Food and Wine Matching with Kindling Restaurant - Chocolate Sponge with Salted Caramel Sauce and Popcorn

A dessert recipe from Kindling Restaurant, Brighton - with wine matches

Kindling Restaurant in Brighton is about more than just the delicious food, it is a community of people: staff, customers and suppliers all sharing and celebrating local produce. Nature writes the menu as the seasons inspire the dishes. Kindling is featured in the Michelin Guide and is a member of the Sustainable Restaurants Association. 

Web: www.kindlingrestaurant.com

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The Food - chocolate sponge with salted caramel sauce and popcorn 

This decadent dessert is dairy-free, suitable for vegans and can even be made gluten free as well, but you’ll never be able to tell! Rich moist chocolate sponge, topped with creamy caramel sauce and crunchy salty popcorn.

Serve with chocolate sorbet or dairy free ice cream for a luxury finish.

For non-vegans, just substitute with the appropriate dairy products. 

The wine matches

The rule of wine matching for puddings is that the wine must be sweeter than the food; the sweetness in this recipe comes from the salted caramel sauce, so the quantity of sauce you apply will determine the required sweetness level of the wine.

These two wines will work with the gentlest of drizzles - no more than a teaspoon or two. This will leave you with a lot of surplus sauce so either reduce the quantities or, if you want the sponge bathed in the style of a sticky toffee pudding, you'll need to consider espresso, whisky, ruby port or a sweet dark sherry.

Gewurztraminer is a once-classic, now slightly-out-of-fashion aromatic and perfumed grape; with high natural sugars, it is a spiced, exotic, indulgent hedonist's delight.

Gewürztraminer Cave de Turckheim Gewurztraminer Sables et Galets (£14.99, Virgin Wines)

a heady perfume of lychees, rose petals, exotic fruits and sweet spices; rich, full and supple with exotic citrus fruits, pineapple and mango with acacia-blossom honey. 

Cave de Turckheim Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardive (£22.99, Virgin Wines)

tropical fruits with honey, ginger and lychees; waxy, viscous, unctuous and sweet with pineapple pieces, exotic melon and overripe peach and orange, candied peel; concentrated and intense

The recipe

For the sponge:

75g oil

35g good quality cocoa powder

220g dairy free yogurt e.g. soya yogurt

30g oat milk

2 tsp (10ml) distilled vinegar

150g soft dark brown sugar

140g self-raising flour (gluten-free self-raising flour will also work here)

¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp table salt 

• Line an 8-inch square cake tin with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 170C. 

• Place the oil and cocoa powder in a small pan and heat gently for a few minutes to help bring out the flavour of the chocolate, then set aside to cool.

• Put the dairy free yogurt, oat milk, vinegar and sugar together in a mixing bowl or kitchen aid and whisk until smooth. Then stir in the chocolate and oil mixture.

• Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a clean bowl. Fold into the wet ingredients, mixing well to avoid any lumps.

• Pour into the lined cake tin and gently level using a spatula, being careful to avoid removing too much air from the cake.

• Bake in the preheated oven at 170C for 20 - 25 mins, until risen and springy to the touch.

Salted caramel sauce:

200g vegan butter alternative

250g soft dark brown sugar

125g golden syrup

Large pinch of Maldon sea salt 

• Place all the ingredients in a medium sized pan and heat gently over a low heat, whisking until combined.

• Whisk the sauce occasionally as it cools to ensure a silky texture.

Popcorn:

A small handful of popping corn kernels

2 tbsp of oil

Fine salt for seasoning

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan on medium high heat.

• Put 3 or 4 piece of popping corn into the oil and cover the pan.

• When the test kernels pop, add the rest of the popcorn kernels in an even layer. Cover, remove from heat and wait 30 seconds.

• Return the pan to the heat and gently shake it as the popcorn starts to pop.

• Try to keep the lid slightly ajar or use a lid with a vent hole in it to help release some of the steam.

• Once the popping slows, remove the pan from the heat, remove the lid, and put the popcorn immediately into a wide bowl. Sprinkle with salt and toss to ensure it is evenly seasoned

To serve:

Cut the cake in long fingers and drizzle with the caramel sauce. Top with salted popcorn and serve with chocolate sorbet or dairy free ice cream.

Tesco Wines For National Curry Week

Two Tesco wines for National Curry Week

I've never quite subscribed to the idea that wine works with curry; at least in the sense of the fiery, heavy, oily dishes you typically find in any local curry house.

