Wine Tasting - Part 1

So this is how it worked today -half the group were in by 0930 and were given the task of preparing 4 courses for the other half of the group who would be wine tasting.  Those of us who were in the wine tasting half didn't have to be in until 1030 and were kept very seperate from the cooks, sorry chefs!

The wine tasters were set off by trying to identify the smells of particular small bottles of extract of various flavours that are found in white wines - apparently  75% of taste comes from smell!  So having misidentified 6 out of 7 aromas for white wine, I was on a hiding to nothing and not a drop of wine had passed my lips at this stage.  James, the expert, who hails from Tavistock, waxed lyrical about different grape varieties, about old world wines versus new world wines, about "terroir" and balancing acidity with sugar content - all right riveting stuff.  I asked him about Welsh wines as I know someone who has a vineyard in Cowbridge - he told me that they would be known as English wines.  I told him that the Welsh would be apoplectic if they knew that  they were being listed under English wines particularly given the history about the English repression of the Welsh! 

So the first course arrived - each chef had been given a list of ingredients and had interpreted them in diffeent ways -the chefs had no idea who they were cooking for and we, the wine tasters, had to share our dishes with everyone to ensure that a balanced view was obtained!  Easy eh?  Risotto with goats cheese, roasted red pepper and pine nuts was given to me from Fem!  Fantastic presentation, fabulous flavours and perectly cooked risotta rice - a faultless dish!  We then tatsed all the other dishes which were equally fantastic - hard to be critical knowing that the roles are going to be reversed tomorrow!  Squid followed - which was pan fried with cheese, roasted garlic and a pesto dip served with foccacia.  Now I wouldn't as a rule, order squid off a menu - too rubbery for me - but this was delicious and Fem's foccacia was as if it had been made by an Italian! These dishes had been accompanied by a Pinot Grigio and a Gavi (the risotto) and a New Zealand Savignon blanc and German Reisling for the squid. Not much was being spat out at £18 a bottle, I can tell you!  The next course was a sirloin steak and mine was served with rosemary potatoes, green beans with bacon and onions - once again, it was absolute perfection - nothing left to chance - even the thumb prints had been wiped clean from the serving dish!  The wine accompaniment for this was a Chatueauneuf du Pape and a Casa Silva Gran Reserva ( a Chilean Cab Sav!).  The sweets that came out following the steak were unbelievable.  The care and attention that had gone into the preparation of the chocolate

was absolutely stunning - orange segments that had been marinaded in rum, mint sugar balls that were resting on top of the chocolate mousse , a white chocolate pastry, profiteroles, a chocolate and chilli parfait - all this and 2 sweet dessert wines, this was the perfect end to a perfect meal!

And then we had to feed back to the "chefs"!  It must have been nerve racking for them - having your food criticised by a bunch of people who have been drinking wine all day!  It all ended amicably, no tears, no fights, no arguments.  Wait until tomorrow when they start to criticise my food -  Gordon Ramsay's F word won't have a look in!

The March edition of the BBC Good Food Magazine is out at the moment and who should be in there but our resident celebrity chef James Knight - Pacheco on page 137 - after he'd signed my copy I told him that for a chef of his standing, a lemon posset recipe for a dessert was a bit of a cop out!  Even I can can make that!

And lastly tonight a word about our receptionists and administrators, Sarah and Tracey who have been brilliant throughout the course, smiling, helpful and always willing to taste our food- if only they could operate the electronic door opening system!

I'm looking forward to Wednesday like a trout relishes a fly - slightly dangerous but irresistable!

A demain!