It's another busy week - one in which I won't be seeing much of my husband because of our different committments and schedules. But we were both home for dinner on Tuesday, so we decided to turn Tuesday into the new Wednesday and open a bottle a bubbly. On top of that, he cooked, something that always makes the evening special!
Another prosecco was on the champagne shelf from the Champagne Warehouse - this time it was Zero assoluto from La Jara made from 100% glera grapes. To be honest, I almost didn't order this prosecco because the description said that it was 'floral' and that's not something that I love. The Zero assoluto is zero dosage, though, and I've never tried a low dosage prosecco before...so it went into the case.
On its own, the floral-ness of the prosecco is very strong, smelling and tasting heavily of honeysuckle, but with an appealing, clean, grapefruit finish. For my palate, the prosecco went down much better with food - a blackened chicken and garlic-broccoli pasta - that squelched the flowery taste and left only the lighter citrus notes of the prosecco. While not completely to my taste, it was worth trying, though, an interesting comparison both to other low dosage bubbles we've had and to the other bottles of prosecco that we ordered.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Another Wednesday
It seems like we're starting a new tradition of 'champagne Wednesday'!! It's been another long-ish week to get through, so we opened a bottle of Maison Lenique 2005 with our dinner of herbed lamb and rice. The rich apple flavour of the champagne was delicious with the lamb, a meat I wouldn't ordinarily think to serve champagne with...but I'll be doing it again.
Monday, 20 September 2010
Power Pink
People who know me know that I'm not into girly, powder pink colours (or 'puff pink' as I call it). If I'm going to wear something pink or paint something pink, it's going to be bright, bold, in-your-face, power pink. I'm the same with rose wines. Don't give me something light and blush-coloured with an insipid taste. Give me something that's a beautiful, rich colour and that packs a wallop.
And that's exactly what the Champagne Warehouse did. We opened the Vignarosa Amorino Brut Rosato yesterday and were absolutely impressed with it. This prosecco is a blend of raboso, cabernet, and merlot grapes, which give it a deep pink colour and even more depth in the flavour - it's a wine with bubbles rather than a sparkling wine, and plenty of them. It's surprisingly dry, with loads of tart, wild strawberry flavour. It was wonderful to sip on its own, but went equally well with our homemade mac and cheese with bacon. At just shy of £11 per bottle, it feels like a real bargain, too!!
I'm loathe to recommend this too highly, as I both don't want to drive prices up and don't want the Champagne Warehouse to run out before I get around to ordering more. But it really is too good to keep it a secret...
And that's exactly what the Champagne Warehouse did. We opened the Vignarosa Amorino Brut Rosato yesterday and were absolutely impressed with it. This prosecco is a blend of raboso, cabernet, and merlot grapes, which give it a deep pink colour and even more depth in the flavour - it's a wine with bubbles rather than a sparkling wine, and plenty of them. It's surprisingly dry, with loads of tart, wild strawberry flavour. It was wonderful to sip on its own, but went equally well with our homemade mac and cheese with bacon. At just shy of £11 per bottle, it feels like a real bargain, too!!
I'm loathe to recommend this too highly, as I both don't want to drive prices up and don't want the Champagne Warehouse to run out before I get around to ordering more. But it really is too good to keep it a secret...
Sunday, 19 September 2010
The non-Champagne Warehouse
I had exciting news from the Champagne Warehouse earlier this week - they're now stocking a range of proseccos which all look very nice!! I made an early order for a case of 6 different bottles which arrived on Thursday, and one immediately went on the champagne shelf in the fridge.
We opened the bottle of Vignarosa Prosecco Extra Dry, made from 100% glera grapes (the traditional 'prosecco' grape) yesterday and really enjoyed it. It had a very green smell, like a combination of fresh cut grass after the rain topped off with the slightest touch of passion fruit. The flavour matches the smell - very crisp and citrus-y, with a little bit of spearmint or wintergreen keeping it clean all the way through. It was a very easy drinker, although probably most suitable as an aperitif because it was so light. The chocolate cake that I had made totally overwhelmed it, but it was easy enough to eat and drink the two things separately.
We've put the rose from this maker on the champagne shelf so we can try that next...
We opened the bottle of Vignarosa Prosecco Extra Dry, made from 100% glera grapes (the traditional 'prosecco' grape) yesterday and really enjoyed it. It had a very green smell, like a combination of fresh cut grass after the rain topped off with the slightest touch of passion fruit. The flavour matches the smell - very crisp and citrus-y, with a little bit of spearmint or wintergreen keeping it clean all the way through. It was a very easy drinker, although probably most suitable as an aperitif because it was so light. The chocolate cake that I had made totally overwhelmed it, but it was easy enough to eat and drink the two things separately.
