This summer I held a dinner at home with my wife for some friends who have supported my venture, an entertainment and lifestyle business all based around fine wine, the culinary arts and travel. I feel there is a great opportunity to extend my knowledge of the culture and the wines and food of France & Italy in this format. To that end, I thought it a good idea to have guests participate in the kitchen so they too can feel the moment. Thereafter it would be easier to understand the wines and their pairings in the dining room, offering some real value and a sense of belonging. knowledge is power.

 

At the forefront of my mind is making sure my guests would enjoy themselves. I was thinking to myself, work on the basics. The quality of the food & wine will do the trick. I was looking for qualified people who can perform their art to the highest level and that should tick the entertainment box all by itself. Enter the fray Mr. Graham Heldreth, a young man from Colorado who has a clear passion for the culinary arts. An entrepreneur to his core, Graham has worked with the likes of Thomas Keller who is at the forefront of the revolution-taking place in American kitchens.

I told Graham what I was looking to do on the phone. We had not yet met, but as soon as I told him of my plan, I heard a sigh of relief over the silence on the line. Graham said, “I was hoping you would say something like that”. He had not heard my sigh of relief, because secretly I too was looking for a partner in crime, someone with the rare attributes, worldliness and sophistication. Someone off whom I can bounce ideas, someone who understands that the wines are really a reflection of the people that made them and the people that drink them. The Holy Grail is entertainment, I was looking to encapsulate that magical chemistry when human beings interact with each other and share good memories and ideas. This is fun. The common denominator would be the food & the wine with some gumption. It has to be said, experiencing a trained professional at the pinnacle of their career is exhilarating, this would be a major selling point and this my friends is what is commonly known as lifestyle.

 

I wanted to take my guests on a virtual tour of these wine regions that were represented on the evenings menu while sitting at our dining table. I envisaged Graham would come into the dining room, I would introduce him to our guests, he would tell them a little about himself, some of his past experiences in the kitchen and a little of what he had prepared for us on this amazing mid-summers Saturday evening, all very exciting stuff I must say. My idea was to then introduce every wine on the menu, giving a small but concise bio on each one and why it should pair so well with the dish it would accompany. Most importantly, I wanted to talk about the people that made the wine, the appellation, the landscapes, I wanted to paint a virtual picture with a dash of culture, history and some ideas for future trips I could see them thinking about as I was talking. It was very exciting stuff.

Our guests started arriving at 6,15pm to be greeted by a Kir Royale (A dash of Crème de Cassis with Grand Cru Champagne), a Rose Grand Cru Champagne and also a Brut Blancs de Noir Champagne all from Fromentin-Leclapart which is located in the Champagne area. The aperitif was served with a fabulous selection of charcuterie and cheese in our living room. This is the menu that Graham was about to prepare for us.

The menu:

Salmon tartar, hen egg, pickled shallot, tarragon oil, whipped crème fraiche

Roasted beet salad, summer strawberries, pistachio, ricotta,, aged sherry

Sous vide duck breast, herbed farro, and roasted baby carrot, black pepper gastric

Rustic blueberry galette, vanilla bean ice cream.

I am someone who thinks fast when I understand my chosen topic. Pairing wines with food is all about enhancing the flavors of both the wine and the food. One shouldn’t drown the other out. The first dish was an easy pairing.  A Salmon tartar. I thought to myself, a pretty stainless steel Chablis would go well as the acid would complement the fish and enhance its flavors. The wine would be softened by the crème fraiche, and the hen egg was just the oral explosion I was waiting for, the creamy yolk matched the flowery taste of the Chablis to perfection. The coup de grace was the acidity in the wine, which cleansed the palate after every mouthful.

The next dish was a magical concoction of roasted beet, strawberries, pistachios, ricotta, and an aged sherry sauce. Hmmm what would I do next? Sorry to be boring, but I had to go back to Chablis, however this time to a premier cru vineyard. Le Mont de Milieu from Jean Claude Courtault. The Mont de Milieu demarcates the border between Champagne & Burgundy. This Chablis was a step up in class, it had more body and everything the first wine had only one could feel the single vineyard nature of the wine. It was stupendous, matching the acids in each piece of fruit, and most off all it combined perfectly with the aged sherry sauce. Wonderful.

I was watching in the kitchen, the preparation of the duck was intriguing. The duck is placed in plastic bags akin to Ziploc bags, then popped into a basin of optimum temperature  hot water. This process is called sous vide. The duck is left until it cooks right thru, and finally taken out and seared in a pan. I was thinking about the duck as the perfect wine is a challenge. Bordeaux would be too strong. I went for a Chateauneuf-Du-Pape, ‘Domaine La Barroche’ 2012. Too young perhaps, but very approachable and enjoyable. It begs the question; what it will be like in five years time? We then embarked on a marvelous journey through the Cotes des Nuits in Burgundy. A 2010 Gevrey Chambertin, ‘Clos Prieur’ from the producer Rene Leclerc was our first port of call. This too was a major hit. Burgundian Pinot Noir can be delicate, as is the duck. Trying to find the right wine is akin to a good pitcher/slugger duel, they matched each other perfectly. There was a third wine, a Jerome Sordet ‘Pommard’ 2010. Pommard is further south and below Beaune. The wines are renowned to be more rustic than Gevrey; they say Pommard takes ten more years to mature compared to its nearest neighbor Volnay. However, because of the great year in 2010, the wines are that little more approachable and this one was very nice. Like the CDP, I would imagine in five or ten years it will be completely different. The thing with delicacies such as Burgundy and CDP is that the modern drinker wants them when they are drinking perfectly, but in my experience that is when you cannot get them, they become very expensive. The trick is to buy them when issued and cellar them. The wines were the perfect match for the duck which I must say was delicious.

A rustic blueberry galette with a vanilla bean ice cream was served for pudding. Champagne is the perfect match, but next time I will have a nice Barsac sweet wine on the menu to complement such an amazing moment.

The conversation at the table was flowing, there was lots of laughter, and I must say it was one of the more enjoyable nights I have had in a long time. My intentions were to let the evening flow, and flow it did. An electric ambiance was enhanced by the brief but to the point bulletins of information on the food and wine.

I look forward to the next evening which will be offered on my website.