White Monkey

This is a tea that the Pretty Lady bought for me a little while back. It's green tea from Fujian province in China, not white tea, the name notwithstanding. White tea is a stage more oxidised than green tea, and White Monkey has just been dried, not oxidised. It comes in fluffy long tea leaves, a little like the crispy "seaweed" served at Chinese restaurants in the West, or like bamboo shavings.

White Monkey
Green tea
China (Fujian province)
Pale yellow, slightly cloudy

Preparation: 2 big pinches of the fluffy tea. I usually pinch up less than I think. Second steeping is best.
Nose: Vegetal, slightly salty, a little musty, very faint.
Tasting: Sweet salty, hints of broccoli, green vegetables. Bitter at the dregs.
When to drink: Like Silver Needle, best for rehydrating after exercise.

Not much action in the cup unfortunately, unlike the rolled teas that expand. I usually use a largish pinch, because as usual, I don't like using a teapot. The tea comes from mountainsides in Fujian province, and is so named because it is picked as 2 leaves and a bud, which supposedly resembles a monkey's paw.

Glen Grant 30 yo 1976/2007 (They call me mellow fellow...)

The Pretty Lady bought this whisky for my birthday. It's not quite the same age as I am (in fact it's slightly older) but it did spend a fairly long time in the barrel. It was the second whisky I've tasted from the Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask series (or at least, the first bottle I've opened - I've got a bottle of 25 yo Port Ellen which I tasted at Whisky Live), and I loved it. Perfect drinking strength at 50%, no water needed, not that I like to add water anyway. They have some good casks at Douglas Laing.

Anyway, this whisky is almost a brandy, it's spent so long in the barrel. I think it's what they had in mind when they coined the term "sherry monster". It's oaky, sherry sweet, fruity and slightly floral, and has the slightly sharp smell that I associate with a really good armagnac. In fact, the first time I tasted it I actually checked the bottle to make sure that I had gotten the right one.

Glen Grant 30 yo 1976/2007 (Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask)
Single malt - Speyside
Mahogany
50% ABV

Nose: Sweet sherry, walnuts, oak, raisins and malt. Hints of blackberry and cherry.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, syrupy, a little astringent. Great drinking strength!
Tasting: Sweet. Raisins, cherries, oak and beer. Tastes almost exactly like a cognac. Hints of 'rubber band', an astringent sharp taste that all brandies have.
Finish: Long. White wine, dry and cooling. Fades to malty beer - the cognac is gone.

I'll match it with the king of sweets - jelly beans. Why? Well, several reasons - we have a big bag lying around on the table, disturbing such a delicious whisky is best done in concentrated hits of flavour, and lastly, why not jelly beans?

1. Root beer

A biggish sip of whisky overpowers the jelly bean completely. Maybe a little less - ah, the flavours are combining, but in a strange way. Oak, no sweetness at all. It's like biting an oak beam. Other woody flavours become apparent - cedar, a bit of sandalwood, maybe a little pine. And the finish has hints of liquorice. Interesting but not great.

2. Watermelon

Small sips are the order of the day. Becomes buttery, creamy even. The watermelon fruit fades to caramel, with some popcorn on the side. Green beans, something vegetal. And through it all, lots of oak. Interesting, but not great.

3. Pineapple

Hmm... the whisky pares back the artificial pineapple flavour, creating something that tastes more natural. A little smoke emerges. Coconut, a bit like pina colada with a dash of whisky. More oak. This is far more pleasant than the previous two.

4. Caramel popcorn

The oak is gone! More caramel, this time tinged with sherry from the whisky. Fades very quickly. Very buttery with the second sip of whisky. The corn flavour added into the mix creates something that tastes a little like bourbon.

5. Jalapeno pepper

The whisky is more obvious here. I can still taste the raisins, the brandy-like spike in the mouth. But it's all overlaid with a vegetal, slightly sour spicy hit. Quite peppery, like a sherried Talisker, but with far more heat. I like this combination.

6. Strawberry shortcake

The fruit has been transformed by the whisky into something more cherry-like. There's a little milk, butter and honey. More oak, lots of oak. Nothing much else - quite boring.

The jalapeno pepper jelly bean combo is the best. However, I think both whisky and bean might be better on their own, unless there's a craving for some Talisker-like kick.

Feudo di Maria 2005

I really like Nero d'Avola, a red Sicilian grape, native to the island, and to my knowledge grown nowhere else. The spiciness and the chocolatey flavours really hit the spot for me where red wine is concerned. The wines are that common either, making them quite a lot of fun when I encounter them on a wine list. Familiarity hasn't yet bred contempt.

I had this bottle (or actually a 1/3 bottle) at Hereford Road. It was pretty good value for money as well as I remember, and they decanted the wine for us, which is something fairly unusual. Well worth having.

Feudo di Maria 2005
Red wine
Italy (Sicily)
Syrah / Nero d'Avola

Nose: Fruity - pear and blue berry. Oak spiciness quite apparent.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, a little syrupy. Good drinking texture with red meat.
Tasting: Sweet, spicy - discernible cinnamon and nutmeg. Vanilla appears after aeration, with hints of milk chocolate.

