Food & Drink

Looking across some of the 30 acres of Langham Wine Estate. In the Aube region of Champagne, in Sancerre and Chablis, there is Kimmeridgian and Portlandian soil; familiar Dorset names, making the terroir at Crawthorne Farm perfect for classic varieties such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Image: Courtenay Hitchcock

On Cloud Wine

Sitting in the sheltered courtyard under an unseasonably hot April sun, gazing across the gentle slopes of the vineyard, listening to the quiet hum of conversation, I could almost believe I was enjoying a sneaky French trip.

Instead, I was enjoying a beautiful glass of award-winning sparkling wine just outside Milborne St Andrew.

Last year, out of 700 wines, Langham Wine Estate won one of the most prestigious awards a winemaker can win – the International Wine & Spirit Competition Sparkling Wine Producer of the Year 2020.

I’ll be honest - I hadn’t leaped to accept the invitation to tour the vineyard. Whilst I love a bottle of bubbles as much as the next woman, there’s a reason Sadie writes our wine column (and her wife Hannah picks our wine – perfectly - from our vague descriptions of what we like). I am not a wine connoisseur. The subtleties of the craft of winemaking are probably lost on me, and I wasn’t sure I’d do Langhams the justice they deserve.

But. Being a wine connoisseur is not my job, and I’m never embarrassed to acknowledge what I don’t know (how else do we learn?). What I do know is that there is a lot of stigma around vineyards – impressive, intimidating places, many people won’t visit for fear of being looked down upon.

So I pulled on my big girl pants, and headed for lunch at the vineyard.

What a smart person I am.

The wine tour was absolutely brilliant – if you know nothing about wine production it’s a fascinating introduction to the dark mystical arts. If you know your grapes, it’s still a fascinating introduction to the dark mystical arts. Because every vineyard is different (that’s the magic - I know, I read Sadie’s column every month, I’m learning), and every winemaker works in a different way. The tour was endlessly interesting, and I have a notebook filled with random little snippets and facts, from the homemade barrel storage to the hand labelling of the bottles – Head Winemaker Tommy Grimshaw assured us he and his winery assistant could manage 1,500 of them a day.

When we had seen the winemaking process from the barely-budding vines through to the finished labelled bottle, we stepped out to the courtyard to try some

What was stand out for me on the tour was the dynamic

enthusiasm from the young team. Everyone was deeply passionate about what they’re doing. Also, not once did I feel

foolish - there appeared to be no stupid questions, just the joy of sharing knowledge and delight in a questioner’s curiosity.

Lunch was served through the tasting (I’m not going to give wine notes here. And yes, lobster was on the menu...), and I had the pleasure of sharing a table with Vineyard Manager Olly Whitfield. I appreciated that he swiftly moved the conversation from his level of expertise (vast) to mine (limited), and explained ‘we don’t teach people what to taste at Langham – we teach them how to taste’.

He regaled us with stories of his career path as a winemaker which has brought him to managing the vineyard, “glorious on a sunny day, but not so much fun hand-pruning 40,000 vines in January.” There was also much concern about the risk of frost later in the week, and the damage this would do to the newly-forming buds upon which the entire season’s crop will rely. Olly also praised owner Justin Langham, who he said ‘is exceptionally tolerant of new ideas. Many vineyards are rigid workplaces, only operating in one tried and trusted format, and rarely risking an experiment. Perhaps because we’re a young vineyard, we’re quite experimental, and Justin encourages that. He listens to our suggestions, asks us to explain why – and often says “okay, you convinced me. Let’s do it. It’s an exciting place to be”.

The vineyard began offering outdoor picnics during 2020 as a way to pivot whilst usual business was suspended. These proved so popular they have become a permanent feature – collect the ready-packaged picnic and enjoy it amongst the vines at one of the tables set into the hedgerows (private hedge dining at his best), or simply stay in the warm sunny courtyard. You can add a selfguided tour for just £10pp, but why not opt for one of the guided tours for £20pp - a vastly more enriching experience. Tours take around 2 hours, with a walk round the vineyard and winery with a member of staff, followed by a tutored tasting of three award winning wines. In addition to tours, tastings and the Vineyard Café there are regular events in the barn throughout the year; the middle of May finally sees the relaunch of the popular ‘Fizz Friday’ and ‘Seafood Saturday’ evening events, with themed food plus live music.

A picnic with a view - breaks in the thick hedgrow make for a perfect picnic spot. Image: Courtenay Hitchcock

Visit the website https:// langhamwine.co.uk/ to prebook picnics and tours, to check opening times for the café and also for tickets to the live events.

Heather Brown is a member of the Guild of Food Writers and a home economist with a passion for Dorset’s brilliant foodie scene. Heather runs Dorset Foodie Feed which helps to champion Dorset’s food and drink businesses, as well as working with clients to recipe test, write food based copy, help foodie businesses with their online presence and make food for digital content.

IG: @HeatherBrownUK

The Quickest & Easiest of Quiche Recipes

The weather has warmed up, the cherry blossom is on the trees and Spring is definitely here. With an abundance of bank holidays and a lift in restrictions to allow meeting loved ones outside, May lends itself to picnics in the gorgeous Dorset countryside.

I have put together this delicious quiche recipe that is simple to make and can be made ahead of time. My mum used to make this for me when I was growing up, and it is equally as delicious warm straight from the oven as it is cold as part of a picnic. If you want to add some local ingredients to your quiche, then I recommend getting hold of some Black Cow Cheddar. It will add some amazing depth to the flavour and is wonderfully creamy. You can also add any seasonal veg that you find in your local farm shop or you have grown in your garden! I have also teamed up with fellow Blackmore Vale columnist Andrew Livingston to use his farm’s beautiful white chicken eggs in my recipe, from their Dekalb White chickens. You can find out more about these beautiful white eggs in his article on page 59

Ingredients

• 1 pack ready rolled puff pastry* • 125g strong cheddar • 100ml double cream

• handful of cherry tomatoes • some asparagus spears • pinch of salt and black pepper. *You can make your own pastry here if you would like - I recommend using Delia Smith’s Flaky pastry recipe. Just roll out to about half a centimetre thick, before adding to the tin.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180º fan/Gas 5. 2. Line an 8” square baking tin with baking paper. 3. Unroll the pastry and carefully place into the baking tin, allowing the extra to fold up the sides of the tin. 4. In a jug, mix together well the cream, eggs, salt and pepper. You can use garlic salt here if you wish and add more black pepper if you want to. 5. Grate the cheese onto the base of the pastry case. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and add them to the pastry, along with the asparagus spears. 6. Gently pour over the cream and egg mixture.

You can egg wash the pastry if you want to but you don’t need to. 7. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the top goes golden brown and middle jiggles when you shake the tin gently (the edges should be firm). 8. Eat straight from the oven with fresh green salad, or leave to cool and then slice as you wish.

THE B-SIDE WINES

by Sadie Wilkins, Indie Wine Merchant,

There’s something charming and terribly British about championing the underdog.

This month, I wanted to shine on a light on what we call at Vineyards the ‘B-side wines.’ The flip-side wines that are not known as, or produced with, the ‘Big Hit’ grapes, but in our opinion offer a thrilling experience and something a little different to the norm.

These are the little gems that you’ll find on the shelves of a good indie wine merchant.

You see, there’s a couple of ways you can look at B-sides: you could question why somewhere along the line they have not climbed the charts and grabbed the number 1 spot, or you could see them as wines that are not commercial or made in a crowdpleasing, pure money-making fashion, rather reflecting the personal interests or passion of the winemaker behind them.

The latter is our viewpoint – on the whole. Like many industries, there’s a spectrum from commercial appeal to a niche market. We love a niche wine at Vineyards, but the sweet spot for us is finding a wine with the right balance of ‘quirky’ and for the right reasons.

Being ‘out there’ for the sake of it is not a good enough reason. We like to keep an eye on how many variables in the same bottle are ‘beyond the norm’ so as not to overdo it. So, when sourcing wines, we’re looking for ‘B-sides’ that perhaps are unusual grape varieties from a well-known region, or the complete opposite – well known grapes from unexpected wine regions.

From rare indigenous grapes to unusual wine production methods, we sample and source them all – if they pass quality control!

Like the ‘Big Hits,’ if the wine in the bottle is not well-made and value for money, it doesn’t make the cut.

The moral of this story is to highlight the fact that behind every number 1 hit is a brooding B-side with something extraordinary to offer. Now that’s what I call wine.

Some of our favourite B-sides:

CHATEAU OUMSIYAT OBEIDY, MTEIN, LEBANON £11

Obeidy is an Indigenous grape variety to Lebanon – think a slightly fresher style of Viognier with hints of citrus. This wine has exotic, mineral flavours with hints of peach through to a lovely, whistle clean salty finish. It also has delicate honeysuckle notes and a wonderful silky mouthfeel. Château Oumsiyat show respect for local tradition alongside modern techniques to create wines that are a fusion of Old World and New.

VIÑEDO DE LOS VIENTOS ‘NOTOS’ NEBBIOLO, ATLÁNTIDA, URUGUAY £14

Yes, that’s right, a much-loved Italian grape but produced in Uruguay and we must say it’s absolutely delicious! Made in very small quantities (just 2000 bottles) from a boutique winery. Aged for 6 months in older, used oak barrels, so as not to take away from the fruit’s vibrancy, this has lovely fruit purity and varietal typicity, something you will almost never find in a new world Nebbiolo.

UMBRELE SAUVIGNON BLANC, VILIE TIMISULUI, ROMANIA £8.50

The Cramele Recas Estate have put a huge amount of work into transforming into a contemporary winemaking haven. The vineyards are a combination of evolved plantings from 1447 with much more recent plantings. Racy passion fruit, tangerine and gooseberry flavours are graceful and elegant, with a lovely zingy acidity. A ‘Big Hit’ grape variety from a lesser-known region.

Blanchards Bailey are a Dorset based law firm specialising in commercial and private law. Recognised by the Legal 500 as one of the top firms in the south west.

