Happened to have a nice large black truffle that looked like it needed
eating so we did an impromptu wine dinner to match it.

2004 Dom. Fouassier Sancerre Les Romains - this was a rather rich
sauvignon blanc with mineral nose, good flavour level, and crisp
finish.

It went well with the starter which was cream cheese and hazelnuts
stuffed in figs and dates which had been soaked in Marsala, all wrapped
in shinkenspeck and roasted lightly in the oven. The shinkenspeck
seems to give a tastier (and less salty) result than the conventional
prosciutto.

Next up was the first truffle course - angel-hair pasta al dente
dresses simply with butter and a little white wine, served with shaved
black truffle. We continued the Sancerre through this and it went
quite well.

The next course was sweetbreads in a cream sauce with mushrooms and
sherry and anointed with the other half of the shaved truffle.

The wine we chose was Italian (yes, I know - Italy=white truffle,
France=black truffle, but I was in an Italian mood).

1993 Marchesi di Gresy Villa Martis - this modest blend of Nebbiolo
and Barbera was definitely getting toward the end of its life. The
colour was pale and bricky at the edges, though a nice garnet through
the middle. Fruit was still there if abated somewhat and the finish was
excessively acidic - until we tried it with food! The pasta tamed the
wine nicely and the whole was definitely greater than the parts.

Finally, we had a beef Stroganoff made from prime rib served on a
potato pancake. For this I chose:

1992 Gaja Sito Moresco - in keeping with my theme of mature Nebbiolo
blends, this wine includes a significant proportion of merlot and
cabernet. Normally considered an early drinking wine and in this case
from an indifferent vintage, 13 years was a real test of longevity,
even from a cool cellar. I am happy to say that the wine came through
better than I could have expected - dark, with some tar and roasted
dark fruit in the nose, the berry fruit of youth now gone, but replaced
with more leather and very soft tannin and just the right amount of
acidity at the end. Great combination with the food, and we continued
it on into the cheese course.

I think that this exercise proves that the optimum number of people
required to properly appreciate a whole black truffle is two!