Must say there are some lovely wines being broached tonight. @NicolaR, not that I’ve been lucky enough to try it but ( x3 )
I’m pretty good at finding excuses to indulge myself, this week’s was, I’ve nearly finished decorating the entrance landing and its doors and framework
There was some lovely produce on the fish counter in Waitrose earlier today. For starters…
King scallops and samphire with brown lime butter…
…( it’s a 2016 ). It had quite a mealy lees-y nose when first opened. Now, the mealy notes are still present but the fruit has now come to the fore, white peach, citrus and subtle spice come to mind. Very similar on tasting but nothing predominates, all those notes come together in an integrated whole. It’s fresh, subtle, elegant, unforced and all too easy to drink. One of those wines that slowly creeps on you in its deliciousness !
The main was another attempt at dover sole with capers, lemon and brown butter. After last weeks underdone sauce, this time it was much better ( butter ? )…
…hmm, the chardonnay is almost done. A glass, or two, of a low ABV German Riesling, to follow, doesn’t seem excessive to my mind right now, or maybe it is ?
Sipping a Caixas Alberiño 2016 while watching Scotland get a decent start. It was made for Majestic by Martin Codax and is a pleasant wine; lots of granny Smith, sharp apricot, and restrained lemon. I also want to say a bit rustic but without clear explanation. Nice drink!
Breaking into more of this month’s WWF selection. Absolutely fruit-laden which masks it’s 14.5% potency Paired with our sirloin and pepper sauce brilliantly.
May I enquire as to whether it is just the shape of the decanter creating an optical illusion, or does it really look so dark up close? That’s an incredible amount of colour for a 25 year old Nebbiolo.
Mozzarella, n’duja, artichoke. The Massalino Barbera is a perfect match. Enough fruit to deal with the spice, enough structure to cut through the fat. I will be looking out for the 2018.
@Embee - looks great, and snap with the scallops and samphire. I owe @danchaq for the idea for the sauce, as last year he suggested using Seville oranges to make a hollandaise, so back in January I froze some ice cubes from their juice. I cooked scallops with asparagus, samphire, Jersey Royals and a Seville orange hollandaise. We drank Dirler-Cadé Muscat, 2017.
I love a dry muscat with both asparagus and scallops, and this is a great example. Super-floral nose of jasmine and lavender, and unmistakeable muscat grapiness. It’s dry, airy and light, with a big saline and mint hit on the finish. My notes say it’s a wine from young Grand Cru vines - 70% Saering, 30% Spiegel - and the pedigree shows. Happy Weekend!
I’m with Mrs Adb! I found myself thinking ‘ come on Olive and Mabel’ quite early on in the match. To be fair I think they would have made a better decision on the first Scottish ‘try’ than the ref
We opened one of these tonight - worked nicely with a simple dinner of sausages & jacket potato & rocket. A bit of a brash teenager with obvious fruit & some tannins & wafty wet-wood-smoke, and - just about - a bit of tea / wet rock somewhere in all that. For my tastes, the fruit predominates a bit too much just now though and IMO this will be better with a bit more time on its side. Very enjoyable though, and we had kind of expected it wouldn’t be quite ready yet.
Bit daft replying to your own post but here goes … Massive coincidence but I have just realised that this malt has been lying in state in an Octave of one of these, which is another favourite, following the TWS wine & chocolate tasting event last month. FWIW one of the sweetest, most easy going malts I have ever tried.
Hi
A combination of the decanter and my photography. Darker and richer in colour than Burgundy, probably about the level of a mature claret, if you see what I mean.
On an old favourite tonight - 7 Fuentes from Suertes del Marquis. For some it will taste weird (it has a very stron irony/mineral aftertaste that I imagine some would find offputting), but delicious as far as I’m concerned. At pre-Brexit Spanish prices it was a no-brainer, but interestingly it’s one wine where the Spanish prices including UK duty and VAT plus shipping still look much more attractive than anything I can see in the UK.
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( x3 )
Paired with our sirloin and pepper sauce brilliantly.
but here goes … Massive coincidence but I have just realised that this malt has been lying in state in an Octave of one of these, which is another favourite, following the TWS wine & chocolate tasting event last month. FWIW one of the sweetest, most easy going malts I have ever tried.