For this, you need beer - or even a versatile whisky.

But not all curries are inimical to wine and, in my somewhat limited curry repertoire, rogan josh comes closest to being a European-type dish - albeit with some distinctly Asian flavours in the mix.

With paprika and sour cream, rogan josh somewhat resembles a style of Hungarian stew. But on top of this, there is ginger, cumin and cinnamon to gently remind you that not in Europe anymore.

With National Curry Week approaching, (from 4th – 10th October 2021), I matched two Tesco wines to my signature "wine-friendly" curry.

And, in another departure from the norm, I chilled the red as well as the white.

The rogan josh recipe is here: How to make Rogan Josh, recipe by MasterChef Sanjeev Kapoor

De Colmar Gewurztraminer (£9)

Hillsides facing South / South East, on a steep slope with an altitude of 270m to 360m; temperature-controlled fermentation for aromatics, aged on fine lees for weight.

Arthur Metz is the leading player in the vineyards of Alsace and the main producer of the sparkling wine Crémant d'Alsace. 

floral, musky-perfumed and exotic with honeysuckle, sweet spices and lychees; rich and waxy with ripe pineapple and mango, ripe yellow stone fruits, beeswax and spices; good savoury underpinnings.

Thoroughly pleasant and works well with the curry.

Match with spicy exotic dishes, prawns, chicken curry or strong cheeses.

Tesco Finest Puemo Carménère, Valle de Cachapoal, Wine of Chile, 2019 (£8)

Producer by ever-reliable Concha y Toro and sealed under screwcap, the grapes are from the Peumo vineyards in the Cachapoal Valley, 130km south of Santiago and 170m above sea level.

The valley stretches along the Cachapoal River, in terraced hills of the Cordillera de la Costa. Temperate microclimate, it has very warm autumns and springs, giving a good fruit set early on and allowing for a late harvest with long hang time. 

Hand and machine harvesting, gently de-stemmed, crushed and fermented for 8 days followed by aging  in oak for 10 months. 

Concha y Toro was founded in 1883 and produces premium, expressive and innovative wines that convey the spirit of the new world.

chilled and served with the curry, it is darkly-fruited, focused and refreshing; it stands up to and cuts through the richness.

at standard serving temperature, the details become more apparent: dark-fruited and floral with baked dark-berries; full and supple with moderate extraction; dark plum, cocoa and wild herbs with rounded, gentle tannins.

Thoroughly pleasant.

Match with grilled meats and strong hard cheeses at room temperature, spicy dishes when chilled.

Gewürztraminer vs Riesling

An MW-study lesson in blind tasting with a Gewürztraminer from Cambridge Wine and a Riesling blend from Lidl 

Gewürztraminer and Riesling are both somewhat geeky wines and, in this country at least, a bit of a niche interest.

Both have a spiritual home in Germany, as well as Alsace (which is either a bit Germanic or an actual part of Germany, depending on which period of history you consider).

In the glass however, they are very different grapes; Gewürztraminer is typically rich and perfumed ("lychees and roses" is the standard descriptor) whereas Riesling is higher in acidity, lower in alcohol and develops a "dieselly" nose with age.

Gewürztraminer's key non-flavour characteristic is a fuller body with a waxy-oily exture, whilst Riesling's is a precise linearity to its acidic structure.

Of the two varieties, Riesling is probably the easier to find in the UK; the Riesling blend was selected by MW Richard Bampfield for Lidl.

Gewurztraminer Réserve, 2018, Cave Hunawihr (£14, Cambridge Wine Merchants) sweet spices, ripe yellow stone fruits, pineapple and passionfruit; supple and full with a rich, waxy-oily texture balanced by gentle acidity; off-dry with some residual sugar but finishes dry.

Good.

Match with rich Alsatian dishes, such as tarte flambee or liver pate.

Riesling Scheurebe Halbtrocken, Rheinhessen, 2018 (£5.99, Lidl)  citrussy and fresh with floral aromatics, yellow stone fruit, minerality and some herbaceous blackurrant leaf. Supremely elegant and well-balanced; finishes dry.

Good.

Drink as an aperitif or a garden sipper.

