Dinner at Francis and Bronwens with Huet, Laval, Niepoort and Donald

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Dinner at Francis and Bronwens with Huet, Laval, Niepoort and Donald

I normally try to keep this blog of the moment, but I’ve been busy of late, and I have lots to include. So I need to mention, after the fact, Thursday night’s dinner at Francis and Bronwen Percival’s place.

It was another gathering of the convenors of the London Gastronomy Seminars. I love these meetings, because as well as some planning for future meetings, we get to eat, drink and chat well, courtesy of Francis and Bronwen’s gastronomic genius.

One of the highlights was a terrine from Donald (above), a pig reared by Jeremy Seysses of Domaine Dujac in Burgundy. This makes it at the very least a premier cru terrine. It was rich and beautifully textured.

I really enjoyed the wines.

Domaine Huet Vouvray Petillant Brut 2002 Loire
Apparently this has no liqueur de tirage, and the dosage is a moelleux wine. Deep coloured yellow/gold. Really intense, powerful wine with herb, cheese and straw notes as well as sweet melon and apricot notes, finishing with lovely citrus acidity. Complex and savoury. A really complete sparkling wine. 94/100

Georges Laval Cumieres Rouge 1er Cru 2008 Coteaux Champenois
11.5% alcohol. Fresh and assertive with some mineral and spice notes as well as gravel and bright cherry fruit. Fresh and intense. This is just ripe, with sweet and savoury cherry fruit and mineral notes. 92/100

Niepoort Colheita Port 1991
Brilliant stuff. Intense, rich, spicy and dense with profound spicy, casky notes, as well as citrus and apricot fruit. Fine and expressive with lovely warmth and richness. A serious effort. 94/100

2 Comments on Dinner at Francis and Bronwens with Huet, Laval, Niepoort and DonaldTagged , , , ,
wine journalist and flavour obsessive

2 thoughts on “Dinner at Francis and Bronwens with Huet, Laval, Niepoort and Donald

  1. “Apparently this has no liqueur de tirage, and the dosage is a moelleux wine.”

    Spot on. Pinguet generaly uses an older vintage of a première trie moelleux for the dosage, aiming for ~10 g/l. I don’t know which wine was used for the 2002, but – as an example – the 2005 was dosed using the 2002 Le Mont Moelleux Première Trie.

    There is no liqueur de tirage as you state; the method used is a crossover between ancestrale (where the pétillance relies purely on bottling before the primary fermentation is over, with nothing added) and traditionelle (addition of sugar and yeast for a secondary fermentation, as in Champagne). Pinguet bottles before the primary fermentation is finished, and although he adds no sugar he does add a dose of yeast to ensure the fermentation continues.

  2. All sounds great…. However I must admit I logged on this morning to see what you might have been recommending for a celebratory occasion, maybe on the Saturday night.
    A 35 year old vintage perhaps !

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