BI Ledbury Dinners | Autumn 2009

BI Ledbury Dinners - Autumn 2009

Why the Ledbury?

Located slightly off the beaten track the Ledbury is undoubtedly the unsung hero of the Nigel Platts-Martin group, often overshadowed by Chez Bruce and the two Michelin star Square. When chef Brett Graham opened the Ledbury in collaboration with Nigel his objective was simple – to create a contemporary restaurant serving outstanding food in a friendly, unfussy atmosphere. In 2006 it was voted ‘London Restaurant of the Year’ in the Which? Good Food Guide, ‘Restaurant of the Year’ in Tatler, ‘Restauranteurs’ Restaurant of the Year’ and was awarded its first, highly coveted, Michelin Star. The work undertaken in the kitchen is second to none – all of our dinner menus will be painstakingly planned by Brett and his sous-chef Nathan Thomas in collaboration with the respective winemaker to complement the wines perfectly and show off the best seasonal produce. We expect each dinner to exhibit the exceptional value for money and the finest examples that the world of food and wine has to offer. As a guideline for non priced events, all the dinners will be priced under £300. Most of the wines have been sourced directly from the respective properties at greatly reduced prices; in addition, we intend to make no profit from these events what-so-ever.

September 30th - 'Nine Decades of Domaine Huet' - £295

Although the great appellation of Vouvray often passes unnoticed the wines of Domaine Huet are quite rightly the best known of all. Among the most age-worthy wines on earth these ethereal examples of Chenin Blanc are capable of lasting longer than a century.

In 1928 when Parisian Victor Huet left for the country to alleviate respiratory problems few could guess that the 3 hectares of vines accompanying their small house in Vouvray would produce streamlined Chenin Blanc capable of maturing for a century or more. Following his capture in the World War II Victor’s son Gaston returned to Vouvray a broken man. By 1947 he had regained his strength and accepted the post as mayor of Vouvray. He continued turning out one great vintage after another well into old age and during his time at the helm he tripled his fathers initial holding of 3 ha in ‘Le Haut Lieu’ to 9 ha in addition to the purchases of ‘Le Mont’ (8 ha) and ‘Le Clos de Bourg’ (6 ha, pictured) in 1957 and 1963 respectively. In 1988 Gaston gave consent to his son-in-law Noel Pinguet to turn the estate into a 100% Biodynamic operation. Huet ran the property side-by-side with Pinguet up to his death in 2002. Today Pinguet remains the keeper and winemaker of the estate but since 2003 has had the financial backing.

All of these bottles have all been sourced direct from the Domaine to ensure total consistency. Brett and his team have conjured up an outstanding tasting menu to complement the nine decades of wine on show including both the 1921 & 1947 Haut Lieu Moelleux – the former of which is pre the Huet dynasty, the latter made Decanter’s ‘Top 10 wines to try before you die’.

The dinner will be directed by Richard Kelley MW, one of the world’s leading authorities on the Loire, and will consist of five courses matched to nine decades of Domaine Huet including: Le Clos de Bourg Moelleux 1971; Le Clos de Bourg Moelleux 1ere Trie 1990, 1989, 1969, 1959; Le Haut Lieu Moelleux 1ere Trie 1937; Le Haut Lieu Moelleux 1947(98NM) & 1921.

October 7th - Philipponnat 'Clos des Goisses' - £165

Philipponnat, a Champagne house not so familiar to most, not only owns one of the world greatest terroirs, but from it makes one of the world’s most outstanding wines. The ‘Clos des Goisses’, which Tom Stevenson believes to be on par with Salon, is special for two main reasons…

Firstly, the vineyard is so south facing it is described as being ‘south-south-facing’, meaning the suns rays are perpendicular to the slope for most of the day. In addition, the steep aspect of the slope creates a microclimate which is, on average, 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than surrounding vineyards – an increase in temperature you would have to travel 250 miles south, to Burgundy, to find. As a result vintages that most houses cannot declare due to ripening issues are the vintages in which this wine shines.

Secondly, the vineyard is planted with both Pinot Noir (70%) AND Chardonnay (30%), one of the only single vineyard wines in the world to contain more than one variety.

At Philipponnat they believe that ‘Clos des Goisses’ should be treated as a ‘wine’ not a ‘Champagne’ – i.e. It should be decanted in youth and served in large glasses (to allow plenty of aeration) rather than flutes. All these factors come together to create what we believe is one of the worlds greatest wines. Unfortunately it has, until now, been drowned in a sea of well marketed ‘bigger brands’ partly because at only 5.5ha the production is limited to around 2,500 cases, a similar number to La Tache.

The praise of the two most influential Champagne writers says it all...