Trimbach Riesling 2017

A racy, mineral, age-worthy Alsace Riesling from Virgin Wines

Riesling is something of a wine geek's wine - aromatic and high in acidity with a mineral backbone and an ability to gain complexity with age, it seems to appeal more to enthusiasts more than to "ordinary joes".

Riesling's spiritual home is Germany, but in next-door Alsace it is one of four noble grapes to get star billing.

This Trimbach Riesling is supremely well-made and a textbook Alsace example. With taut, racy minerality, it will benefit either from a bit of aging or aeration, so don't be afraid to pop it in the decanter for an hour or so before drinking.

Trimbach Riesling 2017, Alsace (£15.99) yellow stone fruit, citrus and pineapple fruit; grapefruit pith and fennel, floral and minty with flintiness. Lean, limey and mineral.

Taut and uncompromising in youth; expect it to broaden out with age.

Good.

Match with tarte flambee.

Virgin Wines for New Year's Eve

Six Virgin wines for New Year's Eve

The routines and rituals of Christmas tend to be fairly standard - a shared family meal based around a roast followed by some indulgent puddings. And then more sweet treats.

New Year's eve tends to be less prescriptive, allowing more flexibility; bubbles of some sort are de rigueur to mark the beginning of a new year. From there, you can go classic or hedonistic. Either way, with the rest of a long, dark winter to see out, you should definitely ensure you have a few superior bottles around.

Il Colmo Prosecco Brut (£11.99) modern-style Prosecco

Corvezzo Prosecco DOC Treviso Extra Dry Organic NV (£14.99) Prosecco from Corvezzo, just outside Venice with real character, style and freshness,

Targa Rioja Organic Tempranillo Blanco 2018 (£16.99) made from Tempranillo Blanco, a unique but classic white wine

Trimbach Riesling 2017 (£15.99) classic Riesling with a nose of floral aromatics, precise and direct citrus and a vibrant bone-dry palate

5OS Project Shiraz Viognier 2017 (£16.99) 14.5% Shiraz-Viognier blend from a windswept site along the Willunga escarpment in Australia's McLaren Vale

La Dama Aramone della Valpolicella Classico (2016) made from 65-year-old vines in Puglia that yield few, small and highly-concentrated Primitivo grapes with six months in fine French oak - a warm (i.e. hot!) climate wine

Riesling Vielles Vignes 2015 - Paul Schneider

A complex and adept Alsace Riesling from Paul Schneider

A family holiday to the Black Forest via Alsace a couple of years ago saw a return visit to Paul Schneider in the pretty village of Eguisheim.

visit.alsace describes Eguisheim thus: surrounded by vineyards, nestling in a fold of green hills, Eguisheim is a medieval village whose narrow, concentric streets highlight the architectural merits of its half-timbered houses, lovingly decorated with flowers.

The wines are no less lovely.

Paul Schneider Riesling Vielles Vignes 2015 (€9) with a bit of age now, the nose is evolving nicely; diesel, florality, honeysuckle and expressive vanilla spice; on the palate, citrus, beeswax, ginger and ripe yellow stone fruit; full, fresh and supple.

Will age further.

Good.

Match with seafood, smoked salmon or Thai coconut curries.

Cave du Vieil Armand Medaille Gewurztraminer 2016

A ripe and full Gewürztraminer from Alsace's Cave du Vieil Armand via Auchan

Gewürztraminer is not the easiest wine to track down in the UK, but a quick search suggests that you will find a few supermarket examples as well as at your local wine merchant; I brought this one back from France.

Aromatic with exotic fruits and spices, Gewürztraminer is highly distinctive, perhaps even a bit Marmite in that you will probably either love it or loathe it.

The New World produces some Gewürz - you will find it in New Zealand and Chile - and its name purports to originate from the German-speaking Alto Adige or Südtirol (the name means "Spicy from Tramin / Termeno").

However, the spiritual home of Gewurz is Alsace where it is one of the most widely-planted grapes. This is a medal-winner with a couple of years in bottle.

Cave du Vieil Armand Medaille Gewurztraminer 2016 (Auchan) musky perfume and blossom, ripe tropical fruits, exotic spices and honeysuckle with classic rose-petal-and-lychee flavours. Aromatic and full with an oily-waxy, late-harvest viscosity yet dry on the finish; supple, fresh, adept and substantial.

Drinking nicely now and will age.

Very Good.

Drink with rich pâtés or gingery stir fries.

