Black Pig Tasting Menu

[slacker]

Dinner 01-07-02 : Black Pig restaurant, Rock, UK

Food and wine evening as follows: (notes in italic)

Fino Inocente, Valdespino Brilliant, and suitably cold. Suprised many non-fino drinkers

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Marinated Pigeon - Potato Cake - Watercress - Cherries - Bitter Chocolate

Umore Nero Pinot Noir 2001, Fugazza

stunning with the balsamic marinade of the pigeon. Really fresh, with good, dark Italian bite.

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South Coast Crab Risotto - Roast Scallop - Garlic Foam

St. Aubin Premier Cru 1997, Jean-Claude Bachelet

Impressive freshness for its age - complexity comes through well on finish - creamy, rich, cheesy (!)

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Salad of Summer Vegetables - Hen's Egg - Truffle Dressing

Jacquesson Brut Rosé NV

One of the star matches. As a cleanser before the main, and as a partner to the salad. Lovely fragrance. Very Brut.

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Braised Cornish Leg of Lamb - Redcurrants - Tomato and Thyme Juices

Château Kirwan 1995

Worrying at first (too young) then when tried with the lamb it blossomed. It emerged later that the bottle at our end of the room was not corked as such, but under-developed. Wide praise from the others. We should keep wines like this for 15 years still, but it was still great.

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Cornish Blue - Grilled Figs - Port and Orange Reduction

Recioto di Soave 1998, Prà

Chosen at my insistence. Beautiful, candied peel, pears, marmalade, sweet, not too sweet, lovely. Would have matched even better if the cheese had had a little more bite. The dish itself worked superbly

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Valrhona Bitter Chocolate Mousse - Raspberry Sorbet

Bruno Paillard N.P.U. 1990

Everybody must try this combination. Non-conformist, but superb. As with other dishes, the wine opened up superbly with the sorbet and the chocolate, but was almost disappointing before tasting the food. Very, very good match. If I were drinking Champagne at the end of the meal on its own, I'd like a wine with more disgorged maturity. This was disgorged in 2000. Thanks Bruno!

P.S. Will someone suggest a suitable avatar. the last suggestion of a pot of jam has not gone down well.

P.P.S. Sorry the website SSL is broke. Viewing only.

[Basildog]

No one has anything to say about slackers selection of wines? tut tut

[pixelchef]

I'm afraid I'm not qualified, but I would like to mention that I think the food served along with the wines sounds absolutely delicious.