En route to London with a stopover in Sancerre.
I thought the UK had the reputation of having all forms of weather in one day, but after my drive through France today , the “Hexagone” runs it a close second.
I left the Languedoc at lunchtime under clear skies but with a rapier-like Tramontane blowing at over 100km an hour (the sort of wind that makes people go mad). At Montauban the rain started, lightly at first, then pretty heavy. Between Cahors and Brive the temperature dropped below freezing (at 3.30 in the afternoon) and it started to snow. It remained like this all the way to Chateauroux where the mercury finally struggled to reach a rather timid 2 degrees. The milder temperature, though, gave way to thick fog and the last 100km to Sancerre took an “eye-challenging” 2hours. Luckily the last hour was spent on the taillights of a local who had rashly pulled out in front of me but actually enabled me to reach the village of Saint Satur, outside Sancerre, a good 30 minutes earlier than I would have done tout seul.
Found a great little hotel by the Loire (apparently, as haven’t seen it yet) and an even greater bistro type restaurant 2 minutes walk away. The sort of establishment that rekindles your faith in authentic French cuisine.
2 courses of delicious food (hot Crottin de Chavignol salad) followed by a succulent Bavette au poivre all for an incredible 13.50€.
The real eye-opener though was the wine selection. Over 20 Sancerre wines on sale by the bottle at no more than 24€ for the most expensive. Even better was that all were offered by the glass at 3€ a pop ! Fantastic. My knowledge of Sancerre producers being a little rusty, I asked the owner to recommend a selection of his best wines and he didn’t disappoint. A Sauvignon Blanc and a Pinot Noir from Vincent Pinard and another Pinot from Domaine Paul Cherrier were inspiring – notes to follow in a future post.
I came away feeling enthused, not only about the food but the high quality wines that I had tasted but also without the feeling of being fleeced and bankrupted.
I wish more On Trade experiences were the same…….

I have just read Tim Hanni’s blog on wine and food pairing and how it is all in the mind and that no wine really works with food unless heavily seasoned and acidic. This is an entertaining read, especially from a man who has spent a good deal of his career talking about wine and food pairing and who has recently invented a seasoning that is supposed to ensure that your favourite dish will partner with your favourite wine, no matter what the colour or style. Tim kindly sent me some samples of his seasoning so I tried it out on students and also with friends, following his instruction for use, and no one could taste any difference the wines either worked or they didn’t.

I am not convinced that it is not an article written to provoke reaction rather than any groundbreaking news. However as someone who runs wine and food courses on a regular basis it has got me thinking. I have always believed that taste is very personal, and whereas when tasting wines one can discern quality in a wine whether you enjoy the wine or not, when pairing a wine with a dish you either enjoy the sensation or not. However I have found in the last year whilst running these courses that when broken down into components, so tasting the different elements of sweet, sour, bitter, animal fat versus vegetable fat etc, that in fact we were generally all in agreement. So why was this, everyone tasted on their own at their own pace and then we discussed our findings? Is it that subconsciously we all followed a pattern and agreed with each other? I don’t believe so as we had some unusual partnering, those that blew traditional consensus out of the window!

So I challenge Tim Hanni’s article as wine and food DO work together, and sometimes clash together. Finding the perfect match can be challenging, but when found it can make a meal that much more enjoyable. Besides the research is a lot of fun!!!

Santé

Here I am just back from London and the launch of Alastair Sawday’s “Special Places to Stay” guide, featuring French vineyards with hotels/Gites/Chambre d’Hotes accommodation. Domaine Gayda and Vinecole were featured and the Sawday’s team held a press and reader launch last week in central London. It was a jolly affair with vineyard owners from around France showing a selection of their wines and talking about their Domaines.

I took along the Cepage Viognier and Syrah 2008, the Occitane Blanc 2007 and Rouge 2006 and the Chemin du Moscou 2006. All wines went down a storm, and guests were intrigued to learn about grapes such as Marsanne, Roussanne, Mourvedre, Carignan and other weird and wonderfuls that are generally not plastered on front labels and so unheard of. We also got a lot of positive response about the wine school, many liked the idea of learning about wines whilst staying in a working Domaine. We look forward to receiving the Alastair Sawday’s readers at Vinecole!

This is without doubt a most spectacular time of year when you live in a wine region, the colours of the vines and the trees are absolutely stunning. What is especially amazing is that only two weeks ago the harvest was still in full swing, we are in the coolest department of the L-R so the harvest is long here. However literally a few days after the last grapes were  harvested the vines changed from being green and leafy to an array of golds, bronze and red hues!

Take a look at some photos taken this weekend.

