Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault Perrières 1er Cru dinner

Joyce suggested putting this together after we had a really good 2004 bottling. 6 of us formed the table - Joyce, Sasi, Lawrence, Charles, Chad and I. Martin joined us later. Great company and, as always, most of us brought extras.

Paired with mushroom soup and portobello with Parma ham

• NV Ninth Island Sparkling 87 Points

  Australia, Tasmania, Pipers River

  Bought off the restaurant's menu to get corkage waived for 4 of our bottles. We drank this as a starter. Pale yellow gold colour, very fine and persistent bead. The nose showed some dusty slate and green apple notes. Palate was all citrus at first, with a burst of lemon. Fresh without being racy or bracing. Some green apply flavours supported the citrus notes on the second sip, but the acid seemed to drop off after mid-palate, leaving the wine rather short and hollow after a certain point. However, this was not bad at all, simple, but well balanced and refreshing.

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I had this with smoke salmon linguine in a cream sauce. Paired really well

• 2004 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  There was something wrong with this bottle. Some of us thought a bit of premature oxidation, some thought some kind of cork fault, Chad thought that it was just unevovled. It was not a bad wine in its own right, in fact we would not have spotted anything if not for the fact that we had tried this bottling recently. This was nothing at all like the racy, fabulous and superbly defined bottle that we had a week or two back. Light golden yellow colour. Nose was very closed with almost overwhelming oak and nut flavours. I thought there was a slightly off whiff of glycerin and wet cardboard. After some time, the nose opened just a little to show a very perfumed bouquet with daisy / violet like flowers and a slight savoury mushroom note. The oak remained dominant thoughout. Thank goodness the palate was better - great balance still, with pleasant round acidity, lemony notes and a beam of mineral streaking though. Finish was long and flinty with some unusual spiciness. It somehow seemed a little disjointed, not quite together. Again, a stark contrast from the seamless effort that I remember. Disappointing. Distracting difference aside, it was actually an okay wine, just not as good as the previous bottle or the other two vintages that we tried.

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• 2002 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  Lovely. A relief after the strange 2004 that I tried just before. Served rather too cold at first, the nose on this pale gold coloured wine took a while to coax out of its shell. When it did, it showed walnut bread like tones and with a slight umami twist and a layer of creamy butter. Superb balance on the palate, really rich but super restrained, very Bouchard in style. Great typicity as well, some sweetness, with a firm, mineral laden backbone holding up yummy, mouthfilling flavours of lemon and apple and a slightly bitter-sweet pomelo tang. Nice round acidity suffused the whole palate, keeping the wine fresh and expressive all the way through to a long, round and very satisfying finish. Very addictive - this was the first to go.

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• 1999 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  Very good, but not as expressive as the tremendous 2002. I thought that this actually was a little backward at first, but it slowly evolved through the night. Same yellow gold as the other vintages, it opened with a slight German Riesling like petroleum tang. Beyond that, the nose was full of oaky and nutty notes with a touch of yeaty bread and loads of slate and flint like mineral tones. Probably the most typically Perrieres of the lot we tried. After time, a sandlewood like scent starting wafting around. The palate was rich and round, but showed very good definition and balance, with fresh, juicy acidity and clean lemon and apple flavours. Finish was rather shorter than the 2002 and 2004, but was still satisfyingly juicy and mouthwatering, with more and more mineral and oak notes peeking out towards the end of the evening.

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• 2000 Simon Bize Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Vergelesses 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru

  Sasi's bottle, a welcomed red in the midst of the whites. This was excellent. Very pale red colour with garnet rim. Nose was at once very expressive and really clean, with fresh, high-toned cherry riding on a bed of wild, funky Savigny characteristics like dirt, forest floor and ripe, brambly stems. More of that really clean, high-toned cherries on the palate with a touch of cola and mint, giving way to slightly more savoury and spiced notes on the mid palate. Finish was shortish with a little wash of heat, but otherwise it was all nicely balanced and delicious.

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Apple Crumble Tarts. The Semillion was a bit extra, but the white port was intresting and the whisky a big hit

• 1993 Mount Pleasant Wines Sémillon Elizabeth 90 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  Another rather disappointing bottle. Good, as would be expected, but nowhere near as profound and complex as the last bottle that I had. Beautiful, deep gold colour. Nose seemed a little closed, with petroleum notes at the fore, very German Riesling like. After that came the usual rich nut and lemon custard tones - rather less developed than the last bottle, which had shown really complex, creamy nuances. The palate was very young tasting, certainly evolved to take on some weight and layering, but still very lemony and bright, with rather bracing acid being the chief feature. Finish was okay, with a shot of slightly bitter mineral.

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• 2002 Kaesler Cottage Block Fortified White 88 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  Lawrence brought this blinded. Most of us guessed white port, and almost all of us guessed new world - given away by the screwcap perhaps! This was a blend of mostly palomino fino with a touch of PX. Charles was spot on here. Yellow amber colour. Nose was very port like, with lots of dried fruit notes, primarily figs, with a touch of apricot. Palate was more sherry-like in its profile - due to the varietals used no doubt - nicely rich with a little burn and more of the dried fruit layering the mouth. Rather simple, but pleasant and well balanced. Long, figgy aftertaste.

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• NV Highland Park 18 Year Old "Old Label" Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 43% 93 Points

  United Kingdom, Scotland, Orkney Islands

  This was lovely as always. Had it on the rocks this time. Caramel infused nose with a fruity core. Palate was smooth and velvety, with more caramel, wood, darkish dried fruit and a long peaty finish.

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It was a good oppotunity to taste through several vintages of Bouchard's Perrieres. I think each of the wines showed the Bouchard house style, rather lean, clean and elegant - sometimes even a bit aloof. But they also displayed really good typicity, with bright round acidity and steely mineral backbones.