Events at RSJ Restaurant in early 2014

Details of events at the RSJ Restaurant in the first part of 2014 

Italian Sunday Lunches with dynamic Italian cook & food writer, Ursula Ferrigno.

These lunches start at 1.00 pm and you will be welcomed with a glass of wine on arrival.

Sunday 23rd February ‘Truly Italian’ £32.00

Cream of chick pea soup with wild mushrooms with parmesan bread

Freshly made pasta using Italian eggs with ricotta, spinach & herbs, anointed with fine oil

Sarde con finnichio - Sardines with Fennel

Mixed seasonal salad with blood oranges from Sicily

Lemon & Almond tart

Seasonal cheese, mountain honey and fruit

Sunday 30th March  ‘Italian Country Table’  £32.00

Pizette polenta crusted dough topped with Olives, artichokes & peppers

Gnocchi with walnuts & rocket pesto

Fish stew in saffron based broth served with crusty bread

Frisee, black olive &green bean salad

George’s exceptional profiteroles

Specially selected cheese

We have a few places available in the kitchen to learn from Ursula

as well as assisting in the preparation of this food [price £30.00 per head]

•••

Wine Tastings and Dinners [start at 7.15pm]

Monday 10th February   Bourgueil & St. Nicolas de Bourgueil £49.50

We will be tasting wines from a number of vintages going as far back as 1996 and 1989 and will feature growers including Frédéric Mabileau, his father Jean-Paul, Pierre Breton as well as other leading vignerons.

25th anniversary celebration: July 2005
Noël Pinguet (Domaine Huet), Thomas Meunier (Frédéric Mabileau)
Tom King, Frédéric Mabileau, Nigel Wilkinson
Christine and Eric Nicolas (Domaine de Bellivière)   

Monday 17th March RSJ 34th Anniversary Dinner £55.00

It is hard to believe it but RSJ opened in 1980 – where have the years gone? We shall be tasting wines from these four decades to accompany a special dinner to commemorate this anniversary.

To book any of these events please contact:

Tom King on tom.king@rsj.uk.com

RSJ Restaurant

33 Coin Street

London

SE1 9NR

Tel: 020-7928 4554

Monday 30th January: Bourgueil and Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil: wines for the tasting

2011 harvest@La Butte (Jacky Blot) grapes arriving at the sorting table 

Wines to be tasted on Monday evening:

Aperitif:

Crémant de Loire, Domaine de Nerleux

Then to taste:

2010 Chenin des Rouilleres, Frédéric Mabileau, Anjou

2010  'Les Rouilleres', St Nicolas de Bourgueil, Frédéric Mabileau

2008  'La Coudraye', Bourgueil, Yannick Amirault

Starter [to be advised] with:

2009 'La Mine, St Nicolas de Bourgueil , Yannick Amirault

2010 'La Pied de la Butte', Bourgueil, Jacky Blot

Then to taste:

2009 Eclipse, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, Frédéric Mabileau

1989  'Les Perrieres', Bourgueil,  Pierre Breton

Main Course with:

2008 'Le Grand Clos', Bourgueil, Yannick Amirault

 

October 2011: Frédéric Mabileau in his winery with a very young 2011 wine 

Bourgueil and Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil: tasting and dinner – Monday 30th January

Bunch of grapes on roundabout: Bourgueil

Early 2012 at RSJ Restaurant

We kick off our 2012 tasting dinners' programme with a look at the twin appellations of Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil.

This will be an opportunity to taste some really interesting wines from this attractive region of the Loire, including wines from stellar vignerons, Yannick Amirault, Pierre Breton and Frédéric Mabileau who are lifting the winemaking in the region to new heights. Amongst the wines to be tasted will be the 1989 Bourgueil  ‘Les Perrières’  from Pierre Breton as well as other good vintages from the past 20 years.  

Wine tasting with three-course dinner starts 7.15pm. £48.65 per person.

 For reservations please contact Tom King: tom.king@rsj.uk.com

 Tel: 020-7928 4554

RSJ Restaurant

33 Coin Street

London

SE1 9NR

A bottle fountain in the centre of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil 

Touraine East and West – report on tasting

2009 Les Pichiaux, Touraine Sauvignon, Noëlla Morantin 

Monday’s tasting and dinner presented a ‘natural wine’ challenge in the shape of Noëlla Morantin’s 2009 Touraine Sauvignon ‘Les Pichaux’ (£12.95)

Overall the theme was Touraine East and West, although the balance of wines was rather more east (6) to west (3).

