12th December 2008

Importer Aussino hosted a sumptuous dinner featuring the wines of leading Burgundy negociant eleveur Nicolas Potel at Grange restaurant, the Westin Chaoyang.

Marco Caschera (pictured above) of Nicolas Potel gave an excellent introduction both to Burgundy and to the philosophy of Nicolas Potel (the man and company).

The following wines accompanied the below menu (click on links for full tasting notes).

See below also for details of the charity wine auction that rounded off the dinner in aid of victims of the Sichuan earthquake:

Beaune 1er Cru Vignes Franches, Nicolas Potel 2006

Meursault 1er Cru Les Charmes, Nicolas Potel 2004

Volnay 1er Cru Pitures, Nicolas Potel 2003

Clos de la Roche Grand Cru, Nicolas Potel 2003

Santenay 1er Cru Beaurepaire, Nicolas Potel 1985

Menu:

Gravadlax with pea sprouts and herb vinaigrette

Cappucino of roasted pumpkin with almond creme fraiche

Carpaccio of smoked duck, cajun spice mandarin oranges, arugula and blueberry and balsamic ‘pearls’

Wine enriched loin of venison with dauphinoise potato, roasted brussel sprouts and a raspberry bitter chocolate jus

Cheese

The wines seemed to be in good condition and I especially liked the 2003 Volnay 1er Cru Pitures and the 2004 Meursault 1er Cru Les Charmes.

The 2003 Clos de la Roche and 2006 Beaune 1er Cru Vignes Franches, however, will both need more time in bottle really.

Certainly no one should overlook 2003 Burgundy outright, even although the vintage conditions were extreme temperature-wise.

In the subsequent auction, Aussino and Caschera managed to raise 7,700RMB for a double magnum of 2005 Volnay 1er Cru Les Pitures and 5,200RMB for a double magnum of 2005 Beaune 1er Cru Teurons.

Posted on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 2:45 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.