Our largest dinner in recent months saw a mix of 58 customers with a few FINE+RARE staff come together to enjoy the wines of Grand Puy Lacoste.
We started the evening with the beautifully rich and complex 1999 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne whilst Emeline Borie from the Borie family, owners of both Grand Puy Lacoste and Haut Batailley, made her introductions. This champagne, is already very open with its 100% Chardonnay, and is a beautifully complex champagne to enjoy now whilst the recently released 2000 vintage matures.
Once seated we started on L’Etranger’s first offering, specifically designed around our wines, a Foie Gras & chicken liver parfait millefeuille with chocolate & kidney sauce amuse bouche. Despite some question marks over this unusual combination, the (very sleek, grey slate) plates were cleared all round and the first wines appeared in preparation for the starter of braised veal cheek with new potatoes puree & steamed asparagus.
2001 Grand Puy Lacoste
Initially this younger wine pulled ahead in the race with its approachability. The nose was loaded with cassis but also some interesting chocolate notes. Very silky tannins are striking as well as some soft spice but it is still so young and time will add length. There is already enough freshness to make this last a long long time.
1998 Grand Puy Lacoste
Cassis and raspberry leaf on nose and also some mineral notes. Very fresh, very silky palate seems even younger than 2001 and with time on the glass it seems to get firmer in body. This really came into its own when paired with food bringing out the body and more complexity that is lurking to come out.
An explanation by Emeline of her choice of the next two wines - the 1996 being especially important within the family – precluded the milk fed lamb shoulder with a smoked aubergine puree and:
1996 Grand Puy Lacoste
Very quiet nose but you can sense the power behind this. Even 15 years on, the body, tannins and loaded cassis seem to be straining to get out but as yet unreleased. I can only imagine when this wine will peak!
1990 Grand Puy Lacoste
A rather farmyard nose softens out with some time in glass and leads to a very meaty palate, very fully developed but still fresh, and even some raspberry leaf starts to come through. Some smokiness is still developing and this is so long one sip could last the course, but who could resist. This is a mature claret at its best.
Finally some carefully chosen cheeses (Brie de Meaux farci a la Truffe Noire, Montgomery Cheddar and Briard Savarin) appeared to accompany the wine we had eagerly anticipated all evening:
1982 Grand Puy Lacoste
The nose is unbelievably fresh, almost green, with some notes of coffee. This really is a lovely compliment to the cheese, it is so young with so much fresh fruit still available and the archetypical cassis of the estate bursting through. Some minerals and smoky hints are layered behind the fruit but there are years left on this enormous offering. Outstanding.
And so we fell on our coffee and petit fours – homemade coconut truffles and macaroons – before heading home, leaving Emeline being a fabulous host to the very end.
Many thanks to Emeline and Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste for making this evening happen, and to our customers for their continued support.
Amanda Baxter