6 posts tagged “chardonnay”
From a Londoners perspective, let’s put aside those dull but immediate issues. The exchange rate is not in our favour. I was mesmerized by Zurich. A wonderful city. On my flight back I noted a few words: Tingeley, Kunst, Bahnhofstrasse, Sprüngli, Baroque, Meyer, Precision, Tranquility, Modesty and Beauty.
The wonderful combination of French and German.
Yet, Zurich has its own personality. One is reminded of Austria, Paris, Italy and some other major cities, but you know you are in Zurich. I liked that feeling.
We were blessed with sunshine. Snow/sleet fell overnight; nothing under foot.
Highlights were: the wonderful tram system; the bridges; the gothic, baroque, and architectural mix of well kept buildings; the food and the people.
Moments worthy of note: a chardonnay grappa (extraordinary flavours); Die Waid (restaurant with terrific views over the city – snow afoot); Imagine (ideal place for brunch in Rail City, the train station); Jules Verne (great little wine bar and panoramic views from the old observatory); and Brasserie Lipp (great Germanic-style food, and wonderful waiters).
Beautiful.
I spouted off to my colleagues how one should never sip from the rim of a bottle of English sparkling wine. Nyetimber (Classic Cuvee, England) was ghastly. Just awful. Expensive and awful. Did I saw awful, I should say awful – very awful?
Clearly very tired and forgetful, I opened the Grosvenor Blanc De Blancs 2004, Ridgeview Wine Estate thinking nothing more than it was one of my Blanc de Blancs (translated as white of whites: 100% Chardonnay grape). Of course, damn it’s English. Oops.
Now this is different and yes, I have the spoon & fork in the correct hands and I am wading through that pie!
Wow. This is good.
It uses the methode traditionelle (or methode champenoise and as you will recall, essentially this method allows for a second fermentation to happen in the bottle. The first fermentation is nothing special, resulting in dry, still wine, and where acidity builds up. It’s the second fermentation which gives it its character and flavour.)
Returning to the Grosvenor, the estate is located on the Sussex Downs. Ditchling Beacons is geologically rich with paludina limestone (yes, I was tempted to raid the attic to scan my old geography books; instead, I referenced Wikipedia as we all do these days).
You will recall the Champagne region's quality and character is like no other vine growing area and we speak of its “terroir”, which includes a cold, sometimes mean, northern climate and lime-rich chalk soil. Sussex Downs is replete with limestone and chalk.
The only criticism I have of the English bubbly is the nose is quite subtle. Too subtle. Perhaps I have a cold. I did give it the benefit of a wonderful flute glass. Otherwise the Grosvenor was wonderfully acidic and a bold fruity flavour. Nice. Very nice indeed.
“In victory, I deserve it, in adversity I need it.” Churchill
There were plenty more questions about champagne. So up for another round.
Which oysters marry well with which fizz? And for how long can I leave champagne in the bottle (if there’s any left-over)?
And oysters, well that’s a great question.
The learned folk out there recommend very dry white wine with oysters, notably a Pouilly Fuisse or perhaps the Chablis. Interestingly, both are made from the Chardonnay grape so champagne (Blanc de Blancs in any case) can be added to the list. Champagnes from warmer climates (non-French regions) may not have the lemony-tartness and sense of lightness familiar with French Champagnes.
Contrary to some folks’ opinions, not all oysters taste the same. Some are brinier, some are creamier, some are fatter and some are leaner.
According to Randal Caparoso, “…skinny oysters have longer shells and are oft briny, salty with a steely flavour…” he recommends a French Sauvignon Blanc, Pouilly Fume or Sancere with these longer shelled, brinier oysters.
For the fatter oysters (also known as Belons to us Europeans), Randal goes on to describe these as “…fruitier, fleshiest and most creamy textured of bivalves…” and similarly, one would expect a more aggressively aromatic dry white (Graves, Saumur Blanc, the chalkier textured wines from the Loire and Bordeaux regions) and I would include the chardonnay-based champagne again here.
And for the smaller oysters (Olympia & Kumamoto). These Pacific oysters are usually “…mild, small, yet meaty, almost lushly flavorful…” Randal recommends a light lemony tart juice than fruity style.
As for how long can one leave champagne in the bottle (if any left over); it gives me great pain to picture any wines left in the bottle for too long; that said, all great things, including champagne, should be savored and had in moderation, I have kept a bottle capped and refrigerated for up to one week.
