Auberge de Chassignolles: a natural wine hotel

Ever since I visited the natural wine bar Gergovie earlier this year and found out that owner Harry Lester (below) ran a hotel in the Auvergne called the Auberge de Chassignolles during the summer I’ve been dying to go.



And last week we made it and spent 3 indulgent nights there.



It’s just as good as I’d hoped. A tiny village set in glorious unspoilt countryside about 950m above sea level, surrounded by dense forests and rolling green pastures it’s as good a get-away-from-it-all destination as you can imagine.







Our room overlooked a 12th century Romanesque church





The auberge operates on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis, dinner being a 5 course prix fixe affair that changes every night - fantastic value for 24 euros a head.







Harry also has a serious, largely natural wine list which we made good use of - highlights being the 2008 Domaine Michel Lafarge Raisins Dorées Bourgogne Aligoté, the 2008 Elian da Ros Cotes du Marmandais, Le Vin est une Fête and Antoine Arena Carco 2009 from Patrimonio in Corsica. There are also some great classics such as Domaine Tempier Bandol, Thierry Allemand’s Cornas, Grange des Pères and a 1999 vintage of Domaine de Trévallon.





In fact it was so perfect we’re squeezing in another night on the way home next week ;-)



Note: the hotel closes for the summer at the end of September





Readmore »»

More bio buzz from Paris and Burgundy

I went to a very posh tasting at the Dorchester last night that would not normally be the subject of this blog but for the remarkable fact of a French female sommelier, Estelle Touzet - head sommelier at the 3 starred Le Meurice, no less - serving up a New Zealand biodynamic wine (Felton Road's 2009 Bannockburn Pinot).

In fact of the four wines she showed - only one was French (Coumbe del Mas) - and from the Roussillon not one of the more prestigious wine areas.

It really shows how fast the restaurant world is changing. It's inconceivable that one of the so-called 'palaces' as Paris's most prestigious hotels are called, would have had a female head sommelier or shown wines of this type at a press event even five years ago. Touzet reckons that around 200 wines from her 1100 strong list are biodynamic, possibly more as many producers choose not to certify . . .

I also gather (from my colleague Richard Hemming via Twitter) that Anne-Claude Leflaive has launched a new biodynamic négociant business, Leflaive et Associés which will be buying in fruit from biodynamic growers. Further proof, if proof were needed, that biodynamics is becoming big business.

And what did the wine taste like? Ah, forgot to mention that. Elegant, mineral, quite smokey - I thought it might be a mourvèdre, without the lush fruit that tends to typify Central Otago pinot. But, interestingly, it was a root day. A great match though with a 'bouchée' of rare beef with celeriac rémoulade and a lot of black pepper which actually restored some of the fruit to the wine. More on my matchingfoodandwine website tomorrow. Readmore »»

Blacks: a London club with natural wine

I've recently revived my membership of Blacks , not on the basis that I needed a London club living out of town - useful though that is - but for the somewhat frivolous reason that they have an extensive natural wine list.

They probably did when I belonged to it a few years ago except no-one talked about natural wine in those days. The wine, chosen by Giuseppe Mascoli was always good though - usually from small (in capacity not size) Italian producers.

Mascoli is also the other half of Aubert & Mascoli who are one of the leading importers of natural wine and one of the participants in the recent Natural Wine Fair. He also created the highly successful mini pizza chain Franco Manca.

Most of the current Blacks list is now organic and a number of wines sulphur free including the very attractive and reasonably priced Terragno Dolcetto, Colli Tortonesi from Valli Unite we had at lunch today. (It could have done with being a shade cooler but when we asked if we could have an ice bucket they mysteriously brought along a bucket of cold water without ice. Maybe they regard ice as unnatural?)

They also produce a very well-designed free newsletter called The Carafe with profiles of their producers and - this appears to the food and wine matching geek in me - suggest pairings for each course on the main dining room menu.

The place is wonderfully raffish and decadent. I love it. Readmore »»

A glimpse of Le Chapeau Melon

We've had two trips planned to Paris in the last six months which we've had to abort - one on grounds of the heavy snow just before Christmas, the second last month for a family funeral. On both we planned to check out Paris's well developed natural wine bar scene so I have a twinge of envy when I come across posts like this from a blog called Paris Kitchen about Le Chapeau Melon which is run by Olivier Camus, one of the founders of the famous (and apparently famously rude) Le Baratin.

So that's it really. Looks great. Thought you'd like to read it . . . Readmore »»

A natural wine dinner at Bar Battu

A busy, busy week - not much time for drinking wine - natural or otherwise. However I did finally get to go to Bar Battu, one of London's new natural wine bars. Oddly it's in the heart of the City which makes it more like a conventional wine bar than a hip hangout like Terroirs or Brawn, despite the Parisian-looking window.

The Caves de Pyrène crowd were out in force (I wish there were more natural wine importers so that I didn't have to keep writing about them all the time. Much as I love them.)

And we drank:

* a sparkling dark pink and very delicious Malvasia Rosa 2009 from Camillo Donati

* a 2009 Cuvée Marine Côtes de Gascogne from Domaine de Menard (not mad on this. Tasted like it was made with conventional yeasts)

* a 2008 Rosso di Montalcino, Pian dell'Orino. An attractively supple Tuscan red, well matched with duck, stuffed cabbage confit and a cherry and sage jus

* and a Braeburn apple tatin with calvados crème fraîche with an Eric Bordelet, poire granit which stole the show I thought.

