Wines at Altitude – Carmenere and Malbec

The tasting was on 29th floor of Millbank Tower in Central London (pic via Santa Rita Estates)

I don’t hate Carmenere. It’s often referred to as the “marmite” of wine, you either love it or hate it. I fall into the ambivilent category, neither hating it nor loving it. I was given a little more insight into carmenere when I participated in a wine workshop sponsored by Santa Rita Estates, a premium Chilean producer, which sought to shed a bit more light on not only the wines of Chile but also it’s neighbour, Argentina and it’s flagship grape, Malbec.

I participated only in the red wine tasting of the seminar but there was a white wine tasting in the morning. The Carmenere tasting was lead by Tim Atkin MW, Brian Croser and Peter Richards MW with Panellists Andres Ilabaca and Sebastian Labbe. Peter Richards MW noted that carmenere is still relatively new and that it needs more time and that he has “…no doubt that quality will increase in time. Lots of different kinds of Carmenere will emerge, as it’s a naturally varied variety…”

Sebastian Labbe, Edgardo del Popolo & Peter Richards MW (pic via Santa Rita Estates)

Viña Casa Silva, Santa Rita Estates, Carmen Winemakers, and Concha y Toro were all on show, an mix of 2008 and 2009 vintages. What was most evident was the slight green notes of the wines and the tannins. I also found that there was a coffee bean character to them, but I liked that! The standout was not surprisingly a blend, 85% carmenere, 10% carignan and 5% cabernet the 2009 Apalta by Carmen Winemakers. Carmenere seems to work best when blended and this wine was fresh, spicy and full of fruit. The added varities seemed to give the wine a lift and extra dimension. Carmenere is still a work in progress for the Chileans.

A few of the wines on tasting

After a short break we reconvened for Malbec. I’ve drunk a lot of malbec, mostly in Argentina, so I was looking forward to tasting these wines. Colome Estate, Bodega Noemia, and Dona Paula were all on tasting. Salta is one of the highest altitude wine producing regions in the world, if not the highest and it is here that Colome Estate produces their malbec. The 2009 was full rich and warm, well balanced with a streak of acidity running down it’s backbone. The winemakers had added a small bit of tannat, cabernet and petit verdot all of which added a bit of ballast for the wine, not letting the fruit run away with it.

All of the malbecs showed bright fruit, floral noses and elegant bodies, these are some serious wines being made from the Argentine soils. It was very nice to not be battered down by jammy ripe fruit and tannins softer then a goosedown pillow which is sadly often what we get from the supermarket. The most interesting wine of the tasting was a wine grown on alluvial soil, the Dona Paula Alluvia Parcel 2010. Savoury and intense, very spice notes and hints of rosewater on the nose, not at all what you would expect from an Argentine malbec. The only downside I would say is the price. If you’re used to paying under a tenner, you won’t get any of these wines. Some were topping out at £90 with others costing around £40-£50.

All in all an enlightening day of carmenere and malbec, both showing sides of themselves that I have previously not known. Santa Rita Estates deserves a pat on the back for bringing not only their wines but also wines from competitors to the forefront and giving we here in the UK the chance to see and taste the difference for ourselves.

Carmenere. Love it or Hate it? Tell me about your experiences with carmenere or any other Chilean wine for that matter.

Restaurant Angelus wants to help you negotiate a wine list

Thierry Tomasin, proprietor and host

Thierry Thomasin was the Chef Sommelier at 2-Michelin starred La Gavroche for 12 years and he’s seen plenty. From the rich and famous to the punters coming in to celebrate a special occasion, he’s been on hand to advise on wine.

house champagne

Thierry now has his own restaurant, Angelus, a hidden gem in West London near Lancaster Gate tube stop, a delightful brasserie de luxe serving up modern British French cuisine. The food is delicious but as befits a restaurant run by an ex-Chef Sommelier, he not only wants guests to enjoy the food but also the wine and has made helping his guest negotiate the wine list a top priority.

To that end, he has come up with a special dinner to show customers how to handle a wine list. At first he had in mind a dinner for men only but the demand by women to join in has been so great that he’s added another dinner for women and is even contemplating a dinner for both men and women.

We had a dress rehearsal of the dinner, a 3 course meal paired with a wine of Thierry’s choosing. Thierry introduced each course along with the wine and why he thought it would go well with the dish. He also offered up amusing anecdotes and tips on what do do when confronted with a wine list, whether it’s as thick as a bible or two pages, he gave lots of helpful hints.

smoked salmon to start

duck breast main

A few top tips, call ahead to consult with the sommelier or look online (many restaurants have their lists online) to see what kind of wines are offered. Champagne is a good aperitif, it’s always my favourite, and don’t hesitate to order wine by the glass for each course. As a matter of fact, each dish was paired with a wine by the glass from the restaurant list. There was a lot more and Thierry is a very entertaining fellow but I’m not going to give away his secrets, you’ll just have to dine at Angelus or better yet book a place at his “Negotiating a Wine List” dinner. He has one coming up in early February for men and the woman’s dinner is later in the month.

dessert - rhubarb millefeuille

For more information, consult the Angelus website or give them a call.

Angelus

4 Bathhurst St

London

W2 2SD

T: 020 7402 0083

Tube: Lancaster Gate – Central Line

Have any top tips for negotiating a wine list? Leave your tip in the comments section and help a sista’ out

Angel & Crown, good pub grub (and wine, too!)

