WineNZ Summer 18-19 (1)

food | bars & restaurants
Lamb sweetbreads with fat, crunchy green beans,
crisp croutons and melting lardo.
A blackboard list of additional wines by the glass makes your mouth water.
A&M Quenard, Chignin, 2016, red,
peppery with firm tannins, that went well
with the richness of the dish.
Smoked eel in this instance came with
summery gazpacho, beautifully tomatoey,
with croutons for a bit of crunch and torn
pieces of lovage leaf to add a savoury
touch - a well balanced dish, crisp and fresh,
especially with a Greek rosé from Naousa.
No matter what comes with it, samphire
is one of those things you can’t pass when
you see it on the menu. In this case it
came with seared thornback ray with tiny
brown shrimp and capers. Josh suggested
a white Burgundy, either a chardonnay
from Pouilly-Vinzelles or an aligoté, the
other white from Burgundy, so I selected
a small glass of each to compare. The
chardonnay was more complex, but there
was too much going on in it to complement
the crisp, buttery ray with salty capers
and samphire. The blander aligoté was a
friendlier accompaniment.
Crispy-skinned, grilled lamb saddle from
Swaledale in Yorkshire came with a roll of
lamb belly, Coco de Paimpol beans from
Brittany, chunky green sauce and a salty
jus. It was matched with a fruity Spanish
red, Daterra Viticoltores Casas de Enriba
from Valdeorras in Galicia.
Although we had little room left for
dessert, we couldn’t resist, especially as
each had a recommended wine match.
At last, here is a rare restaurant that cares
about the difficult art of matching wine
with dessert! I have to admit we selected
the wine first and then the dessert that
went with it.
I chose a Madeira, 10-year old Malmsey
from M Blandy, delicious both by itself
and with a warm, chocolatey and slightly
bitter mousse with crunchy salt on top and
a scoop of that delectable British speciality,
clotted cream.
An unusual natural wine, La Stoppa,
Vigna del Volta passito from Emilia
Romagna, golden in colour, cloudy with
oodles of ripe tropical fruit and a long
finish, was accompanied by blueberry
tart with slivered almonds and clotted
cream at the side. Interestingly, like the
rest of the food, the desserts were plainly
presented without all the squiggles and
fancy garnishes so beloved of many New
Zealand chefs.
All in all, it was a satisfying night, one
of those special places that takes wine and
food and their matching seriously, and has
extremely knowledgeable staff to help you
navigate an extensive and exciting wine list.
The food was fascinating with its English
and European specialities, even if some
dishes were a tad too salty for my palate.
And it wasn’t much more expensive than
one might spend in a good New Zealand
restaurant.
Food
Wine List
Ambience
Service
Overall
Reviewed by Charmian Smith
Note: In Wellington there is a wine
bar also called Noble Rot, which is not
connected with the original in London.
Lincolnshire smoked eel in a fresh, summery
gazpacho with lovage.
Samphire with ray,
tiny brown shrimps and capers.
Grilled Swaledale lamb saddle, lamb roll, with
haricot beans and green sauce.
76 WineNZ Magazine | Summer 2018-19