It will either fill you with wonder and renewed desire ... or make you realise what things might be really like on the other side of the winery fence
See you there Anders!
"If you could only pick one grape to drink the rest of your life, what would you choose?" Not a fair question, but it was a thought inspired by a game I overheard on the radio when I was daydreaming. I assumed I knew the answer to that ... but the more I thought about it, the more I was not sure. In the end, I cheated and decided it would have to be one for white and one for red, but even so I was stuck. I have to admit I am a cosmopolitan drinker (not the cocktails!). I like variety and believe that there is no "one best style" in most cases. There are simply too many issues to consider. So it finally dawned on me that the answer (at least for the white) had to be ... Chenin Blanc. It was an odd choice. In truth, I drink very little of it, but when I do I am often blown away. It makes everything from great sparkling wine, wines that are INCREDIBLY dry, through delicious, almost dry but rich to full on luscious and sweet wines. One grape. So many wines. What does the grape "Chenin Blanc" evoke for you? For many, unfortunately, it is a fairly simple, often dull, white wine usually from South Africa. It certainly should not have to be that way. Chenin Blanc was (and might still be) the most planted variety there, so it was grown more for volume than quality, but there are great South African versions - I'm fond of the wines of Ken Forrester, A A Badenhorst and De Trafford. However, for Chenin Blanc lovers, the variety and complexity of the wines of the Loire Valley (it isn't all about Sauvignon Blanc thank goodness!) have to be ranked amongst the world's very best. This blog is not the place for in-depth looks at Loire wines - for that I point you in the direction of the indefatigable Jim Budd and his Jim's Loire blog. So, when I saw an offer for some Chenin Blanc with a little age (though not yet nearly enough) on a special price, I jumped at the chance. I bid/bought a case of bottles of Villebois Chenin Blanc 2007 from the Naked Wines Marketplace (in its first iteration). I have had a slightly mixed experience with the wines from this producer (who sells wines mainly thanks, it seems, to Naked Wines) but thought it worth a punt. According to their site, they focus almost entirely on Sauvignon Blanc but I'm rapidly getting bored with this grape (if I'm honest), so I am not sure what the story is to this wine, although the label implies it comes from their main vineyards. This particular wine reminds me of baked green apples and hay on the nose. It smells bright yellow. It is a big, round wine in the mouth, showing the ripeness of the grapes, but maybe also a hint of some botrytis in there too. It has the sharpness of the filling of a bramble & apple pie, and also finishes with crispness and notes of honeyed, cinnamon spice. I paid £45.96 for 6 bottles, including delivery - making this wine £7.66 a bottle. A proper steal. However, it is now no longer available, but you might want to keep an eye on the site as it seems to have been quite popular, so you never know when they might find something from 2008 ;) So, what would your one (white) grape be?
Hands up if you thought Pecorino was only the name of a cheese?
(*puts hand up*)
I only very recently discovered I was wrong. Until that moment, the name Pecorino was firmly established in my mind as the unfortunate cause of the unpleasant aroma of mature cheese that wafted around the otherwise stunningly beautiful town of Pienza in Italy where I stayed with my well intentioned wife some years ago.
What made it particularly bad was that I hate cheese.
And this was the world capital of smelly pecorino cheese.
And the only hilltop town in Tuscany that made no wine of its own.
...
But was, thankfully, well endowed with underground wine cellars serving delicious wines from neighbouring Montalcino along with boar salami.
But that, as they say, is another story.
Pecorino is also the name of a largely unknown grape grown in the Le Marche region of Italy (the upper calf muscle area of Italy's boot shape geography). It hardly registers at all in any wine reference guide I own, except to say that it has a "mineral character", that it was hard to grow so was largely abandoned, but is making a comeback as it is recognised as having more character than some other local alternatives. Not very helpful, but it shows that there is still so much to learn. [ updated 27/10/2011]
I enjoyed a particularly nice example of a wine made from the grape version of Pecorino in Hardy's Restaurant on Dover Street with my friend Mark Priestley the other day.
Hardy's has a very decent wine list, with lots of unusual wines and interestingly, highlighting the natural wines they list too. As we were both fans of Italian wine, Mark selected a few options and the helpful, and enterprising, waitress offered us a taste of the Pecorino as it was available by the glass. Well done!!
The Ciu Ciu, Le Merlettaie Pecorino, DOP Offida 2009 turned out to be a delicious wine for our lunch. All the wonderful acidity you might expect from great Italian wine, plus a little extra lively ZING!, a fresh citrus flavour of ripe grapefruit and lemon, a touch of fresh flowers to keep you smiling, a nuttiness to tell you this is a serious wine, and a hint of honey to round it all out and leave you wanting more. This one's a winner!
