Good wine buys from Waitrose

Yesterday was a bit of a marathon on the wine-tasting circuit with a huge tasting at Waitrose and a slightly more manageable one at the Co-op but the Waitrose tasting produced this gem which I’d urge you to snap up before the current offer expires on May 29th.

It's the 2010* Catena Malbec, a purringly smooth, deep, rich, plummy Argentinian red which should have a good way to go but to my mind is already showing beautifully. It would, of course, be great with steak but also with roast beef or lamb. An ideal bottle to bring out for New World wine lovers and traditionalists alike. (In most Waitrose branches at £9.99 instead of £12.99 or £9.49 online if you're buying a case.)

While you’re in Waitrose there are also some decent whites you might want to pick up - if you can find the current vintages. The website doesn't seem to be totally up to date but I have checked with Waitrose that they're available.

* a classy Vincent de Vignaud Pouilly-Vinzelles from the excellent 2010 vintage - down from £13.99 to £10.99 which makes it a great buy. That would be a versatile all-rounder but especially good with posh fish with a creamy or buttery sauce. (The website lists the 2007 vintage - I wouldn't go for that)

* the LaVis Vigneti dei Montagna Pinot Grigio 2010/11 from Trentino-Alto Adige. Pinot Grigio gets a bad rap but this is a good one and a bargain at £5.99 (down from £8.99). Ideal for antipasti and pasta and risottos with seafood or spring vegetables. (The website shows the 2010.)

* and the delicate elderflower-scented Three Choirs Annum 2011 down from £8.99 to £7.19 (£6.83 online) which is a fair price for English wine. I’d drink that as an aperitif.

Oh, and two other good deals. If you’re a fan of Nyetimber and want to stock up on some for the Jubilee it’s on offer at £22.49 or £21.36 online instead of £29.99 and there’s a multibuy offer of 3 bottles for £5 on selected ciders (that last one runs till June 6th).

* Looks like some stores may still have the 2009 which should also be decent but buy one to try before you splash out on more.

 

Gordon Ramsay opens a steak restaurant. Nobu unveils his new hotel. A typical day in Las Vegas . . .

For a town that’s still more noted for gaming than food, Las Vegas can certainly pull in the big names. Yesterday Gordon Ramsay opened his first restaurant in the city at Paris, Las Vegas while Nobu unveiled plans for his first hotel at Caesar’s Palace.

For those more used to Ramsay’s high end eateries at the Savoy and in Hospital Road, Chelsea Gordon Ramsay Steak might come as a bit of a shock. First of all it’s in the middle of a Parisian-themed casino under a fake Eiffel Tower (nothing remarkable about that: many of Vegas’s top restaurants sit cheek by jowl with several hundred slot machines).

A tubular entrace, designed to simulate the channel tunnel, brings you into a large room with a vast Union Jack on the ceiling and an angry red squiggle of a light sculpture. I assumed it was inspired by Gordon’s language but it's apparently a representation of his hand movements when making his signature dish of beef Wellington.

There is a tiered chrome steak trolley with a perch for each cut with a mirror behind to enable you to appreciate the marbling. “Every guest will receive a visit from this trolley” we were earnestly assured by one of the suits behind the restaurant. It was hard to keep a straight face.

We got to sample the Beef Wellington (very good) and two other dishes including a cute version of Caesar salad made with mini soft-boiled Scotch eggs and an impeccable sticky toffee pudding. Other dishes such as 'Colorado lamb chop complimented by flavors of Shepherd's Pie, lamb meatballs, peas, carrots and potato puree' give gastropub staples an upmarket Ramsay-esque twist. Still others like British ale onion soup made with Boddington’s and smoked beef tartare with Guinness-infused mustard seeds, feature beer as an ingredient. A big play is being made of Ramsay’s love of ale.

Some locals were surprised to see Ramsay in Paris, Las Vegas rather than in one of the more glamourous hotels but at least he hasn’t any competition from the other big names there and there are rumours of another opening within the Caesar’s Palace stable soon.

It was an uncharacteristically humble appearance from Ramsay who admitted he’d ‘made mistakes’ in the past. “Look, everyone thinks Vegas is a walk in the park but we’re taking nothing for granted. I’ve felt left out for many years because every top chef in the world is here."

Wasn’t he tempted to do the three Michelin style food which started his career though? A flash of the old Ramsay: “I’m not going to put my balls on the line and do fine dining! There’s incredible competition here - there’s no city which hosts so many top chefs. But pressure is always healthy."

He may be deliberately underplaying his chances. He has the virtue of a much higher profile in the states than his European rivals through programmes such as Hell’s Kitchen, “Kitchen Nightmares” and “MasterChef”. And the new restaurant will get invaluable TV exposure: the winner of the next series of Hell’s Kitchen will join the brigade.

