Raising a glass with David
IT NEVER came to pass that David Blunkett recanted his comments on the front of house standards of Sheffield restaurants.
Yet there was no question as to whether the appropriate glassware was to hand. It covered a whole table.
What David Blunkett did enjoy, along with myself, was three of Sheffield's great wine connoisseurs vying with each other to show off some of the wines that they love.
The venue was West 10, Ranmoor domain of Jonnie Higginbottom, and Jonty Cork, West 10's chef, showed why Jonnie has genuine aspirations to have one of Sheffield's serious restaurants.
At the table, bending the avuncular ear of Mr Blunkett, were John Mitchell, wine merchant and wholesaler to many a Sheffield restaurant, and Gian Bohan, co-owner of Nonna's and Sheffield's leading authority on Italian wine. And, of course, the irrepressible Mr Higginbottom.
I had asked the sipperati to bring along a few bottles of wine that they love and to tell us why.
For an aperitif John automatically upped the ante by producing a bottle of Moet and Chandon Cuvee Dom Perignon 1983. This proves to be a toasty, yeasty and intricately nuanced champagne that sets the conversation flowing. It was spectacular; I can still taste it a week on.
John explains that his particular affinity for Dom Perignon comes from his mother. Her birthday fell on Christmas Day and John's father, Dennis, who set up the family wine business within his butchers shop way back in the 1960s, always toasted this doubly momentous occasion with Dom Perignon.
They were probably the only people in Sheffield who knew what Dom Perignon was at that time, beyond a visiting Duke of Devonshire.
What does it cost? I didn't dare ask, bottles like these are pulled out of cellars covered in dust, not sold in shops as we know them.
David, who does not drink champagne, nor any fizzy drinks, had a glass of the limey, lengthy and fresh Lengs and Cooter Riesling 2007 as an aperitif. This was my rather more modest contribution to the evening's vinous entertainment and was partly chosen with an ironic eye, as Leng was the surname of a famous editor of The Sheffield Telegraph in the late 19th century who also was the major cheerleader of the local Conservative Party.
Sheffield historian Helen Mathers even suggested that it was Leng and "the electorally helpful connection between Conservatism and the drink interest" that kept the Conservatives in power until 1901 when they were swept away by the temperance-dominated Liberals. That's how to do it Mr Clegg, take up Methodism.
Jonnie Higginbottom is a man of classic tastes. He offered up a Vergelegen Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa, an impeccably well-mannered New World take on Sancerre. This was his summer on the terrace at West Ten bottle, sunshine in a glass and was awash with memories of a recent holiday in South Africa when Jonnie took time out to visit the Vergelegen vineyards.
I now harbour a dream to be accidentally locked in Gian Bohan's cellar if it contains wines like the Domenica Clerico Percristina Barolo 1999. We all cooed over this dark, somewhat brooding monster of a wine underpinned with spice, tobacco and tart berry fruits.
However, Gian also bought along the Capatosta Poggioargentier Morelli di Scansano Vendemmia 2005, a wine he discovered in a restaurant in Tuscany. It is a bright, cherry-flavoured, fresh red from just south of Pisa, yours for a mere 8 at Nonna’s Hickmott Road Deli. I went in and bought a couple of bottles the next day.
Jonnie offered up a bottle of Chateau Cissac 1997, Haut Medoc, a classic claret, measured, slightly austere, full-bodied and, at 30 a bottle in Trippets Wine Bar in town, surprisingly good value considering its pedigree and perfect bottle age.
John Mitchell rapped things up as he had started, spectacularly, with a youthful bottle of Louis Latour, Chateau Grancy Corton 2002 (38 Mitchells Wines). If you are in the market for sublime Burgundy with silky tannins, a delicate palate of strawberry and a legendary reputation, then take a deep breath and dig deep, this is the wine for you.
Before you get up in arms at such unabashed hedonism we obviously didn’t drink every last drop. I hope the staff had a good sup of what was left behind.
Furthermore, I can report that David Blunkett’s restraint was notable, as was his measured reiteration of his argument that, with improved investment in training – Wine and Spirit Education Trust courses which Nonna’s, Mitchells, West Ten and Trippets all send their staff on – and a more ambitious aspiration to compete with the best that Europe has to offer can lead to a better eating out experience for folk with all levels of depth of pocket.
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Weather for Sheffield
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
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