On Friday night, my family and a selection of friends attended the Louis Latour Wine Supper at North Lakes Hotel, Penrith. What can I say to sum up the event? We certainly had the most delightful tasting experience.
Dressing up, we ordered a taxi for the evening and headed to the hotel for 7pm.
Ready to go wine tasting!
On arrival, we received a glass of Cremant de Bourgogne Simonnet Febvre, NV. This was a sparkling chardonnay from Bergundy. The wine was a pale gold colour with green apple aromas and lemon flavors. It was crisp and dry and a really lovely delicate sparkling wine. After chatting and snacking on olives and almonds, we were ushered into the intimate and inviting Martindale Lounge, which was transformed into a small dining room.
This quarterly event holds up to 25 people which makes it cosy and everyone can hear and talk to the wine presenter who represented Louis Latour. The food was cooked by ‘The restaurant and bar’ at North Lakes.The presenter firstly gave us a quick history of the company. The company of Maison Louis Latour, which is family-run, is one of the most highly-respected négociant-éléveurs in Burgundy. Renowned throughout the world for the quality of its red and white wines, it has built a reputation for tradition and innovation.
Our menu for the night
It is regarded as one of the traditional négociant-éléveurs and produces some of the finest Burgundian wines but it has also produced wine from other areas such as the Ardèche and the Côteaux de Verdon.
The Latour family have been viticulteurs since the 17th century and have built up a Domaine of 50 hectares (125 acres). This Domaine has the largest Grand Cru property in the Cote d’Or with a total of 28,63 hectares (71,58 acres). The vineyards extend from Chambertin in the north to Chevalier-Montrachet in the south and are solely planted with the two noble grape varieties, pinot noir and chardonnay.
The company is unique in Burgundy in that it is still to this day family owned and family run, having passed down from father to son for over ten generations.
Our wine list
We were then introduced to the second wine of the night, the Ardèche Chardonnay, 2011. What I enjoyed about the presenter was that he gave a brief description of each wine and talked for a few minutes before we were then left to taste the wine and enjoy our food. He came across to our table once or twice throughout the night but importantly, we were able to savour the wine. He also didn’t attempt to sell us any wine. That wasn’t what the night was about.
The chardonnay was a yellow-green colour. It had a delicate bouquet with a subtle oaky touch. Normally I don’t particularly chardonnay, I am usually overwhelmed with it’s oaky taste. However, this wine was only lightly oaky. It was delightful to drink. Accompanying this wine, we were served our starter of Lemon Sole Veronique.
Lemon Sole Veronique
The sole was a perfect size, delicately flavoured with lemon and rolled into two parcels. It was served with a creamy vermouth and white grape sauce and nestled on a bed of spinach. The dish perfectly complimented the wine. The sauce wasn’t too sweet and the sole was perfectly cooked. I really love spinach and this added another element, flavour and vibrant colour to the dish.
After the starter and a small interlude, the presenter introduced the third wine. The Domaine de Valmoissine, 2010. This pinot noir is ruby coloured with garnet tints. It has a bouquet of raspberry, blackberry and game. It has dried flower notes.This wine was well-balanced and perfectly accompanied the main dish, La Daube de Boeuf Provencale. The beef was succulent and melted in the mouth. It was accompanied by delicious root vegetables, pancetta, roasted shallots and a parsley mash. The mashed potato was beautifully creamy and smooth. The sauce was quite rich and maybe slightly salty, but it was delightful with the beef.
La Daube de Boeuf Provencale
After another break, where we chatted with family and friends, we were served the cheese course. The Epoisses de Bourgogne is a cheese made in the village Époisses, which is in the Côte-d’Or in France. It is located around halfway between Dijon and Auxerre. The cheese itself is a pungent unpasteurised cows-milk cheese. It certainly was pungent. If you think brie is bad, it has nothing on this cheese. The cheese was served at a separate table on a huge platter. The cheese had been heated in the oven to a gooey texture and there were biscuits, chutney and celery to accompany it. Despite the strong smell the cheese was lovely. A little stronger in taste than brie but all the same delicious.
Ready to walk off the platter…Epoisses
The fourth and final wine was Beaune Rouge, 2007. This wine is a brilliant red. On the palate it is intense and has complex flavors of berries, coconut and licorice. I preferred this wine to the previous wine. It was rich and flavoursome. This wine accompanied the dessert which was a glazed creme brulee, accompanied by strawberry bon bons. Unfortunately and painfully, I couldn’t eat the dessert as I’ve given up everything sweet for lent. It looked perfect and extremely appetising. I was assured by my fellow diners that it was as delicious as it looked. I had to settle, reluctantly, for more cheese, which the chef had kindly offered as an alternative. Therefore, I cannot say whether the final wine complimented the dish, but I’m sure it did.
Delicious looking creme brulee
All in all, I had an extremely enjoyable evening. The food was absolutely fantastic, as was the wine, as was the service. I had two glasses of the final wine and two of the other pinot noir. From start to finish we were there for about 3 hours. We were still there after everyone left! I would definitely recommend the food at the restaurant and Bar at North Lakes Hotel and I will certainly return to the hotel for the next wine tasting event. At £40 a head it was well worth the price.
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