QUEEN OLGA OF CHINON

I was sitting in a small restaurant in the Loire Valley last year and ordered a bottle of wine off the menu that was just labelled  "Chinon".   It turned out to be a Baudry-Dutour Chateau La Grille 2005 and it was stunning.  This inspired me to hold a Chinon evening for Tongham Tasters and when I found a wine retailer selling different years of one of Olga Raffault’s cuveés it turned into a vertical tasting – a tasting of the same wine from different years.

Chinon is a town in the Touraine region within the Loire Valley.   It stands on the River Vienne and most of the vineyards occupy a triangle bordered on two sides by the Vienne and the Loire.  Some of the best wine comes from around Cravant which is east of the town of Chinon where there is the limestone tufa that produces the heavier age-worthy wines.   Near the rivers are the sandy gravelly soils that produce the lighter fruitier wines for drinking young.  Most of Chinon is dedicated to Cabernet Franc, which they turn into red wines or occasionally rosé.  Many of the good growers are organic or biodynamic. A little Chenin Blanc is grown to produce white wine.   Similar red wines to those of Chinon are grown to the north of the Loire river in Bourgeuil and Saint Nicolas de Bourgeuil.   Although most Chinon is produced to be drunk young many are capable of lasting for many years.  However, some hold the view that Chinons do not improve with age.  As we were trying some from 1990 and 1998, would we agree?

Some vineyards in Chinon as seen from the castle

The red wines of Chinon typically taste of raspberry, pencil lead and tobacco leaf.  Sometimes you also get a barnyard taste that is often referred to as “bretty”.  This is caused by the presence of a yeast called brettanomyces.  Some like the complexity caused by the presence of this yeast whilst others regard it as spoiling the fruitiness of the wine and view it as contamination.  What would our tasting team think?

Chatting before the serious tasting begins

Tonight we did not taste the wines blind and tasted in order of age with the youngest wines coming first.  In all we tasted eight vintages with three of these being of the same cuveé and thus our first true vertical tasting.  The wines below are presented in descending order of preference.   Scores are out of twenty and are presented in the order of John E, Steve S, Sheila, Clive, Sarah, Ian, Kathryn and John S.  Jane and Yvonne also attended but did not complete their sheets for all the wines.

Gouda, Brie and Goats cheese with figs - an excellent cheese board

Lovely Ham & leek tarts

We tasted the wines with food varying from duck spring rolls, ham and cheese tarts and bread and cheese.  The ham and leek tarts were particularly delicious and were made by Chris who couldn’t attend at the last moment – we missed you Chris and Andy but thanks for the cooking Chris.  Cheese was provided by Clive from Secrett’s farm shop and was delicious and the bread was from the excellent Tongham bakers shop.  At the end we had some of Ian’s lovely homemade raspberry icecream (from homegrown raspberrys) served with Jane’s homemade almond butter and apple cookies.  Jane also made some “raw food” red pepper and flax seed crackers that I really liked (try her excellent whyisthereair website for her recipes using a Thermomix).

Clive taking the photos

In order to taste all of the wines in top condition, I decanted each wine into a clean jug, thus eliminating any deposits or sediment, and then poured it vigorously into another clean jug to aerate.   Finally, I cleaned each bottle and poured back each wine into its respective original bottle.  This system seemed to work well as all wines were quite open and we avoided any sediment in the glass from the older wines.  It also ensured that the oak and fruit were well integrated and eliminated some of the barnyard smells but also perhaps took away some raspberry aromas that I admired as I was aerating them. The 2011 was served chilled and the 2005 slightly chilled. 

1. Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses 1998, French Red, 12.5%, RandB Wines £12.00

With half our tasting team voting this their favourite wine of the evening, this was a fairly clear winner.  There was, however, one dissenter who voted it last.  The reason it came first was that it was complex, had lots of oak and good acidity and great length.  It was quite light in colour and had a taste of boiled sweets to some of us.  Scores were 16.5, 17.25, 12, 19, 12, 17, 13 and 17.  I look forward to enjoying the other two bottles I have of this vintage!  Great value wine at £12.00.  Olga Raffault's wines truly are the Queens of Chinon.

2. Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses 1990, French Red, 12.5%, RandB Wines £25.00

Our oldest wine of the evening this tasted very similar to the 1998 but was just shaded into second place as it got just two votes as the top wine.  Almost everyone had it in their top three. This perhaps had slightly more of a barnyard hint to it than the 1998 and there was the usual graphite and oak.  It still looked relatively young and belied its 22 years.  Scores were 16, 16, 10, 18, 10, 17.5, 14 and 15.

3. Pierre-Jacques Druet Chinon Clos de Danzay 2001, French Red, 12.5%, Majestic £9.99 if you buy two or £11.99 if you buy one.

With two top votes and most putting it in their top half of the wines tasted this wine came closest to challenging Olga Raffault.  Pierre-Jacques Druet is actually a top wine maker in neighbouring Bourgeuil but has this parcel of land on the right bank of the Vienne river in Beaumont en Veron.  This wine had a strawberry fruitiness mixed in with some oak and very little if any barnyard.  It was still red with a faint brown tinge.  Scores were 15, 13.75, 11, 17, 14, 14.5, 14 and 14.5.  Well worth a trip to Majestic to get some more of this.

4. Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses 2002, French Red ,12.5%, RandB Wines £14.00

Half our team voted this as their third favourite wine of the night.  This was a good wine with a nice taste of vanilla from the oak and some barnyard as we found in all of the Olga Raffault wines.  Scores were 14.75, 14.5, 9, 17, 13, 10.5, 12 and 14.

5. Olga Raffault Chinon Les Barnabes 2005, French Red, 13.5%, RandB Wines £7.00

This wine was almost total barnyard in terms of nose and taste but most of our team still enjoyed it.  It is the antithesis of a fruit driven wine and this is a wine you will either love of hate.  Five had it in their bottom four and the other five had it in their top four wines.  Scores were 12.5, 14.75, 9.5, 17, 12, 15, 12 and 13.5.   This is a wine from Savigny en Veron on sand and gravel soils. Not a wine for the New World lovers and suits chilling a little but good value if you like this type of wine.

6. Couly-Dutheil Chinon La Closerie 2008, French Red, 13%, Laithwaites £11.49

Nobody had this wine in their top half of the rankings but nobody put in last place either.  Comments on the nose included compost and liquorice with some vanilla.   It was still young enough to have a purple red colour.  Scores were 13, 13.5, 8.5, 13, 10, 12.5, 12 and 12.5.

7. Wilfrid Rousse Chinon Cuvee Terroir 2009, French Red, 12.5%, Stone Vine and Sun £11.95

This purple coloured wine comes from a good year and was richer than the other wine from Wilfrid Rousse but still quite thin. It was a nice fruity wine.  One person had it in their top three but most had it sixth or seventh.  Scores were 12.5, 13, 9, 12, 12, 13.5, 10 and13.  This wine has been a gold medal winner but didn’t over impress on our night against top competition.

8. Wilfrid Rousse Chinon Les Galuches 2011, French Red, 12.5%, Stone Vine and Sun £10.95

Six of our team had this in last place but it was actually a light and nice wine with good hints of raspberry.  This is certainly a good wine to pair with goat’s cheese.  Scores were 11.5, 11, 8, 15, 9, 13.5, 9 and 9.   Disappointing to find this excellent producer at the bottom, I’ll have to find an excuse to serve his top cuvee at another TT evening.

If you are interested in the wines of the Loire Valley, two excellent websites are linked to below:

Richard Kelly

The Wine Doctor

Another appellation uncorked by Tongham Tasters

This was an interesting evening’s tasting.  You can see from the results that there is a surprising correlation between the age of the wine and its placing; we seemed to enjoy the older wines and perhaps this means that Chinon does improve with age, although there were no noticeable tannins to soften over the years.  Another theory was that we served the older wines with cheese and this was a better match.   You don’t tend to find good Chinon on the supermarket shelves but there are many good on line and specialist retailers waiting to sell you a good bottle.  On the basis of this tasting we should be drinking them more. They are great food wines and relatively low in alcohol compared to those from further south.

Thanks to the catering team and Kathryn for organising them so well.  Thanks to everyone who came and made for another excellent Friday night both in terms of appreciating the wine and the sparkling conversation and bad jokes!

