Eckington Manor Cookery School - Food and Wine Matching

Wow! What a great food and wine matching event at Eckington Manor last Friday.

Their chef Dean did a marvellous job producing (in such a short space of time) some superb dishes to match to a diverse range of wines. The line-up was as below, I have added some comments on how the wines went with the dishes, the wine voted best match is in blue;

Bosworth Ash goats cheese, sweet potato and local leek fritata
2007 Sancerre, Domaine Chotard, Loire Valley, France
2007 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, Isabel Estate, New Zealand

The Sancerre was preferred with the fritata as it was lighter in style and more mineral driven and didn't overpower the dish, whereas the New Zealand example was much more pungent and stronger in flavour overpowering what was a delicate goats' cheese.

Warm seared tuna niçoise
2007 Chiaretto, Ca dei Frati, Lombardy, Italy
2007 Tavel Rosé, Domaine de la Mordorée, Rhône Valley, France

The Tavel Rosé was judged the best match with delicious up-front ripe fruit and great weight and flavour. Dean had added sun blushed tomatoes, olives and shallots to the dish which the Tavel stood up to admirably.

Slow cooked Highland beef, thyme and crème fraîche potato cake
2006 Chianti Rufina, Selvapiana, Tuscany, Italy
2006 ‘Jester’ Shiraz, Mitolo, McLaren Vale, Australia

A tight contest here! The Chianti showed typical high acidity and tannin without the food but with the food softened and showed it's true colours, marrying beautifully and lifting the delicious meat flavours. The Jester Shiraz was also a good match, but perhaps a touch overpowering if one was splitting hairs!

Granny Smith apple tart with marzipan ice cream
2006 Coteaux du Layon Chaume, Domaine des Forges, Loire Valley, France
2001 Château La Clotte Cazalis, Sauternes, Bordeaux, France

Both of these wines were an admirable match, however the presence of jam in the base and the marzipan ice cream meant that the sheer weight and botrytis of the Sauternes was the victor.

A great time seemed to be had by all!

Lucy, Jackie and the team were a great help, take a look at their website here

The Upside of the Downturn!

Great wine dinner at Russells of Broadway last night!

Well we are told that we are officially in a recession, but judging by the turnout last night you would never have guessed. Nearly seventy, very happy guests enjoying some of the best value wines in these parts matched to a delicious menu. My opening speech said it all - 'drink smarter'. With the chancellor now taking £1.57 in duty on every bottle (before VAT) we owe it to ourselves to drink wines over the £7-8 mark and get a wine with greater complexity and depth. Sip not sup and spend a bit more. Look for good producers in lesser vintages, Bordeaux's second wines and those level entry wines produced by the great and good (such as Javillier's and Avignonesi's).
The wines tasted last night included;

Prosecco dei Colli Treveigiani IGT Frizzante Ca Morlin, Veneto, Italy
Great easy drinking aperitif
***
2006 Bourgogne Blanc, Cuvée des Forgets, Patrick Javillier, Burgundy, France
Elegant, refined and with delicious underlying minerality. Oak superbly integrated.
***
2005 Rosso Avignonesi, Tuscany, Italy
After a while opened up in the glass, perfumed, elegant, refined and very classy for under a tenner.
***
2005 Château Fayau, Cadillac, Bordeaux, France
Amazing value Sauternes 'look-a-like'. Sweet, balanced and with a good streak of acidity.

The next dinner is an Italian event on Thursday 26th February, if you are interested do book early!

Happy New Year!

Gosh, it has been a while since I posted some news, time has flown by and I cannot believe that the Mitolo dinner in November was the last event I covered.

Since then we have had the Christmas Tasting at Chipping Campden School and the very successful London Tasting at the St. Stephens Club. Christmas flew past and much drinking of special bottles took place....... and now we have our great Bin End Sale.

Well if you are looking for a bargain look no further as there are some marvellous wines at amazing discounts. Move fast as stocks are limited - download the full list here

Don't miss possibly the best value wine dinner ever taking place at Russell's of Broadway on Thursday 22nd January. The title is 'the upside of the downturn' and it features wines (and food) that offer great value for money. At £30 per head which includes an aperitif and three courses each matched to a wine it's just what we need to cheer is up in these uncertain times!
View the full details here

Mitolo Magic!

