Pousse d'Or Caillerets Clos des 60 Ouvrées 1996 and mallard

Now, this wasn't any old duck and burgundy combination as you might have guessed from the heading, this was complex, gamey mallard and a rather cherished mature Volnay. For a number of years I've been the proud owner of a bottle of Domaine de la Pousse d'Or Caillerets Clos des 60 Ouvrées 1996. We've recently moved house, so this autumn seemed a good time to open it to toast our new home. We had an old friend of mine from the wine trade round for supper, so the timing and company seemed ideal.

I've had several red burgundies from this tight, briskly acidic vintage and some of them (especially village wines) are reaching the end of their lives. However, I expected this wine from such a notable site and skilled winemaker to still be very much on song. To my relief (it always feels like Russian Roulette with mature wines), it was in full voice.

There is something quite moving about this wine. It was made by Gérard Potel, one of Burgundy's greatest recent figures, who ran the domaine until his premature death in 1997. You can read more about Domaine de la Pousse d'Or and Gérard Potel here on Clive Coates's website. It reveals that critical changes were taking place at the domaine and how stress may have contributed to Potel's early demise. So, the bottle of Volnay that had lurked in my cellar for so many years has particular poignance as it was from Potel's final vintage.

Amazingly, after 17 years, the wine was full of vigour, with a rounded silky texture, creamy and fleshy – not what I expected from this angular (even gaunt) vintage. Aromatically there was a lot going on – violets,  morello cherries, plums, exotic spice, even savoury soy notes, all supported by a refreshing chalky mineral backbone. Expressive, pure, defined and entirely harmonious. Ravishingly beautiful.

Allowing the wine to fully articulate itself, the mallard worked brilliantly. The gamey meat was complex enough in its own right, simply served with potatoes roasted in duck fat and one of my favourite vegetables for fine reds, red cabbage. An autumn treat we won't be forgetting in a hurry.

Turkey and ham pie: post Christmas comfort

Every year I have a routine after Christmas which is to use up the leftover turkey and ham for pies to stash away in the freezer. There is something so comforting about luxuriously creamy pies and it is a great way of making sure the leftover meat stays deliciously moist and tasty. What's more, they are absolutely delicious in their own right (as opposed to just being a handy way of using up leftovers).

Last weekend we enjoyed the first of these pies from the freezer on a bitterly cold Sunday evening and it was so welcome. I don't bother with potatoes when serving these pies, just some vegetables on the side, so it's a very easy meal.

Preparing the pies, I use a generous base of turkey and ham and add some softened diced onion, fried mushrooms, peas, sometimes carrots or other vegetables (depending on how much I need to bulk out the meat). Using the pan juices, I make a creamy sauce with stock, double cream, dried tarragon and plenty of seasoning.

I top the pies with bought pastry – short-crust or puff depending on how I feel and what I have handy. This year it was short-crust. I like to decorate them all with pastry leaves made with the off-cuts. Then cover the pies with foil and carefully position them in the freezer.

De-frost the pies before cooking. I glaze the surface with beaten egg (though not shown in pic) before cooking them at 180°C for about 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown.

Wine
Refreshing, supple reds would be good here – a particular favourite is Cabernet Franc from the Loire, such as Chinon or Saumur-Champigny. Red Burgundy would also work well, its lifted acidity balancing the richness of the dish.