Sunny Sunday

It's been raining here in London for so long that I've almost forgotten that it's summer. But it is, and this weekend was nice enough that on Saturday we walked to Brixton to shop at the market there and on Sunday we were actually able to cook some of what we bought and eat lunch outside. My husband made a delicious marinade for the thinly-cut beef ribs that we had picked up, and grilled them with some plantains (also from the market). While mojitos would probable have been the best thing to drink with our lunch, we didn't have the right ingredients. We opened a bottle of Maison Lenique blanc de noirs instead, the rich flavour holding up nicely to the wonderfully-spiced meat. A good match, and a good afternoon for some bubbles.

Last of New Lenique

We tried the last variety of the Maison Lenique mixed case that I got from 3-D Wines, their non-vintage blanc de blancs. We liked this a lot, although it definitely wasn't as good as their vintage champagnes. It had loads of green apple and lime flavour combined with a touch of yeastiness. It also had great balance and plentiful bubbles. It just wasn't as flavourful or as crisp as their vintage champagne, though, and the finish wasn't as long. It's still plenty drinkable, we did enjoy it!

Pink Lenique

On Friday, we decided to try another of the bottles in our mixed case of Maison Lenique from 3-D Wines. This one was their Brut rose, a chardonnay/pinot noir blend. I was excited to try a rose from Maison Lenique, and this one didn't disappoint. Not only did it have wonderful, plentiful bubbles, but it smelled and tasted of jam on toast. I loved that for a rose wine, it wasn't all sweet fruit, but held a lot of the bread and biscuit characteristics that many white champagnes have. It was absolutely delicious, one of the best roses I've had in a while, and a good reminder of how different rose champagne can be to other rose sparkling wines.

New Maison Lenique

I managed to acquire a mixed case of Maison Lenique through 3-D Wines - three different kinds of champagne that we hadn't tried before. We opened the first bottle from the case last night, a non-vintage blanc de noirs.

It was very different from the vintage blanc de blancs that we're used to from Maison Lenique. This champagne still had the same clean taste and wonderful balance, but it was much richer, with an almost blue cheese finish (which was good, as I LOVE blue cheese). The bubbles weren't quite as everlasting as the blanc de blancs, but still held a steady fizz at the end of the glass. Overall, it was very good, a nice change from what we know at Maison Lenique, and I'm glad I have a few more bottles of it.

Spring!

Saturday was a glorious day - brilliant sunshine, blue skies, the smell of hyacinths and daffodils in the air. How could you not drink champagne on a day like that? We opened a bottled of Maison Lenique 2004 in the afternoon, as we lounged in the garden with the FT, and sipped, and enjoyed, and relaxed. It was an 'aaahhh' sort of day.

No Real Reason...

My husband felt like having champagne with his leftovers for dinner last night, so since there was a bottle of Maison Lenique 2005 in the fridge we drank it! Champagne always tastes that much better when there's no real reason for drinking it.

Clumsy

Me, not the champagne.

We had planned on making blueberry pancakes for dinner on Tuesday since it was 'Pancake Day' here in the UK. But my husband reminded me that it was also International Women's Day on Tuesday, and I couldn't figure out why I should cook that day, so we ordered in. We made the pancakes on Wednesday, instead. I still think that they're one of the best food matches for champagne (something most people won't put together since they only eat pancakes for breakfast), so we had a bottle of Maison Lenique 2005 with them.

While the champagne was faultless, I have to say that it wasn't my best meal. My hands weren't working very well and I had a hard time flipping the pancakes, especially since the spelt and corn meal blend that I used made them more delicate than wheat-flour pancakes. On top of that, I knocked a full glass of champagne off of the table, not only wasting perfectly good champagne but breaking one of my favourite and most expensive glasses - made even more expensive because HMRC charged me as much as the glasses cost to bring them across from the US!! Not my finest moment...

Hooray for Me!

I found out yesterday that I passed the fourth project in my garden design course, which means I'm 2/3 done. I've been having mixed feelings about the course - while I enjoy gardening and learning, I'm a bit frustrated by the structure of the course and the learning process. Fed up enough that I had to remind myself last night that I should be celebrating the fact that I worked hard and passed. So we opened a bottle of Maison Lenique 2004 with dinner and toasted my success. Everyone should take the time to pat themselves on the back every now and again...

More US Bubbles

I returned to London yesterday from my trip to the US. Before I left, I had tracked down a couple of lesser-known but well-received US sparkling wines to bring back with me, and I put one of them in the fridge right after I unpacked. My husband and I had it with dinner last night - Biltmore Estate Chateau Reserve 2008 Blanc de Blancs (North Carolina).

I have a complaint right off about this wine. It was supposed to be a 2006 vintage - this is what is advertised on their website and what I ordered. At no point did they inform me that I would be getting a different vintage - perhaps most of their customers don't care about this, but I do. So points lost right there.