It matched my dish of salmon and pistachio mayonnaise, and Mark's chicken dish equally well.
Pecorino is definitely a grape I need to learn more about, and Mark's a great guy to help you find some unusual Italian wines to try.
Here's to more of the same!
It seems I have underestimated chocolate. I learned a lesson about wine from a 'chocolatier' (if I may call Paul A Young that, it seems a rather limiting term for a chef, innovator, entrepreneur, spokesman and generally-actually-quite-a-nice-guy).
What I did not underestimate was the ability of Mecca Ibrahim (now aka @gbchefs) to organise a brilliant evening full of interesting people, places, flavours and ideas. She's a super-networking machine and lovely as well, so when I was invited on a "food crawl" with her and friends, I naturally said yes.
Let's start with the event, ... then we need to talk about chocolate, and wine.
First, I arrived at Angel tube station on a rainy, London day recently to meet a small, select group of foodies. The idea was to do a trek around Islington, visit and taste some of the unusual products from independent shops in the area, and end up at the HQ of Great British Chefs to learn about their mission and their app over dinner (and wine).
Our first stop was the impossibly cute Home & Pantry ( @HomeandPantry), a shop combining all those trinkets to give your London flat a touch of idealised country houses with a coffee shop with lovely home-made cakes. I can't say I am the main target market (I'm more a messy practical minimalist) but yet the welcome was very friendly (including some sparkling wine) and I sense that this is a brand that will develop, and I do like the sound of having a decent coffee while others get on with shopping.
Next stop was frozen yoghurt. But not just ANY frozen yoghurt ... this was FRAE ( @FRAE__) organic, natural and delicious frozen yoghurt. The folks behind FRAE have a very focused business model. Only four flavours, but lots of fresh toppings. Keep it simple and focus on quality. Works for me. I had a lovely Natural Yoghurt flavour with some strawberries and chocolate chips. Delicious, if a little unusual as a "starter" for a food crawl.
Then to visit the amazing Paul A Young ( @paul_a_young). The shop is a temple to amazing flavours based on chocolate, but actually appealing to all. Just the look and smell was amazing, but it was what he said that got to me most ... but let me come back to that.
Finally, we repaired to Giraffe ( @giraffetweet). It may be a big chain, but I was impressed by the richness of flavours in the dishes we tried - nachos, duck & noodles, mezze and more. I even liked the mint based smoothie (and I rarely try smoothies) as it was very refreshing and not at all too sweet. I would definitely recommend heading to Giraffe when in doubt and looking for a relaxing place when you are out shopping, travelling, chatting with friends, etc. Is is a fun place and I have to say they are also good at getting their message out in social media.
And from there, finally, already feeling spoiled, to GBC HQ ... which I will have to write about separately.
Now, the take-away thought from the evening.
Paul is a great, passionate, spokesman for his business. Standing in this, one of his three shops, you can hear, feel, smell, taste and see the passion. It is there everywhere you look.
What made me sit up was when he explained how his chocolate creations differed from what most people call "chocolate". His competition is NOT Dairy Milk, Snickers, Mars bars, and so on. He is not trying to get people to "trade-up" from that chocolate. Those products are not even "chocolate", they are general confectionary or candy. They are sugar delivery mechanisms. They have little in common with the artisan, hand-made, uniquely and irrepressibly creative works of art made exclusively for his shop. He is selling unique taste experiences to people who value that little bit of escapism.
Just like wine, consumers have a perception of "chocolate" which covers a magnitude of products and quality levels, but at least they have the term "confectionery" to aggregate the mass-produced sweets sold in supermarkets and corner shops.
Fine Wines are also made by passionate artisans, but we do not have the vocabulary that separates out the mass produced wines that NEED to be sold in supermarkets and are effectively alcohol delivery mechanisms for consumers rather than true wine experiences. They have been called "branded wines" but that is wrong.
We also need to avoid confusing consumers. Tesco et al do not need to be stocking expensive wines in Inner Cellars (I've even seen £25 bottles of Barolo in my local Sainsburys that will probably never shift the 6 bottles they have on the shelf.) just as Paul refuses to supply other retailers with his products.
I see chocolate in a very different light today, and I look forward to hearing Paul Young speak again. Now I'm off to have my last Saltwater Caramel Truffle. Oh Yes!
My photos here:
Thanks to @gbchefs @victoria_glass @miriamjsnice @foodurchin @webstaurants @tikichris
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