Sarah Ahmed – The Wine Detective

This time last week, I presented a tasting for Waitrose Food Illustrated readers at The Goring hotel, London.  I must say, I can’t remember a food and wine match that has rendered so many so speechless for such a sustained period of time.  Long and intense on flavour, stem ginger chocolate fondant with drambuie clotted cream teamed with Warre’s Quinta da Cavadinha Vintage Port 1996 (£29.99 at Waitrose) did just that…to be fair, there were audible sighs and moans of pleasure, but I’m not sure that counts as speech.

And it wasn’t just about the richness of port and chocolate.  Spicy, aromatic ginger top notes – fresh, infused ginger according to Exec Chef Derek Quelch – chimed magnificently with the esteva (gum cistus) notes in the port.  Stunning and I do believe that the Warres is one of the many vinous treats on the wine list, so you can check it out for yourself.

My runner up food and wine match prize goes to Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Vaillons Premier Cru 2007 (£20.99 at Waitrose) with marinated smoked haddock with horseradish and herb salad.  On paper, I’d been worried about the horseradish and subtlety of the smoking, but Quelch marinades the very subtly smoked haddock in lemon juice with a wee smidge of fresh horseradish for just a minute.  That being the case, the Chablis’ minerality and freshness shone through, its citrus notes deliciously accentuating the lemon kick of the dish.