For the price (around $25 for the bottle) this wine was comparable to some of the proseccos that I've drunk. It's a very light wine, with sour apple flavour hitting the mid-palate followed by just a flash of sweetness and no finish. The bubbles were fine on pouring, but quickly dissipated. I was a little disappointed with it - perhaps the 2006 was as stunning as some of the reviews I read and the 2008 just doesn't compare. But I wouldn't waste the effort tracking down the 2006...

We followed the Biltmore Estate up with glasses of Maison Lenique 2005 - a world of difference between the two wines with the Maison Lenique having more creamy apple and yeast flavours, a denser, richer, altogether nicer wine. It satisfied my craving for a good glass of bubbly, something the Biltmore Estate wine didn't achieve.

Maison Lenique '04 vs '05

My husband and I were very sad to see the bottom of the bottle of Maison Lenique 2004 that we drank on Wednesday, so I put a bottle of the 2005 on the champagne shelf in the fridge. He was supposed to be out late last night so I figured I would have a glass with the bread and cheese I nibbled on for dinner. But he came home earlier than expected, so we managed to share the bottle, which was a bit of a treat.

One of the things we had commented on while drinking the 2004 was how nice it was to come back to a really well-made champagne after drinking some of the other sparkling wines we've had of-late - regardless of how good they were. There's nothing quite like a well-balanced champagne. It was incredibly refreshing, clean on the palate, and had fantastic bubbles - the kind of thing that made us say "aaahhh" upon drinking and left us wanting more.

I was a little disappointed that I didn't get that feeling again while drinking the 2005 last night. At first I thought it was because it wasn't the best match with the blue cheese I was eating. But then my husband agreed with me. While the 2005 is still a wonderful champagne, with its yeasty, sweet apple flavours, it's not quite as refined as the 2004 and the residual sweetness on the finish makes it a little less refreshing. We still really enjoyed it, but it was good to try the two vintages back-to-back again to remind ourselves of how different they are.

Two Years On...

I found my oldest cat, Artemis, 19 years ago when I lived in Tokyo. She was my first fur-covered pet ever - I only had fish when I was a kid. She's been the perfect pet - polite, clean, cuddly, fun to play with, and in charge of all of the other animals in the house. We all live by her rules, which is OK because she's even stricter than I am! She's also been a wonderful companion as I've travelled the world, keeping me company in foreign countries where I didn't know anyone and didn't speak the language very well. I've spent more time with her than most of my family and my closest friends. While I know she's 'just a cat', I can't deny her constant presence in my life or the affection we share.

Two years ago, we thought she was going to die. She was diagnosed with chronic renal failure, and we were told that she only had days-to-weeks to live. I was heart-broken - life without Artemis is pretty unimaginable. But the vet showed us a procedure that would keep her comfortable in the time she had left, twice-daily injections of fluid under her skin to help her flush out the toxins that her kidneys can't cope with. We've been sticking her with needles pretty religiously since then, foregoing holidays, shortening our after-work activities, and basically revolving our lives around her treatment schedule.

Yesterday marked the second year of her survival - well beyond what anyone ever anticipated when we started. Artemis has not only survived but seems to thrive, as well - she plays with the make-up brushes that she steals from anyone who's careless enough to leave them within her reach, stalks through the grass in the garden in search of birds to chirp at, and maintains her role as alpha cat in the house. Every day, I simply hope for one more good day with her, and she's rewarded us with 730 of them!

Obviously, we don't give our cats champagne. To celebrate her second-year milestone, Artemis had a big bowl of tuna for dinner last night. After that, my husband and I ordered in some gyoza and opened a bottle of Maison Lenique 2004 - both to toast Artemis and to thank each other for our teamwork and efforts over the years. May we all have one more good day...

Hello 2011!

We had a wonderful, quiet New Year's Day on Sunday. I spent most of the day out in the garden, which I always enjoy. We had a casual dinner at home, with me making mac and cheese with bacon and spinach (always yummy) and an upside-down banana cake, a new favourite recipe. Accompanying it, we had Maison Lenique 2005, with its intense apple flavour and lots and lots of bubbles. All in all, it was a good day.

Yesterday, a group of us went to Ransome's Dock for lunch, and in his infinite wisdom, my husband pre-ordered a magnum of Billecart-Salmon rose. There's something about a magnum of champagne, the bottle just seems endless, although we always manage to finish it. The champagne was only eclipsed by the fantastic company and the most delicious dessert - a gingerbread pudding with ginger sauce, cream, and custard. It was to die for, the kind of cooking I've learned to expect at Ransome's Dock.

A great start to the New Year, now to some more healthy eating for the rest of January...

