Dinner Palazzo Capua on the 28th October

Dear friends,

For the October Qatra, since we hadn’t covered West Bank Bordeaux since the club's relaunch three years ago, this was the theme of the evening. It was felt that the 2nd and 3rd wines in the case of Latour offered diners an interesting quality/value. Also, the higher concentration of cabernet was expected to appeal to a wider audience, given that there is the Bordeaux style mixed with a more manic wine.

While the choices were pretty mainstream, we felt that it would be difficult to guess that these wines originate from such high-profile chateaus. Given that there is no notable white wine production in Pauillac, the white wine was chosen from further south Bordeaux and this may have confused those members who were considering a single place of origin for all the wines.

The only one that disappointed was the Walch Pinot Grigio which felt more like a Pinot Bianco as it was less crisp than expected and the fruit was much more subtle than usual with northern P. Grigio and a fair few of the diners spoken to seemed to agree. On the other hand, the white graves was the wine of the evening even if it paired less well with the food than the red Pauillacs. This white Bordeaux wine is from one of the oldest vineyards in Bordeaux and those 5 years of age only made it better. I (Iro) have stored and drunk quality white graves after 10 years and more and they were a pleasure so I do advise those of you who buy this wine to age it for another 5-10 years (recommended drinking window for this vintage till 2033 at least!).

The food received top marks from some, high to good from most and a couple of low marks. There was also a complaint from one diner who did not like the substitute he was given for his main course. Unfortunately at the price point Qatra currently has to work with there is not the possibility to ask for a la carte level of choice from the kitchen – members at the General meeting indicated that due consideration for increasing the dinner fees to be able to further up the quality is something the new committee should work on as a priority - the complaint has of course been passed on to the venue who otherwise did very well and was very supportive to the club with all the extras asked for because of the General Meeting held before the dinner provided at no extra charge.

On the whole, another successful evening, well attended by members.

Nick & Iro