Page 44 - Phonebox Magazine May 2011

44 Phonebox Magazine
WINE SELECTION AT THE SWAN
The Black Shiraz, Australia
HOST: Espresso in a glass. Peppery and chocolatey, good with spicy food.
ME: Strong after taste but I really like it. Full on flavour.
Vina Edmar Carmenere, Chile
HOST: Earthy farmyard flavours
ME: Could I have some more please. Smooth, loads of flavour. No drama.
Coleccion Malbec, Argentina
HOST: Grown at 1700 metres above sea level, hand harvested, no pollution with just 2 inches of rainfall a year. Plummy flavours.
ME: It was a lovely wine, which I would happily drink.
It was a great night and thank you to Olly and Sue for organising. We hope you all enjoy whatever wines they decide to put behind the bar, but if they are not to your taste, please don’t blame us – by the end of the evening we could barely remember our names let alone which bottle we preferred!
Oh the responsibility! The Swan Inn and Bistro has been my local since we arrived in Olney 16 years ago, and since that time I estimate that between Neil and I, we have necked near on 2000 bottles of their wine. Pretty much the same wine too – they openly admit things don’t change around here very much. So it was with some trepidation that we joined another 18 hardened wine drinkers to a tasting evening to help select a new range of wines behind the bar. It was an inspired tactic from the Swan’s point of view – not only did we 20 feel privileged and special – but if anyone complains about the wine in the future, the Swan staff can blame it on the customers! Genius.
14 bottles of wine were laid out for out tasting and we each tried a splash of every one. We had buckets to spit or pour into, but they were suspiciously empty by the end of the evening. The host was incredibly knowledgeable and explained all sorts of things about the wines and the flavours as the evening progressed.
The wines were nearly all from far afield (New Zealand, South Africa, Chile etc) with just the odd one from Europe. This was a decision based mostly on price. With the Euro at its current rate, much better value for money can be achieved from the New World wines. The bottles all range between £14-£17 restaurant prices.
So what did we taste and what did we think?
Sacchetto Pinot Grigio, Italy
HOST: Pinot Grigio is now the biggest selling grape grown all over the world, taking over from Chardonnay. It’s a medium type of wine, fresh and easy to drink, so a bit of a crowd pleaser.
ME: Pleasant enough and easy to drink.
Hazy View Chenin Blanc, South Africa
HOST: The fizz you can taste is normal for a Chenin Blanc known in the trade as ‘freshness’.
ME: Nasty smell and tastes of chemicals.
Foundstone Unoaked Chardonnay, Australia
HOST: This is an unoaked, naked Chardonnay. (Oaking a wine can hide its flaws and mask any impurities). Tastes of pineapple and tropical fruits with added citrusy notes.
ME: Very creamy – a bit strawberry and vanilla – not my thing
Valle Dorado Sauvignon Blanc, Chile
HOST: Much lighter and fresher than your typical Sauvignon with elderflower
flavours and no real punch.
ME: I liked it - light, fresh although slightly too sweet
Vina Edmara Viognier, Chile
HOST: Becoming a fashionable wine. It has an explosion of stone fruit flavours like peaches and apricots. Very aromatic. ME: One of my favourites – like a fresh pinot grigio but with some flavour
Faultline Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand
HOST: Strongest flavour of all the whites we tasted and a typical Sauvignon – sharp gooseberries and grassy. A white wine that stands up to strong flavours like chilli and thai.
ME: Compared to the current Montana – it stands up very well – clean and packs a punch, even I can taste the gooseberries!
Sachetto Pinot Grigio Blush, Italy
HOST: The liquid from any grape (whether green or red) is always clear. The colour comes from the contact from the skins. The Pinot Grigio grape does not develop into a red grape and the skins are left in contact with the wine for a week to develop this light blush.
ME: I’ll stick to the white
Broken Shackle Rose, Australia
HOST: Made with Shiraz grapes, the skins only need to be left in contact for one hour to develop the lovely deep rose colour. Proper barbecue wine this one, which can stand up to spicy food. Lots of berries.
ME: Actually does taste of summer fruits. Light up the barby.
Broken Shackle Red, Australia
HOST: Broken Shackle blend the best grapes available at the time to produce the nicest wine than can. Sometimes as many as 5, but this year just two – 80% shiraz 20% merlot. So no two years are the same.
ME: Nice and easy to drink
Valle Dorado Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile
HOST: Full of blackberry and red fruit flavours, it’s a soft easy drinking Cabernet.
ME: No, really don’t like the taste of that one
Hazy View, Pinotage, South Africa
HOST: Medium bodied and easy to drink – full of cracked black pepper and liquorice ME: I have always liked Pinotage and this is no exception. Easy to drink but quite a hard taste. Sorry, don’t get the pepper and liquorice!
Finally a criticism of the Bell & Bear
As you probably know, we are big fans of the Bell and Bear, Emberton, and our new hobby is introducing friends to this hidden away, traditional pub with a truly talented chef in its kitchen. This Friday we took Bob and, as always, enjoyed a delightful night with some amazing food.
NB and I shared wild boar and juniper berry terrine whilst Bob had Watercress Soup - a deep, velvety green colour like a mossy woodland pool. Both were delicious. For mains Bob chose lamb, Neil had duck and I had chicken. All the meat is from local sources. The veg is usually from villagers gardens and allotments. My chicken tasted of proper chicken - you forget sometimes that this food can have flavour itself, not just added from sauces and spices. It was served on tiny little potato rostis with purple sprouting broccoli from an Emberton allotment. I can't remember how the boys mains were served, but NB reckoned it was the best duck he had ever tasted. The chef cooked it via a waterbath for 5 hours ...
For dessert I chose the chocolate brownies served with blood orange sorbet. The brownies were truly outstanding - warm, soft and gooey in the middle and crispy on the outside. The blood orange sorbet is possibly the nicest thing I have tasted in a long while - just imagine someone squeezing blood oranges into your mouth at the same time as eating a spoonful of sugar and you'll be somewhere close to the shock of bitter and sweet. And so to the criticism - these two delightful flavours didn't really work together. I know chocolate and orange should complement beautifully, but somehow when put in the mouth together the two amazing flavours disappeared and you were left with nothing much. No big deal - I simply ate them separately and like that, this dish rates in my list of top five desserts of all time. I can still taste that blood orange sorbet right now...