The Angel and Crown is a new gastropub just re-opened in St. Martin’s Lane. A stones throw from Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, ENO and numerous West End theatres, it’s in a great location and not only pulls a good pint, they have also redesigned the pub so that the upstairs is now a snappy dining room.

the dining room (pic courtesy Angel&Crown)

The pub was taken over by The ETM Group and has been transformed from an old fashioned boozer into a cozy gastropub. The upstairs dining room is compact but not crowded and has a small bar to cater to diners.

crackling

The menu is full of British seasonal foods and specialities. I was invited to dine by ETM and they had devised a menu to show off the cuisine. While we were waiting for everyone to show up we had pork crackling, black pudding Scotch egg and devilled whitebait to nibble on, all available as bar snacks and ranging in price form £3 – £6.50. I loved the Scotch egg, black pudding is one of my favourites and wrapped around the egg, was delicious. We had London Bellinis (pressed apple and elderflower topped with Prosecco) to sip on while waiting, a bit on the sweet side for me, I asked for extra Prosecco!

black pudding scotch egg

One of the things they aim to do is to bring the wine list out of it’s ghettoized existence and actually have wines that you’d be happy to drink, not just watery pinot grigio or a fruit bomb of a cabernet.

Dr Bucklin Wolf riesling

The first wine we had was surprisingly, a German riesling. Riesling gets a bad rap but the Dr. Burklin Wolf trocken 201o is as dry as they come. A delightful nose of orange blossom, beeswax and white flowers with a bit of passion fruit, on the palate it’s dry but fruity, candied lemon, passionfruit and lime leaf finishing it off. A fantastic match with the potted smoked mackerel and dill, the wine cut right through the mackerel and left me wanting more of both but eat the dill pickle on it’s own, otherwise a winner!

potted mackerel and dill

At first I thought the main course might just be a bone but it was actually a pheasant and partridge pie garnished with a big ol’ bone marrow sticking straight out of the middle of the plate. If you like bone marrow, this is the dish for you. The pie itself was very tasty, a light and flaky pie crust covering succulent pieces of pheasant and partridge in a fatty broth. It was paired with Chateau Musar’s Jeune 2009. Ch. Musar usually age their wines for 7 years before releasing them but the Jeune is their effort to produce ready to drink wines. A savoury and gamy wine, it was a good wine to have with the dark meat pie, hints of black fruits and licorice on the back of the palate.

pheasant pie & bone marrow

I do have to give a special mention to the poppy seed onion rings, they were divinely crunchy with sweet onion on the inside. I did end up eating a bowl of them by myself.

Ch Musar Jeune 2009

Dessert of chocolate mousse was decadently rich and after all those onion rings, I could only manage a few spoonfuls. Pedro Ximenez, La Gitana was served alongside it but I think the Pedro would have been better poured over a scoop or two of vanilla ice-cream. Still, it’s nice to see it available outside of a sherry bar.

I’ve eaten at a couple of EMT’s pubs now and not only is the food well done but the winelist, although not extensively long is well thought out and hopefully will shake people out of the wine ghetto they’ve come to expect from pub wine lists.

Know a pub with good grub? Leave your recommendation in the comments section…

Angel & Crown

57 St Martins Lane, Leicester Sq.

London

WC2N 4EA

020 7557 9841

Tube – Leicester Sq., Piccadilly Line

Tapas and sherry at Barrafina

La Gitana Manzanilla

There’s nothing better then a tasty snack while having a drink with friends. Wandering around Soho after a wine tasting the other day we stopped in at  Barrafina for a couple of tapas and a glass or two of sherry. Barrafina is a typical tapas bar, no tables just a long L-shaped bar lined with barstools and a thin counter that runs along the one wall of the bar where you stand and nosh/drink. One more thing, it’s as bright as any tapas bar in Spain, lit up like the middle of the day in summertime Spain.

pimientos de padron

We ordered a bottle of La Gitana manzanilla (£20) while standing at the counter. If you don’t know sherry, start with a manzanilla. Dry and nutty, with a salty tinge to it, I love manzanilla, you’re not going to find fruit in a manzanilla but it’s a great with olives and almonds, among other things. We had a plate of pimientos de padron as well. All the food is the best quality they can find and you can taste it.

pan con tomate

Pan con tomate followed,  a juicy, very light tomato puree covering the bread and utterly delicious. We followed that with little chorizo sausages wrapped in thin potato slices, divine, if a little bit greasy, so beware when eating.

pollack

If you sit at the bar, you have to order something a bit more substantial and there are plenty of specials, including a raw seafood bar. The night we were there we had the special of  fresh pollack in a tomato salsa, the pollack was delicate and fresh, the chunky tomato sauce full of garlic slivers. The wine list is not very long but there are plenty of good choices and John, our bartender/waiter let us try a couple of different red wines before we settled on Grand Recosind Crianza 2005 (£28). A blend of garnacha, cabernet and carinena from the Costa Brava, savoury but still having red fruit on the finish, supple tannins rolling over my tongue. We liked it but on reflection, we probably would have been happier with another bottle of the manzanilla.

John, bartender

Grand Recosind 2005

I love blood pudding and Morcilla Iberica topped with fried quail’s eggs is a fantastic combination, the runny egg yolk blending with the salty morcilla. I don’t usually like fried eggs other then on toast but this works so well.

morcilla and quail's egg

We could have stayed for another bottle but it was Thursday night so we settled up and headed off.

Do you have a favourite sherry bar in London? Let me know in the comments and I’ll be sure to check it out!

Barrafina

54 Frith St

London W1D 4SL

020 7813 8016

Nearest Tube – Tottenham Court Rd – Central Line