On a damp Tuesday evening, something very special happened just off Oxford Street; FINE+RARE joined forces with Directeur General Jean-Guillaume Prats to present a stunning line-up of Chateau Cos d’Estournel.
We launched the evening with 1999 Pol Roger Blanc de Blancs, and what a way to start. This beautiful champagne offered a lovely complexity on both the nose and the palate, mixing citrus refreshment and floral notes with deeper, more Burgundian notes. This depth of flavour develops with air over time, and this also adds to the length, balancing out the full body.
After finding our seats and enjoying a ‘liquid waldorf salad’ amuse-bouche, Jean-Guillaume commenced our journey through the Cos d’Estournel vintages to be presented, starting with the 2004 and 2001 pair. These were matched to a melt-in-the-mouth starter; rich veal cheek nestled on a bed of pasta with wild mushrooms. 2004 was just too young, with a very linear structure all about the red fruit, not a lot of length yet, but needless to say, deliciously, dangerously drinkable. 2001 has much more depth, from bouquet to back palate. This wine also accomplishes the feat of being both refreshing, and traditional, with Jean-Guillaume’s penchant for oak barrel aging showing through on this classic Bordelais palate of black fruits and cedar.
The evening moved onto the next pair of vintages, 2000 and 1996, with a perfectly pink tranche of venison sitting on cabbage of a hue to match. Things got serious at this point, with the nose of the 2000 offering up cassis and Indian spice teamed with beautifully smooth tannins to hold the wine together and there is an unexpected hint of lemon too. Then we arrive at 1996, which almost puts the 2000 into the shade. The nose has herbs and toasted oak but this is nicely blended and not overwhelming. For a wine of its age there is still a ludicrous amount of primary fruit going on here, sweetly concentrated, and again the tannins are so smooth. The wine is rounded off on a savoury note. This will surely continue to age beautifully but what a pleasure to experience now.
1985 then graced us with its presence, liquorice and sweet fruits bulking out the nose and the classic Cos spice and sweet black fruits continuing on, and on, and on so that we almost forgot to enjoy the trio of cheeses laid out before us.
Just as we were about to call a halt, the last wine of the evening made its appearance, and it was 2001 Tokaji by Domaine Hetszolo, an estate owned by Cos d’Estournel. The sweetness and rich honeyed fruit was a match made in heaven for the fresh acidity of the gourmet fruit salad finale from the kitchen. And then it was only fair to snaffle a few macaroons, truffles and madeleines too to properly respect the unbelievable attention, and love, that went into creating such a meal. Thank you to Texture, Aggi, and the dedicated staff, a pleasure to work with as usual.
We would like to thank Jean-Guillaume; especially as – in his own words – he rarely hosts dinners here in the UK, and his time, and expertise, made a very special evening for some very lucky guests. Santé.