Bramble Dinner

I gathered some of our best foodie friends for a surprise dinner to celebrate Elsa and my first anniversary which so happened to coincide with Sean and Jonathan Gwee's December 2009 - January 2010 season. This was a an experience of a lifetime - the longest dinner I have ever had. 7 hours, from 7pm to 2.45am - course after course of great food and great wine. Thanks to everyone, Zhi and Kee, Alex and Fiona, Edmund and Shuming, Lionel and Rachel and Ray and Shan, for coming and for bringing out some big guns.

• NV Jacquesson & Fils Champagne Cuvée No. 729 Brut 90 Points

  France, Champagne

  Nothing fancy, but a good, very soundly made NV Champagne with a touch of age on it, on the nose especially, which showed kumquats, dried white plums, earth and a touch of caramel. A nit younger on the palate. Good fine mousse, rather harsh, a little mouthwatering on the acid, but with nice roundish flavours of ripe melons and mineral moving into a lime zesty finish. Nice weight throughout. Better from a white wine glass than the flutes, and certainly better with food than without. Good way to start the night.

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• NV Bollinger Champagne Special Cuvée Brut 90 Points

  France, Champagne

  Rather nice indeed. This too showed some bottle age, but was very different from the more Chard dominated Jacquesson NV. Obviously some Pinot here, with an earthy, funky, almost white meat nose along with a musky yeastiness. Palate was more high-toned, with clean acid running through ripe lemon flavours, a touch of bittersweet zest and appley fruit which took on a sweet touch towards the finish. Very pleasant, with quite a bit of character to it.

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• 2001 Olivier Leflaive Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Double decanted and left in a bottle for several hours, this was even better than the last bottle - a really good Grand Cru effort all round. Superb nose showed complex notes of perfumed flowers, chrysanthemum tea, butter, rock sugar and fresh sweet lemons along with deep toasty accents and smoky gunflint. Entrancing. Palate was excellent too. Rich ad deep, with creamy, buttery Montrachet mushroom scents and brioche, along with white fruits apples and kumquats, all balanced out by vibrant acidity. Great balance at that. Fantastic finish was super long and smooth, with deep rich flavours and little reams of smoke. Still a bit primary on the mid-palate, but drinking beautifully nonetheless. And that finish - wow.

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• 2004 Weingut Robert Weil Kiedricher Gräfenberg Riesling Spätlese 94 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Incredibly good. Super poised, refined wine from the most Mosel-like of the Rheingau winemakers, yet with a bit of that Rheingau exuberance that makes Robert Weil such a wonderful winemaker. Gorgeous nose. Light kerosene notes, orange sherbert, ripe white fruits, kumquats and a little twist of bramble. Palate had the most perfect balance of any wine I had recently. Like ALex H said, everything a Riesling should be. Tingly, nervy with fresh acidity, yet perfectly integrated with not one whisker out of place. So much so that the flavours of the wine seemed to sing in perfect harmony, with sweet oranges, ripe lime, grapefruit, musky flowers, all in a weighty, creamy offering flowing into a round, sappy finish with wonderful bright tones of musk. Absolute seduction, especially with a to-die-for pairing with the pork and apple dish. A spatlese of the very highest order.

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• 2003 Château Suduiraut 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Very, very good. This is improving all the time. Stunning nose - coconut, vanilla, along with lower earth notes, apricots and high-toned perfume and floral accents - white musk, chrysanthemum, rose, indian incense. This was feminine seduction to the d'Yquem's masculine strength. The same could be said on the palate. Still primary, but showing less of the cloying 2003 character that it had when I first tried this a couple of years back, this was all about elegance, integration and completeness, with great poise and balance to its rich flavours of dried figs and apricots with seams of mineral and plenty of spice sprinkled all over. Finish was richly botrytised, with more entrancing flower tones. Very nice. This wine had a great future ahead of it.