“The American market is very personality driven” says local Vegas restaurant critic Al Mancini, who isn’t surprised Ramsay has gone for the safety of a steakhouse format. "People who watch TV want simple meat and potatoes food and chefs want young diners to feel comfortable in their restaurants.”

The key question is whether Ramsay will now be making his base in the US. His MD and fellow chef Stuart Gillies says not despite the fact that the chef has bought a multi-million pound property in Belair, Los Angeles. He still, Gillies points out, has 14 restaurants in the UK including the recently opened Bread Street Kitchen and is due to open the Union Street Café near Borough Market later this year. The kids apparently still go to school in the UK but the whole family will be in LA for the summer. It must be tempting . . .

 

 

 

 

Matchingfoodandwine.com relaunched with style!

Welcome to the relaunched matchingfoodandwine.com. I hope you like our glamourous new look devised by our good friends Miller Design and executed (with infinite patience) by web designers fuzzylime.

To celebrate we’re offering an amazing prize - a case of Roederer champagne. All you have to do is sign up for our new monthly newsletter - see here for how to enter the draw.

Of course the makeover amounts to more than a new look. We’ve switched to a Google-type search function that I think makes it a great deal easier to find a match - or several possible pairings - for a dish or meal you’re planning to make or a wine or beer you want to show off. Hit the Find a Match section for that.

If you simply want to browse there are two new sections, Wine with Food and Food with Drink which should throw up plenty of new ideas, along with Top Pairings and the popular Match of the Week slot. Recent posts includes more general features on food and wine pairing and other subjects of interest to food and wine lovers.

In the Entertaining section you’ll find seasonal menus and ideas for special occasions such as Chinese New Year, Easter and Christmas while if you’re after a new recipe to refresh your repertoire try - obviously enough - Recipes.

I’m also lucky to get to travel and eat out a fair amount so you’ll find the fruits of that in Reviews - mainly focussed on London restaurants and a few hotels and restaurants elsewhere (the restaurants and Travel categories). And check out my pick of the latest releases in the Book Reviews section.

Finally, if you’re a member of the wine trade or hospitality industry there’s a special section for you called Wine Pros which contains slightly geekier stuff about wine dinners, clever pairings and the other things your competitors may be getting up to. Obviously you don’t have to actually be employed in the industry to get the benefit of that - it’s for keen amateurs too. You’ll be able to subscribe to that section - and a regular Wine Pros newsletter - in a couple of months.

If you have any feedback or questions about the new site do contact us via the contact box.

 

Is red wine a good match for chocolate?

I’ve never totally bought into the idea but a recent wine and chocolate tasting put on by Australian Wine at Australia House in London went halfway to convincing me.

They put together a number of pairings with chocolates from Rococo who make some of the most delicious chocolates in London.

First off we actually tried two dry whites, a De Bortoli PHI Chardonnay, Yarra Valley 2007 which was paired with a Chocolate: Sea Salt Wafer and a 2011 Skillogalee Gewürztraminer, Clare Valley with a Chocolate: Rose Ganache.

The first was a case of ‘you could but why would you?’ There are so many other delicious things to drink with a classy chardonnay like that. I just found myself dreaming of scallops. The Gewürztraminer was more interesting though, really picking up on the rose flavours in the chocolate. I could get used to that . . .

Next two big reds, the 2008 d’Arenberg The Custodian Grenache from McLaren Vale 2008 with a Red Berry Ganache and a 2009 Mitolo GAM Shiraz with a Chocolate Blackcurrant and Violet Ganache. These both worked, amazingly, though I felt the almost porty 15% Mitolo had the edge. And again it was lovely with the filling.

We then moved on to two more conventional choices, the pretty Innocent Bystander Moscato with a really unusual White chocolate Cardamom and Saffron Ganache and Brown Brothers 2009 Orange Muscat and Flora, Victoria with a Mango, Passion Fruit and Orange Ganache.

Oddly these didn’t work as well for me. The orange flavours in the chocolate knocked out the same flavours in the Muscat and at 5.5% the Moscato was just a bit light for such a rich, exotic chocolate. But I took a sip of the Skillagolee Gewürztraminer with it which was terrific. I can imagine a slightly sweeter Gewürz being an amazing match for these flavours.

And finally, more familiar territory - a couple of ‘stickies’, the Campbells Classic Rutherglen Muscat with a Pecan and Spice Praline and a rich, toffeed Grant Burge 10 year old Tawny NV with a Coffee and Cardamom Marzipan chocolate - both cracking pairings but as I don’t have a particularly sweet tooth I preferred the Grant Burge.

Pushing the boundaries of food and wine matching is always fun but doesn’t quite take into account how much mood is tied up with chocolate. If you had a gorgeous bottle of Chardonnay would you eat chocolate with it? Or would you hand chocolates round with the Shiraz at a dinner party? I suspect not.

That said, it worked better than I thought it would and the very original character of the chocolates with their exotic, spicy, floral fillings made it a hedonistic experience by any standards. Food for thought and a bit more experimentation here.