Paul Schneider Pinot Noir 2017

An Alsatian Pinot Noir

I've said it before, I'm a bit "meh" about Pinot. I actually want to like it but sitting next to an MW at a Burgundy tasting, I struggled to find it anything other than ... well, thoroughly pleasant.

So decent, inexpensive Pinot is probably best for me. Anything better is wasted on my non-Pinotphile palate.

Does good inexpensive Pinot exist, you may ask.

Indeed it does; if you happen to be in Alsace on holiday and able to pick up a bottle of the local stuff from the cellar door.

Domaine Paul Schneider is based in the ridiculously pretty (even by Alsace standards) village of Eguisheim at the southern end of the Vosges where the hills are higher and the climate correspondingly drier and milder.

This Gold Medal Pinot is indistinguishable from a light Burgundy that would have cost quite a bit more - to my palate at least.

Paul Schneider Pinot Noir 2017 farmyardy with juicy red and black cherry fruit, spice and leesiness; elegant with fine tannins; savoury, fresh and supple

Good.

Drink as an aperitif if you have some Big Reds to follow or match with picnic foods, salmon or other game.

Gewurztraminer La Cuvée de Claire, Alsace

A full and spicy Gewurztraminer from Alsace's Vins Paul Schneider

One of things I love about driving holidays in Europe is the opportunity to pick up some really great wines for just a few euros - in some cases from areas that do not always get good representation in the UK.

With its neat, timbered villages bedecked with hanging baskets, Alsace is an intriguing mixture of French gastronomy and German kitsch. As a rule of thumb, the further down you go on the Alsace wine route, the prettier the villages and the better the wines.

South of Colmar, Eguisheim is one of the later stops on the routes des vins; centred around a small square with a fountain, the village is essentially three very colourful concentric circles.

As you enter the village, on your right is the cellar door of 4th generation independent winemaker Vins Paul Scheider.

Gewurztraminer La Cuvée de Claire, 2016 - Vins Paul Scheneider (c. €6, cellar door) ripe yellow stone fruit, pineapple, sweet spices, florality and beeswax; fresh and mineral with hints of late-harvest character. Rich, full and savoury with excellent underpinnings. Will improve further with age.

Very Good.

Match with rich Alsatian dishes, such as tarte flambée or coq au Riesling.

Christmas Wines from Your Sommelier

Three Christmas Wines from Your Sommelier

I've been very impressed with Your Sommelier's wines before - and equally underwhelmed by their somewhat Gallic approach to marketing; awkward name, clumsy website, clunky offers.

The A5 hand-outs and folder that came with these wines bespoke enthusiasm, but were reminiscent of a '90s Laithwaites offer, but there is no doubting the quality of the wines.

Crémant d'Alsace Blanc de Blancs Brut N.V. - Domaine Vincent Stoeffler (£13.90) fresh, fruited and floral with citrus, creaminess and white stone fruits; fine mousse and mineral backbone. Poised, well-defined and elegant.

Good.

Drink as a aperitif or match with oysters, shellfish or pork rilletes.

Château Moulin de l'Espérance "Cuvée Ulysse" 2014 - Bordeaux Supérieur (£12.00) Merlot-dominated Bordeaux blend; juicy red-berry fruit with coffee grounds, pencil shavings, sous-bois and leather. Spicy and peppery with fine tannins and a supple texture; fresh and long. Needs extensive aeration - or several years' cellaring.

Good.

Match with roasted red meat.

Gros Manseng Moelleux 2016 Côtes de Gascogne - Vignoble des Aubas (£10.90) more off-dry than a dessert wine; aromatic, slightly pungent with tropical pineapple, guava and passionfruit, beeswax and honey. Sweet-but-fresh and mineral.

Good.

Dry and fresh enough for an aperitif, match with soused salmon or fresh fruit flan.

Zind-Humbrecht 2014 Release Tasting

A tasting of 2014 release wines from Zind-Humbrecht with UK distributor, Gonzalez-Byass.

Not fully France, yet not completely Teutonic, Alsace is a colourful Franco-Germanic borderland that seems to take the best of both cultures and make the whole greater than the sum of the parts.

Alsace wines are labelled varietally, like German wines, but with no indication of sweetness levels and, for the better wines, do give some more-detailed indication of geographic provenance.

Olivier Humbrecht characterises 2014 as a year of superb acidity, good physiological ripeness giving wines of great precision and structure.

