Comparative dining experience at the Crumpet Club in Christchurch NZ

The Crumpet Club is a restaurant in Christchurch that focuses on crumpets in a very cosy ambiance with few fire places and a comfy mezzanine area.

The owner Helen who also created and ran the famous Bon Bolli in Christchurch for several years has welcomed us for a special night over Sauvignon Blanc from France and New-Zealand. So both our wines from Clos Henri in NZ and our wines from Domaine Henri Bourgeois in Sancerre were given for tasting.

Her head chef Cameron has concocted a fantastic menu to pair duos of wines, while the dishes were from both sides of the world as well:

Petit Clos Sauvignon Blanc to open up the palates

Bel Echo Sauvignon 2008 from NZ & La Vigne Blanche 2008 from Sancerre
Paired with a an egg and bacon tart and a quiche Lorraine
The home smoked bacon was nicely uplifting the minerality of both wines, while the creamy eggs was accompanying the roundness of specifically the Bel Echo.
The customers present mostly enjoyed La Vigne Blanche for its subtle chalky minerality and floral notes, and they mentioned loving the roundness of the Bel Echo.

Clos Henri Sauvignon Blanc 2008 from NZ and Les Baronnes 2008 from Sancerre
Paired with some amuse bouche of NZ creamy blue cheese and French chevre buche
Both cheese acidity were balancing the freshness of the wines, while again showing the texture of the Clos Henri sauvignon blanc, and the smokiness of Les Baronnes.
Customers loved both wines and couldn't really chose a favourite.

Clos Henri Pinot Noir 2007 from NZ
Paired with some mutton bird cooked in a pinot jus with mushrooms.
The mutton bird is quite a rare dish to get the chance to eat, and only good chefs get to make of this bird a delicacy, as it is quite fat but also very fine. It is a sea bird, and therefore has the delicate flesh of a bird, while some sort of salty characters. This unusual match was surprising and so successful, in terms of delicacy of the textures and with the mushroom going along with the earthiness of the wine.
Definitely the wine was shown at its best and the customers enjoyed the elegant structure and the femine side of this pinot that shows fine and precise fruit.
It was positive to hear that Marlborough pinot noir is not usually the region that come to their mind for quality pinot noir, but that the Clos Henri changed their point of view.

Thank you to Helen and Cameron for a successful evening and such good wine & food matches.
http://www.crumpetclub.co.nz/

Bastille Day 2010 at Clos Henri - 14th of July

For the 5th year in a row, we have celebrated Bastille Day on the estate - in our church 'Ste Solange'. The celebration is held around a particular French wine region, that we get our Marlborough winery friends, local authorities, suppliers, local clients and team to discover through regional food specialities and a wine from the region in question.

We started few years ago with Champagne (always good to start with a bubble), Rhone Valley (to warm up a bit from our cold winter), Chinon (as it was the year we built our winery and or winemaker is from Chinon) and this year we focused on Provence and Bandol.

Of course our guests get to try all these delicacies with our wines. It is a fantastic moment to gather our friends every year and share a special moment of Wine & Food. Since it is a mission to find the French delicacies, we cook ourselves (helped by our few French people on the estate) which makes it a real gift from the heart to the Marlborough wine community that fully welcomed the Bourgeois family in NZ.