Last week, I co-hosted a Provencal Dinner and wine tasting, ably assisted by Jason Yapp and the genial Chef-Patron of The Ambassador, Clive Greenhalgh.

For a nominal £10 fee, guests were free to partake in a 15 wine, tasting tour of Provence. With the bottles spread down The Ambassador’s long bar and Jason and I on dispensing duties, it made an enjoyable start to a cracking evening. We met lots of new people as well as some old familiar faces and it was great fun sharing the aromas and flavours of the region’s assorted wines with an inquisitive and appreciative audience. With such a diverse range of grape varietals including Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Marsanne and Vermentino in the whites and Cinsault, Syrah, Folle Noir and Mourvèdre amongst the reds, there was a wine and style for everyone and that’s not including the three different rosés on show.

All the wines showed well on the night and here are details of my 3 favourites:

White
Cassis: Clos Sainte Magdeleine 2008 – £16.75
This is always an interesting wine. Clairette, Marsanne and Ugni Blanc give a wine with a herb/pine aromatic nose and mouth-filling citrus flavours with an intriguing oily texture that carries the developing flavours that last for a long finish.

Rosé
Côtes du Luberon: Château la Canorgue 2009 – £12.25
Grenache Noir, Cinsault and Syrah form lovely red berry aromas that continue on the palate. Crisp and refreshing, it is a real taste of summer in a glass.

Red
Côtes de Provence: Domaine Richeaume Cuvée Tradition 2008 – £15.50
This has a fantastic nose, full of fruit, spice and herbs. On the palate, the Syrah provides the warming richness with a spicy core. Cabernet Sauvignon contributes to the backbone of mouth-chomping berries and robust, yet yielding tannins as well as a lingering touch of mint.

Following the tasting, there was an option to stay for a three course Provencal feast for a bargain £25. There were six wines available to purchase from the tasting to consume with the dinner. My table opted for a Coteaux d’Aix: Domaine Oullières Blanc 2009 (£9.25) to go with the generously portioned Pissaladière with Cornish Sardines. It’s salty, savoury flavours were well matched with the fleshy, oily sardines.

For the main course of Rump of Lamb with Olive Oil mash, peppers & lemon thyme, I just had to go back to the minty Domaine Richeaume. Hats off  to Clive for a superb dish. The lamb was cooked to perfection and the Domaine Richeaume’s complex flavours combined well with the tender meat and the delicious, rich mash.

Forgoing apricot tart we all shared a French cheeseboard. A glass of Côtes du Ventoux: Château Valcombe 2005 (£9.95) was the perfect all-rounder to finish with. Plummy fruit, light spiciness and rounded tannins lead to a smooth finish and there was still enough dry, acidity to cut into the stronger cheeses and leave one wanting more.

Overall, it was a great evening and although officially ‘work’ it never seems as such when you have such a relaxed, fun crowd sharing the experience. From the favourable comments on the night, it really reminded me of how interesting and educational these events can be.

If you are not on the Yapp mailing list, do get in touch or sign up on the Yapp website, as we regularly advertise our upcoming tastings and dinners via our mailing. Alternatively, our website is constantly updated and you can find the latest events here Yapp events.

The Ambassador, 55 Exmouth Market, London EC1R 4QL.

Tel: 020 837 0009

www.theambassadorcafe.co.uk

JH

There is a common misconception that being a wine merchant is a fantastic ‘lifestyle’ career and that we spend 90% of our time swanning around glamorous vineyards in warmer climes drinking wonderful wines and stuffing ourselves on the fantastic local cuisine. Well we do spend a fair amount of time doing just that and of course it’s very enjoyable but there can be a broad gulf between the public perception of a wine buying trip and the reality. Few people ponder upon the endless driving, bad hotel experiences, haggling over prices in a foreign language and soulless wines fairs. Not to mention a forced diet of andouillettes and fromage de tête and coping with the gastric crise that inevitably ensues – Raymond Briggs captures this experience well in Father Christmas goes on Holiday.

Relentlessly tasting young, often unfinished, wines can really take its toll which is why, rather like a flat stage in the Tour de France, the vineyards of Vouvray and Montlouis make for a welcome respite on a tasting trip. Thankfully there are no red wines to taste here and so no aggressive tannins to contend with, just fresh, clean, un-oaked still and sparkling wines made from Chenin Blanc.

