Time to put the sommeliers in the spotlight: Antoine Lehebel

July 18, 2016August 19, 2016 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

I know it sounds strange when I tell you a Frenchman won the title of Best Belgian Sommelier in and defended the Belgian colors during the World’s Best Sommelier Competition earlier this year 🙂 🙂 And yet it is all true!! It was my dear friend Antoine Lehebel has done it all with lots of pride and a big smile. Antoine Lehebel is head-sommelier of the Brussels Michelin starred top restaurant Villa Lorraine and a great example that even if you didn’t go the hotel management school you can succeed as a sommelier!! You only need the drive of wanting to do everything to achieve your goal … And I also know Antoine still has lots of ambition left as he already has lots of new targets he wants to succeed in 🙂 What I like about Antoine is that he is a very modest/humble person who loves every aspect of his job. Sometimes I wish I felt the same about my job 🙂 Just like with William Wouters, I asked Antoine 10 questions that give you a view in the life of a top sommelier.

What is your favorite wine region to work with?

I love the Loire valley because of the diversity of wines, and honestly you have so many great vignerons there. You can play with the style, color, age of the wines, and you can find a lot of original stuff too… and the region is really dynamic so it really is one of my favourite region to work with. I was born there too so there is a touch of chauvinism also… 😉

What does it take to be a good sommelier according to you?

Passion for wine, eagerness to share with people, and a bit of fun also, an evening in a restaurant should never be boring you need to have a good time, and a sommelier (or anyone working on the floor for that matter) should be able to make you feel at home.

Is the job of a sommelier underestimated/valued?

It depends, obviously as a guest you only see the tip of the iceberg, but sometimes do not realise all the work involved before your service, but we can feel more and more interest about this job, which is very gratifying, we all need to keep up the good work to make this role even more estimated in the future.

When and how did you get the passion for wine?

It all started in London when I started to work in an indian restaurant, the German Manager was a sommelier for some years and started to teach me a bit. I got hooked very quickly, and never stopped since then.

Who is your big example in the wine/sommelier world?

Well first that would be Thomas Heimann who’s been my mentor when I started in the trade, and then I do not think I have one “big example”, there are too many great sommeliers around.

What is your approach for pairing wines(or other beverages) with dishes?

There’s a sense of feeling obviously, and I always try do find some harmony in the flavours, but it is really fun for me to get quite technical too, i think the association of tastes, and their effect on the perception you have is an amazing subject to study. you can actually make a taste changing according to your pairing, which is a nice game to play, but obviously it takes a bit interest on that matter.

Which wine region would you recommend everybody to visit and why?

The Douro Valley without hesitation! breathtaking landscapes, brilliant wines, and the dry wines are getting better and better, I am very fond of that region. You can easily spend a full week there and come back for more because you never have enough time to see all of it!

For which wine would you make a big sacrifice to be able to taste?

Very old german rieslings, I have a great memory of a 1949 riesling Sonnenhur spätlese from J.J Prüm, probably the best wine I have ever tried (so far)

What is your most wonderful memory of hotel management school?

I actually did not go through any hotel management school, so I can not really answer this question.

A culinary or wine experience everybody should have had besides have a meal at your restaurant, shop, winery, etc..?

The restaurant “le pot d’étain”, in the Chablis region, at l’Isle sur Serein (well, it is lost in a small village 30 km from Chablis but is definitely worth the trip), the food is traditional french fare, very well executed, and the wine cellar is like….the best i have ever seen, with very kind prices and the best french wines represented in any region.

Time to put the sommeliers in the spotlight: William Wouters

June 16, 2016June 16, 2016 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

In the world of gastronomy it are always the chefs that are put in the spotlight! Time for a change I’d say and put that spotlight on the sommeliers for a change :-). Especially with the ASI Worldchampionship for sommeliers coming to Belgium in 2019, they deserve it more then ever! That’s why I’ve send 10 questions to a few top sommeliers to find out more about their world… The first sommelier I’ve send the questions to is William Wouters aka ‘el presidente’ 🙂 or better the chairman of the Belgian Sommelier Guild and the person who we have to thank for bringing the championship to Belgium. I personally already know William since I’ve been born and have to admit that I look up to William when it comes down to wine and knowledge about wine!! He has learned me lots of things and still helps me to discover wines, vineyards, etc… I also know for a fact that I’m not the only one looking up to him. Lot’s of Top sommeliers still ask William for advice or help. For many years William has worked and participated in lots of competitions at international level with results one shouldn’t be modest about!! What I also always liked about William is that his motto is “wine doesn’t have to be expensive to be good”!!! A motto that was also a golden rule in his restaurant (Pazzo)

Every winegrower, (top)sommelier or person involved with wine I mention I’m from Belgium comes with a at least one story about a crazy night they had at the Pazzo winebar with William 🙂 (who used to be the owner of Pazzo). 2 years ago William decided to leave Pazzo in the good hands of chef Ingrid Neven and Tom Dhooghe. The mean reason for that was William being able to spend more time with his wife and kids in Portugal. William’s wife Filipa Pato is a very renowned Portugese wine maker who comes from a long line of winemakers in her family. You could also see it as William changing sides 🙂 from sommelier serving the wines, to winemaker making the wines.

Although it must be said he also spends lots of his time with his other passion… football. William is also the cook or better person coordinating the cooks for the Belgian national football team (Red Devils) and therefore also travelling a lot with them.

