Getting local with a global reach

Last night saw the first (of several more in future?) gathering of those of us who love talking about food and wine in social media, and live in South East London. Six food and wine bloggers, twitterers, facebookers, etc. got together under the “SE Massive (#semassive)”  banner – apologies for the tag – to enjoy a meal at a LOCAL restaurant.

We are used to travelling around London and the world for our experiences, and sharing them on these global communications platforms, but this time we used this reach to find people and places that were much closer to home.

Following an invitation, we decided to try a restaurant called “Bella Vista” in Blackheath (http://www.bellavistarestaurant.co.uk/). The restaurant has been there for many years, but has recently been restyled and had a completely new menu created. As they say on their site:

“The menu at Bella Vista has been created by Piero Marenghi, recently of London’s multi award winning Italian restaurant L’Anima, and is led by the very talented head chef Alex Tyndall, who has also worked at Michelin starred Chapter One.”

Alex really did do us proud and the menu was delicious. The photos below hopefully speak for themselves, but every dish was very well executed, with fresh ingredients and perfectly cooked. I was particularly impressed with the moist, flavourful Mackerel and the Lamb, in fact my mouth is watering again just thinking about them. The full menu was:

Calamari Ripieni  With Sautéed Monks Beard
Bresaolo di Toro, Beetroot, Goats Cheese & Rocket
Grilled Mackerel, Caper, Anchovy, Fennel, Salsa di Pomodoro
Paccheri Amatriciana & Pecorino Cheese
Grilled Rump Of Lamb, Semi Dried Tomato, Marjoram Sauce
Date & Mascarpone Tart, Frangelico & Hazelnut Sauce

To accompany the food, we were joined by Ben Smith of Enotria (www.enotria.co.uk) who brought along 6 wines to match the dishes. Each was brilliant, and showcased the quality and variety of wines you can get from Italy if you know what you are looking for and are prepared to pay a little more than normal. My own favourites were the very refreshing Pinot Bianco which married with the Mackerel extremely well, and the minerally and juicy Dolcetto d’Alba from Ascheri with the Bresaola. The full list of wines was:

Ottella Lugana Superiore DOC Molceo (wonderful acidity and citrus fruit, opened up as it warmed a little)
Dolcetto Nirane Ascheri 2009 (plums, cherries and minerality)
2008 Pinot Bianco Classici DOC, Colterenzio (crisp, refreshing, citrus but balanced)
2008 Valpolicella Classico DOC Villa Novare, Bertani (juicy dark fruit and soft tannins)
Parusso Barolo DOCG 2005 (young and a touch closed, but showing lots of promise)
2006 Morsi di Luce, Cantine Florio (marmalade in a glass)

Thank you so much to Lizzie (@hollowlegs), Ben (@benbush), EuWen (@tehbus), Jess (@lovelychaos), Louis (@spiltwine) and Ben (@enotriauk) - from me (@thirstforwine) for a great evening.

I must go back to Bella Vista with my family. It is a great local restaurant to have, and reminds us all that you do not necessarily have to travel into the centre of London to get great quality food, and that local restaurants such as these can actually provide a great balance between the quality of food and service, and a more relaxed, cosy atmosphere to welcome local customers.

Grazie, e buon apetito!


High Spirits at the BFT

Thanks to the eagle-eyes of Justin Roberts (@justinjerez) I was alerted to an exciting new wine trade tasting called “the BFT”. Despite me being unable to say or write this without thinking of Roald Dahl’s BFG, I think the organisers have done a grand job of creating something new which I hope will be repeated.

The BFT is the Big Fortified Tasting (http://www.thebft.com). [For those who don’t know what that means, it covers wines such as Sherry, Port & Madeira (plus a few assorted others). They are all wines made with the addition of spirit, which means the lowest alcohol at the tasting was probably around 15%. Ouch!]

Fortified wines are a bit of a poor relation at the moment. Consumers do not seem to think of these wines as particularly sexy or “happening”. They are immediately associated with grannies, cigars and dusty bar shelves. Of course the truth is completely different (except for the cigars – for some).

It was great to see a very full house at the tasting, including top journalists, MWs, buyers, and restaurant staff. It was also interesting to see that people were asking questions and getting excited about the wines, not just revisiting old friends.

I hope that with events such as this, and a motivated wine trade, these categories can finally be revived. They offer such a wonderful range of flavours and experiences, and a diversity of culture and history with each style and region.

I fear, however, that the impetus is unlikely to come from the current producers and brands as it will require a major re-imagining of what the wines are, when they are consumed and who they are for, for this to happen. Is anyone brave enough for that? Go on!

One of the first steps should be to encourage the organisers to open up the event to consumers and allow them to be able to sample these wines side-by-side too. There are so many styles to choose from it can be difficult to get your head around it, but a little education goes a long way. Let's hope they do!


I used the opportunity to compare lots of different Fino and Manzanilla sherries side by side as I think they offer a style of wine that could attract new drinkers to this kind of category and you almost never get a chance to do this. My favourites included:

  • La Gitana Manzanilla: Crisp, with a light freshness, salty, almond skin finish
  • La Guita Manzanilla: Fuller bodied, almond, dry and salty, but fresh and delicious
  • La Ina Fino Muy Seco: Light, mineral, edge of sweeter citrus especially on finish
  • La Bota No.18 Fino de Machanurdo Alto: Typical dryness, but fuller bodied, with rounded finish not dry mineral. Very nice.

