I had been doing an annual terrine event for 16 years when Covid hit, resulting in a two year hiatus (2020/2021). Finally, after waiting two years, things had resolved enough for me to hold the 17th event a couple of years late.
I originally came up with the idea of featuring both culinary imagination and food and wine matching and interaction, in a form where almost all of the work took place days earlier and people could just show up with their dish and wines and we could all spend a relaxed afternoon pondering what went best with which wine, did we like a given terrine, could we have improved it in any way, and other such issues of great import and enjoyment. I was so keen to reconvene the event that I enthusiastically invited just about everyone that had ever taken part in previous events, and every single one of them promptly accepted, no doubt raring to go just like I was.
I will give my notes along with a picture of the dish and wines as presented.
Sole Timbales with Scallop Mousseline. – an inspired start, light, tasty and served with suitable wines.
2021 Dom. de la Pepiere Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie – clean wine with very slightly sweet apple fruit in the nose and on palate.
Lilbert-Fils Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Cramant (nv) – good mousse, a slightly funky nose that I liked with the food, finished clean and crisp. Mostly made from 2016 fruit. This wine won a narrow blue ribbon for best with food from me.
Pate de Girolles avec Foi Gras, pickled grapes and radishes, shallot marmalade and Sumac pita crisps My dish, made with a pork and chicken liver forcemeat with added sautéed chanterelles and finely diced dried apricots macerated overnight in brandy, all of which was added to the dish the next morning after they had plumped. I spiced it with quatre epices and fresh thyme and made it three days ahead so the flavours could mature.
Served with a variety of accompaniments – pita crisp painted with olive oil sprinkled with sumac and fresh thyme and lightly baked, a shallot jam (not sweet other than what was in the shallots), mandolined radishes pickled in apple cider vinegar, pickling spices, maple syrup and a Serrano pepper, made ahead a few days – the Serrano gave a nice but not obtrusive kick, and finally red grapes pickled using cider vinegar, fresh ginger, star anise, coriander cinnamon and bay leaf.
2018 Ch. Suduiraut Le Blanc Sec de Suduiraut - my theory was that wines with slight sweet hints might match better with the dish, and this dry wine from a sauternes house fit the description. A dry wine but with sweet hints and good balance, showing hints of melon and some citrus with good length.
2016 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Demi-Sec – more apricot in this nose but it changed to sweet pear with time. Clean long finish and this was my fave for food matching.
Lobster Thermidor Terrine, Beluga lentils and miniature caesar salad – tremendous effort and imagination went into this dish and it really paid off – pictured twice, before and after slicing.
2021 Idlewild Flora and Fauna Rose – quite dark colour for a Rose – a reddish gold, and made from Italian varietals. It was a clean and surprisingly dry wine given the sweetness in the nose. Very good ad looked like a good bet for best wine of the pair – until I tasted the next wine.
2020 Guigal Condrieu ‘La Doriane’ – adorned with a slightly garish gold foil label, this was a superb white Rhone. Lime and spice in the nose and a very rich mouth feel, with a very good medium dry finish. Loved this one and would like to see where it goes with some time.
Ham with Three Fruits Terrine – two thin slices of terrine served with sliced cucumber and blueberries
2017 El Enemigo Chardonnay – medium colour, nice somewhat oaky nose smooth balanced chard. Good. This Argentine Chard rarely disappoints.
1997 Mastroberardino Taurasi Radici Riserva – still quite a dark wine, with some orange at the edges, showing a nose of dark fruit (cherries) with leather and maybe even a hint of forest floor. Best wine with the food but it was close.
Prosciutto-wrapped Chicken, Leek and Mushroom Terrine (oyster, morel, hen of the woods)
2016 Louis Jadot Volnay Clos des Chenes – these two wines were served blind in hopes that some of us might prefer the Gamay to the Pinot. Deeper nise, with colour. Flavour and intensity all ramped up a tad from the bojo. Very good and my fave.
2018 Domaine A.-F. Gros Moulin -A-Vent en Mortperay – lighter fruit in the nose but juicy/sappy, mild fruit on palate and medium length. Good wine but outmatched here.
Roasted chicken terrine – roasted layered chicken with good texture and subtlety.
2010 Travaglini Gattinara – looked older than it is with orange hints and the nose was high toned and warm. If you have had this wine you will remember that odd bottle!
2010 Matteo Correggia Roero Riserva Roche d'Ampsej – a dark colour and nose of lovely pure fruit and recognizable Nebbiolo origin. Big wine but in a good place now. Classy and would show well in a Barolo tasting. Excellent and my choice.
Fruit Dessert Terrine, Zabaglione Cream
2021 Ruffino Moscato D’Asti – light, pleasant enough but wouldn’t get in the way of conversation
2020 Santa Vittoria Moscato D’Asti – an altogether more serious wine (if that isn’t a contradiction in terms regarding Moscato d’Asti). Better flavour intensity, acidity depth. The clear choice.
All were looking forward to next year's event!