What is your favorite wine region to work with?

Bairrada – you all know why… 😉 😉

What does it take to be a good sommelier according to you?

A broad knowledge of all beverages and a good culture about food. Perhaps the most important thing is: a very good “social” intelligence

Is the job of a sommelier underestimated/valued?

Underestimated because a sommelier is a kind of a barometer in direct contact with the customer. He feels the straight needs and consequently acts to them. A good sommelier is a big added value in the front of a restaurant, bistro, wine bar, wine shop,…

When and how did you get the passion for wine?

From small on I was intrigued by the complexity of wine and the wine world in general, the diversity, the interaction with the climate, soil, grape varieties, perception of the winemakers, link to gastronomy… the more you know, the less you know, the more you want to know… (Confucius 🙂 )

Who is your big example in the wine/sommelier world?

Obelix, he fell into a barrel with the magical potion as a kid, I think sometimes the same happened to me, but I was probably too small to remember

What is your approach for pairing wines(or other beverages) with dishes?

Feeling… This is the biggest challenge for a sommelier! There is no such thing as right or wrong… Depends of many factors : people, the mood, time of the day, the weather, the budget, taste, …

Which wine region would you recommend everybody to visit and why?

Bairrada – you know why… 😉 . No, no kidding, I would recommend to visit as many wine regions as possible. As a sommelier it is very important to go into the vineyards and speak to the winegrowers and winemakers to understand better the wines that are made, and why they are made in a certain way. Wines for me should always reflect the place they are coming from. Authenticity is a key word for me

For which wine would you make a big sacrifice to be able to taste?

For all the wines I don’t know. So I think I still have a lot of work to do!

What is your most wonderful memory of hotel management school?

That I always “had to be” a volunteer to go to things related to wine and other beverages. I really loved it! Also to share these experiences with the friends and colleagues gave huge satisfaction.

A culinary or wine experience everybody should have had besides have a meal at your restaurant?

Whatever, wherever, whenever be open minded and keep your eyes, ears and certainly your tastebuds open! This is the intriguing trigger that will always keep you eager to improve as a sommelier! You are never done!

The top sommeliers of tomorrow

May 2, 2016 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

More than ever gastronomy is present in all our lives, you cannot turn on TV or you see a food related show. A part of gastronomy that seems to get a bit less attention is the beverage part… or so I thought!

As you might know next to the ‘senior’ competition for Best Belgian Sommelier the Gild of Sommeliers yearly organizes (already since the 70’s) Best Belgian Junior & Junior Commis sommelier. The junior competition is actually for students from the 6^th and 7^th year of high school (chef school) who do a specialization ‘beverage knowledge’. I was surprised about the turn-out of young students (accompanied by their teacher). What I also didn’t know is that Top sommeliers are like rock stars for the students 🙂 Really they wanted to go on the picture with some of the judging top sommeliers and get some tips and tricks 🙂 🙂 WHO KNEW…

Wanting to participate in a competition like this is already an accomplishment on its own. I mean it takes a lot of courage to stand in front of a whole group of people (fellow students and judges) and execute/answer your questions , especially knowing that most of the contestants don’t have lots experience yet… especially if you compare it with the participants of the ‘senior’ competition who have years of experience of working in general, but also from visiting lots of vineyards, etc…

Nevertheless the level of knowledge and know-how is very high amongst the students and it’s a stiff competition!! This year’s event was also for me the first time to be present for the finals as previous years I wasn’t able to make it. Something also nice to know that I found out while browsing through last year’s pictures is that last year’s participants of the 6^th year were participating this year in their 7^th year 🙂

Finalists 6th year 2015

Finalists 7th year 2016

What I did notice was that 5 of the 6 finalists were of the Ter Groene Poorte chef school… I don’t want to say that one school is better over the other, but it looks like the preparation at Ter Groene Poorte was done really well. Another thing that was remarkable was that 90% of contestants were women!! This means that women are finally catching up. It would also be great if more women would participate for the ‘Senior’ competition, but it seems in a few years they will.

The competition for the ‘Junior Commis’ exists out of 3 ‘tests’ with as special topic Languedoc and for the ‘Junior’ out of 5 ‘tests’ with special topic Portugal.

6^th year students had following questions:

Decant a white wine wine and serve this
Tell as much as possible about 2 wines and if participant knows he/she can say which one it is
Pair wines with a 4 course menu (+ appetizers) of 55EUR
- Appetizers
- Spring role + smoked mackerel + lemon herb + rucola
- Asian style sole rolls + gnocchi
- Lamb filet in filo pastry + green asparagus + gravy with sage

7^th year had following questions:

Serve champagne in accordance with good practices rules
Pair wines with a specific 4 course menu (+ appetizers)
- appetizers
- Terrine of rye wing + watercress coulis
- ‘Moscovite’ patato + sour cream
- ‘Black Angus’ filet + early vegetables + marrowbone
- Pineapple + coconut + sesamy
Decant a red wine
Describe 2 wines as good as possible and say which wine it is.
Recognize 3 alcoholic drinks

What makes a good sommelier a top sommelier, for me, is his/her presence and his/her knowledge about wine and the ‘Fingerspitzengefühl ‘…Nothing irritates me more then when I’m at a restaurant and you ask a sommelier for advice about which wine to take with a specific dish/meal that you can feel they’re just playing darts. Not that I need a sommelier to speak an hour about a wine he’s serving, but a little word on why he’s serving that wine doesn’t hurt anybody. Another important feature is daring to make the non-safe choice of wine and surprise your customer…instead of serving the classic option maybe go for something more funky or unknown (and still budget friendly). When I say this I always have to think of Dirk Niepoort that said some of his wines aren’t drinkable on their own, but work perfect with some dishes.