Thanksgiving 2010

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and as tradition has it, I made apple pie for my husband to enjoy. It's always good for him to be thankful for a wife who makes the best apple pie in the world! He insisted that it needed to be eaten with champagne, the perfect match for apple pie, so he opened the bottle of Maison Lenique that was in the fridge. Another thing to be thankful for - a full champagne shelf!! It's been a good year : )

Bella in Brooklyn

My neighbour is an artist, and she found out this week that she has been named as a finalist in an international art competition, with an exhibit and final awards to be held in Brooklyn in Dec 2010. Since we're ex-Brooklyn, she came over last night for tips on where to stay, shop, eat, visit while she's in NYC. We're very excited for her, and had to toast her with a bottle of Maison Lenique 2004. Fingers crossed that she both enjoys her trip and does well in the competition!

17 Years

Saturday was our actual anniversary, and despite a few showers in the afternoon, it was a lovely autumn day. We drove the dog out 'to the country' (in reality, 20 miles away from home, with most of the drive being through South London and Croydon) to go to a farm shop and garden centre that my husband found on-line. We bought apples and pumpkins and British cheese and meat, a lovely way to while away the afternoon.

When we got home I made pie with the apples. While I was baking, we nibbled on the cheese that we had bought and finished the bottle of Maison Lenique 2005 that we had opened the night before, a very good combination, and cosy with the scent of apples and cinnamon in the kitchen.

From there, we took the dog for her walk and then settled in for the evening with some movies and pizza and more chocolate cake - and a bottle of Larmandier-Bernier Terre de Vertus that my husband had picked up from Green & Blue. We've had this champagne before and really liked it. It's a zero dosage blanc de blancs that has lots of lime and mineral flavours - completely different from the Maison Lenique that we had been drinking earlier, but every bit as good. This is one of those champagnes that we call a 'wine with bubbles', as it would be just as drinkable if it were a still wine. It was a lovely treat, something a bit different for our special day.

16 Years, 364.5 Days

It was our wedding anniversary this weekend - needless to say we drank a bit of bubbly : )

We had originally thought that we would go away for the weekend, but that didn't work out. First off, the start of half-term coincided with the date, so airfares were outrageous and there was nowhere we wanted to go THAT badly. Secondly, many of the hotel-restaurants in the UK that we would have gone to required two nights stay on the weekend, which gets difficult for us with animal care. We really only wanted to go away for one night, and just couldn't be bothered with their greediness. So we stayed home.

I cleaned the house all day on Friday until it was 'hotel clean' so that it would feel even better than having gone away. My reward for that was that my husband cooked a huge pan of chicken nachos with homemade guacamole, and served it with our last bottle of prosecco from the Champagne Warehouse - La Farra Rose Brut which is a mix of prosecco, chardonnay and raboso grapes. This prosecco was a wonderful surprise, mixing the crisp tang of pink grapefruit at the start with the smoothness of pears and orchard fruit on the finish. It had lots of fizz, as well, and really didn't last long because it was so good! For around £11, this is another little gem and real bargain from the Champagne Warehouse.

Since the prosecco disappeared well before we were ready to eat the chocolate cake I had made, my husband popped open one of the other bottles that was in the fridge so we could have a glass of bubbly with cake. He made me guess what it was...no problem there as it had that distinct yeasty-apple aroma of Maison Lenique 2005. We were good and kept it to a glass each so that there would be more for the actual anniversary...

End of Week Rewards

As I mentioned in an earlier post, last week was an incredibly busy week and my husband was due to be out late most evenings. On Thursday, I had a lot of paperwork to do, and since he was supposed to be out in the evening, I popped a bottle of Maison Lenique 2005 in the fridge so that I could have a glass as a reward both for finishing my work and for being on my own. It was lovely, especially with the homemade halloumi, mint, and sundried tomato pastry I had to nibble with it. It was an even nicer surprise that my husband came home early enough to help me finish the bottle!!

It was the same story on Friday, so I put another bottle of the Maison Lenique in the fridge for when my work was done. Since the bottle was still half-full on Saturday, I finished off the last chunk of writing that I needed to do, and had one last celebratory glass with my husband (who was finally home and relaxing!). I'm finding it's a great way to motivate me to sit at the computer and just focus on writing what I need to - so much easier to do when there are bubbles to look forward to at the end!

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.

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.

August Bank Holiday - '10

We had some friends over last night for dinner - we cooked and they very kindly brought some amazing wines (thank you!). Knowing my love of bubbles, they brought a very special bottle of champagne as our aperitif - Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Elisabeth Salmon, a 2000 vintage rose made from a 50/50 split of pinot noir and chardonnay. It was a really wonderful champagne with a pretty, peachy-blush colour, a huge aroma of fruity-ripe strawberries and a long, almost spicy finish. It had lots of teeny, tiny bubbles, too, the perfect start to the evening!

We also served a bottle of my Maison Lenique 2004 with dessert of peach and blackberry crumble with home-made vanilla gelato. While everyone found it very drinkable, the consensus remains that it's not as good as the Billecart-Salmon champagnes. It's hard to beat them...