actually a grape. So, the wine was made entirely from the mencia
grape. It is a Spanish indigenous grape from the North West of the
country and is primarily to be found in the Bierzo, Ribeira Sacra
and Valdeorras regions of Spain. Our wine came from the Bierzo
region. Packed with red fruit and hints of vanilla, this was a very
drinkable wine. It was good to see, particularly at the level we were
concerned with when it came to fine dining, a restaurant being
prepared to try something a little unusual and, perhaps for most,
something untried and untested before.
I like it when people try and take others out of their comfort zone
when it comes to wine. For me, that is what wine is all about – get
out there and experiment. If you don’t – you’ll never know. Full
marks for going down this route here.
DESSERT...
Polish bilberries, goat’s milk ice cream, Halva, sorrel. This was
served with ‘Akashi-Tai Sake, Kanzai’ from Japan. Another
interesting match; but another inspired one. For those who like a
little something sweet with their dessert, or cheese, this is something
to think about. Again, sake is something one rarely (if ever) we see
on a restaurant wine list these days. Perhaps stating the obvious, this
was made from fermented rice. Whilst sweet, it was neither sickly
nor overpoweringly sweet. It had a lovely freshness and balance to
it. As with the mencia, full marks for going down this road with
something more than a little out of the ordinary.
So, a night with great food and a very inventive wine selection to
go with it. The wines were neither obvious choices for the food,
nor were some of them ones what you would call mainstream. The
selection was both bold and successful. The moral of the story I
suppose is simple – be prepared to be taken out of your comfort
zone when it comes to wine. The experience can be very rewarding.
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