NOSE Soft and delicate with a beautiful floral character. Spring blossom, violets, sweet peas and a subtle green leafiness.
TASTE Vibrant with a compelling balance of dry tannin and and soft brown sugar vanilla sweetness. A deep oak flavour gradually builds, with hints of spice and liquorice shining through.
FINISH Deep and complex.
RRP Index 330 Available in 75cl & 70cl
NOSE A remarkably rich aroma with ripe orchard fruit, 18 year old g l e n f i d d i c h baked apple and robust oak.
TASTE Richly delivers luxurious dried fruit, candy peel and dates. Overlaid with elegant oak notes.
FINISH Warming, rewarding and distinguished.
RRP Index 200 vs Glenfiddich 12yo Available in 75cl & 70cl
NOSE An intriguingly complex aroma. Sweet heather honey and vanilla fudge combined with rich dark fruits.
TASTE Silky smooth, revealing layers of sherry oak, marzipan, cinnamon and ginger. Full-bodied and bursting with flavour.
FINISH Satisfyingly rich with lingering sweetness.
RRP Index 150 vs Glenfiddich 12yo Available in 75cl, 70cl, 50cl, 20cl & 5cl
NOSE Distinctively fresh and fruity with a hint of pear. Beautifully crafted and delicately balanced.
TASTE Characteristic sweet, fruity notes. Develops into 12 year old g l e n f i d d i c h –butterscotch, cream, malt and subtle oak flavours.
FINISH A long smooth and mellow finish.
RRP 100% vs Glenlivet 12yo Available in 75cl, 70cl, 50cl, 35cl, 20cl & 5cl
Cointreau
The original triple-sec, created by Edouard Cointreau more than 150 years ago in Angers, France. Cointreau is the world’s most famous crystal clear spirit. Cointreau’s distinctive square-shaped bottle with rounded shoulders and warm amber color is recognised worldwide. Its subtle taste – a perfect balance of bitter and sweet orange peel, grown and meticulously selected for their quality. In addition, Cointreau is an essential ingredient in top shelf cocktails, like the Margarita, Sidecar and Cosmopolitan.
Rémy Martin XO
A sumptuous blend of opulent aromas and velvet textures, consisting of 85% Grande Champagne and 15% Petite Champagne. A fiery mahogany colour with heady touches of white flowers such as jasmine and iris. With aromas of ripe fruits – juicy plums, ripe figs, candied oranges and oaky notes of freshly grated cinnamon and hazelnuts.
Rémy Martin VSOP
The perfect harmony of mature and powerful aromas. This vibrant gold blend consists of 55% Grande and 45% Petite Champagne. Predominantly vanilla with a hint of liquorice and the roundness of summer fruits, especially ripe apricots and peaches. With floral notes of wild flowers, particularly violets
Les Vendangeurs Bourgogne Chardonnay A.O.C.
Flowery notes with hints fresh fruits yet complex with notes of honeyed toast. An excellent dry Chardonnay, very well-balanced, at once fresh and mellow. Serve well chilled, 8-10ºC
Les Vendangeurs Bourgogne Pinot Noir A.O.C.
Characteristic black currant, cherry and blackberry notes with undertones of lime flower and mint. Full-bodied and well- balanced with subtle oak hints and a long liquorice finish. Serve slightly chilled, 16-18ºC
Chablis
Mellow white flower and fresh peach notes with characteristic gun-flint, mineral hints. Subtle hints of dried fruit and hazelnut on the finish. Serve well chilled, 8-10ºC
Côtes du Rhône
Complex aromas of blackberries with spicy notes. Rich and lively with supple tannins. Serve slightly chilled, 16-18ºC
GOLD
SILVER
BRONZE
At the north east of Italy lies a region called Piedmonte, which literally means ‘on the foot of the mountains’ so named because it is surrounded for the most part by the lofty Alps.
Wine writers and buyers from across the globe including yours truly had been invited to visit Alba and it’s surrounding regions recently. Full disclosure, I’ve been here before and it still never fails to excite me.
Home base was set up in Alba from where a short drive in any direction will take you to the hills where vineyards, the most famous planted with the Nebiolo grape variety are responsible for creating some of the world’s most astonishing wines in regions like Barolo and Barbaresco. These wine once the privilege of royalty is now the privilege of the well heeled and wanted by the most demanding connoisseurs.
At their best the wines from Barolo and Barbaresco are hedonistic pleasure with a mix of tar, rose petals and tealeaves matched with different degrees of oak depending on the producer. It’s not all Nebiolo and other grape varieties like Barbera D’Asti, Dolcetto, Gavi or Arneis produce just incredible wines as well. There’s plenty super high quality fizz and slightly sweet wines from Moscato D’Asti and beyond the indigenous grape varieties you can find wine made from international grape varieties that are world class.
This time I was there to taste approximately 500 of them, 100 each morning from 9am to 11am. Tasting 100 wines is not the easiest thing to do and especially not when you’re drinking young tannic Barolo and Barbaresco in a rush. The schedule was simple – Get up, get breakfast, taste 100 wines, eat lunch with more wine and then off to wineries to see the vineyards and taste older vintages, back to the hotel for a one hour break and then off to dinner at some of the finest restaurants in the region.
Some wineries chose to display vintages, allowing us to taste vintages of the same wine all the way back to 1952. A tasting at Bricco Asili winery by Ceretto was a revelation where the said 52 was opened. This wine was over 60 years old and still had a heartbeat in it.
Each dinner had a minimum of seven courses and of course multiple wines paired along with each course. Castelmagno despite its cats pee aroma has quickly become one of my favourites and I can eat any amount of feta stuffed ravioli they can serve up.