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• 1995 Château d'Yquem 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Excellent. I thought the younger Suduiraut was rather better at first, but this opened up with some time in the glass to show lots more strength and depth. Its nose was a little reserved at first, but there was lots going on even then. Deeply complex, it showed rich creamy tones of maple syrup, caramel, a touch of toasted vanilla and some fig-cake aromas. The palate was every bit as rich as the nose, and rather more darkly brooding with browned caramel tones along with spiced-fig cake and syrup. It was almost malty at points, so much so that it reminded everyone around the table of a fine old Cognac, or perhaps a rich apricot brandy. Balance was alright, just straying a touch on the sweet side. Finish had good rather than astounding length, but had nice, clingy flavours of spice, earth and orange peel. There was lots of power in this wine - a more masculine vintage for d'Yquem. I would hold for at least 4-5 years more for the sweetness to recide somewhat and more secondary flavours to emerge. Otherwise, an excellent drink.

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• 2008 Michele Chiarlo Moscato d'Asti Nivole 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Moscato d'Asti

  Always one of the best Moscatos. Attractive nose of musky, white flowers and pink guava. A little refreshing fizz on the palate, nice flavours of lychee syrup, jasmine scented essential oils, peach and more pink guava along with a flowery, perfumed finish. Nice weight and balance to it too. A lovely reprieve from the very serious wines that preceded it.

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• 2008 La Spinetta (Rivetti) Moscato d'Asti Bricco Quaglia 89 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Moscato d'Asti

  Pretty little Moscato. This was an absolute flower-basket of a wine. Incense, ylang ylang and rose, almost hand-cream like on the nose. Palate was fresh and frothy with a little spritz and tone of fresh flowers moving into perfumed poutpourri and wilted flowers at the finish. Not quite as much substance as the Michele Chiarlo, but this had plenty of charm in its own right.

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• 1982 Château La Gaffelière 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  Very nice mature Burg, drinking just past its absolute peak at the moment - a couple of years back would have been perfect, but no complains, it was not far from there. Lovely nose, with cigarette and tobacco smoke, floating over deep earthy, mushroom notes, plums, dark cherries and cassis and touches of bramble. Wow. Palate was fresh and alive, with a nice firmness and succulence to it. Great balance. Flavours were just starting to get a little on the austere side fruit-wise, with smoke, cedar and spice at the forefront along with touches of capsicum. Finish ended a little smokey and herby, with ripe stems and Chinese medicine.

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• 1986 Château Cos d'Estournel 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

  Very nice, this was the better of the two Bordeaux on the day. Very typical Cos nose - warm, earthy notes full of earth and tobacco and deep dark fruit, along with touches of funk and spice. Palate was rich but clean, with well-defined flavours of cassis, prunes and haw flakes, along with lots of tobacco and spice and a base note of red meat and a seam of graphite and iron minerality. Nice finish had a glide of silky tannins and plenty of gummy fruit. This still seemed a little clenched in spite of splashy decanting - a couple more years in the bottle would do a world of wonders. An excellent wine though.

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• 1989 Château Rieussec 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Ex-chateau 375ml. Excellent, far better than the last two bottles. Lovely nose. Coconut,vanilla, creme brulee and honey - all vibrant and spilling out of the glass. This could easily be a wine that was 10 years younger. Same thing on the palate. Rich and creamy but oh so fresh, with lovely balance on its maple, kumquat and sweet lime flavours. If anything, this was still rather primary. Finish was decent. Fresh again, with nice dried fruit flavours seasoned with Rieussec spice. Yum.

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• 1989 Château Doisy-Védrines 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Gorgeous. This beat out some very illustrious company (d'Yquem, Suduiraut, Rieussec) to be the best Sauterne of the night. By some distance too. Special mention must go to the lovely, deep amber colour. Nose was so integrated that it was difficult to pick its complexities apart. All I can say that it was seductive, with a drop of kerosene and lovely melted brown sugar and dried apricot notes nestling in a bouquet of great depth. Palate was every bit as integrated and harmonious, with perfect balance - by the far the best balance amongst all the Sauternes on show. Great depth of flavours - dried apricots, marmalade, white plums and dried fruits; great delineation; great acidity. Nice, long finish too, with lingering orange peel notes. What a lovely wine.

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