The Good Life
A little bit of all right
Pamela Vandyke-Price
'Parties I enjoyed by not going to them, is high on my list of Books To Be Written. So often retrospective accounts include that damningly wistful phrase that begins with 'if only,' that I am tempted tO suggest that one should honour hosts more by absence than by attendance and send last-minute messages to the effect that on,e looked forward to the occasion so much that one simply wouldn't risk a disappointment — by coming. But recently I went to a party that seemed perfect from start to finish — even more so than I had anticipated — and I had anticipated a great deal, because it 15 not every week that anyone is asked to be, the guest of members of the wine trade one of the City Halls. My hosts were the brothers Derek and John Balls, of Ba1115 Brothers, who entertained me at In,11: holders' Hall, in the Old Court Room, tti,`" wines being chosen in accordance Wit': articles that I wrote this past spring aboa' the Loire, the merchants of these wines in addition to the hosts — being the other guests. My reason for writing about 9 private pleasure is that all of us vve,.r,,e happily surprised at the way in which tn` wines made such a harmonious progreSsj ion, just as I had hoped, and that, when ' came to tot them up, I realised that tile
Pleasure they gave was out of all proportion in advance of their cost. As the meal — even if not the surroundings could be copied, it seems reasonable to detail what we had.
The aperitif was a Saumur Petillant, from the house of Goblet, slightly fruity, very crisp, reviving after the sort of day the wine trade and my kind of journalist endures just before Christmas. The first course was a petite marmite, the soup that Is so seldom made in one's own home, but is so appreciated when somebody else takes the trouble. Then we had Sole bugler& accompanied by a Sancerre, Les Monts Danmes 1971, French-bottled Davesne Millot, which was fat enough to Partner the sauce, fruity enough to be Immediately pleasing, elegant enough to introduce the two red table wines. These, With the roast partridge and trimmings (sometimes I think I will serve a whole course of trimmings with the gravy from their respective dishes), were a 1970 Chinon, also from Goblet, and a 1970 Bourgueil, both French-bottled. These, as one of the donors remarked, went up the aisle very happily together ', because the Chinon was delicate, feminine, charming, the Bourgueil a weightier wine, more profound, with a future before it, but a very good drink now.
They were served cool and we finished them with the whole Brie (never have I had such a thing to myself), before apple flan, which was served with a 1947 still Vouvray, the Doux, Creme de Tete Clon Naudin of A. Foreau estate-bottled. This wine, the choice of the other woman present, who is general manager of the firm who presented it, was a surprise even to the other shippers of Loire wines — subtly luscious, beautifully proportioned, fascinating . . . . a superb dessert wine from a comparatively northern vineyard, which the four men enjoyed as much as us birds and which was the biggest of the table wines, so that, rightly, this part of the dinner ended on a high note. But the hosts spoiled me even further by then serving a port, Rabello Valente 1935, which was a novelty to me, and then two Cognacs to compare — as I will not name the better-known one, I will say that the hosts' brandy, Château Paulet VSOP was the most interesting because the most delicate; indeed, elegance and gentleness was the style of all the drinks which we, lovers of the great and better-known classics though we are, admitted, we might have found taxing on a cold night when we were all already tired, as compared with these delights.
The additional excuse for sharing my pleasure in print is that most of the drinks are still listed by the merchants who gave them and one could, for a special occasion, follow the menu — or, if last-minute supervision in the kitchen isn't possible, the fish course could be omitted or possibly simplified. Anyway, even if you can't commandeer a City Hall for an evening, you can still buy: Saumur Petillant (Goblet), French-bottled, 1970, from Norton & Langridge, £1.15; 1971 Sancerre, Les Monts Damnes, French-bottled Davesne Millot, £1.48 from G. F. Grant; 1970 Chinon, French-bottled (Goblet), 92p from Norton & Langridge, 1970 Bourgueil, French-bottled, 98p from Balls Brothers; that particular Vouvray can't still be offered, but 0. W. Loeb have a 1947 Vouvray Moeulleux Clos Naudin, of A. Foreau, estate-bottled, for £3.03, and the Cognac, Ch. Paulet VSOP is £4.30 from Balls Brothers.
Loire wines are not mere summer pleasures, I can assure you.
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