Apple tatin and sparkling perry

The surprise match of the natural wine dinner I went to last week at Bar Battu was not a wine but a perry - 'sydriculteur' Eric Bordelet's sparkling Poire Granit.

You'd have thought that such a light drink (it's only 3.5%) wouldn't stand up to such a sweet dessert - especially one served with a Calvados-flavoured crème fraîche but in fact it made a deliciously refreshing counterpoint after quite a rich main course of duck.

Apparently Bordelet, who used to be sommelier to three Michelin starred chef, Alain Passard and rather quaintly describes himself as a pomologue and a poirologue, often serves it with pan-fried scallops according to stockist The Smiling Grape Company which sells it for £18.99 (so not cheap). They reckon it would also work well with goat’s cheese.