Book 4

A very frustrating wine – first bottle showing some age / oxidation (but drinkable), but the second corked so I could neither check, nor …

Not a renowned vintage for Noval, as they were going through a lean period, pre-AXA, and this is starting to show its age. Nevertheless, …

Dessert was a superb, dense chocolate mousse, with caramel ice cream, and red fruit sauces. After an initial thought of tawny Port to match …

Out of place – flipped with the Dagueneau. A good opening gambit with the green veg and salad in the starter – but mainly …

The 1998 was simpler and a little lighter. Most preferred to have the 1997 poured, after an initial side-by-side, but 2 or 3 went …

Served side-by-side with the 1998, with a tomato-based chicken main course, both showed Tuscan acidity and food affinity, but were distinctly different wines – …

This otherwise unknown Rheinhessen Auslese almost pulled it out of the bag in matching the mango & passionfruit sorbet palate-cleanser. The sweetness and acidity …

The best I could come up with as a red to match the tuna in the starter, and the expected richness of the onion …

A good, solid, classic Alsatian Pinot Gris. And a pretty good (emergency) match for French onion soup (particularly as the soup was much paler …

Another one out of chronological order – should be flipped with the Gruner Veltliner that accompanied the first course of Saturday’s Booker Dinner – …