Veggie cooking class at Claridges, 19th May

After enjoying last year's Summer Party Masterclass at Claridges, where we found out what were THE season's canapes and cocktails - I quote the promotional literature - Mum and I went on a vegetarian cooking class which was held last Saturday.

We met up at Euston where we survived a lively encounter with some Blackpool fans on their way to the Championship play-off final at Wembley (I had no idea who they were at the time, but have subsequently done my homework). They were clad in orange shirts singing "Where the fuck is Leicester Square?!" at the tops of their voices at 10.30 in the morning, so moving swiftly on we made our way to Brook Street for a quick whirl round Fenwicks before arriving at Claridges. Here we were shown through to the Foyer area for coffee and biscuits. There was no patisserie, which was a shame as I'd skipped breakfast to enable me to pig out on pain au chocolat. Oh well. We met the other people on the course - there were 7 of us altogether, including two blokes - and a lively conversation about bell-ringing ensued before we were whisked downstairs to the butchery room (the irony! but there was no meat in evidence) and seated round a rectangular table.

Once again the demonstration was given by Martin Nail, who's the head chef of Claridges. I remember being confused last year as the restaurant at Claridges is a Gordon Ramsay operation, but it's completely separate from the hotel kitchen and Martin isn't in the least bit shouty. There followed about three hours of lovely foodie discussion as various dishes were cooked in front of us. This included a demonstration of how to make a foam using a soda siphon, and the foamy pureed peas were indeed delicious. A lot of time was spent making pasta with a pasta machine, which was of less interest to me as there's no way I'll be making my own pasta in the near future, but it tasted jolly good. There was an opportunity for audience participation at this point but Mum and I preferred to watch, which was fine.

Throughout the various demonstrations, ingredients were passed round for us to look at, and occasionally a plate and teaspoon would appear and we would get to taste something. Martin gave us lots of tips and I made plenty of notes in the recipe booklet. I was interested to hear his experience of visiting Noma, who are coming to do a pop-up restaurant in Claridges for 10 days during the Olympics. I got an email about this a few weeks ago and G and I dithered about booking but eventually didn't - anyway, we wouldn't have got in because Martin said they were fully booked within an hour of the email going out. A snip at £195 per head!

After the demonstration, we were served lunch which was 2 courses with a glass of vino (a choice of red or white Rhone) plus coffee and petits fours. Eventually, aware that Dad was waiting for us, we made our excuses and left shortly before 5.00. Not a bad way to spend five and a half hours. Maybe it was because the mix of people was different and included some who had been to almost all the different classes, but this year the atmosphere seemed more relaxed and I was able to whip out my phone to get some photos.

Asparagus with almond puree (secret ingredient: amaretto!)

Aubergine tart with a courgette lattice - a real showstopper

Pasta thing with pea puree

Lunch is served!

Pudding

Petits fours (these weren't all for me, honest)

SPNS dinner, 18th May

Last weekend was one of those weekends where, after what seems like months of doing nothing in particular, suddenly there's a whirlwind of activity.

First up was the Swiss Pinot Noir Society which met at the Savile Club on 18th May. There were seven of us this time, as P's wife joined us, so we tasted more wines than usual, but had less of each.

We started with an Austrian sparkling red from P, called Strohmeier Rot Sekt. I have to hand it to P that he does come up with the strangest wines very much in the spirit of the Society! Unfortunately, red sparklers are not my bag and I only managed a couple of small sips before bailing out. The other verdicts were marginally more favourable but the similarity to fizzy Ribena was remarked upon and most found it interesting but not something they'd be particularly keen to have again. At least "undissolved paracetamol" was not mentioned this time!

Moving swiftly on, P presented a 2011 pedro ximinez from Chile. I wasn't the only one who had no idea that pedro ximinez came in a different style from the extraordinary sweet and gloopy sherry. For me, this was aromatic and went down a treat after the first wine (= it was cold and white!) but I suspect it was the sort of thing that would get boring after the first glass. D made an unusually sharp comment: "like a weak sauvignon blanc" and generally it was regarded as a little superficial but not bad. T said "This is fun; in the founding spirit of the SPNS". When P revealed that it cost less than £4 we were all pleasantly surprised.

