Cocktails at the Zetter Townhouse

Last Thursday I met up with martini guru R and we went to the Zetter Townhouse in Clerkenwell for cocktails. I whizzed round on the Metropolitan Line from Euston Square to Farringdon which was a surprisingly fun experience - the old dreary grey, graffiti-marked trains have been replaced by something whizzy and modern resembling a giant bendy bus - and Farringdon station appears to have expanded to the size of several football pitches.

Unfortunately the Zetter Townhouse website seems to be down at the moment which shows the perils of relying on the online cocktail list to remember what we both had... I'd been to the Zetter Hotel for Sunday lunch before and was favourably impressed, so was looking forward to this. The Townhouse is round the corner, in a very nice Georgian building on St John's Square. You go in through the front door, past a curtain and find yourself in something that looks like someone's living room - comfy sofas and chairs, old tables, bookcases. At just before 6, it was quite full but we didn't have to wait long before someone came and found us a table tucked around a corner.

To start with we had dry martinis made with Plymouth gin, with an olive in R's case and a twist for me. They weren't served in traditional martini glasses but rather what looked like antique champagne cups, full to the brim. They were very good and in R's opinion only surpassed by the ones we had at the Lanesborough back in the days when Salvatore Calabrese was still working there.

The other cocktails we had were also very well-made and interesting with unusual ingredients, particularly in R's choices from the house cocktail list. When I asked why R had wanted to come here in particular, he said he'd seen it on some list as the no.1 cocktail bar in London, and I could understand why.

Our only quibble was that there were no free nibbles, but on the other hand the cocktails were about £8.50 so about half the price of a posh hotel bar these days. We ordered a little pot of olives to share, which came in a miniature jar. We also got unasked-for glasses of water which were regularly topped up by the waitress - we were certainly well-looked after. The atmosphere was cheerfully without being too noisy and we weren't too close to anybody else. All in all, it was a really good experience and I'll definitely be back.

Beaune 1er cru Clos des Ursules 2004, Domaine des Heritiers Louis Jadot

Another premier cru, this time from Louis Jadot. Or is it? I've just been looking at their impressively fussy and annoying website trying to work out what the difference is between Louis Jadot and Heritiers Louis Jadot - they seem to be a different group of vineyards that LJ presumably bought up a while back, although please correct me if I'm wrong!

The label says that Clos des Ursules is a 1er Cru Vigne Franches. A "clos" is a walled vineyard, so apparently this one is part of the larger Vigne Franches vineyard. Have just anxiously checked the yellow book (the Wines of Burgundy by Pitiot and Servant), failed to find it, realised this was because I was looking at Pommard not Beaune, and can confirm it does appear on their list in its own right. Phew!

This bottle cost 37 euros and came from the Boutique des Domaines which is a shop on Place Carnot in Beaune that sells quite a lot of Jadot. As Clos des Ursules is a monopole ("seul proprietaire" says the bottle) we had to have this one.

It had a dark, plummy colour and looked glossy. The nose was sweet and jammy with a tinned strawberry element. On the palate, it was soft and congruent with the nose, richer than we'd expected and in a big style. Not tres Beaune at all. We liked it more at the start than at the end - it lacked complexity, and became a little boring. It certainly showed that the 2004 reds are drinking well now, and had no room for improvement. It just about maintained a score of 8 although I feel slightly resentful writing that. Certainly not value for money, especially when I think about Giboulot's lovely Beaunes...

Saint-Aubin 1er cru La Chateniere 2007, Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey

Talk about a double-barrelled title!

I brought this back from Burgundy a couple of years ago and the trusty premier cru project spreadsheet informs me that I got it from the fabulous Mon Millesime for 26 euros. It then went to G's cellar in Rutland to be put out of the way for a while. We decided it was time to give it a whirl a few nights ago. It was in a big heavy bottle which seems to be one of these newfangled things that are made of special UV-resistant glass. It also had a wax seal, usually a good sign.

It was a lovely light gold colour and fresh and lemony on the nose = code for being too cold, as it was just out of the fridge. The palate had good body and elements of honeysuckle, elderflower and lemon sorbet. All in all, it was very precise and delightful and ranked 9/10.

I did some homework afterwards to find out more about M. Colin-Morey and see that Jancis has written him up in the past. He makes wines right up to the top level, so this seems to be confirmation of the rule that the lower wines of good producers can be excellent value.

Williams & Humbert 12 year old Oloroso

As I'm currently without a freezer, I find I'm increasingly turning to sherry as an aperitif since it doesn't require the use of ice cubes. I spotted this half bottle from Williams & Humbert in Waitrose the other day and succumbed yesterday. From memory it was around £8 but strangely it's not on their website.

It's a pale brown colour and in the dry style of oloroso. It very much reminded me of a Sercial madeira, quite sharp and nutty, with an excellent finish, and it went very well with some mixed nuts. Last night I served it unchilled, but amazingly we managed not to drink it all so there's a little bit left for this evening which I've put in the fridge. I'll be interested to see how that affects it.