It wasn’t easy for the judges to quote the finalists, but they managed. The winners were:

6^th year Elise De Waele

7^th year: Yannih Paton (who insisted his school to subscribe him and came alone to the competition. Talking about willpower )

I’m looking forward to next year’s game!!

Sommelier themed lunch: Italy vs. USA

March 9, 2016 / dolcevitaspinelli / 2 Comments

To yearly tradition I was present at the Zonin sommelier themed lunch. This lunch is basically the Zonin wine estate bringing together Top sommeliers for a blind wine tasting to talk about the wines served during a lunch in a great restaurant. An event they do in lots of countries all over the world. I can hear you think that this seems like a way to promote Zonin wines, which in some way is correct, but in last editions they also served non-Zonin wines. What I maybe should have also mentioned is that all sommeliers write down their thoughts on every wine, give it a score and as it is a blind tasting guess which wine it is and its vintage. Afterwards they collect all the answers and see how they would be able to improve their wines. So you could see it as a Marketing strategy, but I rather see it as a case study to improve your products! That some wines getting served are being liked and turn up on the sommeliers wine list is a plus and a compliment to the winemakers or better a sign that they made very good end product.

This year’s sommelier themed lunch took place at Le Chalet de la forêt in the green part of Brussels. Last time I was here I enjoyed my meal, but wasn’t blown away, this time however I did get blow away. Not sure what the ‘problem’ was last time, but I became a big fan after this lunch!! This year the lunch theme was to distinguish the Italian from the American Zonin wines. They would serve wines from both countries, made from the same grape, and it was up to us to say which one was from one of their Italian estates and which one from their Virginia estate. I must admit we got surprised in a positive way a couple of times. To support what I said earlier, they don’t even sell their Virginia wines outside the US and UK :-). Anyhow it was a fun afternoon amongst friends as I know most of the sommeliers present and of course Lorenzo Zonin, whose daughter has 10 days difference with mine 🙂 (10 day older if I’m right)

I do know that I’m not a top sommelier or a sommelier like the other people at the table, but I like good food, good wine and I love talking about it 🙂 AND I have learned a lot over the last few years from the others at the table.

All of this said, after some great finger food it was time to start our lunch with a Gamberoni tartar with cold consommé and Oscietra caviar. A pleasure for the taste buds because of the little spiciness from the tartar and freshness from fish and citrus. I started my lunches in worse ways 🙂 . FYI I did take pictures of my own, but I chose to use some from the photographer Pascal Hermans as nothing beats pictures of a real photographer!! I’m sure you’ll which ones are mine and which ones aren’t 🙂

As for the wines being served with this dish I was 98% sure when tasting which one it was, Vermentino, as I thought remembering it from visiting some of the Zonin estates last year. Funny enough I was right about the wines, but the one I thought was Italian was from Virginia and vice versa. I was confused by the typical ‘vementino’ scent and thought this could only come from Italy, as the other one was more floral, fresh/fruity. I personally enjoyed or better I wouldn’t mind having a few bottles from the Vermentino from the Rocca di Montemasi estate for this summer.

If only the blind tasting would continue this way, I would definitely recognize more easily 🙂 But they made it harder 🙂 instead of 2 we got 4 glasses of wines from 2 different blends… oooooh boy 😦 These 4 wines that were the pairing with a signature Chalet dish: Noirmoutier sole “forêt” with parsnip, champagne butter and truffle. A piece of art in a plate that you don’t want to destroy 🙂 but glad I did it as it was njammy.

As for the wines, like mentioned they made it harder by putting 4 glasses instead of 2. Admitted that they helped us a bit letting us know that there was Viognier and Chardonnay. Up to us to decide which ones and also from which country and their vintage 🙂

I didn’t found out which wines were viognier and which chardonnay, but that’s where it stopped for me 🙂

Up to the reds, here again 4 glasses 🙂 Tips here were that there were 2 ‘Bordeaux’ like blends, 1 Sangiovese and 1 Nebbiolo. The Nebbiolo I distinguished pretty fast due to it specific more orange color.. The same for the Sangiovese due to its specific nose (don’t know how to explain it), but also because it is one of my favorite red wines from the Zonin estates aka the Il Solatio . This gave me a little push in the back to find out which ones were the ‘Bordeaux’ like blends. When they revealed the wines, I must say I was surpised to find out the Nebbiolo was a ‘Barolo’ from Virginia!! I would have sworn it was a blend from Italy. I’m also sure I wasn’t the only one!!

I almost forgot, these wines were served with the half wild duck (not sure which half 🙂 🙂 ) with fruited fennel and gravy (no, not your average meat gravy). I remember once a famous Michelin Star chef telling me what the perfect dish was: ‘when somebody finishes its plate and wants an other one exactly like it, that’s the perfect this’. This duck, was one of those dishes that if I could have, I would have 🙂 The meat melted like butter and the gravy had a some of that American BBQ taste in it that we all love (I think it’s called calories ;-)). No seriously, mind blowing dish!!