I was dining with my son - a restaurateur - who isn't particularly into natural wine and can't see the point of it. Which is where I was roughly eighteen months ago. It'll be interesting to see if he comes round . . . Readmore »»

Natural wine out of London

Given how glorious the weather's been this week I was gutted not to be able to make it to the organic and biodynamic wine and cider dinner this week at the Porthminster Beach Café. And even more so when I saw the menu which I shall torture you with below.

However the good thing is that it shows that some interesting things going on outside London which is always welcome. (There's nothing that frustrates readers more than you banging on about what's going on in the capital - or not even the capital if you live in Scotland or Wales ;-)

More impressive still there was a full-blown vegetarian version of the menu. What's striking about both options is how fresh and seasonal the food was - and I'm sure this is the style of cooking that shows off natural wines best. (I plan to come back to that subject . . . )

Anyway, the wines were provided by Ellis Wharton a Cornish wine merchant that seems to have an interest in natural wine. Read on and drool:

Sweet and Sour Rhubarb Cone
Parmesan ice-cream
Polgoon Sparkling Aval Cider


Purple Gnocchi OR Battered Cod Cheeks with Almond
Darjeeling tea gel, salted grapes and wild sorrel
Casa Coste Piane, Prosecco d Valdobbiadene Frizante sur lie NV


Cucumber and Tomato Tian
Pickled sea asparagus and lemon verbena
OR
Scallop and Cucumber Tian
Pickled sea asparagus and white crab dressing
Chateau Tour des Gendres ‘Cuvee des Conti’ Bergerac Sec 2010


Haloumi and Orange
Fennel, rose salt and hazelnuts
OR
OR Pork and Pear
Rose salt, hazelnuts and crackle
Cullen “Kevin John” Chardonnay 2007 Margaret River


Beetroot Sorbet
Sumac and feta cheese
OR
Blow Torched Mackerel
Sumac, cured ham and beetroot sorbet
Chateau Cambon, Raisins Gaulois 2009


Red Wine and Rosemary Risotto
Wild spring herbs and rosemary
OR
Spring Lamb Cannon
Wild garlic, nettles, parsnip and plum
COS, ‘Nero di Lupo’ , Nero D Avola


Rhubarb
Specialties and surprises
Chateau de Hauteville Poire Granit 2009

Also the Bristol based wine bar and restaurant Flinty Red is having a 'foraged supper' with natural wines on May 3rd with Caroline Davey of Fat Hen. And - drat it - I'm away for that too! Readmore »»

Brawn: a mecca for natural wine lovers

If you’re a fan of Terroirs, London’s leading natural wine bar and restaurant, you’ll no doubt have heard of its new East End offshoot Brawn which opened a couple of weeks ago in Columbia Road.

It was set up in what looks like a former industrial unit by Terroirs talented chef Ed Wilson who lives in the neighbourhood and “wanted the kind of restaurant I want to go to on my doorstep”.

In fact he’s created the sort of restaurant any and every natural wine lover would want to go to: friendly, relaxed with simply cooked brilliant ingredients and a terrific selection of natural wines.


We went there for the Guardian Christmas lunch and grazed through an ridiculous amount of food - oysters, two selections of charcuterie, one Italian, one French, several plates of seafood (langoustines, mussels, clams and squid), a cassoulet-like dish called mongetes, andouillette and chips (passed on that one), a sublime zander boudin with shellfish sauce and some wonderfully airy (they needed to be) îles flottantes. I could hardly eat for the next 24 hours.

We also drank some excellent wines (though I can’t vouch for the accuracy of my tasting notes)


* An extraordinary deep salmon-coloured 2009 Pet Nat de Raisins from Domaine de la Tournelle in the Jura made from Ploussard (aka Poulsard). I don’t always find ‘pet nat’ convicing but this was just delicious

* A 2009 Anjou Sec from Agnes and René Mosse - a typically rich natural Chenin

* La Guillaume 2009 from Jean Maupertuis - a deliciously fresh gamay from the Auvergne which we drank with the charcuterie

* Domaine Matassa Cuvée Alexandria 2008, a rich, earthy vin de pays des Cotes Catalanes from the Roussillon (brilliant with the zander boudin and shellfish sauce

* And a funky bottle of Jean-François Nicq’s 2007 Les Glaneurs, from Domaine des Foulards Rouge (decanted) which was brilliant with the mongetes


What was great was the way we shifted from red to white without the least sense of that being inappropriate.

The food and the wines will change all the time depending on availability and Ed’s whim. You should be able to keep track of both via their website which should be up shortly.

The one downside is that Brawn is not well served by public transport. It’s about a 10 minute walk from Hoxton tube and railway station, about 15 minutes from Bethnal Green tube or take a 55 bus from Old Street. It’s also had such rave reviews you may find it hard to get a booking. But you should definitely make the effort to go.

I just wished I lived round the corner.

The address is 49 Columbia Road, London, E2 7RG. (020) 7729 5692 Readmore »»