On Friday night the VineKing team were honoured to host a special dinner to showcase the Foncalieu wine range, and to top it off the head winemaker, Isabelle Pangault, joined us!
If you're not aware of Foncalieu, you should be. They've just been voted the best cooperative in Franceand with 1000 winegrowers working with them, they offer an extensive range from affordable and quaffable to the truly sublime.
We kicked off the evening with a tasting of our favourites from the Foncalieu range. Customers, armed with tasting glasses and clipboards were guided through the range by the team from Foncalieu (with some much needed pouring help from Hamish!). One of the great things about the Foncalieu co-operative is the diversity of wines they're able to make because of the scope of the growers they're working with. Not only this, but they're able to be genuine innovators, as was proved by their single varietal Marselan, a grape that has been created from a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache and provides a deliciously approachable and fruity red despite the tough growing conditions found near the Foncalieu base in Carcassonne.
Next, we kicked it up a notch and seated everyone for a four course meal cooked by Max and his team from Salted Events. specifically designed to go with the finest wines in the Foncalieu collection. The meal began with baked cod with a bouillabaisse sauce paired with the Haut Gleon Corbiers Blanc (which offers the perfect balance of creamy texture and elegant acidity), this was followed by a decadent riff on cassoulet including confit duck, Toulouse sausage and slow cooked pork. Even Isabelle had to admit to enjoying the dish despite it being prepared by an Englishman! This was matched with two of the reds from the portfolio including the 2011 L’Apogée Saint-Chinian which has been awarded 93 points by Robert Parker.
The evening ended with a showing of Les Illustres. An epic reds that Foncalieu make for the sheer love and that was sipped and savoured as the cheese plates did the rounds.
It was an excellent evening and Isabelle slipped into their taxi and speed back to London pleased to have introduced the Foncalieu wines to our customers in such a unique and Vineking way. Judging by the amount of clean plates and empty bottles our team were left clearing up it would be fair to say it was a very successful and enjoyable evening all round.
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