Marcus Restaurant - Lunch with Wine Pairing

I made the very sensible choice to finally go to Marcus Wareing's restaurant at The Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge, called the rather catchy "Marcus".

We arrived at 12 noon to a rather empty restaurant, but we shouldn't have worried as it was soon full to the brim with hungry lunchtime diners!

We plumped for the lunch menu with wine pairing. A small pre amuse of pumpkin with goats cheese was delicious and set the tone for one of the best meals I have eaten. No photos I am afraid - it was far too lovely to start getting my phone out for food porn!

Amuse itself was smoked eel. I would never order this normally and was not sure I would like it at all, being such a fussy pants of an eater! But with truffle and a hen's egg it was lovely.

For starter I had a lightly poached and smoked piece of salmon with white onion and truffle. For this they matched a Portugese White: Bical, Nossa Calcario, Filipa Pato, Bairrada, 2014. I can't remember having a Portugese White before, but the slightly buttery flavour with the crisp citrus tang of course was super with the fish.

My main course was Halibut with seafood bisque and artichoke ravioli. The Halibut was cooked beautifully, but I would say the bisque was slightly overseasoned for my taste (and I quite like salty food!) The wine with this was LOVELY: Chablis 1er Cru, Fourchaume, Les Vapulans, Guillaume Vrignaud 2013.

Dessert was a rather lovely Tarte Tatin (the best I have ever had) and we were served a Moscatel Corado, Cesar Florido, from Jerez in Spain. Orange Blossom with sweetness and refreshing acidity, it went beautifully with the caramalised apples and pastry.

All in all in a really lovely meal, made all the better with the super wine pairings. For a special occasion or treat, I would thoroughly recommend it. As well as the great wine and food, the staff were (as perhaps you would expect) exemplary.

Now, what to match with my NYE supper for friends...!!!

http://www.marcus-wareing.com/

Wines with Christmas Dinner

So I thought we would try some different wines with each of our courses for Christmas Dinner this year. 
With only my dad and I really that interested in wine, it meant thinking about what would go with our courses, alongside what we both enjoy.


I made a bold tasting starter of Port and Stilton pate, which was always going to be tough to match a wine with, so I went for a Sancerre (2014 from Davy's). I thought the high acidity of the wine would cut through the richness of the pate, and pleasingly it did.

We had a traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, and despite decanting a rather nice Chateau Neuf du Pape (2011 from Waitrose) an hour before dinner, we were a little disappointed with it. Whilst it was smooth and had much of the flavour you would expect, it was not full bodied enough for my taste, or indeed for the meal. It just didn't stand up to the food - and I don't even eat any of the pork products (pigs in blankets and stuffing balls).

We paused for a while before dessert and dad and I had a Pinot Noir I had bought him back from California in 2013. Neither of us are massive fans of Pinot Noir, but this was fab! The best I have tasted. It benefited from a couple of hours decanting and packed a real punch whilst be smooth and having lots of black fruit flavours with some delicious earthiness. Autry Cellars is a tiny winemaker, producing approximately 1000 cases a year, so if you are in the area (San Luis Opisbo), I would suggest you go take a look. It won't be like any other wine maker you have ever been to! 

Half way through our dessert  of trifle and a chocolate bomb (a few hours later), I suddenly remembered that we had a Sauternes in the chiller: L'or du Ciron Sauternes (2012 from Marks and Spencer). It was lovely. Apricot tones with a hint of orange and silky smooth, yet still high levels of acidity. Even mum enjoyed a few sips (although my sister pulled lots of faces showing her displeasure - philistine). I am pleased to say it didn't all get drunk, so I will be serving it with NYE dessert as well...

So overall I was pretty happy with the choices I mad, just the CNdP that wasn't the right choice. I will find a better one for next year!

WSET Level 2 results

So my results came through on 23 December. I picked them up from downstairs in my block of flats after a night out and scuttled up the stairs to open them in the comfort of my home.

I was really nervous as I opened up the envelope, and you could have knocked me down with a feather when I got the result.

I passed with distinction! I got 88%, which I was really surprised about. I was pretty sure I had 6 questions wrong so thought it was pretty likely that I had another couple wrong as well, but obviously not.

