The debate about food and wine pairing is an interesting and potentially very enjoyable one, especially when debated with a loaded fork. To celebrate A La Cruz's ability to slow cook entire beasts over their unique-to-the-UK Asador, directors Roberto Jellinek & John Rattagan invited me to choose my favourite Luigi Bosca wines to accompany their Argentinean food. The menu included a starter of provolone cheese, beef empanada and sweetbreads (aka thymus gland, yum!), first course fillet of beef & rib eye followed by the main event, a whole, slow roasted lamb. To match the entire lamb, I chose a magnum of Gala 2 2008 (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc & Merlot), thinking the ripeness and roundness of the fruit would marry up with the delicious sweetness of the meat and that the polished, integrated tannins would not jar with the fat, much of which would be rendered off over the fire.
The Asador is a thing of beauty. Fuelled by specially imported wood called quebracho and is nicknamed "axe breaker" in its native Argentina. It is incredibly dense and looks more like marble than wood, its grain barely perceptible to the naked eye. Unsurprisingly, it weighs considerably more than normal wood. It burns very slowly and kicks out intense and regular heat, which makes it a joy to cook over. The lamb was put onto the Asador at three in the afternoon and we were to eat it about eight, by which time it was cooked perfectly.
We started with the Single Vineyard DOC Malbec 2008, Luigi Bosca, Luján de Cujo, Mendoza, which was showing quite firm and would have benefited from more time in the decanter or from aeration. Despite this, it was described by one of the guests as being everything he liked in a red wine, which is pretty good praise in my book. As far as the food is concerned, the sweetbreads & provoletta were as delicious as always.
With the two cuts of beef, the DOC would work well on a school night, but we upped the ante and offered a magnum of Gala 1 2008 (Malbec, Petit Verdot & Tannat). This offered an extra level of elegance and sophistication, with soft, rounded fruit and polished, integrated tannins, which made it the wine of the night for a lot of people I quizzed at the end of the evening. This wine may be Malbec based, but it is far, far away from the brooding black monster "style" as is possible to get. A La Cruz is one of the only restaurants in London to serve Gala 1 in magnum format.
Then came the turn of the lamb, which was carried through at shoulder height on a stretcher like device and presented to the room. It looked amazing, weirdly reminding me of piping in the haggis on Burns' night, albeit without musical accompaniment. Whilst John did his bit expertly with the knives, I made sure everyone had at least half a glass from the magnum of the Gala 2 2008. I had encouraged everyone to keep a little of each wine to taste alongside the different meats to help decide which worked best with each. The Gala 2 was showing very rich & forward fruit and was soft as silk with the tannins totally integrated. This received the best tasting note of the night, describing it as the "slutty cabernet" (meant in a good way!), likening its fruit profile to Californian syrah or Zin. At the end of the evening, there were many very happy people with big smiles and well used glasses. As for the perfect pairing, I think we all decided that it should be a weekly event to ensure that we were totally happy with our choices and to make sure they did not change with the phases of the moon. Many thanks to all the staff at A La Cruz for looking after us so well and I look forward to coming back soon.
Written by Robert Allen
No comments:
Post a Comment