WTN: Taittinger and 79 Pichon Lalande

[primowino]

I met my wife 25 years ago yesterday and so off we went for a special meal at Rhubarb - the restaurant in the Prestonfield Hotel in Edinburgh, with the same owner as the Witchery and Tower restaurants for those that know the city. I had bought a bottle of 1979 Pichon Lalande a few years ago for this very day, knowing it was one of the successes of a mediocre bordeaux vintage.

Before the meal we had a bottle of Taittinger Brut NV with my in-laws. It is a fairly light champagne for a premier house. However, on the experience of last nights bottle this is a bit deceptive. There was a lot of complex flavours going on, but unusually they were all fruity rather than toasty. The wine was a bit citrussy, but I was mainly getting crisp apples. The mousse was impressive as expected, but the only problem with that is it takes too long to pour four glasses safely when you want to get on with drinking it.

Before our starters of Tian of Crab and Avocado and Veal Sweetbread and Chicken Liver Ravioli, we had an appetiser of a red mullet on noodles while the sommelier decanted our bordeaux. We shared glasses of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and a South African Chenin Blanc - decent wines but I can't remember the producers. The SB was fairly restrained on the tropical fruits that can be a bit much with food in some from NZ, while the Chenin was light but very pleasant.

The sommelier had managed to get nearly all the bordeaux from the bottle and I couldn't see much sediment in the drop he'd left. I think this was a genuine lack of sediment and not me having disturbed it too much on the taxi journey, because when we moved on to the red it was bright and clear in the glass.

I know we should have been eating big chunks of red meat with the wine, but Yvonne is partial to halibut and had the interesting pairing with black pudding. I had their take on Surf and Turf, with effectively two dishes on one plate divided by a line of hollandaise. On one side was Braised shin of veal with foie gras and girolles and on the other, lobster in truffle jus.

As well as bright and clear, the wine was amazingly young looking for 25 years, with no signs of browning in the purple rim. I think we were lucky enough to be drinking it at its peak, because despite its youthful look I sensed that the last of the tannins were just disappearing. I usually associate good Pauillac with strong cassis and good French oak (pencil shavings!) flavours. These were not really present, possibly due to the age or the champagne and rich food having dulled my senses, or possibly this is a typical Lalande because I have seen them described as silky.

There was hints of blackcurrant-ish fruit and some coffe or chocolately richness, but the overriding experience was of a perfectly balanced and smooth (but certainly not dull) wine.

Dessert was an assiette of rhubarb desserts (cheesecake, crumble, creme brulee and ice cream), but we'd had enough wine by this stage and I'm not sure what would have matched the range of desserts.

Overall it was an event worthy of the celebration, roll on our 25th Wedding Anniversary in a few years (1986 Ducru Beaucaillou).