Thursday night was a Mitolo dinner at Russells of Broadway and what a great line-up of wines all matched to some terrific dishes created by head chef Matt Laughton. Brett Crittenden from Mitolo and was on hand to talk through the wines and add a bit of Aussie spirit to the event. The menu and wines were as below, I have added tasting notes and comments on all the combinations;

canapés
2008 Jester Sangiovese rosé, Mitolo

Superb dry rosé that was less weightier than previous vintages and all the better for it.
***
Grilled salmon with beetroot, apple and watermelon salad
2008 Sauvignon Blanc, Shaw and Smith

Wow! The pure zesty zip in this wine was a delight and it worked a real treat.
***
Braised heel of Scotch beef with mashed potato, glazed button onions,
wild mushrooms, salsify and a red wine and anise Jus.
2006 Jester Shiraz, Mitolo

Superb value, perfect weight and flavour with this very meaty and flavoursome dish.
2006 G.A.M. Shiraz, Mitolo

A big step up in complexity from the Jester, intense, satisfying and very, very long. A great match for the beef and especially the red wine and anise jus.
***
Warm Shropshire Blue, fig and walnut tart with honey dressing and watercress
2007 Jester Cabernet Sauvignon, Mitolo

Elegant yet weighty with a hint of sweet fruit.
2004 Serpico Cabernet Sauvignon, Mitolo

With a touch of maturity and delicious concentrated, intense, rounded sweet berry fruit.
***
Poached dried fruit compote with salted caramel ice cream
Rutherglen Muscat, Rosewood Vineyards, Chambers

I can think of no better dessert wine for this dessert. Stood up to the chilled ice cream and complemented the dried fruits to perfection.

A great night, enjoyed by all.............

Coonawarra maestro - Kym Tolley of Penley Estate

It was great to have Kym Tolley from Penley Estate call by yesterday afternoon. He is a very well respected Aussie winemaker who originates from two pioneering Australian wine families the Penfolds and the Tolleys. I wasn't aware that John Duval was a great friend of his - in fact he was best man at Kym's wedding and they worked together at Penfolds.
He loved seeing Chipping Campden even though it was a rather damp and miserable afternoon and we managed to taste through a few wines which I have listed below. Since a number of his wines were featured in the last edition of the Wine Advocate (and received very complimentary scores) he has had even greater interest from the American market.
We tasted through the following wines;
2004 Chardonnay Penley Estate, Coonawarra
Beautifully ripe without that overpowering opulence you often find in Aussie Chardonnay's. The oak enhances and lifts the fruit, showing no sign of fading, perfectly mature.
2005 Penley Hyland Shiraz, Coonawarra
Lovely fruit on the palate with a hint of chocolate and spice, fantastic silky texture. Kym reckoned that 2005 was a great year for Shiraz. We certainly don't disagree.
2006 Penley Phoenix Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra
2006 was a great year for Cabernet and this is a beautifully made wine with the emphasis on elegance rather than power. The terra rossa soils in Coonawarra are perfect for Cabernet and this is drinking well now but will be even better in a year or two. This wine was recently voted Australia's best value red by the Australian Penguin Wine Guide. A great accolade indeed.
We hope Kym is able to return to present a tasting, perhaps in the Autumn of next year. His wines offer incredible value for money and are well worth trying, we certainly will be showing some of them at our Christmas tasting.

A tour of Italy at Hicks Brasserie

Thursday night I conducted a hugely successful wine dinner at Hick's Brasserie at the Cotswold House Hotel.

The event was a complete sell out, we could have sold it nearly twice over!

The concept was quite simple - an aperitif with canapes followed by five courses each matched to a different wine.