2010 Le Clos, Touraine Sauvignon, Domaine du Clos Roussely

The aperitif was Vincent Roussley’s 2010 ‘le Clos’ Sauvignon Blanc (£8.75). This is a modern Touraine Sauvignon with attractive grapefruit and other citric flavours, some palate weight and the quite marked acidity in the finish, which is characteristic of the 2010 vintage. Vincent’s wines continue to be consistently good and offer very fair value.  

Noëlla’s 2009 Sauvignon caused the assembled tasters to lose their bearings with little or none of the stereotypical characteristics of Sauvignon Blanc. Instead ‘Les Pichaux’ has some oxidative and leesy characters from its long fermentation and maturation.  For me Noëlla’s wines fall well within the acceptable side of my continuum of drinkability. However, the vast majority present weren’t convinced.

I kept some of Les Pichaux for a good hour and it certainly changed in the glass with the oxidative character lessening. Instead developing an aroma of bread pudding. I fancy that this may well need to be decanted. Clearly some experimentation is required.

2010 3 Coteaux Chinon Blanc, Baudry-Dutour

Then we moved onto a trio of Chenins. The 2010 screcwapped 3 Coteaux Chinon Blanc (£11.95) from Baudry-Dutour is light and lemony with an austere finish – probably good with shellfish. 

2010 Les Dix Arpents, Domaine de la Taille aux Loups

Jacky and Joëlle Blot’s long and minerally 2010 Les Dix Arpents Montlouis, Domaine de la Taille aux Loups was many people’s favourite white. Although this is the Blots entry level Montlouis it still underlined the quality of the wines they are making.  

2009 Vouvray Champalou

The 2009 Vouvray Sec from Domaine Champalou (£11.95) was the richest of the whites tasted showing the fuller character of the 2009 vintage and also doubtless having a little more residual sugar than the other whites. It attracted some followers, although Le Dix Arpents was judged to be the complex wine. 

 

2009 Racines, Bourgueil, Frédéric Mabileau

Frédéric Mabileau’s 2009 Racines Bourgueil (£13.75) comes from a one hectare plot on clay and gravel at Chouzé-sur-Loire, a commune by the Loire and to the south of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil. Frédéric’s grandfather planted the vines here over 45 years ago. It has attractive spicy, youthful fruit with some opulence. Best drunk I think over the next three or four years rather than for long aging, where Frédéric’s L’Eclipse Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil from the limestone coteaux is a much better bet if looking for a wine to lay down. 

2008 KO, Thierry Puzelat

Thierry Puzelat’s 2008 KO Vin de table Français (£13.75) proved to be popular with its sous bois and farmyard character. I suspect that a number of Australian winemakers, looking for squeaky clean wines would dismiss this as technically faulty. However, it think it works and is drinking well now. The wines sold under the Thierry Puzelat name are négociant wines made from grapes bought from producers who have a similar approach to organic viticulture as Thierry. The Domaine du Tué-Bouef is the family estate in Les Montils, where Thierry and his elder brother, Jean-Marie, work together.  

1997 Cuvée Prestige, Domaine du Bourg, Jean-Paul Mabileau

The 1997 Cuvée Prestige, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil from Domaine du Bourg, Jean-Paul Mabileau, Frédéric’s father had aged well with its sweet evolved fruit – an elegant, complex and delicate wine. Often when tasting Jean-Paul’s wines when they were young, particularly when tasted alongside Frédéric’s they seemed rather thin and weak. But they had a deceptive power with the ability to take on more weight with a few years in bottle and to age well. This 1997 is showing well now and, although I don’t think it will get better, it will still last a few more years.

2008 Anthologie du Clos, Vincent Roussely

We finished with the 2008 Anthologie du Clos from Vincent Roussely (£9.95), which is a blend of Cabernet Franc and Côt. Like several 2008s it is quite edgy at the moment needing more time for the acidity and tannins to soften down. It also needs food and showed well with the tasty game casserole served as main course.     

