Lucinda O'Sullivan's Ireland

Sunday 01 November 2015

You’d think by this stage I’d have the Christmas dinner down to a tee! Well, I do but there are two things that exorcise my brain each year – carving the bird and what wines to drink on the day! Himself, being a great host, has dodged these chores and I generally end up hacking away like a lunatic, and keep smiling at the well ‘lit up’ faces around the table! As to the wines, he says ‘I’ll leave that to you love, whatever you think’. With all ages and tastes to please, the choice is not that easy.
However, I've solved my problem. Last week I attended a very enjoyable Carving Masterclass in Salt Restaurant at Avoca in Monkstown. Organised by Sarah Mitchell and Gavin McCarthy, of Poulet Bonne Femme rotisserie chicken, not only did Gavin tell us how carving knives should be sharpened and stored, we had an early Christmas dinner of smoked salmon, turkey, ham, and roast beef, with each course accompanied by amazing and very different wines chosen by Gerard Maguire of 64 Wine in Glasthule, Co. Dublin, who talked us through each, with his reasons for going ‘off piste’ from the normal Christmas vinos.
Poulet Bonne Femme is a success story born out of the recession. In 2008, ten days after Gavin and Sara’s first little boy was born, Gavin was made redundant. “It was 2008 and we didn’t really expect it because the recession hadn’t really hit, but he was last in, first out." Sara said. "We quickly realised he needed to do something, and he wasn’t going to get another job in property, there was nothing happening whatsoever. We had seen rotisserie chicken abroad in cities and in the markets in France and Spain and we just thought maybe Dublin was missing it.” Neither had any experience in the food world but they went for it. “Luckily, Gavin got a redundancy package, so it was enough to get us started, it paid for the rotisserie and it paid for the trailer. Before we knew it, we were trading in the market in the People’s Park in Dun Laoghaire.” It grew very quickly for them and they knew they were really on to something. “The Pratt’s of Avoca were customers of ours in the Park and as they were setting up here in Monkstown, we were looking for a premises to get us out of the markets and indoors. We put a little plan together and met with Simon Pratt and now we’ve been four years with Avoca, we have four stores with them and we have two more sons! Says Sara. “It’s been an interesting journey alright.” laughs Gavin.
Interestingly enough, while Gavin explained to us about using the correct carving knives, sharpening and storing them, it was Sara who did the carving. Maybe, I’m not the only female on Christmas day taking that role!
At the pre-demo reception we were treated to a German Emrich Schonleber ‘Es’ Riesling NAHE 2013. I’ve listened to a lot of people talking about wine over the years in a convoluted fashion and been totally confused at the end of it all, but Gerard Maguire caught our attention immediately as he made the point that what most people do at Christmas is start off by greeting guests with Champagne, following up with either a traditional Bordeaux or Burgundy treat with your turkey but what he wanted to do was show us something a little bit more challenging – and that he did. “We would probably sell more dry German Rieslings than any other shop in Ireland”, he explained. “The reason that started was some years ago we started doing these Christmas dinner preparations, so we started serving wines for Christmas dinners in 64. I always served dry German Riesling as an aperitif rather than Champagne. It shows people the versatility of dry German Rieslings which sometimes people think are sweet.” The Emrich Schonleber, he told us, was from the NAHE, a very small river just off the Rhine and Emrich Schonleber would be regarded in the wine industry as one of the top producers of Rieslings in the world.” This was their entry level wine at €19, a third of the price of a good Champagne, completely different and totally versatile, good with fish that has an element of chilli or lemongrass, that type of spicy food, scallops or prawns. Next up on Gerard’s alternate Christmas wines was one I really loved. It was a South African Mullineux Chenin Blanc blend 2012 which retails at €30. Aged in old oak barrels it had a smokiness, which was absolutely stunning with the Ummera, smoked salmon, which we were eating.
Gavin and Sara told us while carving that they cook about 150 Christmas dinners for customers, who ask their advice about carving them. Gerard meantime lined up another stunner, a Domaine Rolet, Poulsard Vielle Vignes 2011, Arbois, Eastern France at €22.  From a very remote part of France on the Swiss border, the Jura region, very high in the Alps, this wine has only just been introduced into Ireland. “The Poussard grapes grown there are not really known to anybody and are very old style grapes which were almost killed off forty or fifty years ago with the advent of modern wine making. It’s a very light delicate grape with very thin skins, releasing very little colour into the wine, the flesh is white so its used for making sparkling wine, but there are a handful of traditional producers, Domaine Rolet is one of them, making this beautiful delicate light juicy red wine which is perfect with chicken or turkey and also ham, with red currant and earthy characteristics.  It’s also great with charcuterie plates, and can be served chilled, so in the summer it’s great with salads or as an aperitif.” Next up in the wines was a stunning Tuscan Roccapesta, Ribeo 2011 Morellio di Scansano €19.50. This was the region, Gerard, explained that was affected by malaria in the 1950s because it was marshland. Following major engineering works, this was replaced by small wineries making very traditional wines. Morellio is the same as Sangiovese, which is used in Chianti. This is wine is, he told us, made by the best producer in the area and is aged in cement, as old traditional winemakers favour cement ageing because it gets across the true character of the grape with wood. It goes very well with ham.
The final wine of the evening was served with the most delicious roast beef and was Phinca Encanto, Rufete 2011 from Salamanca at €29.  
A thoroughly enjoyable event and a great night out maybe for a few friends. Master Classes are scheduled for Tuesday 10th November, followed by Tuesday 2nd December, and Tuesday 19th January (good Christmas present). Tickets cost €125 per person with a maximum of 20 people per event. Each participant will also receive a Poulet Bonne Femme gift bag with recipe cards, an Avoca cookbook and a Poulet Bonne Femme apron and chopping board.

pouletbonnefemme.com 
64wine.ie