The line-up and comments are as below:

Olives, salami, air dried ham
Prosecco dei Colli Treveigiani IGT ‘Frizzante’, Ca’ Morlin, Veneto

Light, fresh and quite delicious with the antipasto
***
Herb gnocchi, roasted butternut squash, braised pigs cheek, Parmigiano Reggiano
2007 Soave Classico, Pieropan, Veneto

Stood up to the pigs cheek beautifully, a great marriage!
***
Mascarpone & parsley risotto, grilled sea bass, white balsamic jelly

2007 Fiano/Greco, A Mano, Puglia

One of the surprises of the night, the lemon and apricot fruit with a hint of richness was a good foil to the risotto and balsamic jelly without overpowering the sea bass
***
Char-grilled poussin, orecchiette, aromatic tomatoes, artichokes, smoked aubergine, basil

2006 Chianti Rufina, Selvapiana, Tuscany

Beautiful wine at the early stages of it's life, elegant, balanced and complex with delicious layered fruit. A stunner!
***
Gorgonzola, apple & walnuts

2005 Palazzo della Torre, Allegrini, Veneto

The sweetness of fruit in this Valpolicella 'Cru' that is made in a 'Ripasso' style worked well with the blue cheese.
***
Honey & vanilla poached pear, salted chocolate & caramel mousse, tonka bean ice cream
2007 Moscato d’Asti, GD Vajra, Piemonte

The perfect wine to finish off, light in alcohol semi sweet and with a beautiful fruit/acid balance.

The one question I kept getting asked was, 'when is the next event at Hick's?'.

It will be in the new year so keep a look out on our website here and once the dates are advertised make sure you book early!

Tastings and more tastings

What a busy couple of weeks.........
I presented a tasting to the Pershore Wine Society last week which as ever was great fun. The topic was the wines of New Zealand and after tasting through eight wines what was apparent was the sheer quality of the wines coming out of this country. New Zealand don't do average - all the wines were well above average to exceptional and all represented such value for money at their respective price points. Amazing, considering as a nation of winemakers they have only been producing wines commercially since the 1980's.
The stars of the line-up were the following;
2006 Brightwater Riesling, Neudorf, Nelson - Beautiful minerality, purity and that wonderful petroleum nose which seduces the taster. Top class.
2007 Sauvignon Blanc, Kim Crawford, Marlborough - A classic Sauvignon Blanc with a lovely pungency of fruit, zippy acidity and delicious weight of flavour.
2006 Estate Chardonnay, Kumeu River, Auckland - Rich, opulent and so very Meursault like. This took some time to open up in the glass, but when it did, wow what a smorgasbord of complexity and flavour.
2006 Pinot Noir, Peregrine Estate, Central Otago - Wonderful ripe, structured Pinot Noir with delicious cherry driven fruit, fine tannins and great depth.

A day later I presented a food and wine tour of France at Hicks Brasserie at the Cotswold House Hotel. Following an aperitif each course was matched to a different wine, the menu and wines were as follows and I have added in a few comments to boot.

Parmesan choux – smoked salmon, crème fraîche on cucumber
Crémant de Bourgogne, Vitteaut Alberti, Burgundy

(Amazing quality fizz, widely admired!)
***
Chicken liver parfait, red onions, toasted rustic bread
2005 Pinot Gris Réserve, Cave de Hunawihr, Alsace

(beautiful match to the parfait, residual sugar in wine complemented the richness to perfection)
***
Sea bream fillet “bouride”, creamed leeks with garlic mayonnaise
2005 Chateau Grand Bourdieu, Graves Blanc, Bordeaux

(White Graves is often overlooked, the richness and citrussy acidity was perfect with the bouride and garlic mayo)
***
Duck leg confit “cassoulet”, white beans, pork belly, Toulouse sausage, tomato
2006 Rully, Côte Chalonnaise, Burgundy

(the acidity in the Rully cut through the fattiness of the duck and the gamey Pinot was good with the pork belly and sausage)
***
Brillat-Savarin, quince jelly, chutney, fig & almond wheel
2005 Chinon, Domaine de Beausejour, Loire Valley

(white would have perhaps been better, but this ripe mid-weight red with moderate tannins did not disgrace itself!)
***
Apple tarte tatin, vanilla ice cream
2004 Muscat de Rivesaltes, Pietri-Geraud, Languedoc-Roussillon

(the highish alcohol stood up to the ice cream and the peach and apricot fruit matched the apple tart a treat, a fine finish!)

Next week we have a Tour of Italy wine dinner at Hicks and it is a complete sell out.....so until then Bon Appetit!