The HWC annual wine tasting

Over 100 wines, ports and digestifs were available for tasting last Thursday evening at Bertie’s Banquetting Suite in Elland, the Halifax Wine Company’s annual tasting. No way have I the stamina or concentration to do justice to but a few.

Highlights of the evening began with the Perle D’Ayala Champage 1999. A blend of 80% chardonnay, a touch of oak, a fine mousseux and real depth of character. Alongside was offered Langlois Chateau Saumur Vielles Vignes 2003. A 100% chenin blanc fermented in oak, rich and deep with aromas of flint and fennel. Both interestingly now within the Bollinger stable.

The Keith Tulloch Semillon 2005 , a top Semillion from Australia’s Hunter Valley, was a refreshing lemon and lime, no oak and one capable of ageing well a food few years yet. Jancis Robinson writing in the Purple Pages on 19 October 2006 explains:

Semillon’s modern New World stronghold is Australia. In the mid 20th century the grape was most famous for a wide range of great, low-alcohol, long-living dry whites produced in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney. Variously called Riesling, Chablis and White Burgundy depending on smallish variations in style, the wines were made from Semillon grapes picked early (before the Hunter’s frequent summer rains) and developed the most distinctive burnt toast characters in bottle. In today’s fast-forward age, this particular style of Semillon designed to age is rare, although the Hunter Valley specialises in this style of wine made from grapes picked early enough to yield a wine with only about 11 per cent alcohol. These wines are quite austere in youth but can age magnificently for 10 years or more.

One to put away as a future conversation piece.

La Sauvageonne Pica Broca 2004 from the Coteaux du Languedoc has to be a hit in this neck of the woods. Bought by a Yorkshireman some 10 years ago and made from vines reputed to be planted in a rocky escarpment cleared by surplus dynamite that had no other use! Vines grown in such conditions seem likely to provide special grapes and did not disappoint. Pica Broca has an amazing depth. You can imagine how the flavours have had to struggle out of the ground to provide this heady brew of herbs and spices. The blend is 50% syrah, the rest grenache and carignan.

Portugal is said increasingly to be providing some serious contenders for competing against top growth clarets and the like at a fraction of the price. Pontual Reserva 2004, Companhia de Vinhos do Alandroal from the Alentejo may well be one. A plummy, deep and intense wine that has spent 12 months in American and French oak barrels.

The time arrived when supper beckoned and this was our chance for a long overdue visit next door to La Cachette. The welcome was rather diffident and the service inattentive to start but warmed as the evening progressed. The “Queenie” scallops starter came with lardons and a rather excessive amount of endive only compensated by a wonderfully light and refreshing lime dressing. Does “Queenie” mean an absence of scallop coral? Only the muscle was present, the absence of coral it a bit one-dimensional.

Pressed belly pork with potato fondant and caramelised apple was fine, but would have been much improved by a really crisp piece of crackling and freshly caramelised apples. A straight Bourgogne 2002 from Meo-Camuzet immediately caught my eye but alas it had all gone. A bottle of Chambolle Musigny of the same year from Michel Gros was a more than acceptable alternative if a bit of a price hike.

The chocolate pud must have been okay but, with hindsight, was clearly not particularly memorable. Still, all in all, worth coming back another time.

Pundles first real conkers

There must be something about this year for firsts, at least in the tree department. The best apple crop ever with the prospect that some may even qualify as dessert apples and now a small but very definite conker harvest.

A large Horse Chestnut stood in the back garden of our north London home in the mid-1980s. On arriving at Pundles in 1988 we were accompanied by four fruits from that majestic tree. They had been potted up and stood little more than 12” high. All four grew and the largest is now some 18’ high, but heaven forbid the one just outside the kitchen door should reach its reputed 80’ or more. Elsewhere I’m sure it would be twice the height, but just as with everything thing else, nature evolves slowly at Pundles. Nor is this the ideal climate for a horse chestnut which lacks the capacity to move with the wind. Its soft, weak and brittle branches crack easily with the force of the wind and its leaves to the west are soon stripped to the vein. We have lost many branches to high winds over the years, but somehow the tree survives.

The last couple of postings appear to have diverted a little from culinary affairs, but nature and growth is not far removed and these diversions will appear from time to time.

Occupational pond dipping

Gardeners are want to make war on a pet hate. I am close to that with Lemna minor, a diminutive floating aquatic perennial that strives to form a solid cover on the surface of our pond. It’s called ‘Duckweed’ from here on and is one of the smallest and simplest of flowering (although it rarely does) plants or, as Shakespeare in King Lear alluded, it is " … the green mantle of the stagnant pool … ".