A stand out dinner took place at a restaurant called Bovio in La Morra part of the Barolo region. The restaurant is perched on the upper side of the hill with a view of the mountains on the other side and the valley in between. One could spend hours here just gazing out at the landscape. However the true spectacle I found was inside, this was no ordinary restaurant and the food was magnificent. It is also responsible for the best risotto garnished with white truffles, Piedmonte is famous for them, I have ever eaten.
So here bottles of Elio Altare, Conterno, Gaja, Prunotto, Paulo Scavino and Pio Cesare were wolfed down along with other wines from wineries like Negretti and Moncheiro. The debate on whether Barolo and Barbaresco should be made in the traditional or modern (a higher degree of oak) still rages on and I find it fascinating to discuss with individual producers what they think the style should be. If you event want to get a Barolo producer to go on a passionate rant for 15 minutes try asking them this question.
Another dinner, which was truly inspiring, was when four of us went to a restaurant called Il Falstaff so named after the town in which Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet was set. The Chef and owner of this small establishment led us down to the cellar where we began our evening with Prosecco from the Valdobbiadiene region. After a few aperitifs we were taken back to our table where service began course. Mind you, none of us saw a menu and the wines served were ordered from the restaurants adjoining vineyard. At the end of the dinner the Chef sat down at our table and offered us his own grappa and told us the story of his restaurant. He had named this restaurant after the place where he had met the love of his life who eventfully left him. He now runs Il Falstaff with his wife and daughter only in her remembrance. Italian romance just cannot be beaten.
Osteria dell Enoteca in Roero was another glorious meal. We were taken there by a producer called Malvira which is based in the Roero region. Chef Davide Palluda who has very quickly become one of my personal favourites heads this Michelin star restaurant. The 8 hour cooked beef melted in my mouth and paired incredibly well with the 93 Roero. Each course here including the apertiser sampler were just phenomenal.
Every night post the dinner a group of us would head back down to the centre of Alba. Alba gets quiet with hardly anyone on the streets not too lare into the night, so we would land up drinking Cognac and looking at the glorious architecture at a resto bar called Hemmingway. It is as cool as it sounds and is open till the wee hours of the morning.
In the evenings I would highly recommend going to the many bars and restaurants in the centre of town for aperitivo. Order a glass of vino and pick up some complimentary anti pasti and watch the people in this beautiful part of the world go by. In between bars walk into the many shops selling gourmet items and truffles in every form you can think off. If you haven’t had any experience with truffles, drop everything and try it now if you can. The aroma is intoxicating and is unlike anything that you have ever had before.
This region despite all its wine and food history is really about simplicity. They want the produce or the wine to talk for themselves with little addition of anything. For lunch a simple spaghetti with thinly cut vegetables drizzled with olive oil and grated Parmigiano Reggiano reminded me of comfort food I had eaten when I was a child and is so easy to do that even I can make it.
Alba is home to the Ferrero Rocher factory which is in the middle of town. The factory roasts the hazel nuts over the course of the night before tuning them into the familiar nutty chocolates we love and Nutella the next day. Because of this, the late evening air is filled with a delicious aroma of roasted nuts that only adds to the beauty of this small town and region.
With almost 23 years of culinary experience, Chef Matteo Arvonio brings with him deep-rooted love for Italian flavours and authentic cooking styles. Currently appointed the Speciality Chef at Mezzo Mezzo at JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu, he is responsible for developing new concepts at the restaurant.
Chef Matteo specializes in regional Italian cuisine however he loves refining original recipes with creative modern cooking techniques. We got Chef Matteo to share one of his very own recipes of Black cod cooked “al cartoccio”, with Tuscan style stewed tomato caviar and Swiss chard with us this month. “Using one of the most valuable fish in the market, I combine the ‘cartoccio’, a traditional delicate cooking technique that enhances the flavor of the fish using different aromas, and I serve with Pappa al Pomodoro, a very traditional recipe of Tuscany”, says Chef Matteo
Merluzzo Nero al Cartoccio Con Pappa al Pomodoro
Black cod cooked “al cartoccio”, Tuscan style stewed tomato caviar, swiss chard
For Pappa al Pomodoro:
Method: Prepare the pappa al pomodoro: add the garlic and the basil to the vegetable stock bring it to boil and let it rest for about 1 hour to get flavor of these two ingredients. Drain
In a pot stew the shallot chopped with some oil, add the tomato and stew for about 10 minutes. Add some stock and continue to cook for about 30 minutes adding more stock when is necessary.
Keep the preparation quite humid, take off from the fire, add the bread, and cover the pot and keep to rest for about 10-15 minutes. Then with a whisk stir energetically and add oil, salt and pepper to taste.
Prepare the fish: we need to prepare the cartoccio; the easier way is take a sheet of aluminum foil, putt all the ingredients/flavor in the middle and on the top lay the fish already seasoned with salt, pepper and oil; close the cartoccio as a bag carefully and make sure that is nicely sealed. You can as well use a second layer of aluminum foil sheet to be sure.
Put the cartoccio in a tray and cook in an oven (pre-heated at 180 °C) for about 8-10 and put to rest for a couple of minutes before to open it. Take in consideration that the timing is for a fillet of 4-5 cm high. If the fish is thinner 6-8 minutes will be enough.
In a pan sauté the Swiss chard cleaned and sliced with oil, salt and pepper.
Plating: in a plate put a big spoon of warmed pappa al pomodora and a nice spoon of sautéed Swiss chard on its side. Open the cartoccio and put carefully the fish on top (if you think is a little raw jut put open in the oven for a couple of minutes more, but be careful to not overcook otherwise it will be dry)
Finish with some sea salt and extra virgin oil on top.