Unfortunately there isn't much on the internet about this winemaker, the di Maria family. Apparently they have teamed up with the Biscardo family, another Sicilian winemaker, to innovate and experiment on young vineyards, new grapes and the like. Also available from the same winemaker is Feudo di Maria Cataratto Lucido 2005, a dry white wine made from the Sicilian Cataratto grape.

Hereford Road

The Pretty Lady and I had our first anniversary recently. Among the things we decided to do to celebrate was the obligatory slap-up meal. I chose Hereford Road, a new restaurant near Notting Hill (but was really in Bayswater). Hereford Road was opened in October 2007, by Tom Pemberton, formerly head chef of St John Bread and Wine. It serves much the same kind of food - simple recipes, good seasonal produce, letting the food speak for itself.

Hereford Road
3 Hereford Road
London W2 4AB
020 7727 1144

The interior is a cross between minimalist chic and 1960s diner. There's a line of small tables each seating two opposite the kitchen. Leather seats, round tables, tiled floors marry well with a row of booths along the main dining room at the back. The Pretty Lady and I sat there, under a large round window in the roof, which allowed us to look up at the ceiling of someone's living room. Great natural light.

It was a plain 3 course meal, and the Pretty Lady had decided not to drink too much, so we had a 1/3 bottle of a Syrah / Nero d'Avola blend (blogged about separately as usual). I started with black pudding and poached duck egg. It came with stalks of salad leaf with salt and olive oil, and was very satisfying. There's something about the gamey flavour of fried black pudding, oozing with fat, that goes well with egg yolk. I then moved on to roast forerib of beef, green beans, roast garlic, which came pink and juicy, but was very tasty. It's hard to roast beef to the point where the beef fat is almost rendered and crispy yet retain the pinkness. Very well done, if you'll pardon the pun.

The Pretty Lady enjoyed her fish soup, which came with big wings of skate. I think I tasted saffron and some tomato in the stock, but it was mainly a riff on bouillabaisse that worked quite well. For her mains she had roast leg of duck, grilled chicory and buttered lentils. I think the chicory tasted more of butter, with the lentils a slightly bland counterpoint. The duck was roasted slightly too well done, and therefore dry for me, but right for the Pretty Lady. She did mention that she preferred the duck at Angelus though.

Dessert was the high point. I had buttermilk pudding (a panna cotta really, but sans vanilla and sightly tangy from the buttermilk) with stewed prunes. Well, 2 stewed prunes, but they were enough. The slightly caramelised prune juice was a nice touch, as were the shortbread biscuits. The Pretty Lady had brown bread ice cream, which was vanilla ice cream with little crumbs of brown bread to provide a texture contrast and slivers of caramel to provide a flavour contrast. That was by far the best dish of the night.

I'll definitely be back. Hereford Road is a neighbourhood and family restaurant - welcoming and personal, familiar and comforting. It's a shame it's so far from my own neighbourhood though.

Scores:

6 May 2008: TFQ = 26, CS = 25, S = 15, AD = 6, VfM = 7. Total = 79 points.

What does this mean?

Aloxe-Corton Domaine Chevalier 2002

I had this wine at Angelus, on the recommendation of the sommelier. It was pretty good as a match to the food - it's quite hard to find a wine to match a diverse selection of main courses for the whole table. Nevertheless I think this worked, with my veal as well as with other people's fish.

The wine (adjacent image is from majestic.co.uk, but is of the 2005 instead of the 2002 that I had) is from the appellation of Aloxe-Corton, a Burgundy. It's a small commune along the northern end of the Côte de Beaune, containing the village of Aloxe, where the vineyards are located. There are a number of winemakers in the village, among which is Domaine Chevalier.

Aloxe-Corton, Domaine Chevalier 2002
Red wine
France (Burgundy)
Pinot Noir

Nose: Oaky, but not intense. Notes of rose and berry.
Mouthfeel: Velvety and smooth. Light for a red.
Tasting: Tangy, quite oaky, lemon dryness. Still floral - rose and orange blossom, slight tobacco. Hints of dark chocolate.

Domaine Chevalier (Pere et Fils, not the first one that comes up on Google - that's a Bordeaux vineyard) was founded by Emile Dubois in 1850. The vineyard was eventually inherited by the Chevalier family, descended from Emile Dubois through his daughter. The current winemaker is Claude Chevalier.

They make both red and white wines. The reds include Aloxe Corton and Aloxe Corton Premier Cru (both 100% Pinots), Bourgogne Passetoutgrain (50% Gamay and 50% Pinot) and 2 marques of Ladoix Premier Cru. The whites include Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru and Bourgogne Blanc (both chardonnays) and Bourgogne Aligote (Aligote grapes).

Angelus

I recently had dinner with EC, her boyfriend JB, CL and YY, and one of EC's friends at the recently opened Angelus. The owner, Thierry Tomasin, used to be chief sommelier at Le Gavroche, and then manager at Aubergine. The chef is Olivier Duret in his first gig as head chef, and in his first gig in London.

