Posts in Category "Event Report"
Gosset Tasting 22.9.11
We were very pleased to welcome Philippe Manfredini, Export Manager from the house of Gosset, to our little cellar last Thursday to present the entire portfolio. The stunning line up was as follows:
- Brut Exclusive NV (£42.50, 45% Pinot Noir 36% Chardonnay 19% Pinot Meunier)
- Grand Blanc de Blancs (£72 100%Ch)
- Grande Reserve (£53, 43%Ch 42%PN 15%PM)
- Brut Millesime 1999 (sold out)
- Brut Millesime 2000 (£72, 57%Ch, 43%PN)
- Grand Rose (£64, 58%Ch 35%PN 7% red PN)
- Celebris Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs (£155, 100%Ch)
- Celebris Extra Brut 1998 (£115 64%Ch 36%PN)
- Celebris Rose 2003 (£155, 68%Ch 25%PN 7% red PN)
There were absolutely no duds. After the subtly yeasty (brioche), very elegant, "standard" cuvee we had the honour of being one of the very first places to try the Blanc de Blancs, a new addition to the range. This is a rich and profound style; Chris and I were very impressed and it has found a spot on our shelves. This section was finished off by the powerful Grande Reserve which has always been a favourite.
The '99 has been my favourite vintage cuvee since we opened, and so the '00 has a hard act to follow. On tasting earlier in the year it had a pronounced soy sauce character, but the nose seems to be better balanced now and it has fleshed out. It is not as rich and deep as its predecessor but is bright, refreshing, elegant and long on the finish.
Similarly, the rose is my favourite pink fizz. Salmon pink in colour, the initial attack has more citrus character, but if you let the wine drape over your tongue, beautiful red fruit flavours reveal themselves.
We finished on a high note with the Celebris trio. The Blanc de Blanc, a deluxe non-vintage cuvee based on the 1995 vintage (stunning Chardonnay year) is uncompromising, the citrus and minerality is amplified by the low dosage, but behind this is great depth leading to a very long finish. The 1998 was wondrous and for most was the star of a very strong bunch, very complete and profound and still very fresh at 13 years old. The Celebris pink is fuller than the "standard" one, and has a lovely creamy texture. A great wine though I'd happily make do with the Grand Rose.
What a night it was!
Tom
James Lowe events: Some notes on food & wine matching
Following on from our successful run of dinners with Ben Greeno we have just completed a trio of events with James Lowe, formerly head chef at St John Bread & Wine, Spitalfields. We got very positive feedback on the wines served and how they matched the food, and so thought it would be useful to communicate those pairings to the world at large.
Radishes, Trevise, Fennel & Anchovy
Champagne Gallimard Brut Réserve (£24.50)
Very primary bold, raw nibbles, and so we went for what is effectively our house bubbly. It’s 100% Pinot Noir but not labelled as a Blanc de Noirs, presumably as the style is much more restrained than that designation might imply. Still it has enough rounded fruit for these ingredients; a better bet than a zippy, minerally Chardonnay-based wine.
Razor Clam & Sorrel
Ribeiro 2009 Coto de Gomariz (£15.00)
This Galician wine is a brilliant seafood allrounder and gained several comments of “perfect match”. The sorrel element in this dish was served as a liquefied sauce, and added a strong green leafy element to the flavours. Accordingly I would not serve an Albarino because the emphasis there is on apricot; the Ribeiro being a blend of several grapes has a green element to it (I often use colours to describe aromas) and so pairs more successfully.
Raw Rib, Oyster & Chickweed
Maranges 1er Cru La Fussière 2007 Bruno Colin (£23.00)
James served this dish on all three menus as it got such a strongly positive reaction. The dish consists of shreds of raw beef served with greenleaves; with a wow factor added by an emulsion of oyster, piped onto the meat in small dots. I chose a tangy red Burgundy (Pinot Noir) partly to balance the white/red ratio in the meal. But the acidity and tangy cherry fruit contrasted very well with the fat in the beef, whilst not overpowering the subtle flavours.
Duck Egg, Alliums & Mustard
Türk Erlesenes vom Grünen Veltliner 2008 Niederösterreich (£19.00)
With the Marange being relatively light it meant we could go back to a white for the next course. Alliums are the family containing onions, leeks and garlic. Austria’s Grüner Veltliner is a great match for these; this example is a richer version which helped compliment the egg (low temperature egg yolk).
Old Spot Belly, Cauliflower & Broccoli
Ribera del Duero 2006 Dominio Romano (£29.50)
This Tempranillo is just a rung or two below full bodied with good acidity to cut through the fatty meat. You would not want a totally full bodied wine with this.
Cheesecake, Rhubarb & Ginger Crumb
Moscatel Emelín Dulce, Lustau (£11 half)
Many books suggest heavy with heavy, light with light when it comes to dessert wines. But often a contrast is better. Spanish Moscatel sherry will usually match any dessert that you could imagine pouring caramel sauce over – eg. a vanilla pudding, or fresh fruit. This worked very well, complementing the cheesecake and contrasting the rhubarb.
by Tom at Bottle Apostle
Something Fishy
Some of our most successful events are our “Something Fishy” evenings, held with John and Brendan from Jonathan Norris Fishmongers on the other side of the roundabout from us. The boys are as keen about their product as we are, and really good cooks as well.