The other day we held a Wine and Food Pairing Lunch for Vincent, the Gayda winemaker, and his team. They were 12 in total and an eclectic mix of French, Italian, American and Mexican nationalities. This group had been gathered from around the globe to work the 2009 vintage, processing the grapes, controlling the fermentation and ensuring that Vincents’s high standards were maintained. Now that all the grapes, bar a little botrytis Chenin, have been picked many of this group will return home.

We started the tasting with a comparassion between Antech Blanquette and Cremant 2007, the Blanquette being much fruiter but less elegant and shorter on the finish. Both were sampled with a green and black olive tapanade, some olives and ail confit. We all agreed that the green olive tapanade worked best with the Chardonnay dominated Cremant and the black tapanade with the weighter Blanquette. We then moved onto a crisp and citric Picpoul de Pinet from the Caves de Pomerol 2008, fresh and delightful. A simple wine that is to be enjoyed on a hot summers day or with a plate of oysters. Next up was weighty 100% Maccabeo from the joint venture between Roussillon superstar Gerard Gauby and English winemerchants RichardsWalfords, Le Soula 2008. No oak is used in this wine and it packed a puch with plenty of ripe fruit and clean fresh flavours. This was followed by another Gerard’s wine, Bertrand this time, his white Cigalus 2005. Predominately Chardonnay with 15% Sauvignon Blanc and 5% Viognier, fermented and aged in oak barrel. This is a wine to rival any serious Chardonnay around the world, rich, elegant, ripe fruit flavours with layers of butter and nuts. We tried this with a hummus dip, made with a good amount of lemon and cumin, and a mature comte. Both worked very well indeed, the earthy flavours of the hummus and the buttery,nutty character of the cheese, far better than a red wine.

Now we moved onto the reds. Starting with the Mouscaillo Pinot Noir 2007 from the Limoux hills, a wine rich in berry fruits, light in oak character with plenty of crisp acidity. An usual wine from this area, but PN is a grape that we will see more and more of in the Limoux area as winemakers realise the potential they have with this difficult grape. This we tried with some smoked duck and a cepes and chicken liver pate. The acidity softened and the fruit flavours came  to the fore, just what was needed. A St Chinian followed by the Mas de Champart winery, a small producer of high quality wines (try their white, it is stunning!). The mineral and garrigue character of the wine lent itself to pairing with a dish of Puy lentils with a herb dressing and Toulouse sausages. As although the wine was not shy on fruit, the drying minerality and herbal character were the key components. Our last red was the Mas de Soleilla Terre du Vent, Cabernet Franc based with some Merlot. This wine is a VDP as the AOC La Clape does not permit these varieties to be used. No matter as the wine is super, rich, black fruits, witha perfumed nose, liquorice, spice, freshly ground black pepper and silky, ripe tannins. A real mouth full which lingers with you. This we tried with a magret de canard that was roasted with a little soy, honey and a cherry jus. Excellent, the fat of a duck is sweet and so requires a wine that has some sweetness, be that a little residual sugar or (in this case) ripe fruit character.

We finished our lunch with the Domaine Cazes Tuille 1990, made from 100% Grenache Noir this is a wine that is fortified in the same style as Port but then aged un ullage until bottled. They calaculate that they loose 7% in volume each year and do not top up. This gives the wine its tawny/brown hue and rich, nutty, spice, fruit cake character. Not a way to make your fortune but what a superb wine! Domaine Cazes is Europes largest biodynamic vineyard with 220ha, although they only received their biodynamic status in 1997 which means this wine isn’t bio! No matter it was delicious, on its own, with a salty Roquefort and a honeyed nut and and date tart.

ALL red wines complement ALL cheeses. This is a myth; it is much more complicated then that, and much more fun! Trying to match one wine to a cheese board crammed with every style of cheese is a daunting task for even the best of sommeliers. So instead why not choose one or two of your favourites and try with some of the wine suggestions below.

Cabernet, Carignan and Syrah (full flavoured tannic wines) tend to complement the sharp, salty, hard cheeses such as Comté or an aged Brebis, the high fat content in the cheese softens the harshness of the tannins and the wines appear fruitier. However, tangy goats’ cheeses are excellent with dry white wines, particularly an aromatic Sauvignon Blanc; the crisp acidity in the wine lifts and refreshes the palate whilst the intense fruitiness compliments the vibrancy of the cheese. Pungent, intensely flavoured blue cheeses are better accompanied by a sweet wine, for example, the Vins Doux Naturels of Maury or Banyuls with a Bleu de Causses or Roquefort with a Late Harvest Muscat. Here the sweetness softens the saltiness in the cheese whilst the powerful flavours of the wine mirror that of the cheese. Then there are soft cheeses like the creamy Pelardon that should be served with either a nutty Chardonnay, when the cheese is young, or a fruity red St-Chinian, if the cheese is aged.

