A Dream Come True

We kicked off the evening with this exotic Blanc des Blancs (100% Chardonnay) Champagne by Frèrejean Frères. It was well-received by all and enjoyed as an aperitif. 

A great way to welcome everyone on board, introduce this Champagne House and open the floor for Richard Juhlin to talk about his Champagne Hiking book and concept. 

Next up, Imperial Oscietra Caviar on Buckwheat Blinis, served with Lemon Crème Fraîche. 

This was paired with Cuvée Monochrome, a 100% Chardonnay Champagne (Blanc des Blancs) by Maison Paul Launois from the Grand Cru village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, in the heart of the Côte des Blancs.

The Cobble Lane Cured Coppa Charcuterie, which is paired here with Champagne Larmendier, felt a bit too light as a dinner course at the pre-tasting session.

Hence we reviewed it and added Parma Ham and Foie Gras on Toast to beef it up a bit, and paired it with Billecart-Salmon Rosé NV on the Cruise.

After the first tasting session, we selected this Non-Vintage (NV) Rosé by Champagne Billecart-Salmon, served from a Jeroboam (3L bottle), to be the one to replace Larmandier in the pairing menu. 

One of the “star” dishes of the night was this Seabass Carpaccio, with Salsa Verde, Coastal Leaves & Violet Flower Petals. Perfectly paired with this 2009 vintage Blanc de Blancs by Champagne Bonnaire.

The genius and magic of Chef Doug Gaunt were to replace Oysters by the Coastal Leaves (due to Richard Juhlin’s allergies to seafood) which have the exact same texture!

This is the Dry Aged Steak Tartare with Cured Burford Brown Egg Yolk version 1 (v1) at the pre-tasting session, as this will later be upgraded to version 2 with Winter Truffles for the actual event. 

The consensus amongst the tasting team was that v1 was lacking a bit of those forest floor notes required to match those of the RD 2004 by Champagne Bollinger. 

The finished product, Dry Aged Steak Tartare, Cured Burford Brown Egg Yolk, and Winter Truffle. Paired here with Champagne Bollinger RD 2004. 

Another one of my favourite pairings was the Champagne Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires 2004 with the Pan Seared Cod, Creamed Ratte Potato and Champagne Beurre Blanc.  

Finally, this one had to be perfected for the final delivery onboard Silver Barracuda. We had to take a special trip to Champagne and to Italy to get the right cheeses for the pairing, namely: Aged Mimolette, Comté and Parmigiano.

These 3 cheeses delivered perfectly against this beautiful vintage Louis XV 1996 Champagne de Venoge, as suggested by Master Sommelier Björnstierne Antonson.