Richard Bampfield MW put it another way - these wines don't show the sort of typicity that would lead you to put them in front of MW students, but they reflect their origins very well.

Like mature Bordeaux or Jura, I don't often get a chance to taste a full range from Alsace, so this event was a rare treat.

The Rieslings were especially fresh and drinkable, the Pinots Gris bigger and fuller while the Gewurztraminers, if technically correct and impressive, tended towards a monolithic fullness that did not always make the heart beat faster.

The star of the event was an under-the-table Clos St Urbain Grand Cru Pinot Gris 2001 that has hints of aged character and is showing beautifully now, scoring a Very Good Indeed along with a 2008 SGN Pinot Gris from Clos Windsbuhl.

There was barely a wine here that did not get at least a Good and many of the more ambitious wines scored a Very Good.

The most interestingly atypical wine was the Riesling Roche Volcanique 2014 which for me had a Wachau-esque minerality and tense precision and which Richard Bampfield likened to a Condrieu.

Everything from Clos Windsbuhl scored at least Very Good; the Rangen de Thann wines were the most impressive technically if also the most expensive.

Prices ranged from mid-teens to around £65

The wines

Pinot Blanc 2014
Muscat Goldert Grand Cru 2014
‘Zind’ Chardonnay Auxerrois 2014

Riesling Table

Riesling Calcaire 2014
Riesling Roche Volcanique 2014
Riesling Clos Windsbuhl 2014
Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos Saint Urbain Grand Cru 2014

Pinot Gris Table

Pinot Gris Turckheim 2014
Pinot Gris Rotenberg 2014
Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl 2014
Pinot Gris Heimbourg 2014

Gewurz Table

Gewurztraminer Turckheim 2014
Gewurztraminer Calcaire 2014
Gewurztraminer Clos Windsbuhl 2013
Gewurztraminer Rangen de Thann Clos Saint Urbain Grand Cru 2013

Stickies

Gewurztraminer Herrenweg de Turckheim Vielles Vignes Vendange Tardive 2011
Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal Vendange Tardive 2010
Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl Selections de Grains Nobles 2008

Other related articles
Wine-buying in France: Alsace

Hotel du Vin - Summer of Pinot Tasting‏

A tasting of Pinots of various colours at Cambridge Hotel du Vin

I've always had a soft spot for Hotel du Vin; it's the sort of place that makes you feel a bit more sophisticated just by being there.

It had been too long since my last proper visit, so I went to their Summer Of Pinot tasting; the wines had been arranged in flights to highlight the differences between terroirs and were served with canapes.

Fizz

Prosecco pale, light, refreshing, crisp and elegant - an aperitif

Cremant d'Alsace mostly Pinot Blanc; 6m on lees, sandy yellow, fuller, weightier, very fresh - match with light canapes

Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris

Lageder Pinot Blanc (Sudtirol) aromatic, floral and mineral; pure and precise with an alpine freshness. Very elegant.

Biecher Pinot Blanc (Alsace) honeysuckle, ripe orchard fruit and sweet spice; weightier, waxier and more substantial.

Biecher Pinot Gris (Alsace) yellower, full and hedonistic with citrussy tropical fruit and lychees. Lively, adept and assured.

Pinot Noir

Les Nuages (Loire) juicy, crunchy red fruits with a touch of spice - a light, fresh Pinot with excellent underpinnings

La Crema (Monterrey) 6m in oak; an all-you-can-eat Pinot with a heavy American accent; dark plum fruit with a toasty-oaky nose and a thwack of alcohol; ripe, sweet and substantial.

My top wines were the minerally Lageder Pinot Blanc and the ripe, adept Biecher Pinot Gris.

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Gosset Champagne Dinner at Hotel Du Vin Cambridge
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Cigar Dinner‏ at Cambridge's Hotel du Vin
‏

Three Alsace Wines

Three medal-winning wines from Alsace's Les Vignerons Recoltants de St Hippolyte

One of the many very pleasant things about a holiday in France is the opportunity to stock up on superior wines at everyday-drinking prices.

We bought these three medal-winning Alsace wines from the supermarket for around €5 each; with taxes and duties, something of equivalent quality in the UK would have cost £10+.

Riesling 2011 (Paris Gold) Sandy yellow, ripe peach and honeysuckle blossom; ripe peach fruit, fresh citrus, beeswax and minerality with a touch of white pepper on the finish. Ripe, clean and long. Good.