We moved upstairs at this point to have dinner and it was on to the serious wines of the evening. First up was a Nuits St Georges 1er Cru Clos de la Marechale 2005 from Jacques-Frederic Mugnier, provided by ACC. I wasn't familiar with this producer but we could immediately tell that this was serious stuff, very classy, rich and quite heavy, with a great finish. Everyone rated it very highly and G and I both gave it a 10 - hurrah! The only debate was over whether it would improve with more time. P said it was infanticide to drink it now but my end of the table disagreed, feeling it was on the plateau and wouldn't get worse with age but wouldn't get better either. Quite honestly, I don't see how it could. Have just done some homework on Mugnier and see that a certain wine merchant has the 2008 for £69 - ouch. Thanks to ACC for sharing this with us!

Then there was a rose provided by T, from the Loire, called Les Nuages 2009. G and I both found peaches going on in this, and D got strawberries. It was unexpectedly fruity which led us to speculate that perhaps it wasn't actually pinot noir. P wrote something provocative in the book about rose wines being girly and pointless. He's entitled to his opinion but I don't agree.

Not very Chassagne

After that it was on to the reds, starting with my Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru La Maltroie 1999 from Domaine Amiot. I got three bottles of this at auction and this was the last one. It was generally well-received but once again didn't seem very typical of Chassagne, being big and rich and with black fruit. Still only an 8.

Blockbuster!

D provided us with yet another rarity from the US, this time a 1996 Napa Valley Zinfandel called Edizione Pennino from Niebaum-Coppola. This reduced the usually loquacious T to a monosyllable - "Wow!" I found it lovely, soft and mature with big blackberry fruit. G said "an honour and a pleasure to drink" which sums it up very well. When are we going to raid D's cellar in the US?

Sadly, the Inverse Law of Labels did not apply in this case

Then we had G's wine, Smerenie 2009 from Romania.This claimed to be a mixture of shiraz, (syrah surely?), pinot noir and dornfelder. Perhaps the New World-isation of the grape name was a sign of things to come, as this was your typical "international" wine, completely failing to display any sense of terroir. It was also incredibly alcoholic and basically a headache in a glass. G wrote his comment in the book first and seemed to like it at that stage, but I think we all started to get diminishing returns quite quickly.

P provided a third wine, the hilariously-named "Rikiki - Elixir des Anges" which was apparently a 15% Julienas. Was this actually from Beaujolais? Once again, it was seriously weird, but interesting. "What the hell is that? Late harvest gamay? WTF?" wrote G. Some detected prunes and fruit jelly while I found it like Ribena with apple. We all thought it got better with time and chilling, and when T tried it with his blue cheese, that was declared to be a good combination. So, it grew on us, but whether it could ever be described as the elixir of angels is, frankly, debatable.

Finally, I'd brought along a bottle of Pacherenc de Vic Bilh but sadly this turned out to be corked, so it was just as well I'd brought the Chassagne too. I've noticed that the corked rate seems to be high for me at SPNS dinners - is it sod's law or just that I'm taking more risks than I usually would, in a hopeless attempt to beat D who always wins? Either way, memo to self to bring 2 bottles in future.

A mixed bag

My prizes of the evening: best white goes to ACC for the Nuits St Georges, best red goes to D (of course) for the Napa Valley Zin, and most in the spirit of SPNS goes to P for his trio of curiosities. A bientôt!

A random white and a cocktail

First, the random white - this was one of the mixed bag we got from the Wine Society a few weeks ago. It's Hilltop Neszmelyi Cserszegi Fuszeres 2011. I wouldn't like to try pronouncing that... Apparently Cserszegi Fuszeres is a "unique Hungarian crossing" of Irsai Oliver (which I've never heard of either) and Gewurztraminer. It was light and certainly very aromatic and did indeed remind me of a gewurztraminer but at £5.75 a bottle, it's a bargain basement alternative - fantastic! It was only 11% alcohol too. We thought it would go well with curry and would also be a good party wine, and I'll definitely be getting some more.