The cherry or frosting on the cake was the dessert that was specially given as they found out Lorenzo was a chocoholic 🙂 and it was of the same level as the previous dish with the big difference being that a second dish of this would kill you 🙂 🙂 and you’d be condemned on having a nap in the restaurant 😉

And as if the chocolate wasn’t yet a step close enough to heaven, they paired with it what is for me that best vin santo I have ever tasted, the vin santo from Castello d’albolla!! They served just like the other wines that we didn’t know what it was, but you could guess that one out of a thousand.

It was again, like previous times a wonderful lunch!! I’ve learned and enjoyed at the same time. Special thanks to Lorenzo Zonin and the Chalet de la Forêt team (with their to Sommelier Cesar Roman) for making this all happen.

In case you would have more question about Zonin wines, please contact Hasselt Millesime as they can tell you everything about it!!

Spanish premium style bubbles

November 6, 2015 / dolcevitaspinelli / 1 Comment

When people talk about Cava wine they always feel the need to compare it with Champagne (the same goes for Spumante or Prosecco). They mostly also see Cava (or prosecco or Spumante or any other sparkling wine) as an inferior product compared to Champagne. To my opinion the only things they have in common is the way they get produced and the fact they both have bubbles in them… besides that it are products that have their own style with their own identity and characteristics. That one prefers drinking Champagne over Cava (or another sparkling wine) or vice versa is a matter of taste and preference for a particular style (or that’s what it should be, not just because of the name of a product). This doesn’t mean I don’t like Champagne, I’m just saying there is more than only Champagne 🙂

A few weeks ago I joined a dinner hosted by the Spanish Ambassador to get to know the top segment of Spanish bubbles aka Premium Cava’s. The choice of restaurant for this dinner at ‘Le Chalet de la fôret’ didn’t come as an entire surprise knowing the restaurant recently added a new TOP member to their team. After working 4 beautiful years at the legendary restaurant ‘Comme Chez Soi’ my dear friend César Roman decided it was time for something new and joined the 2 Michelin starred restaurant ‘Le Chalet de la fôret’s team. I cannot imagine a better ‘ambassador’ for Spanish wines than César, he’s one very proud Spanish person 🙂 (who can blame him?). César’s aim at ‘Le Chalet de la fôret’ is making their wine cellar the most beautiful/best in Belgium…

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Did you know the following things about Cava? Did you know that yearly there are produced around 241 million bottles on over 33 352 hectares of land ? With 97% of the land being in the Sant Sadurni d’Anoia region, basically the area around Barcelona (to keep it simple). It also seem that Belgians are on the most important cava drinkers. There are 3 kinds of Cava: Cava (around 9 months of aging), Cava Reserva (around 15 months of aging)and Cava Gran Reserva (around 30 months of aging)? Of the 241 million bottles I mentioned before 30 million are considered as Premium cava which are Special Cuvées, Reserva’s and Gran Reserva’s….

The biggest “problem” during the dinner was keeping up the pass :-). There were about 10 different Cava’s served during our 5 course meal. It might not seem a lot, but you would be surprised…. You probably think I will say I loved every Cava we were served during the dinner, to that I say no! There were some I preferred over others, but this doesn’t mean they weren’t good, they just were not my cup of tea… (of course not, you were having Cava not tea 😉 OK, bad joke). We started and ended in the same way, with beautiful bubbles 🙂

Just FYI the full list of cava’s we tasted:

2012 Microcosmos by Llopart (rosé)
2013 Privat Brut Nature Reserva by Alta Alella
2012 Reina Maria Cristina Vintage Brut Reserva by Codorniu
2012 Carles Andreu Reserva Brut (rosé) by Carles Andre
2006 Casa Sala Gran Reserva by Freixenet
2008 Gran Claustro Gran Reserva by Perelada
2005 La Capella Gran Reserva by Juvé & Camps
2010 Núria Claverol by Sumarroca
2004 Particular de Recaredo Gran Reserva by Recaredo
2013 Subirat Parent Brut Reserva by Vilarnau

My preferred Cava’s of the night were the 2010 Núria Claverol by Sumarroca because of its complex brioche/almond/ smokey aroma’s with citrus accents and even hinds of pear… basically a rich cava with refined buttery touches 🙂 (butter = good). Fun fact, the bottles of the Núria are numbered… Another favorite is the 2012 Maria Del Mar Brut Nature Gran Reserva by Pere Ventura that has a ‘creamy’ texture with more or less the fruity accents as the previous one, but this time more herbal tones as well. Next in my favorites list would be the 2004 Reserva Particular by Recaredo. I notice loads of tropical fruits, ‘jammed’ citrus (like a marmalade), fresh bakery accents with sweet spices with a very fresh and pleasant elegance with a medium long after taste… simply beautiful!! Last but not least the 2013 Subirat Parent Brut Reserva by Vilarnau. The last one is one that I think is the biggest ‘everybody’s friend’ of the whole evening as the other cava’s were more complex and therefor more special… The Vilarnau had a very fruity (lycee, peach) smell, the taste reminded me a bit of a tropical fruit salad 🙂 basically a very pretty and distinctive wine. I was surprised that eventhough of the premium Cava’s came from bigger Bodegas, they were not of lower quality!! SO basically size doesn’t seem to matter in Spain 🙂 😉 (just pointing out the facts)