2009 has been another hot and dry year here in the Languedoc. Although we had plenty of rainfall over winter and spring it will not take effect until the following year and the weather has been pretty dry since May. Here we are in October and we have seen days of 30ºC and more!

The vendange started early, mid August in the Roussillon and not everyone was ready for it, but has not yet finished here in the Côtes de Malpère with the Cabernet Franc still to be picked. This hot weather has created the perfect conditions for botrytis and they have already done two “tries” for the Chenin Blanc at Gayda.

The word is that we will be looking at a fine vintage, high in quality but the quantity has dropped yet again.

Last weekend we had a great group of wine enthusiasts from West London over and during the weekend we held a Fine Wine Tasting of some of the top estates of the region. Domaines shown included: Mas de Soleilla, Domaine de la Rectorie, Vault-Gasparets, Mas Champart and Cazes. The wines were stunning but I think what was most impressive was the range of styles that this region has. Show me any other region that is able to cover the depth and the breadth of the Languedoc-Roussillon, I bet you can’t!

For me the star of the show was the Aimé Cazes VDN 1975 Rivesaltes. This is a wine that is aged on ullage and looses 7% of its volume each year, so by the time it is bottled there is only a third of the wine left! Probably not the best money maker but what a delicious treat of honey, nuts, dried fruit and spice with a lingering flavour that remained with you for the rest of the evening. Delicious!

This week we are running a 3-day intensive Intermediate Course. We have students from the UK, Ireland, Paris and Limoux attending. It’s a great course covering the wines of the world and is a real eye opener on the complexities and variations from one country/region to another.

Yesterday we tasted the Chateau d’Armailhac Pauillac Cru Classe 2005 against a Chateau Grand-Pontet St-Emilion Grand Cru and Cape Mentelle Cabernet Merlot 2006 Margaret River. What a fascinating comparison, from the pencil shavings and cedar wood character of the Pauillac to the rich dark fruits and chocolate of the St Emillon to the cassis and mint of the Margaret River. Each wine showed their individual character and demonstrated how the same varieties, albeit in different proportions, produced such variation in taste and aroma.

La Clape Wines and Food for the Summer Weather

The wines of La Clape are predominately red and full bodied not necessarily what you would reach for on a hot sunny day. However these wines although a base of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre retain a fresh acidity and a strong “Garrigue” character and it is that that makes them so enjoyable in the summer as well as in the colder, winter months.

There is something about cooking outdoors that just excites the senses; the smell of the jasmine, the wild herbs and the sizzling meats (gently charring not cremating!) Grenache and Syrah are grapes that produce wines with pepper and spice, a mix of red and black fruits and a good wallop of herby aromas. The Mourvèdre will add dark fruit, a gamey, earthy character and provide the structure to the wine. The resulting wine is full of fruit, ripe not jammy, peppery, spicy, herby with hints of gamey notes and dark chocolate. A bit of a mouthful really so we need to match it with something equally flavoursome, a dish that will enhance the spices and herbs, whilst shaving the edges off any tannins.

The dish that comes to mind is a barbecued leg of lamb with a rich, herby ratatouille. To get the perfect leg of lamb you need a good marinade recipe and time, preferably overnight.

Perfect Leg of Lamb:

Butterfly the leg of lamb and lightly slit the skin, put into a clean plastic bag with 4 cloves of garlic smashed up (skins on), 1 large red onion roughly chopped, 6 large anchovy filets in oil (add a dash of the oil to the lamb), 2 lemons cut in half, the juice squeezed and then add the rest of the lemon to the bag, plus large handfuls of herbs, whatever is in the garden, I always use rosemary, thyme, mint and chives, a good twist of black pepper (no salt is needed due to the anchovies) and a large glug of olive oil. Tie the bag up and give a good shake, pop in the fridge and shake from time to time. Cook on a medium hot barbecue for 20 – 30 minutes, depending on size and personal preference.

Best wine match: Mas du Soleilla Les Bartelles 2006 €15 – 16

Contact: Peter Wildbolz 00 33 (0)4 68 45 24 80

This dish will also work well with one of the La Clape’s Grenache based rosés, they still retain the spicy, herbal character but are lighter and have the bonus of being served chilled to quench the thirst in the hot sun.

The white wines of La Clape tend to be equally full flavoured from a blend of Bourboulenc, Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier and Vermentino. Try these with Chinese Spring Rolls, a Comté Fruité or Roast Garlic Soup.

Bon Appetit !

Emma Kershaw