I was really chuffed with the result, texted all my wine loving friends and called my parents (who I insisted gave me a round of applause when I arrived at theirs on Christmas Eve!)

I will be looking to do my Level 3 WSET in 2016.

Level 2 exam - ARGH!!!

So I did my WSET Level 2 exam a couple of weeks ago now, and only now do I feel I can talk about it in an open forum...

No I am joking. It wasn't massively hard, but it was definitely much harder than the test papers I had been practising on for the past couple of weeks. I know I made some stupid errors on things I knew, but there were a couple of questions where I just hadn't retained the specifics characteristics on that grape from that climate. There were also some questions where I talked myself out of my original gut instinct - NB never do this!!!

I know I haven't got the highest mark but fingers crossed that I got a pass/half decent mark.

I would thoroughly recommend the WSET courses. They are informative and fun. Even with the basic wine knowledge I now have, I realise that is way more than most people, and feel I can make better choices when buying wine both in the store and in bars. If I fancy a bottle and they also serve it by the glass, I now always ask for a try, so I don't end up with something I am not very keen on.

I'll update the blog when I get my result and will start thinking about if I want to do Level 3. My feeling at the moment is yes, but if I have scraped a pass on Level 2, that might turn into a no...

A couple of wines bars worth a look

So I have been spending a bit of time in Davy's wine bars of late, when I haven't been revising for my WSET level 2 wine exam (tomorrow - ARGH!!!)

I have already written a post on The Boot and Flogger but recently went wine tasting at the enomatic machines at Davy's Wine House on High Holborn, approx 5 mins walk from the tube.

More expensive per taste than the Sampler, and less choice, it's still a great way to try different wines before you buy them, and it actually influenced some of the wines I ended up getting on my last Davy's order.Pop in and stay upstairs to try the 40 odd different wines. Downstairs is a large lovely bar, that gets very busy on a Friday night! I have eaten here once and the food was pretty darn good.

I also went to their Greenwich bar 'Davy's Wine Vaults' over the past week - 1 minute walk turning right out of Greenwich station. A large traditional higher end style pub, (with the shop a couple of doors down) with dining and plenty of booths to tuck yourself into on a wintry afternoon! We stayed for a lovely bottle of Shiraz, and the staff were happy to let us try a couple of French reds before plumping for the bottle from Oz. The only disappointment was that they didn't have any in the shop when we went to get some more to take home.

So the Boot and Flogger is still my favourite Davy's to date, but you can guarantee a warm welcome and knowledgeable staff at Davy's wine bars.

I might see if I can try and get to all of them. I do have a loyalty card after all...

New Wine Tasting - Kaiken Malbec Reserve 2013

Friday night at the British Museum meant a 3 course meal and a bottle of Argentinian Malbec (a particular favourite of my dinner date and I am rather partial to it myself!)

Obviously being in a restaurant it wasn't particularly cheap, but the RRP is around £6.99.

For this price I would say it's a real bargain. With a touch of Black Forest Gateaux about it, chocolate, vanilla and plum came together with some black fruits and high tannins. ABV was 14% and of course it came from Mendoza.

I really enjoyed it, and don't eat red meat, but imagine it would be sumptuous with steak/a stew.

Have a look here for more details of the winery: http://www.kaikenwines.com/ingles/reserva.html

Cheeky Dessert Wines in Winchester

Away for the weekend with a friend of mine, we decided to stay in our hotel on the Friday night and eat and drink there.

We enjoyed our meal, but the most interesting part of it for me was the flight of dessert wines after the meal for a very reasonable £5 for three.

We were too full for dessert so ended up having them with cheese and crackers, but they were all a very pleasant way to end the evening, sweet with high acidity and lots of flavour. Also they were very generous pours for a flight!

From left to right:

• Late Harvest Sauvignon (La Playa) Chile
• Red Muscadel (Rietvallei) South Africa
• Orange Muscat and Flora (Brown Brothers) Australia

3 minute wine school

Whilst doing some Level 2 revision today, I came across the 3 minute wine videos from WSET.

Covering some of the major wine growing regions and countries of the world, they are 21 interesting bite size tutorials (all around 3 minutes) on some of the best wines, which wines go with which foods, and they may help change your mind on some potential prejudices you may have had (e.g. against German wines or Chardonnay...)