As we ate at a lovely restaurant like Le Chalet de la fôret something must also be said about the food?! In general you can say that ever dish looks like a picture and you can see the advanced way of cooking from the first look you give to the plate…however you do see that the chefs knows his basics as they come back in every dish (you need to know the basics before you can start experimenting). The first dish one the menu was (after some appetizers) a grilled cadoret Oyster from Bretagne, buckwheat and iodée vinaigrette, followed by a seabass (line caught) salisfy, Jerusalem artichoke and a Xarel-Lo sauce . To continue with pheasant breast with white truffle, foie gras sauce, pumpkin variation and sautéed ceps. Followed by a melted Old Bruges cheese. To finish with a chocolate dessert with mushrooms. Yes mushrooms 🙂 I must admit that this was the strangest dish of all and not really my thing, but i finished it anyhow

The dish that after 2 weeks is still the first image that pops in my head when thinking of Le Chalet is the pheasant breast with white truffle, foie gras sauce, pumpkin variation and sautéed ceps. Maybe for that reason the Cava served with this (Particular de Recaredo Gran Reserva by Recaredo) was one of my favorites? Who knows 🙂

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The dinner wouldn’t end perfect without all the ‘friandises’ aka sweets that come with the coffee 🙂 The chefs have outdone themselves as I like every piece of the assortment 🙂 🙂

An evening to remember!! In case you would want more info on Cava don’t hesitate to contact the Cava Rugulatory board as they will be able to answer all you questions 🙂

Sherry with capital S

October 20, 2015October 20, 2015 / dolcevitaspinelli / 2 Comments

Ever since my wife and I visited the bodega of Tio Pepe a few years ago we became huge Sherry Jerez) fans. Lots of people know this and started giving bottles of Sherry as a gift and whenever I walk into a shop where they sell sherry’s the meat is weak and I end up buying a bottle :-)… basically this results in having quit a few bottles of Sherry and funny enough 90% from Lustau 🙂 We occasionally do enjoy drinking it in the evening in front of TV to accompany some dessert. I say occasionally as we mostly only open bottles of wine when we have company… we just don’t have the need for it on other days… So the best thing to do is to find some friends who want to sacrifice themselves and organize a get together/tasting to open all of them ;-).

That’s exactly what I did, I organized myself a Lustau Sherry tasting at home!! Coincidentally the friends I invited and that sacrificed themselves are some of the best sommeliers in Belgium and far beyond the country borders. Gianluca di Taranto (The Jane) who is always keen to learn more about wines and Cesar Roman (Le chalet de la Forêt) who is the biggest Sherry fan I know. I know how to pick my friends 🙂 :-). Not only did they bring themselves, they also brought a few bottles and some food 🙂 so basically extra bottles to taste…

Just like in my blog post a few years ago I’m still of the opinion that wines like Sherry, Porto, Madeira and Marsala are under valuated for an unknown reason… although I just think the problem is that those people never tried a good Sherry, Porto, etc… Otherwise they would be a big fan just like me! Unlike what they know or think there are many different kinds of these wines (as that’s what they are in fact), a flavor for everybody and for every occasion. In the Sherry world for example you have Fino, Palo Cortado, Amontillado, Manzanilla, Oloroso, PX (Pedro Ximénez), etc… There is a bigger difference than only the name. They have different smells, tastes, color, etc… Me personally I am an Oloroso fan as it always leaves a nice I would say nutty caramel (not sweet, unless they blended it with PX) kind taste in your mouth. If you are more into very sweet wines, you’d be better to go for a PX or an Oloroso Dulce… If you like more refined taste a Palo Cortado or Amontillado…

Like I mentioned before I had a Lustau Sherry Tasting with a few friends, and below you’ll find the bottles we tasted:

‘3 en Rama’ collection: existing out of a Fino from Jerez de la Frontera, another from El Puerto de Santa María and a Manzanilla from Sanlúcar de Barrameda

Lustau Fino Jarana
Manzanilla Papirusa
Oloroso ‘Don Nuño’: from the classic/familiar Lustau collection
Oloroso Añada 1997: only produced in very special harvest years that undergoes a partial fermentation process and is aged for 13years
Palo Cortado VORS
47 La bota de Palo Cortado which is not from Lustau, but from Equipo Navazos

I was told to better understand/appreciate the difference from the ‘En Rama’ collection is putting them next to the ‘familiar’ aka classic Fino and Manzanilla collection. We did as told 🙂 En Rama style basically means that the Sherry has been bottled straight from the cask with no additional treatment. What they try to do is to make a product as biological as possible. In reality the ‘en rama’ sherries still undergoes minimal clarification, as a 100% raw wine, bottled without any filtering would go bad after a one or two weeks and has a non appetizing color. So they do filter it the ‘en rama’ but only taking away the largest, solid particles.