  

   

Frédéric Mabileau and Vincent Roussely@RSJ Restaurant 11th May 2010

L-R: Fréderic Mabileau, Nigel Wilkinson (RSJ), Natalie Mabileau and Vincent Roussely

Frédéric Mabileau

Natalie Mabileau

Vincent Roussely

The third in the series of producer tastings to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the RSJ Restaurant in London's Waterloo. Last night it was a double bill Frédéric and Natalie Mabileau (Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, Bourgueil, Anjou and Saumur) and with Vincent Roussely (Clos Roussely, AC Touraine).

It was another excellent evening with all of the wines showing well   

Aperitif 
1) 2009 Rose ‘Osez’ Rosé de Loire Frédéric Mabileau      £8.95

100% Cabernet Franc.

    
White:

Tasted on their own 

2] 2008 Sauvignon, ‘L’Esprit du Clos’, Vincent Roussely       £9.85

Old vines, barrel fermented.

3] 2002 Sauvignon, ‘L’Esprit du Clos’, Vincent Roussely        N/A

Old vines, barrel fermented. 

4] 2007 Chenin Blanc,  Saumur, Frédéric Mabileau       £17.45

Grapes come from Le Puy Notre Dame, handpicked two passges through vines. Fermented in 600 litre barrels. 2007 was the first year made exactly 60 years after Frédéric's grandfather made the domaine's last white from Chenin Blanc planted in Saint-Nicolas. 

Cured salmon with a crab and watercress salad

Served with first course 
5] 2009 Sauvignon ‘Le Clos’, Touraine, Vincent Roussely       £8.50

From younger vines, desigend to be a young and fresh wine.

6] 2009 Chenin des Rouillères, Anjou, Frédéric Mabileau      £9.95           

First vintage from Chenin planted four years on sand and gravel just to the west of Saint-Nicolas.

Red:

Tasted on their own 

7] 2008 Touraine Gamay, ‘Canaille’, Touraine, Vincent Roussely     £8.50
Canaille translates as outlaw, or rebel – someone standing apart. This Gamay has more weight and chaarcter than many Touraine Gamays.
                                                                        
8] 2000/2005 ‘Anthologie’, Touraine   Vincent Roussely   N/A
2000 was Vincent's first vintage back in Touraine after having made wine in Australia, South Africa and California. The 2000 included a little Gamay in with the normal blend of Cabernet (the majority) and Côt.

9] 2008 Bourgueil  ‘Racines’   Frédéric Mabileau    £13.25  
Frédéric has one hectare in Bourgueil planted on clay and gravel. 100% Cabernet Franc as are all his Saint-Nicolas wines.                    


10] 2008 St Nicolas de Bourgueil  ‘Eclipse’   Frédéric Mabileau    £18.20
Fred's most structured and ageworthy wine. Comes from old vines planted on the clay and limestone coteaux. Should last a good 10-15 years.                       

Roast English saddle of lamb

Minted Jersey royals, carrots, mange tout, purple sprouting broccoli,

lamb jus

Served with main course 
11] 2007 ‘Anthologie’ Touraine, Vincent Roussely,  £9.85
Good effort from a difficult year for reds.

12] 2008 St Nicolas de Bourgueil, ‘Les Rouillères, Frédéric Mabileau   £10.30                                     Fine balance of fruit and freshness.                       

Chocolate and hazelnut torte

with raspberry ice cream

13th April: Yannick Amirault and Jean-Pierre Chevallier

 

Jean-Pierre Chevallier and Yannick Amirault

We had a wonderful evening with Yannick Amirault (Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil) and Jean-Pierre Chevallier (Château de Villeneuve – Saumur and Saumur-Champigny) presenting their wines.  

Wines tasted (before dinner)

Jean-Pierre Chevallier (Château de Villeneuve)
2001 Les Cormiers, Saumur Blanc
2007 Saumur Champigny 
2005 Le Grand Clos, Saumur-Champigny
1999 Le Grand Clos, Saumur-Champigny  

Yannick Amirault
2008 Coudraye, Bourgueil
2007Le Grand Clos, Bourgueil
2003 La Petite Cave, Bourgueil
2002 La Petite Cave, Bourgueil

Dinner                                                                                    
2008 Saumur Blanc, Château de Villeneuve

2007 La Mine, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourguei, Yannick Amirault
2000 Saumur-Champigny, Château de Villeneuve
2006 Vieilles Vignes Saumur Champigny, Château de Villeneuve
2006 Les Quartiers, Bourgueil, Yannick Amirault