Tongham Taster passing a bottle of Olga Raffault to the other tasters

Our next outing is to Farnborough in December for our Christmas party that Ian and Kathryn are organising.  They promise to serve us seven or eight drinks that represent Christmas from around the World.  Should be fun and we will be taking a taxi from Tongham if you want to join us.  It is at 8pm on Friday December 14^th.  Give John a call on 07717 876743 or email tonghamtaster@gmail.com if you want to join us.  Our events are a good way of tasting wines you might never otherwise taste (such as a 1983 Chablis or a 1990 Chinon for instance) and getting an understanding that you can’t get by reading or tasting alone (this evening we all got to understand what “Bretty” meant for instance and whether we liked it or not).  We welcome newcomers so give us a call and join our tasting team.

We return to Tongham in the New Year for Clive's Sauvignon Blancs from around the World - a must for white wine lovers on Friday January 11th at 8pm in Poyle Road.

Further details of our fun wine tasting events can be found by clicking on wine circle at the top of this post.

Tonight's wines all came from specialist wine retailers rather than supermarkets - its a good way to buy wines, you get god advice, an interesting choice and often great value!   I really like Stone Vine and Sun in Twyford - they have an interesting selection of wines especially from the Rhone Valley and Languedoc.  A really different light and fruity Rhone wine is their 2011 Cuvee des Galets at just under £8.  They have some interesting Bordeaux, Faugeres and Minervois as well.  RandB wines also has some interesting wines especially if you like some older vintages.

Thanks to Clive for his excellent photos of the evening as usual.  Here are his photos of some of our tasters and their different pouring styles!

Keep smiling and we'll see you all again soon!

SPAIN - 3, MALTA – 0

Another happy TT evening!

This August, Chris and Andy were hosting one of our tasting evenings for the first time and welcomed a good attendance of eleven of us, to taste some Spanish and Chardonnay wines as well as a surprise sixth bottle.  Chris had chosen most of the wines as she doesn’t generally like Spanish and Chardonnay wines but had thought with our budget she could choose some which she might appreciate more.  These wines had come from Great Western Wine.co.uk as she had enjoyed their Blanquette de Limoux we had served at our Tongham Village Hall Mediterranean Wine Tasting Dinner. The surprise sixth wine was a gift from her daughter who had been on holiday to Malta.

Would the Medina match the meatballs?

How much would Chris and the rest of us appreciate these wines?  Find out below with the wines presented in descending order of preference.   Scores are out of twenty and are shown in the order John E, Jane, Ian, Kathryn, Clive, Sheila, John S, Jill, Andy, Chris and Sarah.   As usual, we blind tasted all of the wines.

1. Vallobero Pago Malarina Rioja 2010, Spanish Red 13.5%, Great Western Wine £9.30.
Our most popular wine of the evening got five top votes and three runner-up positions.  A relatively modern style Rioja we didn’t guess where it came from with Languedoc being amongst the guesses.  The main grape variety was Tempranilla and it had a fruity kick.   The score were 11, 18, 14.5, 13, 16, 12, 13, 12, 11.5, 17 and 14.  A very smooth easy drinking red.

Detail from the Albarino label

2. Eidosela Albarino Rias Baixas 2011, Spanish White 13%, Great Western Wine £9.95.
Some of us at least managed to get this as an Albarino as it had the classic fruit salad flavours and a very slight sherbet fizz. It had support from the white wine lovers in the room and got four top votes and three runner-up spots.  The scores were  12-, 12, 10.5, 18, 16, 10, 10, 12.5, 12.5, 15 and 15.5.  A pleasant summery white wine.

3. El Mago Organic Garnacha 2011, Spanish Red 14%, Great Western Wine £8.95.

Two of us, including myself, thought this the top wine of the evening and a further six had it in their top three.  It certainly had us guessing a Spanish wine but nobody got the Garnacha.  It was very smooth with a cherry taste.   The scores were 12+, 13, 11.5, 14.5, 16, 11, 12, 10, 13.5, 11.5 and 12.75.  A smooth red that would pair well with most food.