En rama

Time to put all the theory in practice and start opening bottles. As the best to enjoy a drink is with food, we filled the table with Iberic ham, cheeses, freshly made hummus, home made porcini under oil to mention a few :-). The most special piece on the table was the ‘Manteca colora’ which is a kind of pâté that tastes a bit like chorizo which in this case looked a bit like a heart but was surprisingly good. According to my dear friend Cesar this is something that farmers eat before going on the land… so you can imagine it is not a cholesterol friendly piece of meat 😉

We started our tasting by comparing the 2 Manzanilla’s. Manzanilla is the same wine as a Fino, but it just aged in a different place closer to the sea (in a particular area near San Lucar) resulting in a product tasting very differently than a Fino. The first thing that we notice is the difference in color as the ‘En Rama’ is much more yellow than the Papirusa (probably due to the less filtering). When you smell and taste the ‘En rama’ you notice that it is much more complex and contains more acidity… I find it very fascinating that nature can do such wonderful things when letting it do its thing without helping (to much)

When putting the 3 Fino’s (Regular, En Rama Puerto and En Rama Jerez) next to each other the differences are even more striking!! Especially the 2 En Rama’s where the ‘En Rama Fino El Puerto Santa maria’has a much saltier taste to it because of the influence the sea had (a as you might have understood by the ‘El Puerto’ part that it is near the sea)… Whereas the ‘En rama from Jerez de la Frontera’ has notes from apples that reminded us of Calvados (the smell). Normally I’m not really a Fino fan as I remembered it being very sharp both in taste and smell… but maybe that’s the house style of Tio Pepe as the Lustau Fino’s were much less ‘aggressive’… I would even say that the regular/familiar Fino was soft and smokey 🙂

If I would have to make a choice between the Manzanilla’s and Fino’s above the one that I would most probably be tempted to drink again would be the “En Rama” from Jerez de la Frontera… I think because of its complexity and something unexplainable that attracts me more to it 🙂 It was indeed a very good suggestion to put the ‘En Rama’ next to the Familiar collection.

The Oloroso’s were and are still my favorites and were exactly how I expected them to be 🙂 Although both oloroso’s serve for a different purpose, the Don Nuño is more for with meat I might even say game meat and the Añada being a blend from Oloroso and PX would be more appropriate with a dessert. The Añada was definitly the favorite from the ladies at the table (So we are now sure they have a sweet tooth 🙂 )

The stars of the evening were without any doubt the Palo Cortado VORS and the 47 La bota de Palo Cortado by Equipo Navazos. It might be strange to put them next to eachother as the VORS is around 30 years old and the 47 La Bota is around 80 years old, but they competed really well next to each other. I don’t know what it is, but the is always a mistery around Palo Cortado, such a mistery that there was even made a documentary about it that was presented on the Berlin Film Festival!? Palo Cortado is a wine that “occurs”, rather by accident – you can’t actively produce it and I think that this is the big reason for all the legacy and mistery around it 🙂 That, and the fact that the taste of these product is a combo from all the best from Oloroso and Fino and Amontillado in 1 wine but with more complexity and interesting flavors to discover 🙂 So what’s not to love ?? My personal preference went to the VORS, but the sparkle in the eyes of Gianluca and especially Cesar when sipping of the ’47 bota’ I guess that was their favorite… maybe that it is the difference between pro sommeliers and me an ‘amateur’… I think the 47 bota was to complex and to special for my taste buts… maybe I’ll have to train them some more to refine them like a pro sommelier!

I had a wonderful evening with my 2 dear friend Cesar and Gianluca (and their wives and the little Ignacio (Cesar’s son) who was extreeeeeeemly cute 🙂 ) I learned a lot tonight from you guys and can’t for the next ‘tasting’ event. I became an even bigger Sherry fan as I was before (or maybe I should thank Lustau for that 😉 )

In case you want to know more about sherry in general, as very good website to look on would be sherrynotes. In case you want to know more about Lustau Sherry in Belgium (like where to purchase, etc..) you can contact or pass by my friend of Young Charly as they do the import of Lustau. For the other countries check the Lustau website

Summer in Antwerp

July 6, 2015July 6, 2015 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Last week Belgium was suffering from way to high temperatures (which is unusual) up to 37°C. Believe me when I say it sounds better than it actually was, when it is this hot in Belgium it is not as nice as when you are in some southern Mediterranean village, but rather as dry as a cracker 🙂

With the exception of 1 evening last week were it DID really feel like being in a small southern Mediterranean village!! ALL thanks to Sepideh Sedaghatnia and her restaurant Divin by Sepi. (FYI you might remember her from one of my last posts). Imagine a hot summer night with from time to time a little ‘refreshing’ breeze while the sun slowly goes under, sitting outside with some friends around the dinner table , glasses filled with some bubbles or rosé wine and eating fingerfood …. the definition of a night when you are on holiday right?? I also wasn’t the only one feeling it, as everybody who was at Divin by Sepi Friday night had felt it. Difference with a southern restaurant, that in this case the service was good and very professional 🙂 🙂 , but nevertheless in a loose way.

A very important rule for when you eat at Divin is to relax and enjoy yourself and those are also Sepi’s only rules. I mean there are no obligations ((you do have to pay the bill all you smartypants out there), for example on the menu you have fingerfood and regular dishes, if you only want to go for fingerfood (no matter how many)… you only go for fingerfood, you don’t have to worry that somebody will think lesser of you or looks to you in a strange way :-)… We (me and my friends) are greedy people so we obviously went for both the finger food AND the regular dishes 🙂 (I just followed, I didn’t want to be rude 🙂 🙂 ).

I do like the concept of the fingerfood, which is comparable with tapas you have in Spain. What I liked about Divin’s fingerfood is that you saw influences from all over the Mediterranean that got overlapped with Middle eastern or better Iranian influences (as that is where Sepideh is from) resulting in summer on a plate (and served in a refined way). Maybe it would be easier to tell what fingerfood we didn’t take as we took 90% of the menu 😉 no no, just kidding. The first fingerfood dish was an Iranian wrap with dates, basil and feta (but the Iranian version of Feta). If a non-cheese lover (especially goat or sheep cheeses) like me liked it I mustn’t say more, do I? It is true that the dates in it made a bit sweeter (typical Middle eastern) and maybe that’s what made me love it??

