By Jonathan Byrne
Tutored Tasting Wines, Cheeses
and Meats of England
A
school bell brought us all
smartly to attention as
Steve Parker pointed out that
the majority of the audience
had obviously grown up in an
era which instilled respect for
the school bell, So started a
great evening of
entertainment, humour and
new experiences. Steve’s
encyclopaedic knowledge
encompasses from the
fascinating to the bizarre and
hilarious.
Back in the 70’s when I was at
Catering College; English wines
didn’t exist so producing the
range of excellent wines we
tasted is quite an achievement in
45 or 50 years. I recall in the
early 1990’s John Richards
(known as JR in the Dallas era),
general Manager of The Old Ship
Hotel, Brighton, introduced me
to two of the early successful
English wines from Brecky
Bottom Vineyard in the Sussex
Downs. The wines were based on
two grape varieties which could
survive the English climate,
Seyval Balnc and Muller-Thurgau,
producing Alsace type wines.
At our tasting in 2019, we tasted
wines from 14 grape varieties
and blends; all but one were very
impressive. The looser was
Denbies Zig Zag Red, named
after the iconic Zig Zag Road on
nearby Box Hill which featured in
the 2012 Olympic cycling; not a
wine I’d choose again! Each wine
was matched with impressive
English cheeses and interesting
meats.
Notables from the tasting (or this
article would go on weeks!) :
See chart on the right
Greyfriars Fumé
100% Sauvignon Blanc –
believed to be the only pure
Sauvignon Blanc made in
England. Only 700 bottles were
made in 2016 so at our tasting
we consumed nearly 1% of the
production!
Sometime after first making it,
Mike decided to set up a stall at
Winchester market and wanted
something different to sell, so
he ages some Lyburn to nine
months and named it
Winchester. The Winchester was
well received and quickly sold
out. Following the success at
Winchester, Mike decided to set
up a stall at Richmond-upon-
Thames food market and one of
his early customers was Magnus
Magnussen. MM said he loved
the cheese but would love to
taste it after a further year’s
aging. Mike is of the generation
where he believes that MM
knows everything there is to
know. So he took his advice
and matured the Winchester for
a further year selling it as Old
Winchester. I recommend you
seek out Old Winchester, which
is now sold between 18-22
months old and much loved
either as a table cheese or as a
vegetarian alternative to hard
Italian cheeses in cooking,
somewhere between mature
Cheddar and Parmesan.
Oxford Blue – English Cheese
with a French Creator
Baron Robert Pouget, living in
Oxfordshire, wanted to create a
soft creamy blue reminiscent of
the cheeses of his native France
and developed in Oxford Blue.
Despairing of his countrymen
general de Gaulle once
commented “How can you
govern a country which has 246
varieties of cheese?” Today
France produces around 475
varieties of cheese; whereby the
English produce around 1,750
varieties. Why anyone wants to
stand for parliament is beyond
me!
Bolney Estate Dark Harvest
The name creates a magical
image which is entirely
supported by the wine. As black
grapes used to make red wine
ripen in strong sunshine, I had
not expected England to
produce a great red. Twinned
with strong blue cheese and
chocolate this was a magical
experience.
If you plan to attend one of
Steve Parker’s tastings go there
very hungry. I’d been warned
Following the success
at Winchester, Mike
decided to set up a
stall at Richmond-
upon-Thames food
market and one of his
early customers was
Magnus Magnussen.
MM said he loved the
cheese but would love
to taste it after a further
year’s aging.
and paced myself but could not
have eaten of drunk another
mouthful by the end of the
evening. £30 per person is
amazing value for a highly
entertaining evening. Seven
generous servings of wine to 45
people qualified why Steve
needed a school bell – we
definitely needed to be kept in
order!
www.cheeseandwinetastingevents.com
CHEESE AND WINE TASTING
Tutored Tasting of Wines, Cheeses and Meats of England
WINE
CHEESE ACCOMPANIMENT
GREYFRIARS FUMÉ 2016 Laverstoke Farm Mozzarella (Organic) Cheese and Onion Flan
England, Surrey, Puttenham
Sauvignon Blanc England, Hampshire, Overton
Buffalo
Pasteurised LYME BLOCK SIGNATURE WHITE CUVÉE 2018 Lubborn Somerset Brie England, Devon, Axminster
Bacchus Pinot Blanc, Reichensteiner,
Solaris, Madelaine Angevine, Seyval Blanc England, Somerset, Chard
FULLER’S HONEY DEW
England, London, Chiswick
First Gold Hops and Organic Honey
Cow
Pasteurised
GREYFRIARS PINOT GRIS 2017 Hawes Wensleydale
England, Surrey, Puttenham
Pinot Gris England, North Yorkshire, Hawes
Cow
Pasteurised
DENBIES ROSE HILL NV Belton Double Gloucester
Greyfriars Pinot Gris
Only 2400 bottles made in 2017
– aged in oak barrels and put
through secondary malolactic
fermentation to give softness and
texture. England, Surrey, Westhumble
Pinot Noir, Rondo, Reichensteiner England, Shropshire, Whitchurch
Cow
Pasteurised
DENBIES ZIG ZAG RED NV Lyburn Old Winchester
Old Winchester – a cheese with
a celebrity endorsement
Made by Mike Smales at Lyburn
Farm in Wiltshire, this cheese is
usually ages to three months
when it is called Lyburn Gold. England, Surrey, Westhumble
Dornfelder, Rondo, Pinot Noir England, Wiltshire, Landford
Cow
Pasteurised
BOLNEY ESTATE DARK HARVEST 2017 Oxford Blue
England, West Sussex, Haywards Heath
Rondo, Regent, Triomphe England, Oxfordshire, Burford
Cow
Pasteurised
GREYFRIARS PINOT NOIR ROSÉ 2017 Joseph Heler Cheshire
England, Surrey, Puttenham
Pinot Noir England, Cheshire, Nantwich
Cow
Pasteurised
Visit The London & UK DatebooK on www.thedatebook.co.uk
Vegetarian
Wiltshire Cured Ham
Vegetarian
Sausage Rolls
Vegetarian
Pork Pie
Vegetarian
Vegetarian Sausages
Vegetarian
Apple Pie
Vegetarian
Kit-Kat
Vegetarian
THE LONDON & UK DATEBOOK
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