Session 2 - Whites with Sparkling

We started off this beautiful day with a wander around Pimlico's farmers' market and with a meal at Daylesford Organic, assisted with a nice bottle of Pinot Noir. Dining's easy with a couple of sommeliers! 

The wines selected are:

• Penny's Hill chardonnay (oaked), Australia, 2006
• Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling, Selbach, Germany, 2006
• St Clair Sauvignon, New Zealand, 2007
• Heller Estate Chenin Blanc, California, 2006

This tasting saw a breakthrough, as we correctly predicted that the waters high in bicarbonates would  match the wine well. We were proved correct and the level of carbonation was largely irrelevant to the quality of the taste - it was all about the combination of minerals.

Session 1 - Whites with Still

The philosophy in selecting wines for the tasting is to opt for varieties/producers/vintages that are befitting of London's top fine dining restaurants and belong on any top sommelier's list. This is where the expertise of Roberto and Nicolas will ensure that 'Minerals & Terroir' has relevance to the wine afficionado.

• Petit Bourgeois, Henri Bourgeois, Loire Valley, 2007 (Sauvignon Blanc) 
• Riesling Tradition, Albert Mann, Alsace, 2007 (Riesling)
• Chablis, Colette-Gros, Burgundy, 2006 (Chardonnay)
• Vouvray Sec, Champlou, Loire Valley, 2006 (Chenin Blanc)

Scoring is out of 20.

Au, Coq

Well, this particular experience couldn't have been better timed.

I paid a visit to Brasserie St. Jacques with Nicolas. It is a wonderful restaurant with attentive staff, excellent wine and food.

After an indulgent starter dish of bone marrow salad, I ordered main of steak tartare, whilst Nicolas order a Coq au Vin. My main was simply incredible - the best I have ever had (even better than my own!).

Along with the meal, we shared a bottle of Carignan (South France) along with a bottle of Badoit.

The Carignan was a lovely wine, which opened up after time to breathe and had a wonderful persistence to it. As a non-wine person, it was a real treat and an insight into how wonderful a good bottle of wine can be.

Now, had I not been anticipating this Saturday's inaugural 'Minerals & Terroir' tasting, this may have never occurred to me - but after I had drunk the Carignan, I'd sip the water. The high level of sodium in the Badoit completely killed off the taste of the wine in my mouth. Since I had been enjoying the combination of carignan and bone marrow particularly, this was a tad annoying - and made me appreciate just how much relevance 'Minerals & Terroir' would have to fine cuisine.

Snap, Crackle and Pop!

Saturday was spent conducting tastings on sparkling water.

Sparkling water preference varies from country to country, with Germans drinking it almost exclusively and the UK consuming, on average, a 2:1 ratio of still to sparkling, certainly in the on-trade.

It is not perverse, however, to incorporate sparkling waters into our tasting schedule, even if it does mean that we are effectively doubling the number of wines and therefore the length of time required to commit to 'Minerals & Terroir'.

The fact is that people drink sparkling waters alongside wine also, so is it always the case that a low level of carbonation is preferable, or are there other factors involved?

I have decided to opt for ten different sparkling waters, with a variety of factors as for still waters i.e. TDS, origin, alkalinity. We have the added dimension of carbonation - something that is rightly categorised by Michael Mascha in his book 'Fine Waters' as:

• Effervescent e.g. Badoit
• Light e.g. Hildon, Malmberg
• Classic e.g. San Pellegrino
• Bold e.g. Perrier

The carbonation certainly varies, from 1 to 6 (of 10), but the subtleties of the water remain recognisable, as with the still waters. The carbonation does add another element of texture and mouthfeel - and the naturally sparkling waters promise to be very interesting, as they are generally high in minerals and offer a 'taste'.

 

I think that the combination of sparkling waters with wines promises to be very interesting, both with delicate whites and bold reds.

Once again, you can see from the myriad of lines swirling across the page, there is a great variety in the organoleptic experience that different sparkling waters offer. 

Next time - our first wine & water tasting!

Still Water Tasting - Open University Style

Having seen the Open University programmes as a youngster eagerly anicipating the start of early morning children's programmes, I never anticipated being in a situation where I'd be dealing in, ironically, dry subject matter and number-based diagrams. Thankfully, I think that I have better dress sense than the learned, if uninspiring, science teachers!

Anyway, I think that for the purposes of understanding more about waters with wines, we should taste a wide variety of waters. These are not all waters that Aqua Amore distribute, as some are not even available in this country, save for the samples we have acquired for tasting purposes. The criteria I am using to differentiate these waters is a selection of:

- Origin (rain, artesian, glacial, spring)

- TDS (overall mineral content)

- pH (acidity/alkalinity)

I have also selected London tap water in the interest of comparison purposes, since some people will undoubtably use this as their starting point as a drinking water of preference.

To evaluate the waters, we are using an excellent taste evaluation inspired by the International Association of Sommeliers. This takes into account the taste sensations mentioned in my previous blog.

This has saved us an unbelievable amount of background research and provides the template for our understanding moving forward. Hopefully as we begin to understand more about which waters suit different grape varieties, we'll be able to retrospectively understand how features such as freshness, acidity, balance and structure affect the taste of the wine.

According to the Open University style diagram, without having to study the results, there is quite a noticeable difference in the organoleptic properties of the eleven waters. 

Just as a starting base for dispelling the populist misconception that 'water is water', the results are significant and indicative of the variety of results that we are likely to have in 'Minerals & Terroir'.

Roberto' s analytical nature prompts him to predict that the key elements here will be freshness, acidity and sapidity. Nicolas' head is spinning with excitement at the promise of discovering more about this subject, after such a great variety in results. And I need to pay a visit to the gents.

Acidity, by the way, is the freshness (sensation of cooling), experienced when the water is on the palate and when it has first been swallowed.