4. Leyda Chardonnay Reserva Leyda Valley 2011, Chilean White 14%, Great Western Wine £8.50.
I gave this wine the runner up position but only three others had it in their top three.  Chardonnays tend not to do well in out tastings even if some of us wondered if this was a Sauvignon Blanc as it had a good level of acidity.  However, the creaminess should have told us that this was a Chardonnay.  Some found it slightly metallic. It certainly had the forwardness of a New World wine.   Scores were 12, 10, 9.5, 14.75, 10, 7, 11.5, 10.5, 12, 13 and 10.5.   A very pleasant Chilean Chardonnay.

5. Domaine Rives-Blanques Chardonnay Chenin Haute Vallee de l’Aude 2011, French White 13.5%, Great Western Wine £8.95.
A Chardonnay blend from the South of France, this wine got three top three votes and it had some sweetness on the palate that led some to believe it might be a Pinot Grigio but others were guessing Chenin Blanc which was about 10% of the blend.  Scores were 10, 10, 9.5, 16.5, 14, 7.5, 11, 11, 10.5, 12 and 9.5.   Our white wine fan liked this one.

6.  Medina Sangiovese Delicata 2010, Maltese Islands Red, purchased in country.

The joker in the pack, nobody guessed this was from Malta or that it was Sangiovese.  Most of us thought it tasted like an old wine that was past its best.  Nine of us voted it as there worst wine of the evening, but it did have one supporter in Jane.  Scores were 9, 16, 6.5, 10, 14, 6, 6, 6.5, 7.5, 9.5 and 7.75.  Probably, quite pleasant when drunk in Malta in a sunny café with some local food.

So the Spanish wines came out easily on top, securing the first three places, the Chardonnays didn't fare that well and Malta came firmly last.

Chris's lovely Goat's Cheese and Caramelised Onion Onions

Chris, as well as providing us with some interesting wines, served us some excellent food with her Goats Cheese and Caramelised Red Onion Tarts easily the evening’s favourite.  We also had some meatballs, Spanish ham and cheese croquettes and risotto.  Another typical and excellent Tongham Tasters’ evening and well worth making the trip to neighbouring Farnborough!   Well done Chris!

Jane back from diet

We have some rather exciting evenings  in the next four months between now and Christmas with our Chablis and Chinon events designed to take our regulars wine knowledge a step further.
In September, Jane and myself will be hosting “Chablis Uncorked” an excursion through the wines of Chablis from Petit Chablis to Grand Cru Chablis with some old and rare wines in between and a little gourmet bite to accompany each glass. This will be one of our high budget evenings but we expect a big crowd to help share the cost.   This evening will be in Grange Road, Tongham from 8pm on Saturday 22nd September.  Maybe our Chablis evening will make some of our group Chardonnay lovers at last.
In October, Steve will be back from a tour of France and will be presenting us wines from “Six French Wine Regions”.  This evening will take place in The Street, Tongham at 8pm on Friday 5th October.   As an aside, Steve who is our resident expert in all things Languedoc, recommends the following website http://www.tastelanguedoc.blogspot.co.uk.
Also in October we have our  “Andean Adventure”, an Argentinian and Chilean wine tasting dinner in Tongham Village Hall.   This will be at 7pm on Saturday 13th October.
In November, I will be presenting our very first vertical wine tasting with six Cabernet Franc red wines from three top producers in Chinon from six different years between 1990 and 2008.  It will include one producer’s top cuvee from three different years. Our “Chinon Vertical Take-Off” will be on Friday 9th November at 8pm in Grange Road, Tongham and will have a slightly higher budget than normal.   I hope it will turn you into fans of Chinon, which is something I have been for some time now.

The vineyards near Chinon castle, the subject of our Vertical tasting

Sarah, Chris and Kathryn chat

In December we will be having our Tongham Tasters’ Christmas Party and we will probably have everyone bring some Christmas “booze” which for once needn’t be wine and some nibble to accompany it.  I expect we will have some competitive element to see who comes along with something that best represents the spirit of Christmas from somewhere around the World.   This is provisionally set for Friday December 14th with the venue in Farnborough and with Ian and Kathryn hosting.

Well done Chris!