In the Coquette Valley in Vouvray Didier Aubert makes classic wines by traditional methods. His marvellous Vouvray Mousseux Brut is hand-riddled and bottle-fermented. It has a toasty nose, a lively mousse and an elegant dry palate of ripe orchard fruit making it perfect for parties and family celebrations. Didier’s Vouvray Sec is always a pleasure to taste, not least because his father, Jean-Claude, is apt to appear with tartines of the delicious local rillettes. This apple-scented, mineral-edged, whistle-clean Chenin Blanc makes a perfect foil for the potted pork – it’s a dangerous combination as both are very more-ish. The off-dry Vouvray Demi-Sec has a similar bouquet and palate-cleansing acidity but a touch more residual sugar which lends it well to pâtés and cheese. The botrytised Vouvray Mœlleux is rich and honeyed and capable of taking a decade’s bottle-age in its stride. We normally finish here by sampling Jean-Claude and Didier’s delightful ‘Cuvée les Tonnelles’ – a gentle, fruity, rosé fizz made from 90% Gamay and 10% Gros Lot that is bursting with ripe raspberry flavours.

On the opposite bank of the Loire at Montlouis, Laurent Berger is equally welcoming and his wines are every bit as enjoyable. His superb Montlouis Mousseux Brut is a shade drier and crisper than the Aubert offering and is a failsafe aperitif. Laurent’s Montlouis Sec is taut and tangy and unfailingly reliable. In favourable vintages Laurent makes a modicum of his coveted Côte Saint Martin – a late-harvested, botrytised Chenin Blanc with heady floral aromas and a complex palate of baked apples, dried fruit and minerals with a rich, decadent finish. It makes for a wonderful finale to a pleasurable day’s tasting.

What’s not to like?

The Riverside Restaurant in West Bay, Dorset, just east of Bridport has been in the safe hands of the Watson family for 50 years and ought to be subject to a preservation order.

This rather anachronistic resort, which retains a certain ‘I’m only here for the beer – kiss me quick’ charm at first seems an unlikely setting for a gastronomic gem save for (I concede) its proximity to the sea. Visitors have to cross a narrow footbridge to gain entry to the Piers Gough and Roger Zogolovitch designed premises which were installed in 1976 at a higher elevation to the original turn of the century cabin after successive floods.


The keys to the Riverside’s success are its simplicity (which extends to both the décor and the cooking) and the fastidious attention to detail of the hands-on patron Arthur Watson who has been at the helm here since 1964 when he was demobbed from the Navy. Nothing is over-fussy at the Riverside, this is an establishment that is very confident in its offering which is principally very fresh seafood that is simply and expertly cooked with minimal adornment. The wine list is well thought out and presented in a manner to appeal to both experts and novices and the service is both relaxed and professional – which is much harder to achieve than it sounds.


At this juncture I ought to declare a personal interest. When I started working for our family business almost 2 decades ago it was Arthur who gave me my first break with a guest slot for a ‘Spring Selection’ of 3 white wines. These were a 1991 Saumur at £8.25, a 1992 Quincy at £11.90 and a 1997 Hermitage from Chave at £16.50 – and those were their selling prices!


Arthur still takes a keen interest in the Riverside’s wine list (assisted by sommelier Joe Taylor) and if I call in with some wines to sample he sometimes gives me a spot of lunch at the bar – which amply justifies the 110 mile round trip from Mere. Last week I dropped by with a few new discoveries and was treated to an enormous plate of fresh langoustines that were bisected lengthways, in a manner of which Damien Hirst would have been proud. They were absolutely heavenly with a (small) glass of rosé Chinon from Château de Ligré as one might deduce from the accompanying photograph. Despite the fact that the restaurant was packed with over 80 diners (on a Wednesday lunchtime) Arthur also proffered a Dover Sole that it would have been churlish to turn down. The delicate white fish went down extremely well with a nervy young Charentais Sauvignon from Domaine Gardrat. The coffee by the way is excellent too.


As regular readers of this blog will know I eat out well and frequently but I know of very few restaurants that are as consistently satisfying as the Riverside.


Here’s to the next 50 years!

Earlier this year there were attempts within the UK wine trade to ‘talk up’ the 2008 Rhône vintage – as noted on our blog entry on March 10th. Although some perfectly decent wines were made in the Rhône valley in 2008 it was not an outstanding vintage.