Have a look - it's 60 minutes of your life which will be well spent:

http://www.wsetglobal.com/3_minute_wine_school/default.asp

Davy's Wine Tasting at Vintners' Hall

So as my friend was over from Thailand, where wine is ridiculously expensive due to tax, I thought it would be a nice idea to go wine tasting.

Davy's wine bars/wine shop ran a tasting event at The Vintners' Hall in the City. With over 50 wines for a ticket entry of £20 it seemed like the perfect event for us.

Arriving a little earlier than my friend, I went through the list and marked a number of wines I was interested in trying.

The venue itself was beautiful. We got a 20 minute tour and found out more about the place, their Van Dyck painting, and some of the history. Alas I was so interested in what I was being told I didn't take any photos, but really should have done. It was very grand, with lots of dark wood, and beautiful paintings, rugs and tapestries.

The Livery Hall where the tastings took place was gorgeous. High ceilings and chandeliers aplenty!

We slowly made our way round the various tables, starting with white wines, then moving onto reds and finishing with a port. 

Over 2 hours we tried around 20 odd different wines, and I ended up putting in an order for 24 bottles! I tried a couple of wines that were over £100 per bottle, but the white wasn't to my my taste at all.The red was much more my thing, but not for £100!

They were doing a special mixed case for their 145th birthday. Wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux. So I purchased one of those. I also got a selection of some of the wines I enjoyed from Italy, New Zealand, Chile and a beautiful 20 year old Tawny Port.

They arrived yesterday, so I will let you know how I get on with them. 

I'd definitely go back to Vintners' Hall for a tasting. Very grand!

Here they are!

Loving a full wine rack...

WSET level 2

So I'm mid way through my Wine Spirits and Education Trust Level 2 Wine Course and really enjoying it.

The course is 9 weeks long, 2 hours per week and is at the same Bermondsey office I was at for my level 1 course back in the summer. The course is a mixture of learning by looking at an interactive white board and workbook with a tutor, and 6 tastings each week. We work through a structured tasting process to decide what standard the wine is.

We are working our way around the world focusing on different varieties each week and seeing how wines taste depending on whereabouts they come from, and the methods used in making them.

Note my beautifully modern spittoon! 

It's genuinely fascinating, and only half way through my learning, I now know so much more about wine and what I can probably expect from wines just by looking at the label.

This weekend will be spent cementing everything I have learnt to date, potentially with some tasting of my own...

Reminders of the past are everywhere in this wicked place

The majesty of the WSET classroom!

New wine tasting - Cuvee Florence

So as you know my recent trip to France has made me rethink French wine, so I hot footed it to the Wanstead Majestic and got a couple of whites and four reds from the region we visited (and a bit further afield).

The Symbiose Piquepol Sauvignon Blanc 'Cuvee Florence' 2014 is from the Cotes de Thau area (East of Beziers). Being a fan of both grapes I was really interested to try this. For the price £6.74 (on offer) I thought it was a really nice drop.

Crisp, flinty, minerally and refreshing the tropical nature of the Sauvignon did slightly overpower the Piquepol, but I thought it was very pleasant. I drank it with a fish dish, but it would be equally nice to drink by itself and try and reminisce about lazy summer days, or in our case, the wettest August on record!

For more details go to the Majestic website:
 https://www.majestic.co.uk/Symbiose-Piquepoul-Sauvignon-Blanc-Cuvee-Florence--zid10065

Wine tasting in the South of France - a final word

So we went off to the Mountains right near Mont Luis, approx 45 mins drive from Perpignan to drink all of our fabulous wines we had been buying all week.

The skiing area where we stayed, whilst void of grapes (sniff) was a beautiful area and the perfect end to a real eye opening week for me in terms of wine.

We drank 10 bottles over the 2 days out here (there was literally nothing to do of an evening but drink wine and solve the world's problems/argue about the world's best national anthem!)

It was great to have larger glasses of some of the delicious wine we had tasted earlier on in the week.

I have never really been a fan of French wine before this holiday, with the exception of areas I know such as Chablis and Sancerre.

I had always stuck with New World - largely NZ for white and Argentina/Chile and Oz for my reds. When I have been willing to pay more, then I have looked towards California and France.