We welcome newcomers to our little tasting group, so if you want to join in one of our exciting upcoming events, ring John on 07717 876743 or email John at tonghamtaster@gmail.com.   We normally all put £10 in to the kitty at each of our events and this pays the cost of the food and wine.   For our big budget events the cost can be a little more (up to £25) but for regular attendees the cost still averages out to £10 per evening including all food and wine.  Sociable wine enthusiasts from beginners to experts are most welcome.  Blind tasting is fun and helps you lose any misconceptions you might have about certain wines, so give it a go.

If I look at this wine close enough will I be able to guess what it is?

Butternut Squash Risotto

Spanish Ham and Cheese Croquettes

Chablis is the subject of our next tasting in September

For more pictures of Chablis and some short notes on the town and appellation click here to help you get in the spirit for our next tasting evening.

Cheerio until next month!

 Thanks as usual to Clive for many of the better photos accompanying this post (for those of you who don't know Clive, he is the one missing from the above photos!)

TonghamTaster’s French Wine Tasting Course – week 7 - Loire Cabernet Franc Reds

The 12 month on-line course to help you learn about French wines - Top tips on how to get value when buying them - Reasonably priced up-to-date recommendations of what to buy and try in the UK - Bringing you the best of Tongham Village Hall wine tastings.

INTRODUCTION

The Chateau at Azay-Le-Rideau

 Apart from its beautiful Chateaux, the Loire Valley is, perhaps, best known for its white wines; the Muscadets, the Vouvrays, the Sancerres and Pouilly Fumés etc. So its hidden gems, which are must less known in the UK, are the red wines which we will discover this week.

LOCALITY
The best area for growing red wine grapes in the Loire is arguably the area around Chinon and Bourgueil. These are the Cabernet Franc growing areas. Red wines are also grown further up the Loire around Sancerre and Menetou-Salon but here they use Pinot Noir as in Burgundy. There are other red wine areas and red grapes grown in the Loire but we can on the whole ignore them as we either don’t see them often in the UK or they are frankly not very good.

VARIETALS
The top red grape grown around Saumur, Bourgueil and Chinon is the Cabernet Franc Grape. Here it normally is used in single varietal wines where as in Bordeaux it is used just as part of a blend.
As mentioned above, the Pinot Noir grape is used around the upper Loire.
Malbec, often called Cot locally, and Gamay are also popular grapes grown in the region but don’t often produce wines of distinction.

Vineyards and Chinon Castle

THE WINES
When I lived in France I was often surprised to find that the red wines of Chinon, Bourgueil and St Nicolas de Bourgueil were the favourite wines of friends and colleagues. I also found them very popular in the bars and restaurants of Paris where I lived. This surprised me as I had hardly come across them in the UK. These 3 AOCs  are amongst the best expressions of the Cabernet Franc grape in the world. However, you will also find Cabernet-Franc in the Saumur and Anjou AOCs. Be aware that the Anjou wines may contain grapes other than Cabernet Franc.

Drink always and you'll never die!

I have spent much of the last ten years visiting, for business, Bourges, which is very close to the wine areas of Sancerre, Menetou-Salon and Reuilly. Here they grow Pinot Noir for their red wines. They are too light for most English tastes but I have grown to appreciate them. For reds I would recommend Vincent Pinard and Alphonse Mellot in Sancerre and Domaine Philippe Gilbert in Menetou Salon. However, you will probably need to visit the area to obtain them.  They are also becoming quite expensive so you might wish to consider a less expensive AOC such as Reuilly - Domaine Pascal Desroches is great value in this appellation.  2009 is a good year for Loire Pinot Noirs so do consider them.

THE TASTE
When grown in the Loire, the Cabernet Franc grape imparts a leafy, raspberry flavour to the wine often tinged with tobacco and pencil lead. It is these last two flavours that make the wines of Chinon and Bourgueil a favourite of mine.

When Pinot Noir is grown in the Loire Valley it tends to produce a lighter more delicate wine than when grown in Burgundy, a bit like an Irancy.

TOP TIPS
• The wines of the Loire are good summer reds and are pleasant chilled. When chilled they can often be paired with fish. I tend to like to chill these wines and let them gradually warm up during the meal. This way they often pair well with starter, main and cheese courses.   The fact that they are good chilled means that if you find the wine you buy disappointing then chill it and you might end up pleasantly surprised.
• The Cabernet Franc reds can be good value in France, so don't forget to buy them if visiting the Loire or any French supermarket.

