The hottest ticket in town

I was very lucky to be invited again to dine at one of our forum’s very best chefs’ home for dinner last night for an evening of magnificent seafood and champagne. We started with two versions of gougeres, cheese and foie gras mousse, accompanied by a blind opener. This turned out to be the piper heidsieck essential bottling with the 2015 base vintage. Surprisingly pinot noir dominated blend given that we all thought it was a bdb based on the white toasted bread notes. Really opened up and improved with some air.

Although a very nice way to start, the next flight took things to a completely different level. 08 vilmart cdc and egly ouriet served alongside a lightly curried mackerel fillet with char grilled cauliflower. Paul revealed that the egly had recently been awarded 100 points by William Kelly. Hence, its crazy price appreciation. Sadly, it was very much worthy of William’s high praise! Great depth and perfect balance. Incredibly open and expressive already and really outstanding. The vilmart was no slouch either but in a completely different style and nothing like as open yet as the egly. It would be really interesting to compare these again in another 5-10 years.

Our host’s magnificent lobster bisque a la Roux was followed by scallop and lobster raviolo with carrot puree and wild sorrel. The latter served with the 2008 Bonnaire trilogie. Three identical wines made from grand cru cramant chardonnay vineyards as extra bruts with dosage of just 2.5 g/l. The first aged for 9 months in thermoregulated stainless steel tanks, the second in oak barrels for 12 months and the last again in stainless steel but then under cork rather than metal cap. This was a truly fascinating one off concept released by Bonnaire in late 2019 to show the impact of the different approaches. Whilst perhaps not helping the wines show their best, the low dosage did allow the impact of the elevage really to stand out. Initially, bottle 1 was quite awkward and bitter but with air it blossomed into a pure, mineral driven wine with obvious ageing potential. Bottle 2 was richer and fuller throughout and really excellent, with the low dosage having less impact given the oak treatment. The last bottle was very similar to the first but with obviously more aged/oxidative characteristics on the nose. On reflection, the wines showed exactly what you would expect from the different methods. Will be very interesting to check back on this trilogie in another 5 and 10 years.

A perfectly cooked roast turbot on the bone and crushed jersey royals with pernod and tarragon sauce mousseline was a great foil for a trio of 02 taittinger comtes, 04 dp and 06 cristal. Such markedly different wines with the cristal offering really lovely roundness and depth, the dp quite a powerhouse with a long way to go and the taitty perhaps at a slightly awkward teenage stage.

In champagne terms, we finished with a pair of 02 and 08 PH Rares. Sadly, my note taking had really fallen apart by this stage!

Huge thanks again to our incredibly generous host and fellow diners for a splendid evening.
 
As a fellow guest I certainly agree that it was an unforgettable event. Dan's notes are excellent but I must say that for me, the Vilmart cdc 08 was as good as the Egly. I had not previously been a Vilmart fan having had a couple of very disappointing bottles many years ago. I am now though! One delicious course after the other accompanied by equally fine champagnes. Because of the fascinating trilogy , of which my clear favourite was the second (oak cask) , and an extra champagne served before all the others, I and most of my fellow guests, drank one and a half bottles each. Like Dan, my note taking stopped long before the end ! A big thank you to my fellow guests for the excellent wines they brought and a special thank you for our host's superb dinner. When the food and wines are so good and the company so congenial, what more could one ask for ?
 
Thanks everyone for the very kind comments about the food. I love cooking for friends and fellow wine lovers. For me the standout wines were the 08 Egly (though I loved the Vilmart as well), and the Cristal 06. Both just super wines. Tortochot the Turbot seemed to go very well with the Comtes 02, DP 04 and Cristal 06. Planning a steak themed offline next!
 
Sounds incredible and I am most envious! What glasses were used Dan just out of interest?
Most people brought their own. Which were a mixture of Zalto's and top end Riedel. I used my RAC glasses which work extremely well and look nice too. Others used my standard Riedel champagnes glasses which are not ideal but do the job.
 
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Most people brought there own. Which were a mixture of Zalto's and top end Riedel. I used my RAC glasses which work extremely well and look nice too. Others used my standard Riedel champagnes glasses which are not ideal but do the job.
I took just the eleven glasses!
.......Used em all.
Debbi made me wash them myself ( not usually allowed )as I was a bit too enthusiastic about what we had shared.
 
Thanks everyone for the very kind comments about the food. I love cooking for friends and fellow wine lovers. For me the standout wines were the 08 Egly (though I loved the Vilmart as well), and the Cristal 06. Both just super wines. Tortochot the Turbot seemed to go very well with the Comtes 02, DP 04 and Cristal 06. Planning a steak themed offline next!
As the proud starter of the official WP steak thread, I'm in!! Quite hard to cook steak for that many people (especially if multiple variations of steak) without a large bbq though...
 
As the proud starter of the official WP steak thread, I'm in!! Quite hard to cook steak for that many people (especially if multiple variations of steak) without a large bbq though...
I think that the best steak in town is the Parson's Nose rump which manages to have flavour of rump and tenderness of fillet - a thick piece seared on griddle and finished off in the oven and then cut across the grain is unbeatable.
 
Since I haven‘t seen others posting full food photos I assume my bad camera maintained the only record. So here you go:
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Unfortunately I missed photoing the voted best dish of the night, lobster bisque. And that fish was broken by impatient me, not by the potent chef and great host, who was in these photo sitting opposite with blue apron.

The bottles line up is missing but well, we know how those bottles look like anyway. Gareth's cooking, however, should be recorded and appreciated. Many many thanks for Gareth's invitation and everyone's great company.
 
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I agree that the Egly seems to be a scintillating wine, but the registers in the back of my head are detecting that there might be a lack of potential (still). These are terroirs that need time to develop into something beautiful, and whilst Egly are certainly much improved, there is still some way to go, restrain the evolution, search for the bitters.
 
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