We tried so many reasonably priced, very nice French wines that I am a complete convert and intend on trying wines from all over France from now on...

I went to Majestic the week I got back and picked up a case of 6, including some reds from Roquebrun. We didn't try any of the wines from there whilst we were on holiday, but we did get stuck in a tractor/grape traffic jam, so I felt like I should give them a go.
I'll let you know how I get on.

But for now - Vive la France!

a pretty darn good view to drink wine to...

Wine Tasting in the South of France - Cellar Dominicain - Collioure

So onto Collioure, a lovely little seaside town right near the border of Spain. It was very quaint, with cobbled lanes, a church, a fort, a palace and the inspiration for many impressionist and abstract painters, along with world famous anchovies!

The town was delightful and reminded me of Sitges (just south of Barcelona).

There was a fab little wine shop on the front near the main beach, and we sat there and tried some of the local grapes in a crisp white. Not too shabby!

On our second and indeed last night, we popped into the local Cave, Cellar Dominicain to try some of their wines. The AOC for the area is unsurprisingly Collioure! This co-operative took over the former monastery in 1926 and it certainly makes for a lovely tasting room.

We tried a white, a rose and 3 reds. All very drinkable and all very reasonable price wise (between 8 - 12 euros). The reds were more to my taste, and were different blends of Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah.

We picked up a few bottles to take into the mountains and went to dinner...

http://cellierdominicain.com/?lang=en

Beautiful Bacchus was everywhere

Wine Tasting in the South of France - Gerard Betrand - Chateau L'Hospitalet

So after a few days inland getting held up by a plethora of tractors, we went out towards the coast. First stop was Chateau L'Hospitalet one of the many vineyards owned by former French Rugby International, Gerard Betrand. My brother knew about his wine from the 5 different wines they sell at Majestic wine.

The setting for the Vineyard was lovely, rolling hills and the sea in the distance. It has a small hotel with a restaurant, pool etc, and a lovely large tasting room.  The tasting room was far more like other tasting rooms I had been to, particularly in California.  The two young people working when we visited were British students on their working abroad year which made it very easy for them to tell us about the wines in English.

In terms of the quality of the wine, this was my favourite of the wines I tasted over the week, but to give you an idea of scale, they produce between 20-30 million bottles a year (the youngsters told us two different figures). Compare that to the 27,000 bottles that La Grange Leon produces (the first vineyard we went to on the day we arrived).

The Chateau is one of 11 vineyards owned by Mr Betrand. We tried 7 different wines, and with the exception of a very light rose, I really enjoyed all of them. It was at this point I really started to regret that we were travelling just with hand luggage and couldn't take any home. I tried to persuade my brother to drive down here in his van next time and load it up with a plethora of lovely wine.

Dad and my brother picked up an expensive bottle for us to drink on our final night, and with a couple more bottles in hand we carried on down to the coast..

I will certainly be heading to Majestic to get some of his smooth bold reds in for long winter evenings...

http://www.gerard-bertrand.com/en/

Wine tasting in the South of France - Saint Chinian

So one of the main differences between everywhere else I have tasted wine in the world, and the Domaines and Caves in France is the size! A lot of the places we visited were very small, and would only open up for business when we arrived. Some weren't even open on a weekend, which seemed a bit of a missed opportunity to me. Also because they don't charge you to try, you do feel compelled to buy. Fortunately they were so nice it was no hardship buying them.

We went to Chateau Bousquette, just down the road from Berlou still in the Saint Chinian AOC. This was a family run business who have been organic since 1972. The lady who served us (who I think was also the owner) had excellent English, so it was really interesting to hear about how they made the wine and how the harvest was going. She also took us out back to look at their steel tanks. As ever we bought some wine - the rose and one of the reds were my favourites. 

http://theorganicwinecompany.com/history/

Then we went to another vineyard a 2 minute drive down the road, Domaine Jougla. Again the reds from this part of the region were very pleasant.

I love Syrah, and it is used a lot down here - either by itself or in a blend, often with Mourverde and Grenache or Carignan. 

Again a lovely little tasting room with one of the owners taking us through the wines. An English lady happened to be there tasting with her Scandinavian sister in law. She'd recently moved to the area so we had a good chat about the wine and what she thought of the area.

