Wedding Preambles
Degusting
The Coreth and Frazer clans assembled in London in early July for a club tasting of import; that which would decide the wines to be drunk for the marriage of Will and Anna in September. And so, the Scots, Anglos and Anglo-Scots descended on the Goedhuis and Co. offices where Club Captain Frazer would be hosting them for the evening.
Decisions were to be made about the whites and reds, while the Champagne and rosé offerings were set to be introduced and approved. The evening commenced with Goedhuis’ house Champagne, a Premier Cru by Paul Goerg, mostly Chardonnay from Vertus. Thumbs up all round. Similarly, the Provençal Saint Baillon Rosé received refreshing approval despite habitual loyalties to other pink producers.
It was time for the whites and I’d lined up a couple of Mâcons, knowing these were popular with Frazer’s and Coreth’s alike and included a bottle of Sancerre for sake of diversity. This is where the main meat of the debate was had - along with the cured meats on the table to accompany. Should it be a clean and crisp or oaky Mâcon number or a versatile Sancerre fitting somewhere in the middle?
All wines had their merits. Marcel’s Mâcon-Loché was the favourite but we weren’t convinced it would last the evening as an ice bucket slotter. The Andre-Dezat Sancerre would pair nicely with food and continue into the night. It was incredibly tasty and good value but Sancerre didn’t seem to be everybody’s cup of tea while M. Frazer compared the nose to ‘the bottom of my wardrobe’. The Mâcon-Montbellet had exceptional crowd-pleasing potential but lacked the refinement of the others.
Indeed it was M. Frazer Jnr. and Mlle. Coreth on whom the debate centred, this evening being in advance of their special day. It was a battle of the Mâcons with Anna bowling for Montbellet and Will, batting on team Loché, both fine villages it must be said. After much deliberation a bright idea struck club Captain Frazer. Perhaps we could have two whites, one for dinner and an ice bucket pleaser for after supper. After this diplomatic brainwave, the decision was made, the two Mâcon’s were on the list. Marcel’s for dinner and the Montbellet for after. Tranquil!
Soon we were onto the reds. A whiff of the first - Sesti’s Monteleccio from Montalcino - sufficed to win over M. Coreth’s vote. A truly delicate, light but exquisitely tasty food wine. Approval reverberated around the troop and almost before it hit lips the decision had been made.
We tried the Bourgogne and Claret offerings as a matter of course but our minds were truly made up so we drained our final glass of Monteleccio and pootled off to dinner thanking Bacchus but mostly Victoria for such a smooth-run evening, in which even the Mme’s had left their spittoons dry (possibly because they didn’t know what they were for).
Café Murano next door hosted us for a top quality Italian spread, octopus, green things, ragu, sea bass, a bottle of Cabernet Franc and Friuli Bianco. Yum!
Staggering
Another day passed and once again it was evening. It was time for a jolly dinner accompanied by Bolly and claret at the National Liberal Club easing the young gentlemen nicely into a weekend of staggery. The following morning we trundled off to the Isle of Wight, car laden with chaps and liquid chattel.
To publicly divulge too many details of this glorious weekend would be to fly in the face of the great and esteemed staggering tradition. It suffices to say that wine was drunk, dinner was eaten, vessels were chartered and chaps were contented.
All in all, this particular chapter of wedding preamble will be fondly remembered, or not at all - if only that the spittoons remained so dry.
- Club Captain Frazer