As for the cocktail, this was a sloe gin martini! It was made with a combination of normal gin - I had some Hendricks lying around on this occasion - and a miniature bottle of sloe gin, which I was delighted to receive from a friend on her return from a trip round the Plymouth Gin distillery. We used the miniature it to make two martinis, one each, and they certainly looked beautiful. However if I ever get the chance to do this again, I'd probably use the miniature to make four martinis, as the ratio of sloe gin to normal gin was a little too high. Tant pis!

Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru "Clos St Jean" 1983, Domaine Ramonet

Last Sunday G and I felt the need for something decent to accompany our dinner, and he brought up this Chassagne which had been lurking in his flat completely forgotten about, by me at any rate. This was my penultimate bottle. I can't believe I haven't blogged about it before, so this shocking state of affairs must be corrected immediately.

I'm a huge fan of red Chassagne and of Ramonet, so when this appeared in an auction catalogue, I jumped at the chance. I suppose there was some risk involved (murmurs of "provenance" can be heard wafting up from SW2) but on this occasion I got lucky and got 5 bottles for a fraction of what they're worth, if you could get them on the open market which it appears you can't.

What's remarkable is how well this wine has aged. It certainly looked old, and in the glass could best be described as mahogany, but in the decanter with a lit candle on the other side, it glowed a beautiful ruby colour, an effect I tried to capture with my camera, with a little assistance from G. Having checked previous posts, I see I was equally thrilled with the appearance of the 2007 red Chassagne that ACC shared with us last year.

A levitating decanter full of delicious Chassagne

On the nose I found it quite sweet with stewed red berries, while G detected a hint of the farmyard. It was a glorious nose which led created expectations, and it delivered! It was clearly made from ripe fruit and was rich but also earthy and with a certain savoury quality on the finish too. The tannins had softened and the fruit had faded but what was left was full of charm and elegance. G did actually use the word "transcendental" in a bid for a place in Pseud's Corner. All in all, tres Chassagne. It was hard to imagine a wine in this style tasting any better than this, so it was a very clear 10. It even worked with tuna fishcakes (although it was better with cheese).

One bottle left. I really hope it's not a duffer!

Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru "Aux Combottes" 2007, Domaine Odoul-Coquard

Having neglected the Premier Cru Project lately, we got back on the case a couple of weeks ago with this wine which G bought en primeur after a visit to Domaine Odoul-Coquard in Morey-St-Denis back in 2008. It was a blazingly hot day and we arrived to find nobody about apart from an exceedingly elderly gentleman in a pair of blue overalls sporting the horniest toenails I've ever seen. Fortunately, shortly afterwards the rest of the family emerged from somewhere, the toenails retreated out of sight, and we had a damned good tasting.

As previously mentioned, I'm not the biggest fan of Gevrey as a style of burgundy as I often find it too macho, but I was hoping that the fact that this was from the relatively light and charming 2007 vintage would make it more approachable. It was a dark, plummy colour and glinted in the glass. On the nose, it was lively and fruity with stewed plums and star anise. On the palate, it was refined and supple but we felt it was still a baby and would need to be tucked away for a few more years. So currently a 9, but with potential to become a 10. Old school Cote de Nuits premier crus often need 10 years so I wouldn't be surprised if this came into its own in 2017. I'm sure it will be worth the wait.

A trio from Domaine Felettig

A few weeks ago, we were having lunch at ACC's place and he offered G and me a glass of rose wine en aperitif and invited us to guess where it was from. After about six wrong attempts, eventually we whittled it down to the Cote de Nuits. ACC then revealed that it was a rose wine made by Domaine Felettig in Chambolle-Musigny. Pink burgundy is unusual, and as it opened up in the glass we could tell this was something special. Often rose wines are too sweet for my taste or just not very interesting, whereas this had lovely berry fruit and good acidity. We promptly ordered a case and have been getting through it at a rate of knots. It's only 12.5% alcohol and the perfect refreshing wine for the summer, either with or without food. We'll have to make sure T gets to try some in due course as I'd like to hear his opinion as a connoisseur of rose wine.