Unsurprisingly we purchased some more wine! My brother said it had been around 10 years since he had tried wines in the area at vineyards, and he felt that the wines had really come on in that time, and were much better than he remembered. 

http://www.domainedesjougla.com/

Wine Tasting in the South of France - Berlou Cooperative

So my brother managed to organise a tour of the cooperative in Berlou. Here a number of the local farmers put their grapes together and work together to produce wine and get it marketed. I didn't even realise this existed, let along that more than half of French wine is made this way! More information is here if you are interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winemaking_cooperative

It was amazing to get a tour round the site from the wine maker, Bernard. From the grapes being dropped off from trailers attached to tractors, being weighed, then right through the press and the fermentation process. My brother did a really good job at explaining the rather technical French he was being given.

Here's a small video of the grapes in action:

There was no tasting at the cooperative, but later that afternoon I went to the rather snazzy wine cave in the village, where they sold a number of different wines made at the cooperative. I tried a pink and a couple of reds. There was no one else in the shop, so the lady watched me drink the wines. No pressure to like them then!!!

Both were around the 7 Euro mark and pleasant enough, so I bought a couple of bottles to take back to the house for further quoffing...

To find out more about the wine from the village go to: http://www.berloup.com/en/

Wine Tasting in the South of France - Berlou - Le Grange Leon

So it's been a little while since my last post, largely because I have been in the South of France wine tasting!

For my dad's 70th birthday I talked about taking him to Chablis as a treat for a long weekend. This soon turned into a week in the South of France with my brother joining us.

As we flew into Bezier the vines were all over the countryside, standing up like soldiers in their regimented lines. We started off pointing out everyone we saw, but it soon became clear that wouldn't be possible. There were just far too many!

We stayed in a tiny village called Berlou. No shops and one restaurant that opens of an evening 5 days per week. This was the spot for our first tasting.

The appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) is St Chinian in this area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Chinian_AOC

La Grange Leon was a very small producer, with just 27,000 bottles a year. We tried all the wines from pink through to red and enjoyed all of them. Each of us had their favourites - mine was the L'Audacieux 2013, a blend of Carignan (40%), Syrah (35%), and Grenache (25%).

All of the wines were very reasonable price wise and we ended up getting 12 bottles to drink throughout the week. 

There were kids, dogs and tractors a plenty and it felt very much like a family business that was buzzing during harvest time. The pickers also rocked up near the end of our time there with dogs etc. Interestingly they all had a beer after they had finished for the day!

Don't waste the beautiful grapes!

mulch

Try these bad boys for size

The wine maker showed us out the back to where they were doing the first press and loading up the grapes onto an escalator that I called the 'Stairway to Grape Heaven'.

Beautiful grapes

You can find our more about the maker here: http://www.saint-chinian.pro/,us,3,85.cfm

An afternoon of New World Whites

At my last trip to The Sampler, my friend and I noticed they were holding a 'New World whites' tasting afternoon at the Islington store. Without hesitation we paid £20 and signed up.

Dawn greeted around 20 of us at the back of the store and gave some background on the difference between new world wines and old world. I was slightly aghast to find out that new world wineries can add ingredients to wine and some famous NZSB's have added sugar! Good grief!!!

We started with an NZSB. Apello 2014 (RRP £9.50). It was easy drinking, light and crisp with a citrus and apple nose. Pleasant enough and indicative of the region (Marlborough), but I've had better.

Number 2 was Emiliana Riesling 2012 from Chile (RRP £8.40). A slight kerosene nose again indicative of the grape. More body than number one and flavours of lemon and lime. I bought a bottle of this to have with a spicy meal at home. Rather nice.

The third wine was a Sottano Torrontes 2014 from Argentina (RRP £13.90). I knew by the nose it wouldn't be for me. Floral and aromatic, it reminded me of a Gewurztraminer and was my least favourite of the afternoon. The grape is only grown in this region, and I am pleased I won't come across it anywhere else...

Wine number 4 was a Chardonnay 2012 from Washington State, USA (RRP £12). I don't remember having a wine from Washington State before. It was light with plenty of pear and apple but not particularly memorable.