Each evening features 4 sea creatures (perhaps shellfish / squid / flatfish / round fish): one of the boys demos how to prepare said creature – gutting / filleting / shucking etc – whilst the other beavers away in the kitchen. Once the demo is over a simply cooked but tasty dish appears. This week’s mouthwatering menu was
- Scallops with smoked Toulouse Sausage
- Griddled squid with sesame oil, chilli, coriander and lime
- Plaice fillet in Japanese Panko breadcrumbs
- Whole baked wild salmon with samphire
It tasted as good as it sounds. Previously we served 2 wines pre course. However we noticed that several of the wines were well suited to more than one dish. So this time we offered a list of 8 wines, gave our suggestions of course, but allowed people to select a pour as they wish. The wines were as follows (best matches in brackets though most were good allrounders):
- Champagne Gallimard Brut Reserve NV (£23.50)
- Txakoli Getaria 2009 Ametzoi (£11.50, squid)
- Gruener Veltliner Gmoerk 2009 Anton Bauer (£14.50)
- Venezia Giulia Bianco “Blanc des Rosis” 2007 (£19.00, scallops & sausage)
- Chassagne-Montrachet 2007 Fontaine-Gagnard (£35.00, plaice)
- Provence Rose “Pink Floyd” 2009 Ch. Miraval (£14.00)
- Morgon Cotes de Py Vieilles Vignes 2005 Stephane Aviron (£17.00, salmon)
- Maranges 1er Cru La Fussiere 2007 Bruno Colin (£22.00)
The Txacoli is a light, spritzy, tangy Basque white. It’s a staple of these evenings and is really flexible, though the Toulouse sausage was a step too far – the rich North Italian Blanc de Rosis, a blend of Fruiliano, Pinot Grigio and several other varieties was best here and also very good with the salmon (it works well with meatier white fish too). The Chassagne was a decadent but successful match with the relatively humble breadcrumbed plaice (though this was as good as you’ll ever taste). We are very keen on lighter reds with meaty white fish, salmon and trout. The Morgon (a beautiful fruity but mellow top-end Beaujolais just hitting its stride at 5 years old was a very good match in my opinion though there were a few dissenters in the group – it can take a while to get your head around reds with fish! The tangy fresh Maranges (red Burgundy Pinot from a less well-known village) was also well-liked.
The next “Something Fishy” is to be held on Wednesday 20th of October, 7.30pm to c. 10.30pm. The menu will feature (subject to availability) crayfish, mussels, sardines or mackerel and, finishing on a real high note, turbot. Our final event for 2010 will be on Tuesday November 16th; the line-up is yet to be decided. Tickets are £60 per person. Call us on 020 8985 1549 to book tickets.
Nebbiolo event report
In mid November we held a very succesful cellar tasting which largely confirmed this as one of the very noblest of the noble varieties. Having said that we started with the “idiosyncratic” Coriole Nebbiolo Rose 2008 (£12.50) which has lots of rhubarb and prune character and provokes a “Marmite” (love or hate) reaction from our customers. Back to the mainstream with the wonderful 2005 Nebbiolo d’Alba “Bricco Barone”, Marziano Abbona (£16.25) which shows riper more generous fruit than the “senior” wines and certainly blows away any “supermarket” Barolo at the price.
The 5 Baroli (my anticipated Barbaresco failed to be delivered) tasted certainly didn’t let the side down though. We compared the more “classic” (massive generalisation I know) 2004 Barolo Baudana by Luigi Baudana (£31.50) - high toned, floral, a very good vintage which needs time to peak - with the 2003 Bricco Cogni by Michele Reverdito (£34); more obvious new oak, well controlled richness in a hot year – a fleshier blockbuster which was generally seen to be drinking well now. Then on to the 1996 Vigna Mandorlo by Giacosa Fratelli (£47.50); still good depth of fruit and something of a mellow bruiser (contradiction in terms I know) which nevertheless demonstrated why we should probably try to hold onto 2004s for a decade or so.
These were followed by two Riservas from Giacomo Borgogno; the ‘82 (£85, sold out) and the ‘61 (£105). The former was decanted in 2007, the latter recently also. This means they hit the shelf with a new springy cork and very little sediment. Special case wines but they still demonstrate the capacity to age of Nebbiolo. The older wine was unsurprisingly more seamless, but it also seemed more vibrant and showed more obvious hints of cherry fruit. Consensus was that the extra £20 would be money well spent.
Final wine was the Steenberg Nebbiolo 2007 from Constantia (£21). This has sold well here, having been featured in our enomatics. Lots of ripe heady spicy cherry fruit, hints of licorish, cough mixture and spice, with butterscotch on the finish. A chunky wine balanced by Nebbiolo’s refreshing acidity. Nothing like the Piemontese wines but deservedly popular all the same – South African Nebbiolo should have a different style, otherwise why bother making it?