BudBurst

Although I spend a reasonable amount of time (how much is reasonable?) thinking about which wine to enjoy with a meal, quite often I'll find that even if it's not perfect it is still entirely serviceable and rather than wail hysterically while tipping the bottle down my throat, I can enjoy both food and wine while making a mental note to try something else next time.

But then, when you most want to find just the thing to do justice to the efforts of the chef, you go and make an absolute clanger. Of course it is also about doing justice to the effort that has gone into the production of the wine so showing it off in the most flattering company  is desirous  in absolute propotion to the amount of effort it is to procure a bottle and how lovingly you cherish it.

I haven't gone too far out of my way to scout out the perfect steak to show off my £5.49 Argentinian Cabernet Sauvignon. Although they would be more laidback company than some, more intricate, menus.

Had the most wonderful meal a couple of nights ago courtesy of a former Masterchef contestant.  We kicked off the evening with some Champagne Drappier Brut Carte d'Or NV. A very biscuity nose with a fresh, light and clean apple palate with a broad, creamy bottom layer with an enthusiatic but not overwhelming mousse and very decent length.

The first course was mushroom ravioli in a wild mushroom (girasol) broth in which the  woodland flavours sang out in operatic fashion. We matched that with a Louis Latour, Domaine de Valmoissine Pinot Noir 2002 from Provence. Very light crimson this was correct and tasty. Already quite evolved but still lots of fruit, just not the concentration I'd hoped for.  Made a great pairing with the mushrooms though and the lightness and acidity in the wine lifted the earthy tones and richness of the ravioli.

The fabulously elaborate meal continued with roast duck cooked in red wine with cherry sauce. For the duck I had brought along a Feytit Clinet 2000 from Pomerol having enjoyed right bank Bordeaux with duck on many previous occasions. Here though the intensity and sweetness of the cherries and the reduction glaze reduced this otherwise rather lovely wine to thin, metallic, short nastiness. Really very sad!

We tried opening an Eldridge Blue Chip Shiraz 2003 from Clare Valley in South Australia, which alone was sweet, unctuous and jammy but this too couldn't take on the cherries.

Which came first - the cherry or the Feytit Clinet? They both lost that night.  Tant pis...learn from mistakes. Next time before rummaging through the cellar, I'll ask for an exact breakdown of the recipes from my host - NO, not really! This is just for fun.

Sainsburys Taste the Difference Sancerre 2004 £8.54 has a round, fruity, open nose with a touch of minerality and a clean freshness. The good, underlying fruit with its tantalising honeycomb edges was somewhat hidden by the very high acidity on the palate. So I thought perhaps what it needed was some cheese to round it out...

First up Organic Wensleydale. This crumbly white is more texture than flavour but did fill out the wine and brought forward the fruit -peachy aromatics. The lightness of the almost cottage cheese texture really complemented the delicacy of the wine. There was a hint of a salty tang too.

Then Woolsery, http://www.woolserycheese.co.uk , this is a medium hard goat's cheese from Dorset and is so tasty. It was the best in combination with the wine too. The slightly salty creaminess perfectly cut the acidity of the wine down to size. The cheese had a decent level of acidity to it as well. It was grassy and had a goaty note but was not overly pungent. Great stuff.

Next up Vintage Gouda, the label didn't give a year or age though - perhaps this is cheese parlance that someone can enlightenment me about? This had a wonderful flavour, nutty, earthy, hay aromas, very fruity in fact. It is a dense and creamy cheese which cancelled out the acidity in the wine altogether and made it seem almost flabby! Not quite right together.

Finally Doux de Montagne, very like a Spanish Manchego with its subtle flavour and rubbery texture. It tasted slightly soured too but in a good way. The wine overwhelmed this cheese though and it had very little impact when tasted together.

Though I love the arrival of a new season, the relentless rain last week was a bit wearying. So the crisp autumnal sunshine on Saturday was joyously welcomed. Lunch was served next to wide open windows, not quite alfresco but with a fresh breeze to whip up the appetite.

Red seemed too sleepy for such energetic weather but after glancing down the winelist, a rosé seemed to capture the frivolity that sunshine always bestows on a weekend day, while giving us the depth of flavour to match a tomato-based seafood linguine and rustica pizza.

I usually go for the Languedoc when looking for rosé with strength of character but as we were in an Italian restaurant I chose one from the Veneto and found the same richesse.

This region, with its Amarone tradition, produces wines with ripasso technique (passing young wine over the unpressed skins of the dried grapes used to make Amarone). This has traditionally only been used for Valpolicella but with international varieties being planted and all sorts of new innovations, these techniques are being experimented with in different ways.

There is also carbonic maceration, usually associated with Beaujolais Noveau, used for Bardolino Novello which was given its own DOC a few years ago.

Rosé is not particularly traditional to this region but in the spirit of modern wines being trialled and produced using traditional methods and grape varieites in different ways, there is a very successful marriage here.

The colour was deep, the texture fleshy and ripe with the right balance of acidity and creaminess. It was bursting with juicy cherry and strawberry fruit. It was perfect for the food, just what I was looking for and I have been enthused to find some more examples of Veneto rosé which are available to buy. This one was an on-trade line only. Watch this space...

On a searingly hot day I entered the vestibule of the Tate Britain and was instantly soothed by the cool, white stone. This oasis on Millbank by the river is one of  those buildings that just make you happy when you're in them. I love that a place so grand within is open and free to everyone.

The restaurant is famous for the Rex Whistler mural "In pursuit of Rare Meats" on all four walls. It's a bit odd sitting inside a painting, dark too but it does feel special. I looked, with a rubber-necking kind of fascination for horror, for the young black boy on a leash but couldn't locate him.

I had been invited to lunch by Malcolm Gluck of Superplonk fame. He had ordered a bottle of Egon Muller, Wiltinger Kapp Riesling Kabinett 1998. It was just the drink, at 8% alcohol it is light enough to have over lunch without affecting your planned afternoon. The honeysuckle warmth was balanced by limeflower and citrus,  mouthwatering acidity and that lovely lingering touch of sweetness at the end that this style of wine does so well.

That disappeared with such ease that we moved on to a haf bottle of Domaine Dujac, Morey-St-Denis 1999. Still a bright red cherry welcome from this wine but also evolved, soft truffleyness. Earthy and rich but still delicate, well-balanced and enticing.

 The winelist does itself a lot of favours by having such a skilfully chosen selection of half bottles. It's the best way to be able to try 2 or 3 different wines without getting sozzled or forking out so much that you don't go out for dinner again for ages. 

Malcolm was keen to make sure the bottle had been down in the cool cellar not the warmer restaurant and told me he chills his Burgundy in the fridge. He then asked for it to be decanted which is unusual but he also decants wine for ages, often overnight for the next evening - even whites! Says they evolve into something far more interesting.

I haven't had the foresight necessary to experiment with this theory but must try it out sometime. I used to do that with my vigneron neighbours' pretty tough Bordeaux which mellowed magnificently overnight, just in re-corked bottles though, not decanted, and they were young - the wines, not the neighbours.

If you go to Tate Britain for lunch (do), take some time to look around at the exhibitions and let me know if it made you feel happy too. If you want to read a more detailed review of the restaurant check out Malcolm's article: http://www.superplonk.com/spworldofwine/articles.asp?id=320