After an earlier tasting session with a the lovely, Anne, Lauraine and Aeilidh from Feast, we successfully matched the wines for the evening and were very much looking forward to experiencing some traditional French fayre. Another sell-out event for Feast. We started the evening with a gorgeous glass of Veuve Fourny Rosé 1er Cru Champagne n.v. together with some crunchy crudities and smooth blue cheese dip. This is an exceptional Champagne that we all adore. Beautiful, elegant red fruit, gentle acidity and fine bubbles make this wine very appealing as well as very moreish. The dip was equally yummy!
The much anticipated starter of French Snails grilled with garlic and herb butter served with artisan French bread arrived. Obviously there was a little apprehension about the snails and some did opt for the safer option of Garlic Prawns but those who chose this option really missed out. They were stunning, so plump and juicy with not too much garlic. I hadn't eaten snails for over 15 years and last time I did they were small, chewy and totally covered in garlic. These were a revelation and I will definitely have them again. Even Liz who was adamant that she was going to have the prawns, tried a snail, loved it and finished the plate! With this dish we served the Catherine and Didier Tripoz Macon-Charnay 'Clos des Tournons' 2008 from Macon, Burgundy. This wine has tons of ripe golden and green apples on the nose, flowery notes and hints of nuts leading to a similar aspect on the palate but it is the vivid, bracing acidity that balances the fruit and cleanses the palate, perfect to cut through the garlic butter. Next was a beautifully rich French Onion soup served with the Paul Jaboulet Aîné Côtes du Rhône Blanc 'Parallèle 45' 2008. We have recently become official stockists of the wines from Paul Jaboulet and we were delighted to be showing one of his wines at this event. The wine and the soup, which matched exceptionally well, went down a storm. We can't wait to do the official launch....more news on this soon!
The main course was ‘Cassoulet de Castelnaudary’ which is a slow cooked Casserole of white haricot beans, pork belly and Confit of Duck served with a golden crust of bread crumbs and wilted spinach. We served two reds, (we couldn't decide which one was better during the taste off so we decided to serve them both) the Chateau Saint-Roch Chimères Coteaux de Languedoc Rouge 2006 and Largesse Shiraz 2008 Vin de Pays d'Oc. Both great with this rustic style dish and there was a fifty fifty split around the room on which one they preferred.
We then had a lovely soft cheese called Banon that derives its name from the town in which it is made, Banon, in Provence. The cheese normally matures young and has a wood/fruit flavour that it takes from the chestnut leaves in which the cheese is wrapped. This cheese was served with the same two reds from the main course and worked equally well.
To finish the evening was a rather indulgent choux pastry filled with Chantilly Cream and covered in chocolate sauce. It could only be described as one huge profiterole and it was very good indeed. The cream was light and delicately flavoured. Delicious! We washed it down with a glass of Chateau Filhot 2005 - a stylish Sauternes with bags of pineapple fruit flavours and great acidity to cut through the cream.
A very enjoyable evening. Huge thanks to the entire team for their professionalism throughout and Happy Birthday again to Anne's husband Olie! We couldn't resist singing Happy Birthday to you....especially on this particularly special birthday... :-)
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment