On 27th January 2023 we gathered at the Midland Hotel in Manchester for one of the more informal evenings in our Calendar, the Bistro Evening, in the Derby Suite.
Ten days earlier, Maître held a training and wine tasting session for the staff of the Hotel and other establishments frequented by the Manchester Commanderie. Eleven wines kindly supplied by different chateaux, with the assistance of Caroline Delaroche of the GCVB, were tasted and enjoyed. I’m told that when staff rotas were being submitted there plenty of volunteers for our evening!
Maître set a light hearted tone for the evening by taking us from Mozart to Elvis Presley in a few seconds. We then had the intronisation ceremony for our newest member, Richard Crabtree, who raises money for people with brain and spinal injuries in his spare time on top of a busy career in the Law.
Our meal was cooked by the team led by the new Executive Head Chef of the Midland Hotel, Andrew Long. He has been involved behind the scenes for the last 6 years. He produced an accomplished classical meal which was a perfect foil for our wines.
Our starter was Midland smoked salmon with brown crab, avocado, dill and caviar. This was accompanied by Château Lafont Menaut Blanc, 2018 A.O.C Pessac- Léognan, an excellent match. The smoked salmon needed a wine of some substance and this was elegant and fresh too.
For our main course we enjoyed Roast Duck breast, served pink, with a fig tart fine, Confit leg and Savoy cabbage. This was a classically French dish and the duck was beautifully tender. Our wine was Château Branaire-Ducru 2006 4 éme Cru Classé, A.O.C. St Julien. We visited this property on the last Bordeaux trip. Commander Martindale described this as the ‘Englishman’s claret’. It was a great wine but maybe one or two bottles seemed to be reaching the end of their drinking window.
It was back to Pessac- Léognan for the second red, Château Lespault-Martillac, 2015. This wine was much admired and could have been the wine of the night! This was served with Burt’s Blue Cheese, plum chutney and biscuits.
Our dessert was a very elegant blackberry gin savarin with white chocolate, cream and blackberry, accompanied by Clos-Haut Peyraguey, 2014, 1iere Cru, A.O.C. Sauternes. This was a lighter style of Sauternes, elegant and graceful but with some body and excellent choice for the dessert.
This was an evening of great fun and conviviality. We now look forward to the Spring and our 35e Fête d’Anniversaire on 24th March 2023 at Manchester Hall.
Nicola McLoughlin
Maître Echanson