Golly I feel such a lush kicking-off this weekend’s thread, but in mitigation, we are an hour ahead of Blighty. A predictable disappointment this morning - in the low cloud and drizzle I headed off up to my 2000m secret location of the best myrtille / bilberry picking - but 6 weeks later than usual - to find zilch to pick. Too late or maybe the season was barren, but no jam this year.
Having gained 3 hours ToH and I decided to stage a Masterchef-style pizza cooking competition. Using the same base ingredients we each made one and had a cook and taste-off.
The winner (who will remain nameless on this occasion), was the one who bagged the lower shelf on the fan oven, which made for a crispier bottom.
The wine ? Oh yes nearly forgot. An Enantio 2018, Bongiovanni; a travel souvenir from last year. Enantio is an indigenous variety from Trentino, and is related to Marzemino, Lagrein and ultimately, Pinot. And it tastes just like it would; mellow, fruity, easy, dangerously alcoholic 14.5 abv, but a nice subtle peppery stalkiness to keep the show on the road. Perfect pizza wine in other words.
postscript - just posting the celebratory fizz from last night; ToH’s 20th anniversary - to the day - of her official French domicile, needed something nice and fizzy, so I opened this recent supper party guest donation (none of this Prosecco nonsense in France I’ll have you know) a grower-elaborant rosé Champagne which is, tbf, entry level ( I think it retails around €17) but quand-même, very pleasant with a nice balance of summer fruits, acid, and brioche autolytic flavours. No I wouldn’t exactly swap this for a Prosecco.
The earlier thunderstorms here cleared up, to leave a lovely fresh evening for eating outside - there are showers forecast for tomorrow, so this may be the last before heading home on Sunday. I cooked some brochettes de poisson from the supermarket fish counter, and served with a harissa-spiced ratatouille. We drank Moritz Prado, Nous Sommes Libres “Schiste”, 2021.
A blend of riesling and sylvaner, fermented on the skins for eight months in amphorae, and yes, pretty full-on natural in style. However, it manages to remain very clean. High acidity, with very well controlled tannins given the length of time on the skins, and a mélange of crisp apple, fresh lime and Asian pear. Bought with the thought that it would be great on an evening like this, and it was
A relatively simple but nevertheless enjoyable start to the weekend here food and wine-wise. So, with a venison cheeseburger ( er, more specifically a brie laden panini ! ), chips and salad.
A Stellenrust ‘Stellenbosch Manor’ Cinsault 2021. It’s probably worth mentioning that it falls into my sweet spot for inexpensive, savoury, medium bodied, red fruited wines.
Anyway, a translucent cerise colour. Strawberries, red cherries, potting soil and a touch of oak derived spice on the nose with similar flavours on the soft and supple palate. Fresh acidity and light tannins provide lift and structure to the ripe but savoury fruit and oak flavours.
All in all, no complaints whatsoever for the £7.50 paid when last discounted at Waitrose. As they’ve got a similar offer on now, I bought two more this morning, albeit for £8.25 this time ( presumably chancellor related ).
A birthday treat for me( belated due to weather!). My wife treating this old man x x
La Roussille, by the Sevre Niortesse was just brilliant, Langoustines followed by exquisite Poulpe and this wonderful wine. My Yorkshire wife was so pleased to find , hidden in the finaries, sweet ‘mushy’ peas but beautifully minted.
We don’t usually drink Gewurz with a fish pie – but this one was a curried fish pie (a much-loved Jamie Oliver recipe), so it felt right to invite Mr Blowsy to accompany it:
According to the Domaine’s website “Wahlenbourg is the name of one of the three castles overlooking Eguisheim and Husseren-les-Châteaux… Wahlenbourg is a blend of different plots facing south and east on the localities Felsacker, Sundgass and Hissererweg, three predominantly limestone and marl terroirs”… So far so geeky – but what did it taste like? Well, wonderful – with the usual caveat that if Gewurz is not your sort of thing you may think I’m barking
It had the usual gorgeous nose we so love in the grape – rose water, apricots and oranges with stem ginger, cinnamon and quite sensual floral jasmine notes. On the palate it was rich (RS is 21g/l), but harmonious and so immensely quaffable. There was citrus (orange in the main), ripe fresh apricots and pineapple, with floral back notes, warm ginger and cinnamon. The finish was rather long, leaving an orange zest and peppermint freshness which lifted the whole ensemble. Fantastique!
A Barolo last night to go with ragu and pasta. This was given to me as a gift to christen my wine fridge (the first one) when I bought it. Nice wine and it was definitely into the tertiary flavours but was not as exciting as I expected it to be. Lacked the simultaneous depth and lightness that I expect Barolo to have.
Sorry for the tongue-in-cheek comment. I was genuinely surprised by the fall off on demand, particularly the country variation. I guess most of that demand hits every day style of wine (and not EP stuff)
Opening this tonight.
The wine is made from some of the very few ungrafted vines in France.
Made from vines planted in 3 very sandy granite plots in Moulin à Vent:
Bois Maréchaux
Les Caves
La Teppe.
Hand harvested 50% whole clusters
3 weeks fermentation with light extraction
18 months aged in barrel.
I suspect the old vines, planted between 1870-1882, will result in a very low yield which should hopefully give high concentration. Thibaut Liger-Belair’s average yield is around 28hl/ha. But for 145 year old vines it is to be going less than that for this wine.
Lots of sediment, so will have to decant…the question is how long in the decanter? Eating around 8pm…tasting note posting to follow
Tonight a casserole of Aberdeen Angus steak offcuts, carrot batons, onion, garlic, thyme, Marsala, beef stock and 500ml of leftover CdeR. To be slow cooked at 150C for 3 hours. To go with a bottle of Mourchon 2020, perhaps a bit young but robust enough for a stew.
Looking forward to our trip to Europe but first I’ve booked a dinner at Mon Plaisir before Eurostar and then a dinner at Le Train Bleu before we head down track to Milan.
01438 741177
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