There seems to be a lot of wine tasting evenings in Manchester at the moment, and if itâs a reaction to the recession to hook people into coming out to restaurants then I like it. As a food reviewer for a couple of years now, Iâve decided I must teach myself about different wines and be able to differentiate on more than just price and a pretty label.
Linen at Manchester 235 put on a wine tasting evening, and for £30 there were eight wines paired with eight courses of food, which really is a bargain for an entire eveningâs entertainment.
There wasnât a lot of lecturing about the wine but the experts from Selfridges, Zon Moua and Sam Smythson, came round each table to talk about the tastes and aromas, which was a really nice touch. Itâs one thing to know which wines are a good buy, but itâs even better to learn how to pair them with food.
The evening started with a La Gitana Manzanilla dry sherry, which was a first for me, and kicked the evening off with a Mediterranean start as it was served with a gazpacho soup. The dryness of the sherry matched the sharpness of the zingy tomato flavours and mellowed the flavours out beautifully. Next up was a Cloudy Bay Savignon Blanc 2008, which even I know is a really good wine, and Zon explained how the gooseberry flavours were brought out with a crayfish ceasar salad, snuggly sat inside a baby lettuce leaf.
Next we learned that spicy food can tone down a sweet wine, as demonstrated with a Sip Riesling Pfalz JL Wolf from Germany (2006) which was paired with a green-lip mussel and Thai somtam salad, as well as an American Zinfandel rose from Delicato Family Vineyards (2007) which had a beautiful strawberries and cream taste, brought out by the spiciness of the North Indian Thali.
Starting on the reds, there was a French Chateau Tour Pibran Pauillac (2002) whose blackberry notes were paired with a Beef Wellington. The wine was rich and sharp, but I found the tarragon in the dish too overpowering, and sadly the steak wasnât really a top notch piece on meat; it tasted like a stewing steak, instead of fillet steak.
Next a Chianti Rufina Fattoria di Basciano, from Italy (2006) was paired with a marvellous juicy fennel sausage sat on a fava bean purée which gave the wine a lovely sharp taste.
I was introduced to dessert wines by a sommelier at the Lowry Hotel a good few years back and have always enjoyed how it can totally change the flavour of your dessert. Here an amazing Graham Beck Muscadel (2002) was served with a gooey chocolate orange fondant and was so good Iâll be looking for a similar in Tesco. I was really pleased to have identified the melon notes and sank mine feeling smug ( and a little drunk too by now).
Finally we were treated to a âBus stop cocktailâ, which was a Lambrini with three pink skittles in the bottom, which gave us a little reminder that wine tasting need not be over-serious. Iâve not drank Lambrini since I was about 16 but didnât know it was a perry, which means itâs made of pears, not grapes. It was pleasant, although sweet, and was served with a gooseberry and passion fruit strudel that just didnât go down well after the amazing chocolate fondant.
Despite a superb evening, a couple of things didnât impress on the way in. Firstly, the receptionist was incredibly snooty when I asked which was the way to the wine tasting event, and secondly I almost went bankrupt when I was asked for £4.40 for two glasses of soda water while we were waiting.
However, this was a really superb evening and the two wine experts were fantastic, as is the restaurant manager, Ben Robertson. Happily we were still standing at the end of the evening and could even remember all the wines - bonus.
Linen, The Great Northern, Watson St, Manchester M3 4LP
T: 0161 828 0300
W: www.manchester235.com