Red Carnation Hotels

PRESS ROOM

Wine Dinners to die for

21/04/2009

Lovers of exceptional food and wine take note – the Red Carnation Hotels Wine Dinner season 2009 is now underway and there are some very special evenings coming up that you definitely won’t want to miss.

The next one is being held at Summer Lodge on the 5th of May.  Once again the skills of Chef Steven Titman will be married to the extraordinary knowledge and experience of award winning Sommelier Eric Zwiebel, while the evening will focus on Boulay Sancerre.

Gérard Boulay is the latest in a long line of winemakers  - the domaine he inherited has been passed from father to son since 1380!!  He has 11 hectares of prime old vineyards in Chavignol, which has long been renowned as the finest of the Sancerre producing villages.  Gérard is fortunate to have vines on the best-known Sancerre ' grand crus' of Monts-Damnes and Clos de Beaujeu and also has 1.5 hectares of old Pinot Noir vines for the production of Sancerre Rose and Rouge.

Boulay’s Sancerre is firm, strongly mineral, nuanced and extremely concentrated, along the lines of Cotat, but without using any chemicals in the viticulture. American critics Stephen Tanzer and Robert Parker rate Boulay as producing the finest of all Sancerres, and Jancis Robinson has been fulsome in her praise, posting 2 articles about Boulay on her website www.jancisrobinson.com.

The evening begins at 7.00 pm with aperitifs, with dinner served from 7.30 pm.  The menu consists of 4 courses and 5 different wines, including aperitifs, for £90 per person.

The next Wine Dinner after that is being hosted at the Milestone Hotel on the 13th of May and focuses on the Bouchard Finlayson winery in South Africa.  Set in the Hemel en Aarde Valley near Hermanus, it is a small cellar dedicated to the making of Pinot Noir, Sauvignon and Chardonnay wines.  The 19 hectares currently planted with grapes are a stone's throw from the Atlantic Ocean, making the coolest wine-growing region in The Cape - the sea breezes work to keep vines cool thereby encouraging the slow ripening of flavour-rich grapes. Celebrated wine maker Peter Finlayson himself will be there for the evening so it is a rare opportunity to learn the secrets that have made him such a legend.

The evening will be hosted by the Milestone’s Sommelier Thomas Lamude and begins at 7.00pm with aperitifs and an introduction to the region’s wines. Dinner is served from 7.30pm and includes a delicious 4-course menu.  Specially created by the Executive Chef Luke Davis to complement the 5 different wines, it costs £85 per person.

Spaces at both of these wine dinners is strictly limited so early booking is advised!

• To make reservations for the Summer Lodge Hotel Wine Dinner please call 01935 482000 or email infosl@rchmail.com . Offer can also be booked online at www.summerlodgehotel.co.uk
• To make reservations for the Milestone Hotel Wine Dinner please call 0207 9171000 or email dosborne@rchmail.com. Offer can also be booked online at www.milestonehotel.com
• A special accommodation package is available for those wishing to stay overnight at Summer Lodge from £498.00, including Full English breakfast and VAT.  Guests wishing to stay at The Milestone can add the Wine Dinner to their stay with rooms starting from £235.00 per night, excluding breakfast and VAT.

back