We've put the rose from this maker on the champagne shelf so we can try that next...
Saturday, 18 September 2010
Gracious Chef
Some friends of ours encouraged us to play hooky from our usual Friday activities and we took the train out to Whitstable for a leisurely lunch at the Sportsman Seasalter. It was a perfect day for it, too, beautiful blue skies filled with puffy white clouds giving us fantastic views from the train.
My friend knows the chef at the restaurant, and he very graciously allowed us to bring a bottle of bubbly with us. We chose a bottle of Bruno Paillard NPU 1990, part of my Christmas gift last year from my husband. We decided to drink it as an aperitif while we were reviewing the amazing menu and making our choices. Rather worryingly, the bottle opened with a soft 'pfft', but thankfully demonstrated enough fizz and mousse once it was poured. Everyone marvelled over the colour of the champagne, a rich, brownish-honey-colour that you often see with aged calvados. The richness came through in the flavour, too, which had just a touch of oxidation that added depth to the acidity in the champagne.
It was a great start to a meal that included a main-sized portion of home-made pork terrine as my starter followed by some wonderfully fresh lemon-sole fillets in pea puree. We also had some fantastic still wines from the restaurant's list with our food - I would recommend both the Albarino Vionta Rias Baixas 2008 (loads of flavour but clean and crisp) and the Châteauneuf-du-pape Domaine du Vieux Lazaret 2007 (juicy fruit without any tannins) that we drank to the non-bubbly drinkers out there.
It will be so hard to go back to real-life following a Friday afternoon like that.
Many thanks to our friends for organising the day and to the chef for allowing us our bottle of bubbly!!
My friend knows the chef at the restaurant, and he very graciously allowed us to bring a bottle of bubbly with us. We chose a bottle of Bruno Paillard NPU 1990, part of my Christmas gift last year from my husband. We decided to drink it as an aperitif while we were reviewing the amazing menu and making our choices. Rather worryingly, the bottle opened with a soft 'pfft', but thankfully demonstrated enough fizz and mousse once it was poured. Everyone marvelled over the colour of the champagne, a rich, brownish-honey-colour that you often see with aged calvados. The richness came through in the flavour, too, which had just a touch of oxidation that added depth to the acidity in the champagne.
It was a great start to a meal that included a main-sized portion of home-made pork terrine as my starter followed by some wonderfully fresh lemon-sole fillets in pea puree. We also had some fantastic still wines from the restaurant's list with our food - I would recommend both the Albarino Vionta Rias Baixas 2008 (loads of flavour but clean and crisp) and the Châteauneuf-du-pape Domaine du Vieux Lazaret 2007 (juicy fruit without any tannins) that we drank to the non-bubbly drinkers out there.
It will be so hard to go back to real-life following a Friday afternoon like that.
Many thanks to our friends for organising the day and to the chef for allowing us our bottle of bubbly!!
Thursday, 16 September 2010
Getting Over the Hump
It's been a long week this week, I don't know what it is. Yesterday seemed particularly long, and when my husband got home from work, I mentioned to him that I wouldn't mind a glass of wine with dinner. He eyed the bottle on the champagne shelf - then pulled a face when I told him it was our last bottle of Philizot et Fils numero 3. We both still have bad memories of the numero 2 (of which two bottles remain, unloved, at the bottom of a box in the utility room).
We opened it anyway, and then patted ourselves on the back because it's a perfectly drinkable champagne. It was lovely to stand outside sipping while my husband grilled our chicken. It was even better to drink while we plucked ripe cherry tomatoes out of the garden and dipped them in the most delicious pesto from Romeo Jones. It definitely helped us get over 'hump day', the rest of the week should just fly by now.
We opened it anyway, and then patted ourselves on the back because it's a perfectly drinkable champagne. It was lovely to stand outside sipping while my husband grilled our chicken. It was even better to drink while we plucked ripe cherry tomatoes out of the garden and dipped them in the most delicious pesto from Romeo Jones. It definitely helped us get over 'hump day', the rest of the week should just fly by now.
Monday, 13 September 2010
Leftovers
My husband used the leftover champagne from last week's BYOBB to make a wonderful risotto for lunch yesterday, with grilled chicken, asparagus, and broccoli in it. It was delicious, especially accompanied by a bottle of Maison Lenique 2005. It's always a treat when someone else cooks for me, even more so when there are bubbles involved.
