To 'Die' For
'Talent is common; perserverance and application are rarer, especially among talented people.'
THE WINE Show experience confirmed that given a gentle prompting, people are riper than ever to investigate dynamic wines... I toasted the final morning of four intensive days with a graceful, mildly effervescent, spirit-quenching Clairette de Die, which ironically majors in Muscat.
The day culminated with more tasting amongst friends at the Waterloo Bar and Kitchen. Whilst this wide, wooden-floored, more or less Italian restaurant is neighbour to the Old Vic, it hasn't fallen into the trap of only providing pre/post theatre banality.
One of my friends is the Sommelier, meaning we were welcome to bring our own bottles.
I was enchanted by my first taste of Irancy. Simonnet-Febvre's '05 comes from outside the often overlooked but impressive town of Auxerre near Chablis. This varietal Pinot Noir (sometimes blended with the local Cesar) was chilled (not killed), carefully structured, with a bright berry, Gamay perfume and plucky but supple tannins. It complemented fried (not died) Halloumi (often the temptation is to cook this hard goats/sheeps cheese too long) within a spinach and mushroom nest. Incidentally, this was echellons improved from the Halloumi Burger taken earlier in the day at the Fine Burger Co., Islington, which resembled griddled dish cloth. A textural assault course.
Small independent, Domaine Bart's '04 Côtes de Beaune followed, from the Southern part of the Côte d'Or, so called because: a). russet tinged vine leaves glow golden when struck by the low Autumn sun; and b). there's gold to be made from the plants upon these limestone hills. This pretty Pinot was succulent, not fully ripe, well-formed, but coy, with Parma Violets and clear character. 
An elegantly shaped bottle of '04 Corbières, Haut-Gléon, which actually smelt of beef stock, mushrooms in gravy, cassis and various ground peppercorns provided an adequately aggressive match for bloodily juicy Chargrilled Rib Eye (blue). 
Yet another '04 followed, a Barbera from Bergaglio. 'Pian del Noce' had the aromatic composition of the deck of a gleaming, recently oiled wooden yacht, with fermenting blueberries alongside. Curious to have this thought considering that the estate is actually about 300M above sea level.
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Recently spied at The Fire Station (pictured), a glasses clink from the Waterloo Bar and Kitchen, Mondavi Fumé Blanc for £52 (RRP £15). Quel ambition!
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