MALLORCA LIFESTYLE
Martin Ward
Wine Educators International
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martin.ward@
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Lets go French
I thought I would take a
break this issue from solely
the wines of Mallorca &
The Balearics to report on a
tutored Wine & Food Pairing
‘A Taste of France’ hosted last
night in Palma. The event was
open to all and was arranged
by No.12 Fine Wines &
Provisions in conjunction with
Katy Rosales at the
Galley Club.
The tasting opened with a
classic Rosé de Provence,
Domaine Ott, Chateau
Romassan Bandol 2013, which
of course was pale salmon in
colour and delicate. Being
so light in style, this was
presented first, not the norm
but the two whites were going
to have a lot more weight and
body. The wine showed good
acidity and freshness. The
blend here is Grenache 50%
- Cinsault 30% + Syrah 15% +
Cabernet Sauvignon 5%.
Katy prepared to accompany
this Cod Carpaccio with Olive
Oil infusion & surprise salts -
the ‘surprise’ here being the
wonderful black Himalaya salt.
The wine was a good match,
not overpowering the fish but
cutting through the olive oil
and balancing the salt.
Next the whites; beginning
with another classic - on
this night of great wines - a
Pouilly-Fumé from Masson-
Blondelet, Les Pierres de
Pierres 2012. Being 100%
Sauvignon Blanc, by the
appellation’s law, there
was good, steely acidity
accompanying a citrusy fruit
taste. The dish? A Prawn in
Filo pastry with yoghurt spiced
salsa and the sharpness of the
Sauvignon cut through both
the meaty prawn and the
creamy yoghurt.Our second white - a Chablis
Premier Cru Les Vaillons from
William Fèvre. Chablis has
selected vineyards that are
demarcated as either Premier
Cru or Grand Cru where the
combination of the soils,
location & micro-climate
will produce the very best
Chardonnay vines & grapes
for the wines.Katy’s Pork Fillet with
reduction of Pedro Ximenez
had both lightness in the
moist meat and power in the
jus - PX being the sweetest
style of Sherry produced and
is wonderful poured over
vanilla ice-cream!Into the reds where I had the
first, a Remoissenet Père & Fils
Pinot Noir 2010 served chilled- because like the majority of
Pinot Noir wines, that show
very little or no tannins, this
will lift the acidity and make
it an ideal match with spicy
foods or fish dishes...... The
very same concept applies to
the young, light Gamay wines
of Beaujolais; also a part
of Burgundy.
So this wine worked very
well with Spiced Lamb Tagine
& couscous.Our second red was the ultra-
famous Châteauneuf-du-Pape
from the southern Rhône
Valley, close to Avignon and
the Papal palais; being the
reason many wines from here
have Les Reflets embossed on
the bottle. This example, a
relatively young 2011, cameripening, tannins, this was
perhaps the best pairing of
the night as those tannins
harmonised well with the red
meat proteins.So to close the evening a
plate of cheeses, the selection
including a Menorcan, a
Manchego and a Gorgonzola- allowing several parings
in one plate! The wine was
a Sainte-Croix-du-Mont ,
Château de Mont 2011.
This is an appellation of
Bordeaux, in the same style
as Sauternes & Barsac; being
predominantly Semillon with
the addition of Sauvignon
Blanc. Clean, refreshing sweet
wines like this are the perfect
match for many cheeses, and
also for foie!
If you would like to have just
such an evening with us,
please contact us.from the well-known and
respected Famille Perrin, the
owners of the great Château
Beaucastel in this region. The
appellation here allows for
any or all of 13 different
grape varieties to be used
from the mighty Syrah to
the little known (white)
Bourboulenc!The dish for this wine was
Solomillo de Ternera in a red
wine jus - the red wine in
question being from here in
Mallorca! Because here we
have considerable, young yetFor the latest up to date Marine News