Monday, 6 September 2010
BYOBB Sept'10
We held this year's second round of Bring Your Own Bottle of Bubbly - BYOBB (TM) yesterday. Like the one in May, it was good fun, great company, and a lot of yummy bubbles. We re-tasted some of the sparklers from May, as well as a few new ones. The ground-rules remained the same as in May: non-vintage bubbles, blind tasting, and marks out of 10 points for each bottle, with 10 being the best you've ever drunk and 1 being undrinkable. I will report on the order in which we drank, although please keep in mind we didn't find out until the end of the afternoon what each bottle was.
The first bottle was a re-run from May, Philizot et Fils numero 1. This champagne had a slightly poorer showing this time around, receiving marks of 5s to 7s (compared to 6s and 7s in May), and with tasters commenting that it was 'fine, but characterless' and that it had no finish. The total score was 38/70, leaving it in 5th place out of 6 bottles.
The next bottle was a new entry, Inflorescence by Bouchard, which I had drunk before and thought my tasters might enjoy. I was right, as the champagne received consistent marks of 6s and 7s across the group, who agreed that it was a 'fresh, well-made' champagne. The total score was 45/70, placing 2nd out of 6 bottles.
Our third bottle was another champagne that we had tried in May and that had scored toward the lower end of the spectrum then. Charles Ellner Brut Integral gathered marks ranging from 3s and 4s to a 6. Compared to the previous bottles we had opened, this champagne smelled almost medicinal, with one taster saying it 'smelled like a hospital' (funnily enough, the same person gave it the '6' ranking). By the end of the afternoon, more than half of this bottle remained undrunk (and now awaits its final fate in my fridge as an ingredient in champagne risotto), it just couldn't compete in the line-up we had. It placed last out of the 6 bottles with a total score of 28/70.
Our fourth bottle was a huge hit after the disappointment of the third bottle, with tasters commenting on the 'strong bubbles that evaporate quickly in your mouth' and the full-flavour of the champagne being more like a 'wine with bubbles'. Billecart-Salmon Brut Blanc de Blancs, was another re-run from May (and a regular in my fridge!). Despite the positive comments and a quickly-emptied bottle, it scored less well than I would have expected with marks ranging from 4s to 8s (it was our top-scorer in May, receiving all 7s and 8s). The total score was 43/70, placing this champagne 3rd out of 6 bottles.
The only rose of the day came next, another new entrant in the field. This was Champagne Thienot Brut Rose, a fruity, bubbly, luscious wine that also disappeared from our glasses very quickly with tasters commenting that it was 'very drinkable'. It scored mostly 6s, book-ended with one 5 and one 7 ranking. With a total score of 42/70, it placed 4th out of the 6 bottles. It's also worth noting that this champagne was a particularly good match with the apple and blackberry pie we had for dessert.
At this point, we noted that while we had so far drunk some very good sparklers, none of them had really wow'ed us as a group. That ended with our final bottle, which had loads and loads of bubbles, and 'flavours of apricot and lychee' - a totally different taste and style to all of the other bottles we had opened. Camel Valley Brut, the only non-French sparkler in the group, topped the tables as a new entrant with rankings of 5s to 8s and a total score of 47/70. This comes with a caveat, though - some of our tasters felt that where they could drink some of the other high-scorers throughout an evening or throughout the year, the distinct flavour of this wine limited its appeal to a single glass as an aperitif, or possibly as a warm weather sparkler. So even though it scored well, I ended up finishing the bottle while I was washing up after everyone left (yet still managed not to break any of my Billecart-Salmon-branded glassware)!
(NB While I was typing up my notes, I noticed that the Camel Valley was a 2007 vintage, so technically should be disqualified from this year's BYOBB competition which was to include only non-vintage bubbles!)
My thanks to everyone who came for bringing bottles, eating almost everything I cooked, giving honest feedback, and helping to take notes and clean up! Cheers!!
The first bottle was a re-run from May, Philizot et Fils numero 1. This champagne had a slightly poorer showing this time around, receiving marks of 5s to 7s (compared to 6s and 7s in May), and with tasters commenting that it was 'fine, but characterless' and that it had no finish. The total score was 38/70, leaving it in 5th place out of 6 bottles.
The next bottle was a new entry, Inflorescence by Bouchard, which I had drunk before and thought my tasters might enjoy. I was right, as the champagne received consistent marks of 6s and 7s across the group, who agreed that it was a 'fresh, well-made' champagne. The total score was 45/70, placing 2nd out of 6 bottles.