HOMEWORK
For your homework this week you need to buy and try any Loire Cabernet Franc red wine from Chinon, Saumur-Chamipgny, Saumur, Bourgueil or St Nicolas de Bourgueil. You might want to try one of my recommendations below as otherwise they are not easy to find:

Waitrose – Le Paradis Chinon 2009, ESAT Les Chevaux Blanc, 13% - reduced to £6.99 in Farnham but going up again to about £9 on the 15th February.
or, Waitrose – Chinon Les graviers 2009, Complice de Loire, 12.5% - £10.99
Or Laithwaites - Couly Dutheil Chinon La Closerie 2007, about £12.
or if on a budget, Sainsbury’s - Domaine du Colombier Chinon 2003 – about £6
or Waitrose – Les Nivieres Saumur 2009, Cave de Saumur, 12,5% - £7.49
You might also consider a trip down to Les Caves des Pyrenes in Guildford to see their selection (but you need to buy a mixed case of 12 wines).
Normally, also to be found at Majestic but none when I was writing this in early February 2010.

WINE REVIEW
I was lucky enough to find four different Lore Cabernet Franc reds in my local Waitrose this month. On the internet I often read of people saying they can’t get these wines in UK supermarkets – they are looking in the wrong supermarket! Here are my reviews of the four wines I bought and tried:

Waitrose – Les Nivieres Saumur 2009, Cave de Saumur, 12,5% - £7.49.
On the first night I tried this wine I was not impressed. There was some blackcurrant but otherwise it seemed rather bland. I then chilled it down and it was rather good as a chilled red and went well with the Boudin Blanc (a skinless chicken sausage to the uninitiated) and the steamed lemon grass sea bass. There was some left over and after a day, even when at room temperature, it had gained the acidity that was lacking in its balance the first night. So this scored somewhere between 11 and 13 out of 20.

Waitrose – Chinon Les graviers 2009, Complice de Loire, 12.5% - £10.99

This wine was much more what I was looking for, but rather pricey. I enjoyed this one straight away. It has a nice acidic balance and even that pencil lead or slateyness that I love. It has the lightness one would expect and a pleasant softness. Rather nice! This we had with a grilled sirloin steak and it would go with any simply grilled meat or chicken. I scored this wine 14+ out of 20. The store led me to believe this is new to the Waitrose range – a welcome addition I would say. Look out for this when they are doing their 25% discounts.

Waitrose – Domaine De La Croix De Chaintres 2008, Saumur Champigny, 12.5% - £10.49
Another wine that was rather disappointing for the price. Very soft and light with reasonable flavour but no real wow factor. I scored this 13.5 out of 20.

Waitrose – Le Paradis Chinon 2009, ESAT Les Chevaux Blanc, 13% - reduced to £6.99
Another nice Chinon and at at this reduced price (down from about £9) rather good value.  A light wine with very good balance and a typical Loire Cabernet Blanc taste.   I scored this 14+ out of 20.  Probably my recommendation to buy out of the four wines.  Rather an ethical wine as well. as this is part of the ESAT scheme that enables disabled people to get work in local industry.  From the Waitrose website I note that this is a cooperative wine made by a New Zealand winemaker trying to create a fruitier style of Chinon - it works for me.

FOOD PAIRINGS
Cabernet Franc is generally quite an all-rounder.
A good cheese wine, particularly hard cheeses.
As a relatively light wine it goes well with chicken and sometimes even fish.
It will also pair well with any simple grilled red meat. Not enough flavour to stand up to strong sauces.
Loire Pinot Noir is light and thus suits chicken and pork dishes. Chilled this will also match some fish dishes, especially salmon.


COMING SOON
Next week we continue our wine tour of the Loire Valley and discover the great Chenin Blanc whites and sparkling wines of Vouvray and surrounds.

If you missed the early weeks of this course, which covered Bordeaux and Muscadet, it is not too late to catch up.  Just click on French Wine Course at the top of this blog for easy links.

