The last time I visited Wine & Wallop it involved the opening. And a lot of red wine.
Probably a little too much.
This was why, when I booked onto the Louis Roederer Champagne tasting, I decided to play it safe and stopped by straight from work, to linger for a few hours over a pot of white peony tea.
And some food. Of course, being ever decisive (please note sarcasm) I couldn’t pick between the cheese platter, or the meat platter. So I, um, had both.
Figs and caper berries sat atop thin slices of bresaola and salami, along with hand cut slices of the most incredible serrano ham. Then, because I still couldn’t make a decision, tapenade, butter and smoked mackerel pate.
And because I’m greedy, there was then the cheese board.
The brie and the Cornish Yarg (did you know it was invented by a chap called Gray? Now read his name backwards… got it…?) were divine and I longered over the blue. those crisp chilled grapes and the ridiculously moreish almonds. 
A special mention must go to the rustic looking seeded biscuits with their fennel seeds – the other biscuits were good, but these were addictive.
Though I hasten to add that Keeley helped me finish the food off when she arrived, it’s still no wonder I spend so much time in the gym.
As we digested and chatted, and refused kind offers of chocolate brownies and a red Zinfandel (that has my name on it for the next visit), we watched the canapes make their way upstairs for the Champagne event. Let it be said I was beginning to regret eating so much. A little bit anyway.
Upstairs, Wine & Wallop not only has a comfortable seating area with sofas and a fabulous view of downstairs, but it has a great event space – used for yoga classes, quizzes and tastings. And just as soon as we could, we headed upstairs to take our seats for the Champagne fun.
Every drink had been matched with a canape, even the first fizz, that wasn’t a Champagne at all, but a Californian sparkling white, which was handed out ahead of a video presentation. This, I must admit, felt a little like cheating, a video instead of a talk by our presenter. But after watching the experts go from field to field, eating grapes the whole time, advising when they were ready, watching the entire family sample bottles of blended Champagne, learning the love and care that they put into each bottle and, learning how many bottles of Cristal are hand turned daily (51000), it felt well worth it.
As eloquent and knowledgeable as our host was, the information, the emotion and the care shown in the film would have been difficult to convey.
Enough waffle, into the first fizz.
As mentioned above, this was a Californian white, the Roederer Estate Quartet Anderson Valley Non-Vintage. Made of 60% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir, this spends 3 years ageing. Lightly sweet, this had a great acidity and coped well with the rocket on our canape with parma ham and pear – much better than I thought to be honest, as I was concerned the peppery heat might overpower the wine.
Onto our second wine and into the Champagnes proper with the Louis Roederer Brut Premier. This is the ‘basic’ entry level Champagne of the House of Roederer and the difference between this and it’s predecessor was apparent immediately.
The nose held much more yeast, and though it felt crisper on the palate, the acidity was softer than the Californian. A blend of Pinot Noir, the lesser known Meunier and Chardonnay go to make this Champagne, and it only gets better with a little ageing – 5-7 years would soften the acids on the palate.
I have to admit, this pairing didn’t work as well for me, nor for Keeley. Both of us found that the cheese enhanced the acidity in the wine a little too much, skewing it out of balance. Which is a shame, because the tartlets were lovely!
Our third drink and I was very excited. The Louis Roederer Brut Vintage 2008 is said to be the closest you can get to Cristal, but without the price tag – certainly for me, it’s the closest I’ll ever get to that £150+ a bottle price tag that comes from the care that goes into the premier Champagne. 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay go into the Brut Vintage and it’s aged for around 5 years.
This was (unsurprisingly) my favourite sample of the evening. The soft yeast, crisp green apple, goes to make a simple divine mouthful of wine, and when sampled with the asparagus and parma ham on olive ciabatta, the creaminess was enhanced, making it even more enjoyable.
Our penultimate sample was of the Louis Roederer Vintage Rose.
I have to admit, I’m not a big fan of rose, but those I do like tend to be of the fizzy variety. Those that I like are dry, fruity, with a little honey, just like this 2007 vintage. The canape, cream cheese and smoked salmon on ciabatta, was perfectly matched. Smoked salmon and a rose is fast becoming a favourite of mine.
And as I write that, I’m considering shopping on the way home.
As an alternative pairing, Dan of Wine & Wallop had visited my local fish mongers, Out of the Blue and purchased a host of fresh oysters. Though others at the table had to be persuaded (and enjoyed them despite, their original reservations), I was looking forward to it and let that soft, sweet, salty flesh slide down happily.
Our final wine for the evening was the Champagne Louis Roederer Carte Blanche. This is a demi-sec Champagne and contains more sugar than the others sampled during the evening. Additional liqueur d’expedition is added after fermentation, to add extra sweetness, meaning that this Champagne has around 39-42g of sugar per litre.
This means that rather than the bone dry, crisp, yeast flavours of the previous wines, this was less to my taste, though it’s pairing with the caramelised onion, honey and goats cheese worked well, I have to admit to handed the remainder of my glass to Keeley.
I can’t bear to waste good Champagne.
Overly full, notes scrawled all over the page, and a little bit wobbly on fizz, we reluctantly made our way downstairs to head home. Wine & Wallop has reminded me just why I was so excited about it’s opening in the first place. Great wine, informal atmosphere and a community space all in one venue.
Oh, and did I mention it’s just a stone’s throw/stumble/meander from the tram stop?
And Dan? Next time, I promise I’ll try the brownies and the Zinfandel.
With grateful thanks to Justin and Dan, who unexpectedly covered the cost of our food and wine during this visit.
The food and the wine really are great, and I’m no longer under the influence of the Champagne, so I can say that hand on heart.