The fingerfoods that followed were Soft shell crab, Kobideh sate, Falafel with tzatziki, a selection of refined meats and as frosting on the cake a Persian Pizza with grilled vegetables and harissa. One better than the other no doubt about that!! They tasted as well as they looked

The eyes are bigger than the stomach, especially when there is nothing in the stomach yet 🙂 I think we had overdone it with the fingerfood. When placing our order with Sepideh everybody decided to take a mean course (for after the fingerfood), the ladies at our table were intelligent enough to go for a fish dish…

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When the men (including me) saw ‘black angus short rib’ they had NO eyes anymore for other dishes… Again I repeat the eyes were bigger than the stomach aka greediness 🙂 Luckily Sepideh double checked with everybody after all the finger food who still up for the main dish. Let’s just say that we men split the meat instead of eating one each 😉 with exception for my buddy Jan who had a whole one for himself. And there’s another example of not having any obligations … in lots of other places they would have just served us everything. So we basically shortend the short rib 🙂

You might have noticed I didn’t speak about wine yet 🙂 and no not because we didn’t have any… We started our evening in a bubbly way with some Belgian bubbles from Ruffus which tasts just like champagne. FYI the reason it tastes like it is because where the grapes are grown, the soil is the same as the one in Champagne (Champagne’s soil ends in the Belgian region where Ruffus is made). That and the knowhow from the people making it 🙂 . If you ever get the chance of drinking it, I strongly advice it!

In my article about Sepideh’s book I said it was a pity there wasn’t a pocket version of the book. Good thing at the restaurant I didn’t need the pocket version as I had the original version 🙂 🙂 Sepideh in person…. I must say that Divin by Sepi has one of the broadest selections of wine I’ve seen in a restaurant. She has great wines from every continent (besides Asia I think) with a representation of a lot of countries of these contents, including the Middle East, Greece, etc.. Probably you’re thinking ‘Freak’ 🙂 “Whatever’ would my response to that be 😉 . The list was also nice a there were lots of wines on their that I’m sure nobody knows or barely know…but that are mind blowing!! For after the bubbles to make us feel even more on holiday Sepi thought a nice rosé by domaine OTT from the Provence would set the mood for with the finger food.

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Followed by a refreshing German 2011 Pinot Noire from August Kesseler. To finish with a 2007 Italian red (it just had to happen one moment or the other) Fumin from Valle d’Aosta for with our Black Angus. This was basically what the doctor ordered 🙂 🙂 We were still in the mood for something else after this, but as we were all parents with a babysitter at home… duty called. One important lesson for next time bring them to the grandparents for a sleepover 😉

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I did it again, I wrote a too long article, but you all know that only means I am very very enthusiastic :-)- Oh sorry I forgot the mention the dessert I’ll just let the picture speak for itself!!

Thank you Sepideh and team for everything!! See you very soon!!

A must have in your book collection

June 15, 2015June 15, 2015 / dolcevitaspinelli / 1 Comment

As some of you might have seen on my facebook, twitter and/or Instagram account, I relaxed during my holidays by reading Sepideh Sedaghatnia’s recently published book about everything that one should know about wine aka ’69 things you always wanted to know about wine’. Sepideh’s aim of the book is to teach people in a pleasant non-boring way everything about wine, from the moment the seeds get planted until it becomes the finished product we all drink and love. I know most books about wine that you see in bookshops are very technical and already by looking at them they don’t really seem like swimming pool/seaside reading material :-). Sepi’s book however attracted me somehow (and not only because of the stunning picture of Sepideh on the cover). It attracted me because after reading the back cover it was clear the book would be strait to the point and everything explained in human language (with only using terminology when needed). In this book you’ll learn about how wines are made, which grape varieties there are (the main ones) and how their variants are called in different countries (you would be surprised how many wines you thought were different grapes that actually aren’t) , and even how best to pair wine with certain dishes where in between all the explanation she also gives 69 tips. Tips like to try instead of a classical French blend, to try maybe the South-African or Italian variant… basically to spice up your life. Although I think there is 1 specific chapter I believe is special for women :-). In this chapter she divides your drinking style according to the type of person you are 🙂 So for example if you are a rock chick or a high end upper East side lady what you’ll be wearing and drinking (so if doesn’t stop with the wine tips 😉 ) I’m not gonna give away everything, but I’m sure the ladies will love this part of the book (on top of all the other great stuff that is 🙂

The only ‘minor’ point is that there isn’t a pocket version the book or at from the tips, because they might come in handy next time I’m in a restaurant to decide what to drink 🙂 But besides that I’m a big fan of the book and I can only advice everybody to read it and learn that wine is FUN in every sense of the word.

For the moment the book is only available in Dutch, but I’m sure the book will sell that well they’ll have to publish translations 🙂 (available in the better bookshops or via Sepideh’s website Sepideh

Cheers!

