A momentous occasion this morning, courtesy of Jamie Hutchinson, proprietor of London’s finest wine emporium and not just because he occasionally invites worthless scribes like me to enjoy a sneak preview of his icon wines, which as the name implies, one can sample from his Enomatic machines. Today he has some serious kit: Lafite 1982, Petrus 1978, Screaming Eagle 1996, La Chapelle 1978 but most mouth-watering of all, a Grands Echézeaux 1971 from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. It is a particular milestone for me, since I have been attempting to taste a DRC from my birthyear since time immemorial, all to no avail. Either the wine is corked, the bottle does not turn up or I am in the wrong place at the wrong time. If I only I were wealthy enough to simply go out and buy a bottle…
I tried to remedy this tragic state of affairs by organizing a concert, “DRC Aid” in 2002, with all proceeds going towards a bottle of 1971 for me to neck. Alas, I could only obtain the services of those artists who kicked off Live Aid back in 1985 and the combination of Nik Kershaw, Status Quo and an antless Adam Ant failed to draw the crowds. I panhandled under Waterloo Bridge, but was mugged by a desperate writer for “Wine International” who was saving up for a Le Pin. I robbed a couple of banks and ended up with bags of French francs a day before they converted to the Euro. I put my kids toys on e-Bay and even offered their services as cleaners to the neighbours, I chained myself to the domaine’s iron gates in Vosne …nothing worked.
So I must thank the charitable Mr. Hutchinson for allowing me to taste the Grands Echézeaux ’71 this sunny morning in Islington.
How was it?
Oh…all right.
In head back home on the train, finish of the page-turner that is “The Billionaire’s Vinegar” and thank God that I never met some of the vainglorious characters portrayed by the author. I then telephone upcoming wine writer Robert Parker in his Maryland bat-cave, chew the fat and discuss crucial matters such as: are Glasvegas going to release a follow-up in 2010? In the evening, I drive to Seafare for some fish ‘n chips, which are worth queuing out in the rain for and then as customary this week, fall into a coma on the sofa midway through “Have I Got News For You”, my recalcitrant metabolism stubbornly refusing to accept the GMT time zone a whole week after leaving Oz.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | 1971, drc, the sampler