It’s a Bohemian Dorset in Marnhull.

Did you know that brown crabs this big are caught off the Dorset Jurassic Coast?!

“What I make depends on what I find!” explains Olivia, owner of Bohemian Dorset, the preserves maker and winner of the LLTL 2020 Diversification & Sustainability Award.

With the exception of her popular marmalade - for obvious reasons this is quite tricky to produce from local fruit! - everything Olivia makes is found or foraged locally to her home in Marnhull, either from the hedgerows or from friends and neighbours gardens.

A great example is Olivia’s Bohemian Pickle - made using nettle tops and wild garlic (“...perfect for a ham or cheese sandwich”).

Her jams are equally popular “...my son likes his toast cut into three pieces so he can have three flavours each morning!”

Olivia shared her LLTL journey;

“I stumbled across the awards on Facebook I think, barely a day or so before the closing date, and thought to myself ‘what have I got to lose by entering?’ So I hurriedly did, not for a moment thinking I could win!

The whole process was really simple, and it felt really good to share what I’m doing with a wider audience. The prospect of the judging was daunting until the process began. I delivered some of my products for tasting and just hoped the judges would at least like them! I then had a long video call with the judge (we couldn’t meet because of covid issues). It was great to talk to someone as passionate about food and diversification/sustainability as me! I felt completely invigorated, and determined to grow my fledgling business after speaking with the judge - but still didn’t for one minute believe I would win.

The first I saw about my success was that I was runner-up in the Jams, Chutneys and Honey category. I was thrilled – in fact I think I even shed a tear.

More than being thrilled I was shocked, but so happy that my hard work and, more importantly, my taste choices had been appreciated by strangers – not just my friends and family being polite!

Bohemian Dorset’s ‘Jam Stand’ on Sackmore Lane in Marnhull.

I phoned my parents, posted it on Facebook and thought that was that. To then find out the next day that I had won the Diversification and Sustainability category was a complete shock! I think I shed a few more tears!

I look forward to being able to get out and about to markets again after this lockdown to share my products with more people! I also look forward to being able to hopefully enter the LLTL awards again this year...”

You can order direct through the Bohemian Dorset Facebook page, and the Bohemian Dorset Jam Stand is back up and running, now on Sackmore Lane in Marnhull. Olivia’s produce is also stocked by the Dorset Dairy Co. in their vending machine at Harts of Stur, and featured in Black Cat Catering’s popular Graze Boxes.

Blanchards Bailey are a Dorset based law firm renowned for their personal expertise, excellent client service and active role in local communities.

Love Local Trust Local 2021 Awards Opening Soon!

Love Local Trust Local was established to celebrate and promote quality, honesty and proximity in local food and drink producers in Dorset.

We are here to truly celebrate farmers, fishermen, growers and other local food and drink producers, whilst educating the public on the benefits of eating and shopping local.

As a fifth-generation Dorset farming family we use our wealth of knowledge and experience in farming, food production and hospitality, to help build awareness in the public domain around topics such as food labelling, traceability and beyond.

This is more than just a food and drink awards ceremony; this is a campaign to recognise our local food producers!

Want to enter the Love Local Trust Local Awards?

We want to hear from Dorsetbased food and drink producers who are passionate about their produce! To qualify, all produce must be sourced within 30 miles of your Dorset location.

Entries open from Monday 28th June 2021 through to Monday 27th September 2021, closing at 5pm. To check your business qualifies, and to get your entry rolling, simply click here. There is no charge to enter, so what are you waiting for?! Without support from our fantastic sponsors, running these awards would not be possible.

If you are a local business looking to give back to the community, what better than recognising those who are quite literally putting food on the table?

Working with Love Local Trust Local will help you raise your local business profile, plus you will be invited to join the judging panel! Join us to help champion the environmental, social, economic and health benefits of buying local produce and help us celebrate local food producers who would otherwise go unrecognized! To get involved in sponsoring the Love Local Trust Local Awards 2021, click here.

DORSET ARTISANS In association with Designed in Dorset is an online marketplace that showcases some of the best local artisan businesses. Featuring over 70 vendors, anything from a kitchen table to handmade jewellery, all from a small local business owner. CLICK THE PICTURES TO SEE MORE!

Too Hot To Candle: Embr. Creations

We’re Lauren & Jack, and together we’re Embr. Creations - a small eco-friendly young company in Corfe Mullen that makes candles and wax melts to fill your homes with amazing smells!

We pride ourselves on our environmental credentials - we only sell products with packaging that can be either re-used or recycled, meaning nothing goes to landfill. We also use soya wax, which means that our candles don’t give off any harmful toxins when burnt (unlike other, larger, brands!)

We only launched Embr. in October last year, and only sell through our Etsy shop.

We have a charity candle this month - it’s ‘Bear’s Bakewell’ of which all profits will be donated to the National Autistic Society.

And wax melts are currently three for £9 when you use 3FOR9 code at checkout!

We’re proud to have already completed over 315 orders, and have over seventy 5-star reviews on Etsy. We can’t wait to grow even more! Lauren & Jack