Cuvee II
2007 A special blend made exclusively for Merry Widows, by Bernd Heiling with Grüner Veltliner, Sauvignon Blanc, Welschriesling & Chardonnay. It has a fresh green bouquet, as you would expect from the Grüner Veltliner and Sauvignon Blanc, and fruitiness from the Welschriesling. The wine itself is semi-dry, wonderfully crisp and instead of an acidic finish which you can sometimes get with these “green style” wines the use of Chardonnay results in a smooth roundness on the palate leaving you satisfied but happy for more. As is typical of Bernd’s wines, this is perfect by itself or drunk with an afternoon or evening meal. Try with salads, soups, light chicken or fish dishes and in the summer wonderful fresh goat’s cheeses.
750ml - £8.95
500ml - £6.75
250ml - £3.15
Recommended Cheese Pairings
All cheeses have been recommended by Patricia Michelson of La Fromagerie after tasting the Cuvee II
CENDRE DE NIORT Poitou goat
Round thick ash coated cheese with a contrasting brilliant white pate, which is flaky in texture and tastes fresh and herby with a hint of salt.
CHABICHOU Poitou goat
Fresh tasting, soft, yet quite close textured cheese shaped like a gently tapered cylinder. A traditional cheese with a lovely aromatic rind, becoming sweeter and crumblier as it matures and dries out.
TICKLEMORE Totnes Devon goat
Semi-soft natural grey/white moulded wrinkled crust made with unpasteurised goat’s milk using vegetable rennet. The blooms on the crust form naturally during the maturing process and the shape of the cheese comes from the oval basket in which it is formed. The flaky pate has tiny eyelet holes scattered throughout and the taste is fresh, light and gentle. Perfect for cooking as well as part of a cheese board.
VACHERIN DU MONT D’OR Hauts-Daubs cow
The season for the traditionally hand made cheeses (as opposed to the year round factory made ones) is short; they start to trickle in at the beginning of October (although la Fromagerie do not start selling them until the end of October) through to the end of March. However the product is superb with a melting, rich verging on clotted cream taste. The billowy crust is washed pinky peach with an earthy sappy aroma. The bark around the cheese helps to achieve its texture and perfume. They are available in small, medium and large boxes.
Nick's Lovely Chicken Dinner
(serves 2)
Nick's chicken dinner served with Cuvee II is a meal to come home to when your brain becomes slightly addled around midweek. This recipe uses common ingredients that you could easily have waiting for you in the fridge. Follow these simple instructions and reconnect with some of the better things - simple delicious food and great wine. Very important. As soon as you arrive home go straight to the stove and turn the oven to 180c for fan ovens and 200c for others. Also put on a large saucepan of water. You'd better hope the wine is in the fridge!
Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs, skin on please
1 heaped teaspoon ground paprika
2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence
the juice of half a lemon
1 dessertspoon tomato ketchup
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
4 medium potatoes, cleaned and roughly diced, par boiled for 10 mins until softish. Don't throw the hot water away. You will be using it again to boil the vegetables.
Enough washed pac choi to keep the Health Watchdogs happy.
Add the paprika, herbs, lemon juice, ketchup, salt, pepper and a little squirt of olive oil to the chicken and mix around in a small bowl until the chicken is covered.
Bake the chicken, skin side up in the oven for 35-40 mins. Meanwhile season the potatoes with a little salt. Fry in a medium sized non-stick frying pan in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat, stirring frequently.
It doesn't matter if the potatoes are ready before the chicken. They should stay relatively warm somewhere on the stove. Anyway, by now you should have drunk at least 1 glass of wine and be relatively mellow.
A moment before you take the chicken out make sure the water is boiling and dunk in the pac choi for a couple of minutes. Drain and the meal is ready to serve. Make sure you use the lovely juices from the bottom of the baking dish.
Now relax, greet the fresh green bouquet and enjoy this crisp wine with your meal.
Recipe courtesy of Nick Sandler creative chef at Pret a Manger
Cinzia’s Rabbit & Olive Stew
Ingredients:
1 rabbit,
50/100gr olives - taggiasche or belle di cerignola
2 banana shallots
sprig of rosemary
2 bay leaves
sprig of thyme
1 stick celery
2 glasses Cuvee II
100ml chicken stock
extra virgin olive oil
salt, pepper
Clean wash and dry the rabbit, set its liver aside.
Cut rabbit into pieces: 2 front legs, 2 hind legs, 3 saddle pieces.
Fry off 2 shallots finely chopped in some extra virgin olive oil until translucent, add 2 bay leaves, rosemary and thyme as well as a stick of celery finely chopped.
Salt and pepper the rabbit and brown in a separate pan.
Chop the liver and add to shallots, add rabbit and cover with 2 glasses of Cuvee II and 100ml of chicken stock, cook about 1 hour making sure to add more stock if necessary. Sauce should be quite thick.
Halfway through cooking add a handful of taggiasche olives or belle di cerignola according to taste.
Recipe courtesy of Cinzia Ghignoni chef at The York & Albany