Raymond Blanc Seasons Winter 2008/9

RAYMOND BLANC’s SEASONS WINE CHOICES
Sangiovese, 8% Petit Verdot. I have to hand
it to Raymond, as soon as he tasted the wine
he immediately spotted something he loved
and declared, “I love Sangiovese”. That was
an amazing thing to spot. He added “intelligent
use of oak here, Olly” and he’s bang on, it’s
elegant. This is a muscular wine, a big wine
with black fruit and a shake of spice, too much
oak could have swamped and dominated but
talented winemaker Francisco Baettig, has
pulled off a restrained oak regime to bring the
best out of his fruit. A gem.
We also picked out Ossa 2005 (£59.99,
www.smartliquor.com) another Chilean blend
of Cabernet Carmenere, Merlot and Syrah
from Chile’s warm Colchgua Valley... well, I say
warm, I’ve just been ﬁlming a new TV series
in Chile and when we ﬁlmed a night shoot in
Colchagua Valley it was so cold I thought my
nipples would freeze hard as limpets. Thank-
fully, they unthawed at dawn as the roasting
hot day began – that’s the secret of Colchagua
Valley, hot days and cool nights bring out a
concentration in the fruit without over-ripening
the grapes into prune juice.
If you fancy something more classic, we also
enjoyed Marks and Spencer’s Ratti Nebbiolo
2007 (£10.99) with its savoury notes and tight
structure – one to age perhaps. And to ﬁnish
off Christmas lunch, I’m a huge fan of sparkling
Moscato with Christmas pudding – it’s inexpen-
sive, low in alcohol and guaranteed to revive
even the most jaded palate! You could even
try a pink one just for fun, Marks & Spencer’s
Moscato Freisa (£5.49) is sweet and frothy
like sugared strawberries and with just 6.5%
alcohol it will keep you fully alert for the Queen’s
speech. No dozing! And if you’re a fan of
Wine… and cheese
Sauternes, look out for Marks & Spencer’s For the perfect cheese to go
Hermits Hill Botrytis Semillon (£6.99) with a with your delicious wines try Les
good balance of sweetness to acidity and an Fromageries Occitanes. A major
absolute bargain to boot! player in cheese manufacturing in
France, they are the custodians of
Two classic French dishes genuine cheese tradition for cheese
(see page 76) from the Auvergne, the Causses
Duck Conﬁt works well with Pinot Gris – Wither and the Pyrénées.
Hills Pinot Gris 2007 from New Zealand (£9.99, All their productions are carried
Waitrose) has a wonderful richness and a out with the upmost respect to
generous texture to link up with the weight the great cheese-making tradi-
of the conﬁt. And Beef Bourguignon loves to tions, and they aim to preserve
nuzzle up with a red wine with decent ﬂavour, product authenticity and quality to
but not too much tannin – think of the glossy the strictest of standards. So for the
texture of the Bourguignon, Baron de Ley 7 best Roquefort, Goat’s cheese and
Viñas (£15.48, Tesco) could put in an appear- Emmental to complement your wine
ance, but I think Raymond and I would both be list at any time of the year visit:
sipping a big glass of The Blend from Errazuriz www.les-fromageries-occitanes.fr.
(£14.48, www.smartliquor.com). Cheers!
www.raymondblanc.com RAYMOND BLANC’s SEASONS 55
RBS7_wine&liquers.rky.vp.indd 55 1/12/08 10:14:01 am
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