The sun is down. I am in need of my daily flute…
First challenge of the year, I’ll confess I failed dismally. Invited to dinner, I tried not to play sommelier for the evening and avoid matching the wines with the food. Impossible. Did I say I failed; well, I failed but did so creatively. Hours before the evening commenced my thumbs and fingers hit the blackberry keyboard like a musician takes to his Yamaha on his first night. Clumsily. I couldn’t resist and probed my host for details of ingredients, flavours, foods and vegetables. Yes, I extracted the last crumb of information. Exhausted, I scanned my little wine cupboard for something(s) appropriate.
We started with an amuse bouche of Hungarian fois gras (with added tokai wine) and a glass of Muscat de Beaumes de Venise. Love to accompany this wine at the start; it aptly sets the scene for a beautifully relaxed evening. Muscat is made by adding grape spirit to the partly fermented must which produces deliciously sweet wines with rich grapey aromas balanced by fruity acidity. Smooth and silky. Yum.
The tricky area was to balance the range of flavours across the starter and entrée.
Slices of aubergines gently fried and then rolled with feta, accompanied by a tomato and pepper sauce. And a sprig of basil. That’s texture (cheese, aubergines) and competing strong flavours (cheese. tomato, peppers and aubergines). Damn. I almost opted for a red wine to balance the flavours. Knowing trout would follow I thought I would choose something to compete and build on the flavours. I decided to go for a Chardonnay.
A nice little Chilean Chardonnay (2006 William Fèvre Don Victor, Gran Reserva). The vineyard is in Maipo Valley, just outside Santiago. Chardonnay is the "Big Daddy" of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world. It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.
Most have taken a dislike to Chardonnay based wines and I am unsure if it’s arisen due to this boldness in the wine, oak or simply that in the UK, the supermarket chains had imported a lot of really nasty vinegars they had disguised as Chardonnay.
The big, intense and elegant fruity nose of the Chilean wine was great. It was very buttery, rounded with hints of honey and dry fruits; almost toasted and I am led to understand this is a result of the oak aging. Good structure and very aromatic which persisted over the long finish. Certainly married well with the trout and served to balance tomato and peppery sauce of the starter. Intersting the aubergines and cheese were quite subtle. Overall a nice wine, nothing too bold to shout home about but sure this wine will marry well with a diverse range of dishes.
Sated and the evening drawing to a close, an ebb and flow to the conversation took us to the Greek Isles, philanthropy, the media and then to something totally out of my conversation range. I was speechless. In came the chocolate tin. Does everyone have a secret chocolate tin? Am I missing out here? To bring to the table a tin, one imagines chocolate covered cookies. How ecstatic would you be to find as one peeps over the rim into an abyss, a range of the best dark chocolate to exist (Michel Cluziel, Montezuma, etc.). Simply, wow.
I'd say pleasant dreams were had by all; and a nice reason to give up new year resolutions.
This champagne is made only from the chardonnay grape. Generally, champagne is made from three grapes: two black grapes (pinot noir, pinot meunier) and chardonnay (the white grape). The red grapes give it its weight and maturing roundness.
It was quite lush and fresh. It had a nice mousse and on pouring I spotted larger bubbles than I had expected. It’s less of a pomp and ceremony experience, full-bodied with rounded flavours. The perfect aperitif (with nibbles).
Chardonnay does not reach full ripeness in the champagne area, held back not by the sunshine but the temperatures. The eastern end of the Montagne de Reims produces “leaner and zesty” stuff as compared to the “richer and creamier” characteristics of the South (Cote de Sezanne).
I also have a bottle from Mesnil, unopened (but not for long). Apparently, this should be full bodied, fresh and nutty. Yum.
So, he follows the recipes from the books of the chefs at St John’s restaurant, Henderson’s Nose & Tail Eating and the second, in collaboration with Justin Piers Gellatly, Beyond Nose & Tail. Simple. Trotters Gear.
My mother recalls gnawing on trotters for hours and almost daily, as a child. Now. Well, they are almost impossible to find in London. We succumbed and went off to Selfridges. Certainly did not look like the ones my mother described. On the small side.
We bought a Bic razor, too. I left the kitchen at this point. In fact, I left the house. The wafting aromas were far too powerful, would overwhelm any will power I have left in reserve.
Several painful hours later. Wow. So little meat. Off it went into a jar, as stock. No gnawing for us.
Next day. He mixes haricot beans, chorizo, yesterday’s trotter’s stock and snails. No wine added. Served up with savoy cabbage and rustic bread. Heaven.
I left him to choose the wine. He went for a white (Chardonnay, Coteaux de l’Ardeche). Odd choice. I would have opted for a heavy tannin red. But on reflection, the sauce was quite light, so maybe he pitched it well.
We had a glass (or two) left over and polished it off with a small slice of tart au citron. Yummy