Pinot Gris 2012 (Paris Gold) Sweet ripe orchard fruit, sweet spices - rounded, assured and deft. Good.

Gewurztraminer 2012 (Colmar Gold) Ripe stone fruit, pineapple, beeswax and sweet warming spices with lychees and rose petals. Complex and assured. Good.

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Wine-buying in France: Alsace
Dopff & Irion
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Around The World In A Day - Amathus Knightsbridge

Amathus - as I didn't know - is mostly a wholesale business, one of the UK's main importers, and specialises in spirits as much as wines.

As a sideline, they run a few retail outlets - each with a very different character. Leadenhall Market caters for city types and sells mostly Champagne and classic French reds.

The Soho branch, in adland, does a surprisingly brisk trade in cocktail spirits.

The latest addition is Amathus Knightsbridge which will surely give Harrod's Food Hall just up the road a run for its money.

The shop has been open for three months, but the technicalities of getting a refit sorted meant they have only just had their launch event.

They invited me along.

We started with a Prosecco - off-dry with orchard fruit it was fault-free and pleasant if a little unsophisticated. At over ten pounds, it was at the upper end of the price scale for the quality.

The format of the evening was canapes and a help-yourself to the 20-plus wines and spirits available on the two oenomatic machines.

Overall, the wines were well-made, well-chosen and interesting. Many were priced at the upper end of what I would have expected, but a memorable selection were both impressive and good value.

What I liked most about the arrangement was the option of three price points per wine on the oenomatic machine.

This means that for pocket-money prices, you can taste a small splash of wine to see if you want to take a whole bottle.

It also means that, should you fancy it, for the price of a single bottle, you can try everything on offer on the shop.

So, if you are the sort of person who would take a Vinho Verde over a kiwi Sauvignon, who feels that a £10+ wine can be good value if the quality is great, who would consider taking an oenological tour of all the continents in a single evening to be a major achievement, then the Aladdin's cave that is Amathus Knightsbridge could be just your thing.

The Whites

Koshu (Japan) my first Japanese wine; modern, expressive aromatic nose. Pure and precise. Pleasant but somewhat international in style, rather insubstantial and also expensive at £22.

Louis Sipp Riesling (Alsace) textbook Alsace Riesling, off-dry, musky melonskin, ripe stone fruit and citrus, minerality. Very elegant.

Savigny-Les-Beaune (Burgundy) floral, cidery and mineral. Seems more Jura than Burgundy.

The Reds

Taurasi (Italy) complex, nuanced and sophisticated. A class act. Very Good.

Gordon Estate Syrah (Washington, USA) northern Rhone-esque Syrah, all dark herbs and spices, dark berries, freshness and substance. A revelation. Good.

The Spirits
Ferdinand's Saar Dry Gin (Germany) crisp, refreshing and pleasantly bitter.

La Puritita Mezcal (Mexico) smokey-peaty, like an Islay whisky.

Ch De Laubade X.O. (Bas Armagnac) complex, mature and mellow with a sophisticated assertiveness. Very Good Indeed.

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The Last Two Wines from Les Grands Chais

The last two wines from Les Grands Chais de France

Château Cléray Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur lie 2012 (£9.99, Majestic) modern, New-World-style crisp white. Mid-straw yellow, on the nose it smells crisp, aromatic and decidedly modern-style; there is ripe citrus, lime zest and a persistent, saline minerality. Substantial, with bright fruit, fresh aromatics and crisp acidity, it feels rather more New Zealand than Loire. Good.

Match with light starters, seafood or, traditionally, oysters.

Also reviewed by Chris Kissak and Mary Gorman-McAdams MW

Perle Noire Crémant d’Alsace (new to UK) well-crafted appley-fresh Alsace sparkler. Sandy yellow with aromas of ripe orchard fruits; fine mousse and plenty of ripe fruit. A Gold from Effervescents du Monde is testament to how well-made it is. A good Pinot Blanc with bubbles rather than a Champagne-alike. Good.


Serve as an aperitif or with starters such as salmon mousse or chicken liver pate.

Also reviewed by Quentin Sadler.

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Links
Les Grands Chais de France - website

Two More Alsace Wines

 

A review of two Alsace wines - a traditional-method fizz and a Riesling-Pinot Gris blend.