Copa Jerez

May 15, 2015 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Everybody knows the prestigious culinary competition ‘Bocuse d’Or’, where countries from all over the world send their best team to represent their country with pride. A competition as prestigious you might not have heard from as much is the ‘Copa Jerez ‘. The ‘Copa Jerez’ is more or less the same principal with the exception that in this case a team consists of a sommelier and chef that have to create a 3 course meal paired with Sherry wine. BTW for those of you who don’t know sherry there are many typs of Sherry Dry sherry’s (Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado, Oloroso o Palo Cortado), sweet sherry’s (Moscatel o Pedro Ximénez) and semi-sweet (Cream, Medium y Pale Cream). You can read more about it on one of my blogposts 😉 (The blogpost). I fully support this contest!! First of all because ever-since my visit to Jerez or better to the Bodega of Tio pepe I became an enormous fan/lover of Sherry wines. Secondly the team representing Belgium this year are very dear to me 🙂 . Starting with the (TOP) Sommelier representing the Belgian colours this year is no-one less than Comme Chez Soi’s Cesar Roman (who originates from Spain). Cesar will be assisted by a chef who always puts a smile on my face when he serves me his food, Nico Corbesier (Les Eleveurs). A young dynamic team with a winners attitude that don’t take satisfaction with a second place 🙂

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I even support them sooo much that I (together with a few sommeliers and chefs) went to help/advice them on the dishes and their accompanying sherry’s. Before our commends and advice it was pretty clear this year’s team is a winning team, so you can imagine how it is after the advice 🙂 🙂 On the picture below you see a small assortment of the big assortment we (had – and what a sacrifice it was) to try to help our friends for the competition… talking about friendship 😉

I did take pictures of the dishes they will be serving, but I think it is better not to share them… that would only give the competitors the change to steal ideas. What I can say is that the dishes are a good mix of Spanish and Belgian influences and products they are proud of…

Join me and support the Belgian team by liking their facebook page!! I will keep you posted on how they did, but every facebook like will give them an extra reason to win.

2014 Best Belgian Sommeliers Trophy

October 14, 2014October 16, 2014 / dolcevitaspinelli / 3 Comments

Wine has now more than ever become such a great deal of my life and I keep learning every day. Watching this year’s finals of the Best Belgian Sommelier competition made me realise there is still a very long way if I ever want to be as good as the finalists :-). What made this year’s final extra special is that for the first time the “Belgische Sommeliers Gilde”, “Prosper Montagé” and “VVS” have joined their forces in organising 1 collective competition (instead of all separate contests).

Every year again I am surprised how tough the finals of the Trophy of Belgian Sommelier is. Lots of people despise it a bit and don’t get the whole sommelier thing or the importance of it. Trust me when I say a good sommelier who knows what he’s talking about and how things should be done is a world of difference with one who doesn’t! During a dinner for example. I dear you to check it next few times you go out for dinner or lunch and after a while you’ll know what we’re talking about and their importance of making your food experience more complete! Another possibility would be to come and see the 2015 finals as they are open for everybody to come and see. You’ll be surprised of the level these guys work at. before I continue I must introduce this year’s victims 🙂 🙂 : Benoît Couderé (Karmeliet), Antoine Lehebel ( Villa Lorraine) and Jasper Van Papeghem ( Hostellerie L’ Esco )

Some parts of the competition might seem simple, but they’re not. What first of all makes it so difficult is that there are so many different types of wine from so many countries each having their uniqueness but also similarities.Also there some ways/ rules on how bottles should be opened, decanted and served… On top of that all stages of the competition are to be done in certain amount of time going from 3 to 15 minutes. The first “test” is for example a very good example of seeming simple… Just like last year the finalist had to serve according to the rules of the art a particular bottle of J.L Telmont champagne. So far nothing special might think, which is true if it weren’t for the fact the finalist has to explain what is special about the champagne he is serving, taking into account that the oldest person at the table is celebrating its birthday and that all of a sudden somebody from the public joins the table and asks a Belgian beer (and yes here again the finalist has to tell something about)… still taking into account he only has I think it was 10-15minutes (not sure anymore) to fulfill this task and there is a whole room full of top sommeliers, journalists and “regular” people watching your every move .

The most difficult part according to most spectators was where the finalist has to make corrections to a wine list. The errors on the wine list can be grammatical, a wine being in the wrong section of the menu, as well as that for example there is written a wine is Millésime but according to the other specifications it is not possible this wine is a Millésime. Me personally I always find the most difficult part the tasting and recognizing wines or alcoholic drinks… where they have to tell as much as possible about what they taste, like country, grapes, vintage, etc… knowing they (the jury) try everything to confuse the finalist by for example serving the drink in a black tinted glass. FYI the whole completion gets followed by a bailiff to make sure every happens correct and that all 3 finalist get treated in exactly the same way. Also the jury judging the finalist exists out of a international group of people of Top Sommeliers, Top wine journalists (no, not talking about myself ;-), but about somebody like Fiona Morrison for example). After all 3 participants did their thing the answers are show, this sometimes gives big surprises.

Again, I think I still have to learn a loooooooot before I could ever participate or to maybe even get close to level of the participants. This year’s winner was Antoine Lehebel ( Villa Lorraine)!!!! Last year he was 2^nd and before the start already a favorite. All 3 participants were very good, but Antoine gave the most correct answers and seemed the most fluent of all 3. Congratulations to Antoine! I must admit I was jealous about all the gifts he got :-). Another advantage of the joined forces of the organizers of the contest is that the winner gets even more gifts than last year 🙂 I hope to see you guys next year to get a new view on the world of sommeliers!

More about the celebration of the victory in my next post …

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