I preferred the second Chardonnay, Clos Du Val 2012 from Napa Valley, USA (RRP £26). The nose gave popcorn, butter and vanilla, but the taste was remarkably fresh. Delish!

Number 6 was Force Majeur Chenin 2014 (RRP £12.90) from Swartland in South Africa. Nose and taste of apple and hay this didn't do a huge amount for me, but Dawn said it would be great with salty or Asian food.

Our penultimate wine was a Penna Lane Semillion 2010 (RRP £14.50) from Australia. The nose was a struck match (I didn't get this, but once someone had said it, I could smell it!). This tasted of stone fruit like peaches and apricots.

Our final wine was Scholium Project Dulcissima Camilla 2013 (RRP £50) from Sonoma, USA.I have tried some of this unusual wine makers wine before at The Sampler and never got on with them, but this was remarkable! Not like a Sauvignon Blanc I had ever had before. The nose had marmalade and brown bread, with a kind of yeasty smell aswell.  Lovely lovely wine, but a bit pricey for my tastes...

It was an enjoyable afternoon. The pours were generous and Dawn knew her stuff. We were allowed to polish off the wines at the end and I made a beeline for the Scholium Project!

A few people seemed to want to talk among themselves rather than listen, which was a bit frustrating, and chairs would have really helped as we were standing still for quite some time.

But I learnt some new things and would return for another session! A nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Carnage at the end of the tasting!

Somm

I watched Somm last week. It's a documentary from 2012 following 4 American guys as they try to pass the prestigious Master Sommelier Exam.

It's very watchable, very enjoyable and you will be agog at the dedication of these people and their wine knowledge! Less than 200 people in the world hold the Master Sommelier title.

It's on Netflix UK at the moment and probably available globally on Netflix. Check out this fascinating documentary!

Level 2 - signed up!

After the excitement of getting 100 % on my Wine and Spirits Education Trust Level 1 exam, I have signed up and paid for Level 2!

I start have 2 hours per week for 9 weeks starting in October and I'm really looking forward to it.

I've received my course material already and am going to set a weekend aside to review it before my first session. Exciting!!!

More details on the course can be found here: http://www.wsetglobal.com/qualifications/22.asp

First trip to an English Vineyard

So despite visiting vineyards all across the New World (Australia, New Zealand and the US) I hadn't been to an English winery before!

Having tried some Bacchus from Sharpham near Totnes in Devon a few weeks before, when I found myself in Devon I thought it would be rude/bonkers not to pop in! So I left Brecon bright and early on Friday morning and hooned down to the South West. All was going well to just after Exeter, but when I got into the countryside proper I had no mobile signal - no great when the Vineyard is hidden away up a plethora of country lanes.

Totnes in the distance along the river Dart

Fortunately my perseverance paid off as I wound my way down a very narrow drive on the side of a hill towards Sharpham. The outdoor restaurant and seating areas were busy but I was able to book myself in for a 1pm tasting. The young girl was enthusiastic but very nervous and not particularly knowledgable about the wines. Strangely we were allowed to taste 3 out of 6 wines offered. Why they don't just do a 25ml pour for each tasting and let us try all 6 I don't know!
I tried a Sauvignon esque white (which was actually 100% Madeleine Angevine) and the two reds (50% Pinot Noir & 50% Pinot Noir Précoce and 100% Rondo). The reds were exactly what I was expecting - light/medium bodied very young, rather thin and not all that! I much prefer a medium to full bodied red wine. The white was nice enough and I bought a bottle of that.

The cheeses were delicious (a goat's cheese and a brie type), but as I was heading off to a hotel I knew I wouldn't be able to keep them anywhere cool to take them home.

So I set off on one of their self guided tours around the vineyard. It was a very warm day and a very warm walk (I took off my cardie!) but well worth it. It was lovely! And I could have been in France.

So after this lovely walk in the English Countryside surrounded by grapes that will soon be wine, I decided to pick up a few bottles from the store, before hot footing it to the coast and the heady heights of Torquay! 

If you are in the area I would definitely recommend you take a look. It's not as swish or organised as many of the tasting rooms and vineyards I went to in California, but it is a really lovely area, particularly when the sun is shining. 

For more information go to the website: http://www.sharpham.com/