 Yannick Amirault

Dinner menu
Pan roasted scallops with wild mushroom risotto

Roast rib-eye of beef, spring vegetables, Jersey royals, red wine jus

Dessert: strawberry buttermilk pudding

Yannick Amirault and Jean-Pierre Chevallier 13th April

These are the wines that will be at the tasting and dinner on Tuesday 13th April:

Pre-dinner tasting 

Jean-Pierre Chevallier (Château de Villeneuve)

2005 Les Cormiers, Saumur Blanc
2008 Saumur Champigny 
2005 Le Grand Clos, Saumur-Champigny   
1999 Le Grand Clos, Saumur-Champigny   

Yannick Amirault (to be confirmed)

2007 Grand Clos, Bourgueil

2007 Coudraye, Bourgueil

2006 Malgagnes, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil

2006 La Mine, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil 

Dinner                                                                                    
2008 Saumur Blanc
2007 Saumur Champigny                                                    
2006 Vieilles Vignes Saumur Champigny                                

2007 La Mine, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil  

2006 Les Quartiers, Bourgueil  

Dinner menu
Pan roasted scallops with wild mushroom risotto

Roast rib-eye of beef, spring vegetables, Jersey royals, red wine jus

Pudding - George to decide on Monday!
 

Jean-Pierre and Yannick are two of the Loire's best producers. This promises to be a great evening.  I saw Jean-Pierre yesterday and he is certainly looking forward to the tasting and dinner. There are still a few places available, please contact Tom King or Nigel Wilkinson on 020-7928 4554.  

News flash: Yannick Amirault and Jean-Pierre Chevallier @ RSJ Tuesday 13th April

  

Jean-Pierre Chevallier (Château de Villeneuve)

We are delighted that two of our favourite Loire producers – Yannick Amirault (Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil) and Jean-Pierre Chevallier (Saumur-Champigny and Saumur) – will be presenting their wines at the RSJ on Tuesday 13th April. Both Yannick and Jean-Pierre are meticulous producers and this is shown by the consistent quality of their wines year in year out.

 

Yannick Amirault drawing a barrel sample from his cave in the Bourgueil hillside

We have yet to decide upon all the details of the format of the evening but we may well opt for a walk around tasting followed by dinner with a few wines selected by Yannick and Jean-Pierre to go with the meal. Cost of the event is £45.

To reserve you place please contact Tom King on 020-7928 4554 or tom.king@rsj.uk.com

Thomas Meunier presents the wines of Frédéric Mabileau

Thomas pointing out Le Puy-Notre-Dame the source of their Chenin for the Saumur Blanc

In the unfortunate absence of Frédéric (see previous post), Thomas did a brilliant job yesterday evening presenting the wines to 50 people in the upstairs restaurant. It was good that all of the wines showed well.

2008 Osez Rosé

Aperitif: 2008 Osez Rosé, Rosé de Loire
Guests were welcomed with a glass of 2008 Osez made from 100% Cabernet Franc. This is very pale coloured rosé – the colour only comes from pressing the grapes as there is no maceration. Osez is really light and fresh with attractive pear character will be a great summer drink, assuming we get a summer this year.

Serving

The first vintage of Frédéric’s Saumur Blanc was next – 100% Chenin Blanc from vines at Le-Puy-Notre-Dame, south of Saumur and not far from Montreuil-Bellay. The grapes were harvested on two different occasions. First the golden grapes at the end of September 2007 to give the wine freshness and then the rest some two weeks later with a proportion of grapes affected by noble rot to give weight and richness to the wine. The initial selection was vinified in stainless steel tanks (35%) with the second batch (65%) in 500 litre barrels. (In 2008 the proportion in wood was raised to 80%.) The 2007 Saumur Blanc was wonderfully expressive before bottling. Since bottling it has been decidedly closed but the richness is now coming out – well balanced with mineral acidity in the finish.

It was 60 years since the Mabileau last made a white wine. The last vintage that Fréderic’s grandfather, Armand, made was the 1947 from Chenin Blanc planted on the clay-limestone hillsides behind Saint-Nicolas. The creation of the Saint-Nicolas appellation in 1936 meant that the small production of white in the village stopped and the Chenin vines were replaced with Cabernet Franc.

2007 Les Rouillères, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil

2007 Les Rouillères, St Nicolas de Bourgueil £9.85

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Anjou Rouge,
The 2007 Les Rouillères is all about soft, easy fruit with very little tannin – very much the ideal approach in 2007 when there wasn’t the ripeness to justify long maceration and a lot of extraction. Young this while it is young – no point in keeping it.