Although this is quite expensive by sherry standards, G and I both felt it was actually worth it. I shan't be buying it often but it's nice to have it as an easy-to-get-hold-of option when I haven't been organised enough to lay in stocks from my usual sources. If only there were a wine merchant which did mixed cases of half bottles of sherry...

Ay Rouge, Gosset-Brabant

This is something unusual: a red Champagne made from pinot noir grapes. It's non-vintage but G seemed to think the grapes were mainly 2004; I'm not sure how he knew that. It was a nice dark purple colour and fruity on the nose, reminding us of a Beaune. On the palate, it was very smooth and had a cherry clafoutis thing going on. The finish was wonderful. At only 12.5% alcohol, it packed a considerable punch and was altogether polished and balanced - it slipped down a treat. G got this in a sale so it only cost about £25 instead of the usual £36.50. I reckon at least half of that was the cost of the bottle, which was very big and heavy, like a champagne bottle. We both liked it a lot, but at full price it wouldn't be one we'd rush to have again.

Nuits St Georges 1er cru Clos des Porrets St Georges 2004, Henri Gouges

We drank this wine the other night, approaching it with some trepidation as sometimes Nuits St Georges can be on the unapproachable side and although this may be hard to believe, we have even been known to struggle to finish the bottle! But on this occasion, there was no need to worry. It looked nice and glossy, and on the nose had inviting dark fruits, plum and cocoa. On the palate, it had a silky mouthfeel and was juicy and caressing yet rich, with a slight pear-drop element which was pleasant. We were surprised at how drinkable it was, and this confirmed our feeling that the 2004s are drinking nicely now. It didn't take long for us to agree this scored 9/10.

This vineyard is a monopole held by Domaine Henri Gouges (NB not Gougeres, as G referred to it, possibly a Freudian slip) and we often find that monopoles are better than average. I got it from the Wine Society a while back for £28.50 and I see Uncorked now have it for £36.95 which feels fair. I don't think I'll be rushing to have it again given how many other things are out there to try, but it was a good one.

SPNS dinner, 23rd Jan

Last Monday evening, four of us met up for another Swiss Pinot Noir Society dinner, held at the Perseverance pub in Marylebone. I arrived to find T and D sitting at a table at the back of the bar downstairs. We debated whether to order an aperitif while we waited for G, but we held off and our patience was rewarded as he arrived only a couple of minutes later.

The first wine of the evening was this 1997 Brut Saphir champagne from Louis Barthelemy. We weren't familiar with this producer but G came across this wine at another do, and then when he saw it on an auction list, snaffled the lot. Very good it was too - a deep golden colour, with a lovely nose, mature and yeasty. "Smells wonderful. Tastes as good as it smells" said T. High praise was recorded by everyone in the Book.

Next up, also from G, was a Rusalca Alba Crama Oprisor 2009 white brought back from his recent trip to Romania. Sadly, this failed to impress. I found it very bland and unexciting and others recorded that while not actively offensive, it was dull. Nothing going on. As we had a lot of other things to try, we didn't drink much of it. A shame, as I believe it cost a bob or two and was supposed to be one of Romania's finest offerings.

After that, we had a brace of wines provided by T, the rose specialist on the team. These were both Bandols from Domaine Tempier - 2008 and 2010. The 2010 was very pleasant, salmon pink, dry and refreshing. Everyone liked it for what it was. The 2008 was a more orange colour, and pungent on the nose. I preferred it, finding it more interesting than the 2010, but it faded quickly and we felt it was probably approaching the end of its life.

We then moved on to try the two reds side by side. First, a Vougeot 1er cru Clos de la Perriere 1996 from Domaine Bertagna, provided by me. I got this as part of a parcel of mixed Burgundies at an auction, so it squeaked into the SPNS criteria of costing below £20. It would usually cost a good deal more than that. G and I had previously had the 2005 vintage en demi and given it 10/10, so after the debacle of the corked Chambertin at the last SPNS dinner, I fervently hoped this one would turn out to be a good 'un. And indeed it was. It had a wonderful Cote de Nuits style, with lots of fruit and black cherries and was generally rich and serious. Everybody liked it. Phew!

Finally, D's wine, once again something really quite special and different. This time, it was the McGregor Vineyards Black Russian Red 1999. This vineyard is in the Finger Lakes area of New York State and the wine is made from grapes which originated in Russia. It reminded me of a claret, with big blackberry fruit and a sweet finish. It was big and dramatic, a real eye-opener. Very interesting to try against the Burgundy. 

Another great tasting, and it was good to be back at the Perseverance which has a relaxed atmosphere. I wouldn't get away with wearing my Dennis the Menace jumper at the Savile! The food was excellent and very good value, and Dom was very helpful and provided us with all the glasses we needed, being a high-maintenance bunch. This place is a real gem.