We also received a case of the long-anticipated Cremant de Bourgogne, Blanc de Blancs which is as elegant and toasty as I remembered and could certainly be confused with champagne but is much better value. Also, it's just 12% alcohol which is a good thing in my book.

A rare sighting of a bottle of Vieux Marc with some marc still in it

And finally, G ordered some Vieux Marc de Bourgogne as supplies sadly ran out some time ago. If the photo at the top looks rather like a husband and wife pairing, this is the granddaddy. Note the fabulous yellow wax seal, which causes mayhem as it has to be hacked off, spraying shards all over the kitchen sink. The effort is well worth it, however, as the contents are so delicious. This is an old favourite and rightly so - we shall soon be needing to place another order!

All three are first-rate examples of their type. Felettig ranks no.1 on my list of domaines I haven't visited, although G has, the lucky so-and-so. One day I would love to go to Chambolle-Musigny and rectify this glaring omission! In the meantime, the wines are available from the Burgundy Portfolio.

Audiffred tasting, 29th March

On Thursday night I took the snazzy new Metropolitan Line round to the City for what was described as a Domaine Bernard Audiffred Supper hosted by ACC of Burgundy Portfolio fame. This was no mere "kitchen supper" and there were no jerry cans in evidence either.

We had a glass of champagne to start and then moved swiftly on to the main event, five wines from this domaine which ACC discovered last year. And what a discovery it has been!

First up was this white Beaune. It's described as Chaume Gaufriot which I believe is a specific vineyard but not a premier cru. Waffly versatile...

ACC had been looking for a white Beaune to replace old favourite Clos de Mouches from Yves Darviot, as Yves has now retired. This was a 2010 as were all the wines we tasted, so it was incredibly young at this stage and had a lot of oak but it had the acidity to suggest that in 3 years or so it will be something really interesting. I detected tropical fruit, bananas and cream on the palate and wrote that it was lovely with a great finish. Let's just say a case is on order.

Next, we had a village Gevrey-Chambertin "Les Marchais" alongside an Aloxe-Corton "Les Valozieres". This was a fascinating comparison.

The Gevrey was a purple colour and was mouthwatering with the trademark note of liquorice and some redcurrant fruit. It had a core of acidity and the finish went on for minutes. Usually I'm not a big fan of Gevrey as I tend to find it too powerful and hardgoing but even I loved this, and everyone else did too. It also went very well with the steak we were eating.

The Aloxe, by contast, was more of a ruby colour as hopefully the photo shows (it's the one on the right). You rarely see Aloxe on sale in the UK which ACC maintains is because the French regard it highly and keep it all to themselves. This seemed a bit dumb on the nose after the Gevrey, but had elegance and a burst of amazing berry fruit. The view was that it didn't go as well with steak but that game would have suited it better. Also, whereas the Gevrey should be ready in 4-5 years, the Aloxe will need 7-8. Drinking it so young was infanticide!

Finally, we had two wines from Vosne-Romanee, where Domaine Audiffred is based. One was a village wine, the other was from the vineyard "Au Champs Perdrix". Conversation was flowing so much by this stage that I failed to make proper notes, but the gist was that the Perdrix was a step up in terms of quality, as you'd expect. The general consensus was that it was worth the premium. ACC provided us with a map of Vosne-Romanee and we pored over it to see the location of the vineyard, which is a stone's throw from several grand cru vineyards including La Tache, Richebourg and Romanee-Conti.

Considering that these wines were from the 2010 vintage and had been bottled so recently that the vintage labels weren't ready and had been stuck on by hand, they showed extremely well at all levels. A great tasting, and a domaine to watch.