jamie goode's wine blog: New Zealand lunch at Providores

Monday, May 11, 2009

New Zealand lunch at Providores

Awesomely good lunch today. We were four: Steve Smith and Michael Henley of Craggy Range, and Joe Wadsack and myself. We ate at Providores, the wonderful creation of master of Kiwi fusion cuisine, Peter Gordon.

The food was spot on, and the wines, from the superb wine list at Providores (see http://www.theprovidores.co.uk/) were absolutely brilliant. Conversation was wide ranging and pretty much non-stop. A very enjoyable way to kill a few hours. Pictured above is the view up towards Portland Place from Regent Street, with All Souls Langham Place (beautiful Nash creation) being assailed by the cranes at work on BBC's Broadcasting House [this is a view I had on my way to work every day for 15 years, which was revisited today]. Then below this are Steve Smith and Joe, and below are Michael Henley and I.

Vinoptima Gewurztraminer 2006 Gisborne, New Zealand
All Nick Nobilo makes is Gewurz: it's a good job he does it so well. This is wonderfully aromatic and has a lovely texture, with gentle peach, pear and lychee fruit. Great balance and concentration with lovely purity and focus. Just off-dry, this is really special. 92/200

Bell Hill Chardonnay 2004 North Canterbury, New Zealand
A profound Chardonnay from a remarkable vineyard in the Canterbury Hills. Deep yellow coloured, this is wonderfully aromatic with nutty, buttery, toasty depth and some crisp freshness. The palate is powerful and nutty with intense, bold, peach, pear and citrus fruit, as well as fantastic acidity and freshness. There's a complex, subtly cabbage-like edge that reminds me of great white Burgundy. 94/100

Craggy Range Sophia 2004 Gimblett Gravels, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
The first bottle of this we had was unclean and slightly muted. The second was singing. Amazing complexity here with sweet blackberry and plum fruit offset by tar and spice notes. The palate is smooth and ripe, but has a lovely gravelly edge. Good focus and precision - a special wine that's in the same vein as top Bordeaux. 94/100

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8 Comments:

At 1:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

JAMIE - the Bell Hill is £38 per bottle at Wheeler Cellars - is it worth that? Seems high given what one can get in Burgundy for £38.

 
At 8:45 PM, Blogger Wine Time said...

Jamie,
Thanks for the heads up on Providores. I shall have to visit. The wine list seems 90% New Zealand which initially made me want to look for anything that wasn't from NZ. However, you were clearly impressed with their selection.

 
At 8:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

'A very enjoyable way to kill a few hours.'
Killing a few hours suggests you want to get it over with quick!
Savour it Jamie, before you know it, it will be gone.

 
At 8:57 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

ludicrously overpriced nonsense in both the food and wine!
I gave up on the website after a minute or so of holiday snaps of happy chefs.
Who ever saw a happy chef?

 
At 11:06 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I guess the previous anonymous geek doesn't get out much.....what a loser.....

 
At 11:34 PM, Blogger Jamie said...

Agree - £38 is a lot of money for this. It's an excellent wine, but there are quite a few excellent wines available at this price. You are paying for the small production, I guess.

The 'kill a few hours' comment was tongue in cheek!

 
At 5:39 AM, Anonymous Cigar said...

Its sounds good, you have enjoyed your lunch with wine. But I think if you had cigar also after lunch. Definitely, you enjoyed a lot. It’s my personal experience. I always purchase my cigars from cigarsdirect.com and recommend to everyone that website. You can also go here: http://www.Cigarsdirect.com and get some best and fresh cigars of your choice.

 
At 9:38 AM, Anonymous Oliver Styles said...

Providores is probably the best place for brunch in London (Toast in Clapham Common is pretty ace too). It's also the only place where I've ordered a wine before 11am - the wine list looked so appetising during breakfast that I couldn't help myself

 

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