Cremant d'Alsace NV, Comtes d'Isenbourg (around £14)

A Champagne-method fizz made from from Pinot Blanc; golden sandy yellow in the glass, yeasty leesiness on the nose.

Initially, it shows simple citrus and orchard fruit, but with some aeration a pleasing and more complex yeasty pungency develops with a persistence on the finish.

Good aperitif - or match with light shellfish dishes.

Black Tie 2011, Caves de Vignerons de Pfaffenheim (€10 ex cellar) 

 

Golden sandy yellow - Mosel-esque flavours of citrussy pineapple, ripe peach and apricot with a touch of honeyed beeswax and some sweet spice.

Good streak of fresh acidity and minerality.

Very enjoyable indeed. Good.

Match with slightly fuller dishes, such as salmon en croute, pork pie or tarte flambee.

Both wines provided for review.

Other related articles
Pinot Noir Rosé from Alsace
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Links
La Cave de Vignerons de Pfaffenheim - website

Pinot Noir Rosé from Alsace

A review of two rosés from Alsace's Dopff & Irion and La Cave Des Vignerons De Pfaffenheim

A cool-climate Pinot Noir rosé makes, at first thought, for an odd concept. It feels like a bit of an anomaly -  the world's most famously finnicky and low-yielding grape made into a picnic wine; it's a bit like driving to the supermarket in a Lamborghini.

And yet in next-door Champagne, it is used extensively, sometimes even solely, to make the local fizz, so there is a precedent; Alsace, being barely any further south but more sheltered, can therefore do the same but producing bigger, fuller more food-friendly wines that don't need secondary fermentation to become interesting.

These two examples are full and crowd-pleasingly ripe, but not overly plump - a sort of Scarlett Johansson of wines.

La Cave Des Vignerons De Pfaffenheim, Pinot Noir Rosé, 2011

Salmon pink in the glass, restrained nose; ripe red fruits, a hint of aromatic smokiness, good savouriness and length, full and weighty with nicely rounded acidity. Gentle persistence on the finish. Good.

Match with salmon or a quiche with tomatoes or red bell peppers.

Dopff & Irion Alsace Pinot Noir Rosé, 2012

This is also lovely - quite a deep, translucent red, on the nose there are hints of smokey spice and beeswax with varietal red fruits.

On the palate, there is lots of ripe red fruit and a fleshy Alsatian richness with some smokey spice. Good savouriness and length with pleasant rounded acidity. Good.

Lovely, well-balanced, easy-drinking rosé; match with picnic food - cold cuts, quiche and cheese.

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Two Wines from Dopff & Irion
La Cave des Vignerons de Pfaffenheim - Alsace

Links
Dopff & Irion - website
La Cave Des Vignerons De Pfaffenheim - website

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Le Clos du Château d’Isenbourg - Alsace

Le Clos du Château d’Isenbourg is an estate of five hectares, based in Rouffac, Alsace. They recently sent me a couple of wines to review - a white blend and a Gewurztraminer with a bit of age. Both were well-made, balanced and food-friendly.

Isenbourg Les Tourelles 2010

A blend of Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Blanc.

Golden sandy yellow in the glass, subtle aromas of apricot and melon fruit with a touch of peach-skin yeastiness on the nose.

Big and weighty on the palate with more ripe apricot, peach and sweet pear fruit, white flowers, some sweet exotic spice and good savoury underpinnings, some yeastiness and well-balanced tropical citrus acidity.

There is some residual sugar, but the finish is savoury and yeasty.

Rounded, harmonious and elegant.

Match with salmon, shellfish or roast pork with horseradish apple sauce.

Le Clos Chateau Isenbourg "Les Terrasses" Gewurztraminer 2008

Golden sandy-coloured in the glass; the nose is all beeswax candles and incense with a touch of old, leatherbound books - close your eyes and you could be at a Catholic High Mass.

The palate is full of sweet ripe peach fruit and fresh tropical acidity, with a waxy, mouthfilling peachy texture and sweet exotic spice.

Good underpinnings, with old-vine concentration and savouriness coming through on the finish.

Well-balanced and well-made from good fruit - a really lovely wine.

Match with goose liver pate, gravadlax or slow-roasted pork belly with apple sauce.

Other related articles
La Cave des Vignerons de Pfaffenheim - Alsace
Dopff & Irion
Alsace archive

Links
Le Clos du Château d’Isenbourg - website