Seven decades of wine with lunch at Simpson's
Restaurant, Birmingham 20 October 2007
The menu at Simpsons was something (but not
exactly?) like :
Appetisers were some delicious, very delicate
potato pancakes-cum-blinis; some nice, but ultimately unexciting
Cornish crab croquettes; and some good ham hock croquettes. All very well made, but three fried items? Two of them
crumbed?
Smoked salmon, melon, lime and ginger dressing,
lardon of smoked duck this was a nice dish, the salmon and melon being presented
in equal sized cubes, which gives a wholly different texture to smoked
salmon. A nice, bright citrus dressing. The little shards of bacon-like
smoked duck breast, slow-baked to a crisp, were a great counterpoint.
Hand-dived scallops with cep compote, pumpkin
purée and cep foam Can't really remember much about this. Must've wolfed it
down with the Auslese & Burgundy.
Slow-cooked fillet of red mullet, fennel and
artichoke barigoule, lentils du Puy, green beans, sauce aux
épices absolutely excellent mullet, and while the accompaniments
were good, and the dish as a whole worked well, I didn't think the
accompaniments quite lived up to the brilliance of the goldfish, oops,
red mullet fillet. I found the sauce a bit powdery and raw.
Seared duck foie gras, roast banana with black
pepper, pain d’épices, banana purée Probably the weakest dish I thought, but only because of
one element: the banana purée. Incredibly smooth, very
banana-y purée, but just too sweet, overpowering and sickly.
Fortunately, it was easy enough to ignore the banana purée
and enjoy the large slab of foie gras with the roast banana and pain
d'épices, which did all work well together. I seem to recall
that the combination of foie gras and pain d'épices dates
back to Simpsons days in Kenilworth. Did the foie gras come in a pain
d'épices crumb back then?
Rack of lamb with spiced couscous, ras el hanout
sauce, red peppers, lemon confit, apricots This was good, but I was getting a bit bored by yet more
spices. The couscous had pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, flaked almonds and
pomegranate; possibly a bit of chilli too.
Salad of poached and raw pear, fourme
d’ambert, walnuts, honey and balsamic dressing now this was really good. A bit mean on the cheese maybe,
but a nice palate cleansing dish.
Pre-dessert: cinammon doughnut with raspberry
coulis. nice and light (both the doughnut and the coulis). Yum.
Chocolate tart with cherries and cinnamon ice cream gobbled mine up too quickly because I was rushing for a
train. Superb chocolate pastry. The ganache style filling was just a
very high class ganache style filling. Top class ice cream. But note
both the dessert and the pre-dessert continue the kitchen's love affair
with spices, and both involved cinammon. It worked well in both dishes,
but why not a bit of variety?
And
now the wines:
1976 Diebolt Vallois Blanc de Blancs
Some passing mousse when poured, but in the glass there is a good firm
bubble stream. Deepish gold. It has a rich, creamy nose. Lovely on the
palate, with a sort of delicate richness. Nicely layered. There's an
attractive nuttiness, plus some oxidation, but just the right amount.
Not as good as it was two and a half years ago at the Champagne
Offline, but still Very Good Indeed+.
1988 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese, J J Prüm
A very dark gold. Lightly petrolled nose with a hint of honey and a
touch of wet slate. Glorious in the mouth and showing some age. Perfect
balance. Stunning. Excellent.
No rush to drink up.
2002 Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru, Louis Latour
A glorious golden colour. The nose is lovely and delicate with an
attractive lemony minerality. There's nice refinement on the palate
initially; then it feels rather full and forward, but it also has a
leanness which turns into savouriness on the finish. Very restrained
use of oak. Very Good.
1945 Mas Desirée, AC Rivesaltes, 500ml,
16%
A mid polished teak colour. Quite a restrained nose: nutty, raisiny and
pleasingly oxidised. Very good palate. Superb balance. Gently
caressing, with no spiritiness. Very Good Indeed+.
1967 Romanée St Vivant Les Quatres Journaux, Louis
Latour
Remarkably (and a touch worryingly) close in colour to the Rivesaltes.
But let's not worry about the appearance, just get the nose in and soak
up that gorgeous old Burgundy nose: there's lots of sous bois with a
very gentle VA lift, along with some curranty fruit. Very good on the
palate. There's still enough life left, with some very nice fruit still
in the middle. Very fine and delicate, with a lovely, lifted finish.
Lasted reasonably well in the glass, though gone over after about an
hour. Very Good Indeed.
1952 Château Margaux
High fill, well into the neck. In the glass it is an opaque, cloudy
red-mahogany. The nose is very old claret with some stewed pruney
fruit. On the palate, there's no doubt this has an old, somewhat tired
feel, but it does has some good, sweet black fruit still. Drying and
with a grainy feel (grainy tannins or is the graininess simply from
sediment in suspension?). Faded a bit in the glass. Very Good/Very Good
Indeed.
1997 Hermitage, Domaine Jean-Louis Chave
A youngish dark ruby appearance. Spicy, meaty nose, feeling quite young
and brooding. Very attractive palate. There are big chewy tannins, but
it's not too young to be drinkable (though would benefit from more
time). It feels somewhat tighter on the finish. Super balance. Very
Good Indeed.
1995 Oremus Essencia
A mere 3% alcohol. From a dinky little 25 cl bottle, this didn't so
much pour as drop out of the bottle, revealing an amazing tan gold
colour. There is honey and tea and lots of nice things on the nose. On
the palate it's sweet, sweet, sweet, but then a very, very searing
acidity comes along. This is so damn good that it's very difficult to
write anything sensible about it. It's not in the slightest bit sticky
or cloying, though there is a sort of rich gloopiness in the mouth. How
do you score this? Outstanding.
1993 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras, Domaine Ghislaine
Barthod
The nose has lifted strawberry and cherry fruit, with significant
forest floor overtones. A vibrant, lovely palate with good, elegant,
restrained fruit. There's noticeable acidity. Very fine finish with
very good length. Very Good Indeed.
