news

Bibendum flies high with Jancis Robinson and BA at Taste of London - 22/06/2010

As part of London's annual foodie festival, Taste of London, Bibendum poured the wine in the BA exclusive Club Tent aided by none other than Jancis Robinson MW. (You can see Jancis pictured with our very own Andy Sparrow, right)

Here is what Jancis wrote about the day on her website: www.jancisrobinson.com:

"I spent much of Sunday as a barmaid - in the British Airways Executive Club tent at Taste of London, the food and drink festival in Regent's Park, London.

My fellow bartender Andrew Sparrow of Bibendum Wine asked me when I was last a barmaid and I realised that it was probably almost exactly 12 months previously at Taste of London 2009.

We were pouring a selection of wines from British Airways' first class cabin, of which the Dom Laroche, Beauroy Premier Cru 2004 Chablis was probably the most popular - and is certainly drinking beautifully now, with the benefit of some but not too much age. This is superior, nuanced Chablis.

A slightly more surprising hit among dry white wines was Ceretto, Blange Arneis 2009 Langhe, which is on the trolley as a light (12.5%), perfumed and super-refreshing alternative to more mature, full-bodied, serious wines. Ceretto, as many of you will know, was instrumental in the revival of this pear-scented Piemontese varietal.

The other dryish white we showed also has more age than usual, Laurenz V, Charming Gruner Veltliner 2005 Niederösterreich. This was a special lot kept back for extra bottle age and seems to have gained depth as a result though is still full of prickle and dill pickle, as I always think characterises Austria's signature grape variety.

Of the reds, my personal favourite was the Ch Lagrange 2001 St-Julien (see my recent set of tasting notes on Lagrange), which currently tastes beautifully mellow and mature on the ground (several visitors to our wine bar admitted to having a particular tendresse for this wine when flying BA).

In the air, however, some may find it too subtle because at 33,000 feet our palates dry out and slightly more obvious, fruity wines can seem particularly appealing. Both of our non-European selections were popular. Graham Beck, The Ridge 2005 Robertson is the only vintage of this particular full-throttle, rather sweet Syrah to have been released to date. But we met many a Pinotphile, not least because there seemed to be a particularly high proportion of Americans in the BA tent, and Hawksburn Terrace Pinot Noir 2008 Central Otago from New Zealand was also popular.

I was quite surprised by how many people seized eagerly on the tall half bottles of bright orange, obviously sticky D'Arenberg, The Noble Mudpie 2008 Adelaide, made from Viognier, Pinot Gris and Marsanne and noble rot, fruit grown in McLaren Vale with a bit of Adelaide Hills. This may not have as long a life as, say, a Sauternes, but is surprisingly appetising at the moment - especially with powerful cheese.

It was good to have some decent wine to pour but, as my children pointed out, I surely made a hopeless barmaid as my aim is so poor. I sometimes find it difficult to get the contents of my glass neatly into my mouth, let alone the contents of a bottle into someone else's glass."