The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, AC Anjou comes from a parcel of vines just to the west of the Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil appellation. A little more structured than Les Rouillères this is still a wine to drink young to enjoy its youthful blackcurrant fruit.

First course:

Pan seared cured salmon, mash & thyme jus

We had two more 2007s with the first course:

2007 Racines, Bourgueil £12.75
From vines planted on clay and gravel, this spends nine months in 600 litre barrels. This was the most structured of the four 2007s served but still with an accent on the fruit and ready to drink.

2007 Les Coutures, St Nicolas de Bourgueil £14.25
“This is the little brother or sister of Eclipse, Frédéric’s top wine,” explained Thomas. “We don’t make l’Eclipse every year only when the quality of vintage is good enough. When we don’t make L’Eclipse the wine normally destined for L’Eclipse goes into Les Coutures.” The 2007 has lovely stylish, sweet fruit.

Both wines went very well with the salmon again demonstrating that Loire reds are often a very good match for fish, particularly the more ‘meaty’ varieties. The quality of these 2007 reds is a tribute to Frédéric’s skill in a difficult vintage.

Tom King serving

L’Eclipse

Main course:
Roast ribeye
buttered carrots, mangetouts,
French beans, fondant potatoes
Red wine jus

L’Eclipse

We then moved onto a small vertical of l’Eclipse featuring 1999, 2000 and 2001 with the main course.

Frédéric made his first vintage of L’Eclipse in 1996. It comes from the oldest part of the vineyard where the vines at 50 years old. Originally it was aged in barriques but since 2001 Frédéric has reined back on the oak and instead now uses 600 litre barrels.

In terms of the three vintages 1999 and 2001 are very similar with some rain during harvest, while 2000 was dry until around the 18th-20th October when it started to rain and hardly stopped until the following March.

Of the three wines 2000 was easily the most full bodied and tannic. It would benefit from further aging. 1999 still has charm but is beginning fade, while the 2001 is between the two. Of the three vintages it is the most marked by oak – it spent 18 months in barrique and has a somewhat international tone about it. The 2001 has rather grainy tannins.

Although I would be happy to drink all three, my preference was for the 2000, especially with the beef, which successfully hid the tannins.

Dessert:
Pear and pistachio jalousie with chocolate sauce

Tom in discussion

Special thanks again to Thomas Meunier for a great presentation. We understand that Frédéric is considering releasing a 'Sans papiers' vin de table made from 'Chemin Blanc' to mark the occasion when he found himself barred from flying bacause his carte d'identité was out of date. Doubltess this will be a wine to drink 'sur place' as it will not travel!

2009 tasting programme and dates to 30th March

We delighted that we are now able to give you the dates and subjects for the first three tastings of 2009.

The church of Souzay-Champigny and Château de Villeneuve

19th January red and white Saumur with dinner 7.30pm start £45 per person
Around Saumur is a real treasure-trove for both reds and whites – some many good produces and fine wines. It will be a tough choice for us deciding what to leave out. However to kick off the 2009 season, there will a glass of Régis Neau’s very popular Crémant de Loire (Domaine de Nerleux) and definitely at least one wine from Jean-Pierre Chevallier (Château de Villeneuve) and certainly one from Antoine Foucault, the very talented son of Charly and Françoise Foucault. Charly is the elder of the wonderful and celebrated Foucault brothers.

The vineyards above Chavignol with Sancerre town in distance

2nd March 2009 Sancerre red and white with dinner 7.30pm start £45 per person
Sancerre is not just white – a quarter of the production is red and there has been a real upsurge in interest and quality of the reds over the past 15 years. We’ll be tasting a range of some of the best of both colours to include wines from Henri Bourgeois, Roger Champault, Cotat and Alphonse Mellot.

Frédéric Mabileau

30th March Frédéric Mabileau, Saint-Nicolas-de- Bourgueil and Bourgueil, tasting with dinner, 7.30pm start £45 per person
We are delighted that Frédéric Mabileau, one of the best of the younger generation of wine producers in the region, will be presenting his wines, which in addition to his very popular reds the new Saumur Blanc will be shown. This will surely be a popular evening, so early booking is advised.

Bookings and any queries to Tom King on tom.king@rsj.uk.com or telephone 020-7928 4554.