Classic pairing

Question 1

Taittinger PRÉLUDE
GRANDS CRUS

With snacks

Answer 1

1. Family run Champagne house
2. Grapes from Grands Crus across Champagne
3. 50/50 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, only first pressed wines
4. Mineral, with apple, pear, white peach, elderflower
5. 5 years on lees
6. Youthful and flavoursome

Question 2

Tamagawa, Time machine, Kyoto 2022

With Bread and Chiken Butter

Answer 2

1. Junmai, 70% polishing ratio
2. Brewed by English born brewer Phillip Harper
3. First recorded method in 1712, 300 years ago
4. Umami, natural acids, sugars (molasses, dried apricots). Savoury and sweet.

Question 3

Riesling Feinherb, Weingut Frey, Rheinhessen, 2022

With Scottish Waters

Answer 3

1. Family owned for 4 generations
2. From Ober-Flörsheim, highest municipality in South Western Rheinhessen
3. Kabinett style. Floral (elderflower), with citrus and white fruit (fresh apple, peach), gooseberries, some residual sugar.
4. 12 hrs skin contact

Question 4

Grenache Blanc, Domaine Gardiés, ‘Clos Des Vignes Blanc’, Côtes du Roussillon, 2022

With All About the Sturgeon

Answer 4

1. Powerful and structured. Vibrant acidity
2. Ripe stone fruit, notes of acacia, beeswax and spices and a long citrus finish
3. Barrel fermented for texture
4. Chalky-clay soils of Vingrau

Question 5

Mourvèdre, Circumstance Rosé, Cape Coral, Waterkloof, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2022

With Cod, Bean and Seaweed

Answer 5

1. Waterkloof winery. Bio-dynamic grapes.
2. Mourvèdre is a sunlight and heat loving variety.
3. Ocean facing vineyards. Cooling influences. Introduces freshness and salinity to the wine. Dry-farmed, windswept and low-yielding.
4. Complex. Intense red fruit. Pomegranates and raspberries, prominent mineral flintiness. Fynbos (natural shrubland or heathland vegetation).
5. Open barrel fermented for rounder texture. Wild yeast. (Waterkloof ferments in older wooden fermenters to ensure a slow ingress of oxygen throughout the process and therefore a longer fermentation without picking-up any oak aromas). Only light filtration.
6. 8 months lees ageing complements the whey sauce.

Question 6

Poulsard, Domaine des Carlines, Côtes du Jura, 2021

With Cornish Field Lamb, black pudding, wild garlic

Answer 6

1. Jura is in East France, close to Switzerland. Continental climate. Domaine de Carlines founded in 2015.
2. 10 ha of the Domaine belong to the unofficial Grand Cru of Chateau - Chalon by the married couple Sophie and Patrick Ligeron.
3. Organic grapes grown on Blu Marl soils, capable of releasing salinity thanks to the mineral richness.
4. Hand harvested and destemmed. Cold maceration pre fermentation is carried out.
5. Fermentation happens in stainless steel to preserve the freshness and the fruitiness.
6. Medium light body.
7. Ripe red berry flavours, raspberry, cranberry. Elegant tannins achieved after a long maturation in large oak, 7⁄8 months prior bottling.
8. Unfiltered and unfined

Question 7

CONCIPIO Susumaniello I.G.P. Mocavero (2021) - Puglia

With wagyu, morel, black truffle

Answer 7

1. (Salento, Puglia) an amazing indigenous variety.
2. Mocavero winery set up in the 1950’s, still family run business.
3. Malolactic fermentation in steel, 6 months in French oak barriques.
4. Intense flavours of dark cherries, cassis, coffee, chocolate and tobacco. Body and vibrant acidity are balanced and tannins are firm but soft.

Question 8

Château Monteils, Sauternes,
Bordeaux -2010

With Chocolate, caramel, salted milk, hazelnut

Answer 8

1. Chateau Monteils situated in the foothills of the region. Family business (Fiton Family) since 1861.
2. Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle (classic) blend from 2010.
3. Maritime climate, foggy afternoons and great humidity. Allows development of noble rot (botrytis).
4. Displays exotic and stone fruits, citrus, honeysuckle and orange marmalade. Flinty flesh.
5. From its age we start to see more caramel, honeyed and nutty notes. Vibrant acidity.

Question 9

Black Muscat ‘Elysium, Andrew Quady,
Madera, California, USA - 2021

With Rhubrb and Custard

Answer 9

1. From wine maker Andrew Quady. Started making sweet wine in the
   80’s only after inheriting land that had orange muscat. It became his passion and 40 years later he is now one of the most recognised sweet wine makers in California.
2. From Madera AVA in San Joaquin Valley (it is the Southern half of California Central Valley). Steppe climate. Hot and dry, low rainfall (but not desert).
3. Black muscat, rich with black fruit flavours, black current, cassis
   etc with noticable aromatics of rose and palma violets on the nose.