Details of yesterday's dinner

For once, dear reader, I am vaguely keeping my promise and going back to a subject quickly, rather than letting time pass as I talk about other things. Last night's dinner is still fresh in my mind and, as tonight is a stay-in-and-eat-little-drinking-even-less kind of night, I am able to return to last night's events fresh.

The menu was, as described yesterday, simple but bursting with flavours, sometimes subtle, others bold. We kicked off with gruyere gougeres, little choux with a tantalising hint of gruyere cheese, light as a feather but oh, so tasty; these are a classic accompaniment to aperitifs and go well with almost everything. Last night we sipped a glorious Roederer Cristal champagne from 1996 (a good year in Champagne), a still surprisingly young and fresh mouthful, perfectly balanced with delicate white fruit and light caramel tones, good acidity and a typically long finish. It is a great pity that Cristal is popular among the mindless cretins who think champagne - and Cristal in particular - is a status symbol to be ostentatiously wasted in nightclubs, for it is a seriously good wine for true lovers but is, alas, overpriced.

The first course was a stunning cream of bean soup with trompette de la mort mushrooms, a tan, thick liquid with a subtle, nutty taste, combining beautifully with the meatiness of the mushrooms, whose slight crunch added a texture play to the dish. This most satisfying dish we combined with two Swiss white wines, both from the Chasselas grape, one from the Valais and the 2008 vintage, the other from Canton Vaud and 2009 - two different regions, two very different wines! Viticulture in Switzerland is difficult due to the weather and the mountainous terrain, with Swiss wines not noted for their power, high alcohol or zinging acidity. Rather they are subtle beasts with delicate nuances, impressing with their difference and not with their punch. The Fendant du Valais President Troillet 2008 from Marie-Therese Chappaz is just such a wine, with clean delicate white fruit and mineral tones on nose and palate, interesting but a tad hollow. The St-Saphorin Grand Cru "Les Blassinges" 2008 by Pierre-Luc Leyvraz is a bigger wine from perhaps a better vintage, showing richer than the previous on the nose and in the mouth, but still a tad hollow on the finish. Both wines were very good with the course they accompanied and of great interest to any serious wine lover.

The main course of Osso Bucco with polenta sported soft meat with a rich, supremely tasty sauce, a superlative form of comfort food. To accompany this we had a Bandol red wine from a magnum - Domaine Tempier 1988 cuvee speciale Cabassaou - which was not only extremely rare, from a small terroir and old vines, but also extremely impressive. Only wines of the highest quality remain youthful after thirty years, but this had a deep garnet colour showing little age, a rich red stewed fruit and damson nose, juicy tannins and ripe fruit on the palate, good acidity and a remarkable long finish. A good thing it was too, as it had the weight of flavour to match the food, and it matched it superbly.

The Rocquefort cheese managed to be creamy and strong at the same time, its acidity and strong flavours eliminating the Osso Bucco from the palate. This was beautifully partnered by an ethereal Chateau Climens 1988 from Barsac, all sweet white peaches and honey, which acted as a foil to counter the cheese, ultimately producing real satisfaction. The same wine accompanied the dessert of fresh orange, a great palate cleanser to allow us to have some chocolate, including homemade truffles that were truly melt-in-the-mouth. These sweet wines are at their best heart-stoppingly wonderful, sweet but not one-dimensional and sickly, complex and beguiling. Also, if one avoids one or two of the big names, they are still attractively priced as they remain largely unfashionable both with new consumers and investors. Luckily I am neither, and I adore them, on the rare occasions that I am fortunate enough to encounter them.

A herb tea cleansed my palate again, which allowed me to sneak in a small grappa from that supreme craftsman, alas no longer with us, Romano Levi and his sister Lidia, also now gone. Their grappas were and are highly prized for a reason, being smooth yet characterful, very clean and deeply satisfying,  artisanal, a distillate of life itself. Which moves me, especially after the sadness of the past few weeks, to remember those I have recently lost and think of that simple Jewish toast that I find so appropriate: 'To Life - L'Chaim'.