Recipe for Mushrooms Feuilleté

(2 large starter servings or 2 light lunch servings)


We were surprised how many of you really enjoyed the mushrooms at the Champagne Gala Fundraising Dinner this September at Tongham Village Hall. In the absence of Jane sharing her recipe at present, here is a recipe I did one Valentine’s Day for Jane – it was very good, even though I say that myself. It is a good way of using up any left-over puff pastry. I was once a vegetarian and this developed my love of mushrooms and cooking them. This recipe shows you how to properly twice cook mushrooms and how to make a nice mushroom stock and also a mushroom sauce without cream. Credit must go to Paul Gayler whose excellent Vegetarian Cookbook taught me how to make a good mushroom stock; the version below is simplified a little. Also mention must go to Patricia Wells and her wonderful Paris Cookbook that first taught me the proper way to twice cook mushrooms à la Frederic Anton.

Shopping List
400g of Cheap Basic Mushrooms
2 Shallots or 1 medium onion
2 Tomatoes
1 large clove Garlic
1 bunch Parsley (preferably Flat Leaf)
Ready Made Puff Pastry
250g Chestnut Mushrooms
2 large knobs of butter

Store Cupboard Ingredients required (Check before you go shopping!)
Olive Oil
Tomato Puree
Soy Sauce
Salt & pepper

Step 1 – Make the stock for the sauce (this can be done the previous night if preferred)

Take 400g of cheap basic mushrooms and roughly chop.

Chop 2 shallots or one medium onion finely.

Peel and chop 1 large clove of garlic.

Roughly chop 2 tomatoes.

Cut the stalks off of a bunch of parsley and then chop the stalks.

Add one tablespoon of Olive Oil into a very large saucepan and bring to medium heat.

Add the chopped shallot and garlic and sweat for a few minutes until soft, without browning.

Add the 400g of chopped mushrooms, bring up the heat, and stir until they have gone brown and released their liquid.

Add the chopped tomatoes and a squeeze of tomato puree and the chopped parsley stalks.

Add a pint of water and turn up the heat.

Bring to a rolling boil and continue boiling for 25 to 30 minutes (it depends on the pan) until well reduced (it needs to taste quite concentrated).

Add 2 good slugs of soy sauce and stir.

Taste and season with salt, pepper and soy sauce as required.

Sieve the stock into another saucepan, pressing down in the sieve to ensure you get all of the good stock out of the vegetables and let cool. The contents of the sieve can be discarded as all the flavours have been cooked out. You will need the stock in Step 4.

Step 2 – Making the “Feuilleté”

Roll out the ready-made puff pastry.

Cut out 2 three-inch squares. Other shapes such as triangles or circles also work well. Make a smaller square, not cut all the way through, in each pastry square, to form a border.

Bake in the oven according to the instructions on the packet.

Step 3 – Prepare the Mushrooms and Herbs.

Take most of the parsley leaves, leaving a few whole to decorate the plate later, and chop (not too finely). Reserve until step 5.

Take 250g of Chestnut Mushrooms and thinly slice.

Fry the mushrooms in a little olive oil until they begin to lose most of their liquid.

Put to one side.

Step 4 – Prepare the Sauce

Take the stock you prepared earlier and heat in a small saucepan to just below boiling and then stir in a knob of butter; continue to stir until you have a shiny rich sauce. Taste and add seasoning if required.

Step 5 – Finish Cooking the Mushrooms.

Add a knob of butter to a frying pan and bring up to a reasonably high heat.

Add the mushrooms and stir whilst cooking for about 2 minutes.

At the end, stir in the chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Step 6 – Plating Up.

Put the mushrooms on each plate.

Add some sauce to the mushrooms.

Place the puff pastry delicately on top.

Decorate with some whole parsley leaves.

Serve and enjoy!

Alternative serving suggestion - If you’re not a fan of puff pastry, serve on some toasted brioche or other toasted bread. If not a fan of Parsley then try Tarragon or Chervil. At this time of the year you could substitute any Wild Mushrooms for the Chestnut Mushrooms. If you have other mushrooms such as Shitake or Portabello use can these in the stock; they add more flavour but make it more expensive.

Wine Pairing – This goes very nicely with a Blanc de Noirs Champagne. Otherwise try a Pinot Noir (e.g. Burgundy, Oregon or New Zealand) or a Cabernet Franc (e.g. a Chinon or Bourgueil from the Loire). If you are a confirmed white wine drinker, try a Chardonnay.