A Birthday Dinner

[OzPiper]

A dinner to celebrate a friend!s 75th birthday
Sorry for the lack of photos of the spread

 

[OzPiper]

Good bottles, great food, excellent company.
What more can you wish for

 

[huntertrw]

Was there any food involved?

The 13-year-old Taittinger was a nice touch.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

All of those French wines, and only one German? What, no California? Ha ha. Looks great, but there's definitely a lack of protein in that meal. But, you have the fruit covered.

 

[dd57chevy]

What food was served ?

 

[carp rides again]

Happy belated birthday, looks like a good time was had

 

[OzPiper]

Quite a bit of food - oysters, salumi, duck spring rolls, seafood risotto, steak tartare, grilled t-bone, shoestring potato fries, salad, and madeleines
Too busy slurping and tasting wine to take photos of the food

Happy belated birthday, looks like a good time was had

Should have stated that it was a mate’s birthday.
But I organised the dinner.

 

[OzPiper]

All of those French wines, and only one German? What, no California? Ha ha. Looks great, but there's definitely a lack of protein in that meal. But, you have the fruit covered.

One Greek bottle - just to show we‘re a worldly lot
Surprising no one brought Italian, Spanish, Aussie or Californian

Believe or not, Californian wines are quite hard to come by in Oz.

 

[shanez]

I once had a bottle of Wittmann (I forget which one) that paired fantastically well with some carrot cake.

How was the Sauternes?

 

[OzPiper]

I once had a bottle of Wittmann (I forget which one) that paired fantastically well with some carrot cake.

How was the Sauternes?

The Wittman Morstein was still very young. Once it warmed up in the glass, it started to blossom.
I love German rieslings with their purity of fruit and cleansing acidity.
Australia produces a shitload of Riesling, but most miss the mark - hard phenolic finishes and XS kerosene/petrol notes. But there are encouraging signs of improvement In the winemaking In recent years.
Not sure why we don’t go down the Mosel or Rheingau route with lower alcohol levels (Oz rieslings typically have 12-13+% alcohol) and leaving in a bit of residual sugar.

I am organising a omakase dinner at my favourite Sydney Japanese restaurant at the end of this month.
With a lineup of Oz, Austrian, Alsace and German Rieslings.
I will keep you posted.

The Sauternes was a very deep amber colour.
Very sweet - 1990 was a hot, ripe year - but well balanced.
Age has toned the sweetness down and given it caramellised overtones.
Very enjoyable with a couple of madeleines straight from the oven.
A plain cake is a much better match than a cream loaded confectionary