The restaurant is located in Lancaster Gate, in the Bayswater area that's starting to get gentrification spillover from Notting Hill. It only took 9 years. I believe the restaurant used to be a pub, but it has been entirely redecorated to an Art Deco style. When the Pretty Lady and I arrived, we were waved through to the lounge, which smelt strongly of jasmine and lavender, which was nice but not great for drinking wine. I thought about having an aperitif, but the whiskies were run of the mill official bottlings, although the armagnacs looked interesting. However, the rest arrived and we were soon shown to our table downstairs.

Angelus
4 Bathurst Street
London W2 2SD
020 7402 0083

No amuse-bouches or petit fours unfortunately. I don't agree with this - after all while representing a cost to the restaurant they are an opportunity for the chef to show off his talents. Maybe it's teething pains.

Having said that, the sommelier was helpful. While our table of seven had a variety of main courses, from fish to duck to veal, he was able to select a red wine to suit. The wine was served in large balloon goblets, almost resembling brandy glasses, but with a more rounded bottom. My friends were less inclined to drink than I was, and so (sadly), we only ordered a single bottle.

I found the menu quite interesting, but because my system is to order what everyone else isn't ordering (so that I can try as many dishes as possible), I ordered fairly regular stuff. Unfortunately I only tried the Pretty Lady's food, as conversation was flowing all around, and it would have been rude to interrupt. I regretted missing the foie gras creme brulee, which seemed to be the most interesting and popular dish.

Anyway, I started off with foie gras and veal terrine. The menu on the website insists it comes with celeriac remoulade, but mine came with a salad of mixed leaves - slightly disappointing, although the terrine was impeccably excuted and the toast fingers were perfect. I then had parsley crusted veal fillet, stewed girolle mushrooms and parmesan cream. Again, the menu on the website asserts that there was bacon "lou capou", but I have to confess that I don't know what that is, much less if it involves mushrooms. The veal was slightly disappointing - tough, a little stringy, and flavourless, like a poor cut of pork. I then ended with the cheese plate. It had 4 cheeses, roquefort, comte vache and 2 others which I can't remember - the best dish of the night really. Superb quality, loads of flavour, and raisin bread! Overall, good, but not great.

The Pretty Lady fared better. She started out with scallops with watercress veloute and avruga caviar. The scallops were sliced thin (slightly more done than I prefer, but just the way the Pretty Lady likes it), layered in a plate, drizzled with the bright green veloute, and each slice topped with a sprinkling of caviar. Fresh, clean tasting seafood accented by the watercress and with a burst of flavour from the caviar.

She then moved on to duck l'orange, minced leg of duck and herb salad, which was done to her taste (less pink). I couldn't taste the orange, and the herb salad was run of the mill, but she liked it. Again, the verdict seemed to be good, but not great. For dessert she had 2 chocolate mousses, a brownie and caramel ice cream. The caramel ice cream was excellent - caramel in the ice cream itself, not a swirl or in chunks. That's quite unusual.

Good but not great sums Angelus up nicely for me. There were splashes of brilliance, like the wine, and the Pretty Lady's starter, but they were balanced out by disappointments, like my veal. I thought the meal was expensive at the price, especially when there were few of the little touches that make restaurant dining enjoyable.

Scores:

3 May 2008: TFQ = 21, CS = 24, S = 16, AD = 7, VfM = 5. Total = 73 points.

What does this mean?

Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir 2005

I had this wine at the Capital, and it's excellent. Very good balance, oddly refreshing despite the nourishing flavours, smooth with a little acidity coming through. Of course the price matches - it's from the famous Cloudy Bay winery, which almost single-handedly popularised New Zealand wine in the UK.

The wine was a match for the food at the Capital, but I think it should be drunk alone, perhaps on a summer day, with the aroma of flower blossom in the air. It's hard to find - certainly not to be had on any of the usual websites for love or money. In general Cloudy Bay, red or white, tends to sell out very quickly.

Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir 2005
Red wine
New Zealand (Marlborough)
Pinot Noir

Nose: Oak, plums, gamey flavours, pear, leather. Reminds me of an oak panelled room with leather sofas.
Mouthfeel: Velvety and smooth, a little watery.
Tasting: Sweet and spicy. Pepper, oak, leather, cedar wood, black cherries. Hints of mint and incense.

The Cloudy Bay winery was established in 1985 by Cape Mentelle Vineyards, an Australian company. The vineyards span 200 hectares in the Wairau Valley, near Rapaura on the northeast of New Zealand's South Island. The chief winemaker is Kevin Judd.

Cloudy Bay is more well known for its Sauvignon Blanc, which is supposed to be fruity and rounded, the Merlot of white wines. I've never tasted it, so I couldn't say for sure. In addition to the Sauvignon Blanc and the Pinot Noir described here, they also make Pelorus (a sparkling wine), a Riesling made from botrytic grapes, Te Koko (another Sauvignon Blanc expression) and a Chardonnay.

Here is an account of how the Pinot Noir 2005 was made.