In fact the whole La Bota range from Equipo Navazos (via Rhone to Rioja in UK) was delicious – including the two wonderful La Bota Palo Cortados, No.21 (“rich & nutty but with a high alcohol that contrasted well”) and No.17 (“Caramelly touch on top of hazlenut richness, delicious”)

STA travel Buzz & d'Arenberg wines

Last night’s wine event was lots of fun.

STA Travel (http://www.statravel.co.uk) was bringing together some friends to talk about travel to Australia and Queensland in particular, so they asked me to help with a tasting of wines. Unfortunately Queensland wines are very hard to find outside of Australia (if you know of one, do let me know), so instead I suggested that we involve a great Australian wine producer from elsewhere in the country.

Travel is a lot more than getting from A to B (and back), just as enjoying wine is a lot more than finding the cheapest way to get inebriated. I wanted this event to showcase that Australian wine, and wine culture, was a lot more than the brands that grace the discount bins in the supermarkets most weeks, and includes some amazingly creative and skilled individuals.

One of the most charismatic is Chester Osborn of d’Arenberg (http://darenberg.com.au). Not only are these great wines to taste with this group, but they also have a presence on twitter (@darenberg) and have been creating some interesting content during this year’s vintage:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/dArenberg/137564966465?ref=ts

The folks who came along to the event organised by @statravelbuzz seemed to enjoy the wines and learning to taste and enjoy them. Thanks to Claire Scott (@clairelsscott) for her help in presenting them too. I hope to hear from them again as their new travels around wine take off (leave me a comment here if you were there)


The wines we tasted, for the record were (tasting notes from @clairelsscott):
(for more info on the wines, go here: http://darenberg.com.au/the-wines)

d’Arenberg The Stump Jump Riesling Sauvignon Blanc Roussanne Marsanne 2008
Aussie summer in a glass. A delightfully refreshing and dry white exhibiting citrus and lovely floral notes with a hint of spice.
Available from any All Bar One

d’Arenberg The Olive Grove Chardonnay 2007
Classic fruit driven Australian Chardonnay. Appealing aromas of peach and melon with subtle notes of oak, good length of flavour and lacy acidity.
Available at Oddbins and Sainsbury’s Fine Wine (from May)

d’Arenberg The Money Spider Roussanne 2008
Elegant fine herb tea notes of dandelions, lavender, floral fragrance with a very fine, pointed finish. Just great with seafood, it will reward those who challenge their senses.
Available at Oddbins and The Wine Society

d’Arenberg The Stump Jump Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre 2008
Sensational value but not simple; rich, savoury, and brimming with ripe, spicy fruit flavour. Endearingly honest and unpretentious, the ideal everyday red.
Available from any All Bar One

d’Arenberg The Love Grass Shiraz 2007
McLaren Vale shiraz with a twist. Bold, dark red and black fruits but with vitality and elegance that sets it apart.
Available from any All Bar One

d’Arenberg The Galvo Garage Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot 2006
Complex, flavoursome, full bodied Cabernet with the addition of classic Bordeaux partners. Concentrated cassis bomb, savoury undertones and ripe tannins makes this the perfect candidate for mid-term cellaring.
(My favourite on the night)
Available at Oddbins, The Wine Society and Majestic (from May)

d’Arenberg The Laughing Magpie Shiraz Viognier 2007
Exuberant purple hue. Opulently flavoured and perfumed with firm texture and ripe tannins. Viognier lifts the rich, ripe Shiraz fruits and gives them resonance.
Available at Oddbins, Coop, The Wine Society and Majestic (from May)

Pinot Gris like no other

Tonight, an escape into the cellar brought on by a dearth of ‘every day’ white wine.

My wife decided to make a kedgeree recipe for our dinner tonight, and for those unfamiliar with the dish, the main ingredients are rice, smoked haddock and some curry powder (or in our case saffron instead, with some added salmon). Not the easiest thing to match with wine.

I’m low on ‘drinking’ wines at the moment, but my wife knows that we have a small cellar of better wines that benefit from ageing and the right occasion.

I’d like to claim ownership of the choice for tonight, but in truth it was my wife who called up asking if “1999 Rolly Gassmann” would be OK? The answer, as anyone knows, is YES!

Yes, for this dish. Yes for ANY dish. Rolly Gassmann are GORGEOUS wines, especially with a certain age.

Rolly Gassmann, 1999 Tokay Pinot Gris, Brandhurst de Bergheim
Amazing nose of wild herbs, fresh tea, honey and something nutty. The palate was an explosion of that wild, floral honey in a full bodied wine with lovely fresh, yet never overpowering, acidity. The nuttiness from the age showed on the finish, but it does not taste at all past its best. Absolutely Delicious

The dish was lovely. Smoky, creamy and a touch of sweetness from some peas (yes, sorry!).

The wine was a marvellous complement. Do please check out wines from Alsace as matches for an amazing array of dishes, from Eastern cuisine to traditional British.