‘Clos des Goisses is consistently one of the world's foremost wines... This champagne is a real slow starter that should preferably be decanted if it is going to be drunk before its twentieth birthday... I recently held a complete vertical tasting of this personal wine. The champagnes were amongst the most ravishing I have tasted.’ – Richard Juhlin

‘There is a plot of land in Champagne so blessed in location and aspect that it can achieve a good level of natural ripeness year in and year out: Clos des Goisses… [It] has always been one of the most extraordinary jewels in Champagnes crown... [CDG] screams class and finesse.’ – Tom Stevenson, International Champagne writer of the year

The dinner will be directed by Charles Philipponnat, the current owner of the estate, and will consist of four courses matched to the following comprehensive range of modern vintages of Clos de Goisses’ served in pairs: 2000, 1999(95RJ), 1998(93RJ), 1996(95RJ), 1995(94RJ), 1992(93RJ), 1991(93RJ), 1990(96RJ), 1989(96RJ) & 1982(96RJ)

October 21st - Chateau Gruaud Larose 'Old and New' - £175

The commune of St. Julien on the left bank of the Gironde is famous for a strong representation of second growths in the 1855 Classification. Ducru Beaucaillou, Leoville Las Cases and Leoville Barton have all had their ups and downs over the years but no estate has sparked controversy like Gruaud Larose. Owned by the Merlaut family it produces one of the most full-bodied and long lived wines of the Medoc. The Chateau has 84 hectares of vineyards on a gravel-rich soil – the vineyards are 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Gruaud Larose turned out many first-growth quality wines in vintages such as 1982, 1986, 1990 and 2000 but has recently been criticized by Parker who thinks standards have dropped.

The dinner will be directed by David Launay of Gruaud Larose and offer you the opportunity to compare and contrast the wines of the old and new generations. We will begin with a tutored tasting of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 vintages followed by a four course dinner designed by Brett and his team to match the following vintages of Gruaud Larose direct from the Chateau served in pairs: 2000(96NM), 1996, 1990(95RPHG), 1986(98RPHG), 1982(98RP) and 1962. To accompany the dessert we will serve the outstanding Climens 2005(97RP) – a prelude to the following month’s dinner.

November 13th - Chateau Climens - £165

Chateau Climens in Barsac is unquestionably one of the greatest sweet wines in the world. The property was purchased by the Lurton family in 1971 and is currently run by the phenomenally talented Bérénice Lurton (pictured) who is currently making wines of incredible balance and finesse that, according to many critics, even surpass Chateau D’Yquem. Although modern winemaking techniques have a factor to play Climens has been extremely highly for most of the 20th Century – the great Alexis Lichine writes in his "Wines of France" that the 1929 Climens surpasses Yquem. Their trump card is perhaps the consistency that they maintain even in the most challenging vintages – these also offer exceptional value for money...

Brett will design a menu to support Bérénice’s theory that these are not ‘dessert wines’ but wines that can be enjoyed throughout a meal with a wide variety of cuisines. We will have Bérénice on hand to show the following range of vintages (many scored 97 Points or over by Neal Martin at a recent vertical): 2005(97RP), 1995(95NM), 1990(96NM), 1989(97NM), 1988(97RPHG), 1976, 1975, 1962 & 1947(96-98NM)

December 8th - Chateau La Conseillante - £230

Few would disagree that in recent vintages Pomerol has been the ‘on-fire’ appellation in Bordeaux. This tiny neighbour to the village of St. Emilion contains at least a handful of the worlds greatest estates – some synonymous with stratospheric prices and some with exceptional value – La Conseillante undoubtedly falls into the latter category. The estates 11.8 hectares lie on the highest part of the Pomerol plateau bordering Vieux Chateau Certan, Petrus and Cheval Blanc to name a few. Like its compatriots the production is small, 5,000-6,000 cases, approximately one third of its peers on the left bank. Renowned as being ‘Burgundian’ in style La Conseillante is the epitome of elegance and finesse. The emphasis of the dinner will be on four fabulous, mature examples of this great Chateau from large format.

‘The 1989 and the 1990 La Conseillante are this property's greatest efforts since their 1949. How much fun millionaires will have debating the virtues of the 1989 versus the 1990!’ – Robert Parker

The evening will commence with a tasting of a hat-trick of recent vintages 2006, 2005 & 2004. This will be followed by a four course menu created by Brett and his team to show the best seasonal produces matched to the following wines served in pairs with emphasis on large format: 2001(94+NM), 2000(96RP), 1998(94-96NM), 1995, 1990 (en double-magnum)(97RP), 1989 (en magnum)(97RP), 1982 (en magnum)(97NM), 1981 (en magnum). All but two of these have been sent directly from the Chateau to ensure consistency throughout the vertical.

The details

The Ledbury
127 Ledbury Road
Notting Hill
London
W11 2AQ
+44 (0)207 792 9090
www.theledbury.com

Time: 7.30pm
Dress: Smart Casual

All dinner tickets will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
Please inform us of any dietary requirements. Menus will be published closer to dinner date.
Score abbreviations: (RP) – Robert Parker; (NM) – Neal Martin; (RPHG) – Robert Parker’s Hedonist’s Gazette; (RJ) – Richard Juhlin.
Payment due within 7 days of invoice.

For any enquiries contact: gareth.birchley@bordeauxindex.com