The January 2024 Long Liquid Lunch or “LLL” is the fifth of a series of Gourmet Sunday Lunches with matching Fines Wines arranged by the Harrogate Medical Wine Society.
The fifth LLL was held on Sunday 7 January 2024 at the Oakdale Golf Club in Harrogate. The lunch was for 14 members of the Society who are seriously interested in fine food and wine and have access to great bottles of wine which they are happy to share with like minded people.
The format of the lunch was as follows:
Each attending couple provided two bottles of fine wine to complement a course (aperitif, starter, main-course, cheese or dessert). The wines were prepared (chilled, decanted etc. if indicated) and their identity suitably concealed. All the wines were tasted blind, assessed, scored and identified as closely as possible. Identity of the wines, members’ comments and scores were revealed at the end of the lunch.
Lunch Menu
Scottish Smoked Salmon Roulade, Lemon Cream Cheese, Chives & Cucumber Ribbons
Grilled Goats Cheese & Beetroot Bruschetta with Toasted Walnuts. Orange Dressing
*
Classic Beef Bourguignon, Parsley Pomme Puree & Crispy Pancetta
Roast Breast of Chicken Dijonaise, Buttered Spinach & Chive Mashed Potato
*
Pear Belle Helene, Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce & Toasted Flaked Almonds
Stem Ginger Créme Brule with White Chocolate Cookies
*
Tea/Coffee
The Wines
Champagne Ayala Brut Majeur NV was the first wine of the morning, a blend of 70 Crus – 55% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 15% Pinot Meaner. The base year was 2019 and reserve wines from 2018, 2017 and 2016 accounted for 43% of the blend. It underwent micro-vinification in 120 small steel vats and was aged for 3 years on lees. Dosage was 6g/l. It was light gold in colour, had fine bubbles and a hint of autolysis and made a good aperitif. (16)
The second aperitif wine was Rathfinny Blanc de Blancs Brut 2019. Mark and Sarah Driver established the Rathfinny Wine Estate in 2010 on a working arable farm in Sussex and planted 50 acres of vines in 2012 – Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier as well as a small amount of Pinot Gris. The Blanc de Blancs was fermented in stainless steel tanks at 16 °C with commercial yeasts. Malolactic was 100% and the fining agent was Yeast Protein (Fyneo). Dosage was 3g/l. The pH is 3.09 and the ABV 12%. The wine was gold in colour with a nose of tropical fruit and was crisp with citrus fruits on the palate. (15.5)
Three wines partnered the starters.
The first was Marimar Estate Acero Chardonnay 2018 from the Don Miguel Vineyard in the Russian River Valley. The grapes were whole-cluster pressed and cold fermented, using indigenous yeast in stainless steel tanks at 55 degrees F. The wine went through 100% malolactic fermentation in the same tank. It was soft and mineral. (16)
A bottle each of Respiro Seda 2019 – a field blend of 14 different varieties of white grapes including Arinto, Assario, Fernão Pires, Roupeiro, Alicante Branco aged for 9 months in old oak barrels and Respiro Altitude 2020, a field blend of 14 varieties aged for 9 months in old oak barrels was also poured with the starters. Both wines are from the 4.5 ha biodynamic vineyard with 100 years old vines of Cabeças do Reguengo in the Portalegre region of Alentejo, situated at an altitude between 550m and 675m. The wines are low intervention and unfiltered. They were soft and fruity. (16)
Stonecroft Syrah 2014 and Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir 2018 partnered the main courses.
Stonecroft is a small, family owned winery making organic Gimblett Gravels wines in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. The estate has the oldest Syrah vines in New Zealand, planted in 1984. Grapes are wild fermented in open-top stainless steel fermenters and hand plunged two times daily. Post fermentation soak is for two to three weeks followed by maturation in barrel. It has black fruit aromas with spice and anise was dense with black fruit flavours, fine grained tannins and a long finish. ABV is 13%. (16)
The Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir from stony, clay-rich, shale-derived soils is aged for 10 months in 228 litre French Oak Barrels. It has a pH of 3.48 and 2.30 g/l residual sugar. The ABV is 13.5%. It is soft, complex and long. (17)
Port –Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim 2001 en magnum partnered a cheese course.
Acquired by George Warre for Dow’s in 1896, the name of the property was derived from Vale do Bomfim, ‘the well-placed valley’, as the area around the village of Pinhão was then known. In 1912, Andrew James Symington became a partner in Dow’s and made Quinta do Bomfim his Douro family home. The 74.6 hectares vineyard is predominantly south facing at 80 — 384 metres with ample solar exposure, the schist slopes are arranged in vineyard terraces. Principal grape varieties are old mixed vines, Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca, Alicante Bouschet & Sousão. Grapes are taken to the small on-site winery where they are trodden in modern lagares. Fermentations are a little longer, resulting in a drier Port Wine that has become the hallmark of Dow’s. The grapes are normally extremely ripe at the time of picking, a direct result of the low-lying position of the main vineyard.
Spice and pepper balance the black chocolate flavours. Fruit flavours are abundant with hints of maple, raisins and ripe blackberries. The very high percentage of Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional planted on the estate result in the powerful aromas of mint and violets. (16.5)
Participants: Ian & Elizabeth Botwright (Ripon), Rob & Pauline Buckley (Leeds), Bernard & Ramani Dias (Harrogate), David & Patricia Durrant (Harrogate), Tony Lee & Renna Benson (Knaresborough), Peter & Carol Murphy (Ackworth), Jane Trewhella (Otley) & Carole Wood (Ackworth).
Published 10/1/24
HMWS Blog 