montrose 97 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

  Decanted for 2 hours. This is one of those wines that does everything right. Pungent perfumed nose, rich dark berry flavors, plush mouthfeel, rounded tannins, faultless performance. I particularly liked the sweet hints of incense bobbing up occasionally amidst the stony, smoky endless waves of dark fruit. Just when you start to think this wine is already very enjoyable, the ever-present (though hardly obtrusive) tannins remind you that you've just popped the cork on a juvenile. For those of you friends out there who have a few bottles of this and want to try one for yourself by all means do so, but the majority of your bottles should be left for the 2030's when it will be stupendous. I've decided that if HK is underwater by then, I'll live on a little boat with a small stash of this wine safely stowed below deck...

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