A cover of Duckweed shades the water below and reduces the growth of algae. In small amounts it can be quite appealing, the trouble is Duckweed is all or nothing. There’s no middle ground to this free-floating weed that with sunshine doubles in surface area every few days and can cope with temperatures as low as 7ºC for normal growth. It spreads rapidly across bodies of still water rich in nutrients, especially high levels of nitrogen and phosphate, and survives best at a pH between 4.5 and 7.5 but is tolerant to a wide pH range.

Duckweed is made up of metabolically active cells with very little structural fibre. The tissue contains twice the protein, fat, nitrogen and phosphorus of other like plants and makes them very high in nutrional value.

Herbivore fish could be the solution, but not with the temperatures here over winter. Goldfish and other carp are said to be particularly fond of Duckweed. Most effective is persistent pond dipping with a net to keep it in check. So there I stand most mornings, pond dipping for this diminutive weed, the harvest going on the compost heap. If gardners' obsession is kept at bay, an occupational therapy of sorts.

As the summer draws to a close, Lemna forms small rootless dark green or brownish plants. These dense, dormant, starchfilled structures sink from view to the bottom of the pond, ready to rise for next spring’s onslaught. Oh what joy to come!

An apple near 20 years in the making

One of the first things planted on arriving at Pundles were three apple trees. From the 2,000 plus varieties of Malus X domestica, the domestic apple, the choice had to be driven by the need for a hardy variety as wind resistant as possible. Suntan is a modern 1950s Cox’s Orange cross and a very hardy, frost resistant variety, or so the catalogue said when we ordered it and, to be fair, it proved to be an accurate statement. It’s also a triploid which means it needs two apple pollinators to deliver the goods so it stands alongside an Ashmead's Kernel and Howgate Wonder, the latter a cooker.

The Ashmead's Kernel is a classic old 18^th century variety raised, not surprisingly, by Dr Ashmead in Gloucester. Reputedly a poor cropper whose dull brown colour make it a commercial non-starter, but it possesses a strong sweet-sharp flavour and is very aromatic. Another couple of months to wait for this yet, assuming it can cope with the autumn winds and the fruit hangs on.

The Guardian’s new food writer, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, launched his first feature extolling the virtues of the apple:

My favourite is Ashmead's Kernel - the bite is a nutty snap, exploding with champagne-sherbet juice infused with a lingering scent of orange blossom. Stick me in Pseuds Corner if you like, but try one and you'll see I'm right.

Hugh’s suggestions for Spiced Baked Dessert Apples, Parsnip and Apple Cakes can be found by clicking here.

Over the years a modest amount of fruit has set, but much of it withered in the face of late summer and early autumn chills and wind. Invariably all we got was a few apples for cooking not really up for eating. Throughout this time surrounding shelter has grown up and with the great summer we’ve just had, doubtless the product of global warming, we have the first decent crop of dessert apples since planting in 1989. Just now, true to form, Suntan is about ready and should store for use into next year.

This year has produced a bumper crop, especially Suntan. Yes, we should have thinned out the crop early in the summer as now we are faced with an overburdened tree likely to take the whole of next year to recover. Apple infanticide requires a cool and calculating mind so rather than large fruits we shall simply have to enjoy lots of smaller hard, crisp, sweet and juicy fruits to capture those aromas lost soon after picking. Not such a great hardship.

Italy meets Lancashire and Cheshire ... in West Yorkshire

This blog starts as the autumn winds over the West Yorkshire moors, the backdrop for Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, are on the return. Great for wind power generation, not so good for the garden which takes a bashing.

Bradford's International Market over the August bank holiday was another big crowd puller. Among the hundreds of stalls lining city centre roads closed to cars for the occasion were some real gems. Mrs Kirkham's traditional Lancashire farm made cheeses was one. Creamy, delightfully fresh tasting and crumbly, made from unpasteurised milk collected from the farm's herd of Fresian Holstein cows. A regular medal winner and it's easy to see why. A near neighbour stall is home to Mrs Bourne's mature Cheshire, another unpasteurised cheese from a Fresian herd. Traditional cheese making has been undertaken at the Bourne's Malpas farm for over 70 years.

Further up the hill is a stall with a range of olive oil rarely seen in this neck of the woods. Apulia Blend olive oil from, surprisingly, Apulia in Southern Italy. I worked my way down the line of 10 or more oils available to taste and plumped for a litre each of the single estate Adamo, made from Ogliarola and Cellina di Nardo olives (acidity between 0.35-0.5%) a fruity oil with a smooth almond after taste and, from the same family, Le Chianche made from Ogliarola and Leccino of similar acidity but having a rich peppery aftertaste. A bottle of sweet, cherry flavoured and unctuous Saporoso balsamic vinegar from the Famiglia Malpighi in Modena also seemed to find its way into my bag.

What better way to complement excellent cheese and olive oil than a family size Pain au Levain, organic bread from the Flour Power City stall doing a roaring trade mid-way between the olive oil and cheese stalls.

Shame they are all only here for the weekend ...