Seasonal Meat

After last weekends Italian fare I tried to follow the 6 nations again this weekend with something French. I'm not sure how French the food was but the wine certainly qualified. What the food lacked in Frenchness it made up for in seasonality. I knew I wanted to cook something good so I went into Fallon & Byrne on Saturday morning looking for inspiration. I emerged half an hour later with bags full of goodies, containing fresh loin of venison, purple potatoes, chanterelle mushrooms and tenderstem broccoli.

I started off the evening with a bottle of Tarlant Brut Tradition which was the nicest basic Tarlant cuvee that I have had yet. Good body, bubbles and not too much acidity. 60% Pinot I think which probably added alot of the body. This wasn't the most complex champagne in the world but it made a lovely aperitif. Also had a Chavy 'Rue Rousseau' Puligny Montrachet 2005 which was pretty good and opened up nicely over time. It was the most closed 2005 Puligny that I have had yet which suggests that these wines might be entering a closed phase. It was still delicious but not quite at the same standard as other bottles.

The vinious highlight of the evening was Denis Mortet 'Mes Cinq Terroirs' 2005, which is a fascinating wine. Brilliant nose of redcurrants, blackberries and delicious sweet spices (cinnamon, clove, nutmeg), deep, long and very complex. Not all the flavours followed through on the palate which was still delicious and long with redcurrants, oak and a bit of earth. Impressive structure too with big tannins. I think this is definitely one for the long haul (forgotten about for at least 5+ years) at which time hopefully the tannins will soften and the spice will come through on the palate. Great wine though.

The venison was great. Beautiful pink gamey meat that was a little bit overpowered by the dark chocolate sauce I made with it. Over all the meal was great though. Roasted loin of venison on a bed of red cabbage (apple, cabbage, redcurrents) with boiled purple potatoes and tenderstem broccoli. The simplicity of the spuds and broccoli helped cut through the rich sauce, made from onions, mushrooms, red wine reduction, 2 tiny squares of 75% pralus chocolate, meat juices and butter.

We followed that up with a bottle of rum and a fair few gins... A good, but drunken evening.