Our third bottle was another champagne that we had tried in May and that had scored toward the lower end of the spectrum then. Charles Ellner Brut Integral gathered marks ranging from 3s and 4s to a 6. Compared to the previous bottles we had opened, this champagne smelled almost medicinal, with one taster saying it 'smelled like a hospital' (funnily enough, the same person gave it the '6' ranking). By the end of the afternoon, more than half of this bottle remained undrunk (and now awaits its final fate in my fridge as an ingredient in champagne risotto), it just couldn't compete in the line-up we had. It placed last out of the 6 bottles with a total score of 28/70.
Our fourth bottle was a huge hit after the disappointment of the third bottle, with tasters commenting on the 'strong bubbles that evaporate quickly in your mouth' and the full-flavour of the champagne being more like a 'wine with bubbles'. Billecart-Salmon Brut Blanc de Blancs, was another re-run from May (and a regular in my fridge!). Despite the positive comments and a quickly-emptied bottle, it scored less well than I would have expected with marks ranging from 4s to 8s (it was our top-scorer in May, receiving all 7s and 8s). The total score was 43/70, placing this champagne 3rd out of 6 bottles.
The only rose of the day came next, another new entrant in the field. This was Champagne Thienot Brut Rose, a fruity, bubbly, luscious wine that also disappeared from our glasses very quickly with tasters commenting that it was 'very drinkable'. It scored mostly 6s, book-ended with one 5 and one 7 ranking. With a total score of 42/70, it placed 4th out of the 6 bottles. It's also worth noting that this champagne was a particularly good match with the apple and blackberry pie we had for dessert.
At this point, we noted that while we had so far drunk some very good sparklers, none of them had really wow'ed us as a group. That ended with our final bottle, which had loads and loads of bubbles, and 'flavours of apricot and lychee' - a totally different taste and style to all of the other bottles we had opened. Camel Valley Brut, the only non-French sparkler in the group, topped the tables as a new entrant with rankings of 5s to 8s and a total score of 47/70. This comes with a caveat, though - some of our tasters felt that where they could drink some of the other high-scorers throughout an evening or throughout the year, the distinct flavour of this wine limited its appeal to a single glass as an aperitif, or possibly as a warm weather sparkler. So even though it scored well, I ended up finishing the bottle while I was washing up after everyone left (yet still managed not to break any of my Billecart-Salmon-branded glassware)!
(NB While I was typing up my notes, I noticed that the Camel Valley was a 2007 vintage, so technically should be disqualified from this year's BYOBB competition which was to include only non-vintage bubbles!)
My thanks to everyone who came for bringing bottles, eating almost everything I cooked, giving honest feedback, and helping to take notes and clean up! Cheers!!
Thursday, 2 September 2010
Now I Just Feel Spoiled...
On Tuesday, I had jokingly asked my husband what to put on the champagne shelf for the next night's dinner. He told me to pick what I wanted, so I, of course, put in a bottle of Billecart-Salmon brut reserve. I didn't think we would actually drink it the next day, but then yesterday was another beautiful day, so we again celebrated the weather. Dinner was satisfying, but nothing special - chicken stir-fried with chorizo, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, spinach and chickpeas, served with rice. The champagne was fantastic with it, loads of bubbles and a tart, clean finish that cut through all of the flavours in the meal. It's like eating a crisp, just-picked apple off of a tree in autumn - juicy, not-too-sweet, and fresh.
But I have left the champagne shelf empty in anticipation of an upcoming BYOBB...I need room in the fridge for all of those bottles...
But I have left the champagne shelf empty in anticipation of an upcoming BYOBB...I need room in the fridge for all of those bottles...
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Extending the Bank Holiday
Yesterday was such a lovely day. I felt really sorry for all the people who had to go back to their office jobs, especially my husband who worked really hard on fixing our windows over the holiday weekend and didn't really get a break. To extend the holiday feel when he got home, I had done all of the evening chores and ordered in from our favourite Thai restaurant. All he had to do when he got home was eat dinner, accompanied by Billecart-Salmon Brut Blanc de Blancs. The champagne is a surprisingly good match with the Thai cuisine, although the chef seemed to have thrown in a couple of extra handfuls of chillis last night which was a little overwhelming. I hate to say it, but my seafood curry slightly outshone the champagne - along with mussels, scallops, squid, and shrimp, there was a half of a crab in it, just waiting to be picked apart and devoured. Yum!
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