Fortunately as our vineyard visits and tastings to date have confirmed Rhône 2009 is the ‘real deal’ – a markedly superior vintage that merits attention and will offer the opportunity to buy and lay down some exceptional wines. Early bottlings of junior wines that we have now started to ship such as our Côtes du Vivarais and Jean-Pierre Boisson’s excellent ‘La Côte’ Côtes du Rhône Villages show much promise that augurs well for their more senior siblings.

As in Bordeaux, Burgundy and all France’s other main wine producing regions the Rhône valley for 2009 enjoyed optimum ripening conditions in both the North and the South. A cold and wet winter and spring provided essential water reserves which were critical during August’s high temperatures. Sustained September sunshine meant that wine-makers could harvest individual parcels at peak maturity. Warm and dry conditions yielded a crop of phenolically ripe grapes with good colour, tannins and acidity – the resultant wines are already impressive in barrel but should have great aging potential when bottled. The heat meant that volumes were somewhat reduced, particularly in the south, but wine makers throughout the region are delighted with the quality of the harvest.

2009 is unquestionably a ‘Grand Millésime’ in the Rhône and comparisons are already being drawn with stellar vintages such as 1999, 1978 and the legendary 1929. We will be publishing detailed tasting notes and reports on individual wines in due course so do make sure that you have subscribed to our e-mail newsletter if you want to receive the latest information on this superb vintage.


Further expert opinion on Rhone 2009:

“To reiterate, the good news is that 2009 is looking like a potentially superb vintage. Even if you miss out on the 2007 vintage, 2009 may come close to rivaling that stupendous year, but the quality cannot be ascertained until the wines have finished their malolactic fermentation in late spring, 2010.”
Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate


“2009 is shaping up to be an exceptional vintage, most likely the best one of the last decade. It’s indeed quite seldom to obtain such complete vintages: with white wines expressing themselves with finesse and maturity and where red wines deliver strength and elegance without being heavy.”
Michel Chapoutier, Hermitage


“I knew that it could be great, but I had two worries: Will we have enough acidity and how will the tannins ripen with the lack of water? I got my answer at the end of the alcoholic fermentation: The tannins are beautiful; the acidity great.”
Maxime Graillot, Crozes Hermitage


“The key was that the heat wave came after veraison so the maturity was not blocked, the grapes were concentrated and the acidity and structure was balanced.”
Philippe Cambie, Châteauneuf du Pape


Read about Rhone 2009 on the Yapp Brothers website. We will update this page with further information as it becomes available.

Every summer la famille Yapp retires to a sleepy backwater of La France Profonde that lies roughly between the small towns of Nontron (knives) and Thiviers (foie gras) to enjoy the not so Grandes Vacances where the biggest decisions of the day are what to cook that evening and what to drink with the meal. Unfortunately, although less than 100 miles from Bordeaux, Perigord Vert is not exciting wine country and even if we stock up in the Loire valley en passant things can get pretty desperate after a week or so.

Fortunately, there is one long-serving and ultra-reliable Yapp supplier within strike range in the form of Christian Roche whose Domaine de l’Ancienne Cure lies beside the route nationale 21, just south of Bergerac. Here Christian fashions a superb Bergerac Sec from an un-oaked ‘Bordeaux’ blend of 70% Sauvignon and 30% Semillon. It is dry and fruity and what the locals call ‘vif’, with an attractive citrus fruit bouquet and a clean, zesty palate. I can testify beyond any shadow of a doubt, over numerous vintages, that it makes for decent holiday drinking and is a jolly versatile crowd-pleaser.

Christian also produces a sublime botrytised Monbazillac from a blend of 80% Sauvignon and 20% Muscadelle. It has a lovely tawny colour and is richly honeyed with complex notes of dried fruits, nuts and caramel with a heady orange blossom bouquet. Traditionally it is served chilled in small glasses to accompany tartines of pâté de foie gras but it also makes a splendid accompaniment to salty blue cheeses (especially Roquefort) and all manner of fruit-based desserts.

So if you are holidaying in the locale and see a battered Peugeot estate containing a border terrier and a couple of bored kids loading up beside the RN 21 it might well be me on a mercy mission to re-stock the cave personelle.