You might think that BBX is all about hard data, facts and figures. But behind our industry-leading fine wine exchange, there’s a team of passionate wine experts. Each is dedicated to helping people manage their cellars and, ultimately, drink better. Here, we meet Ben Chan, Senior BBX Wine Specialist.
Ben joined our BBX team last year, bringing with him many years of varied experience in wine. He started out in retail while studying oenology before moving into winemaking and harvest work – across his native Australia as well as Austria and Chablis, France.
“Most of my winemaking experience was at Philip Shaw Wines in the cool-climate region of Orange, New South Wales. Philip was a great mentor, and we made elegant wines from international grape varieties.
“Whilst I enjoy most wine styles, I think white wines can really express themselves. I saw this firsthand at Skillogalee in the Clare Valley, Château de Béru in Chablis and Salomon Undhof in Kremstal, Austria. I find Grüner Veltliner particularly interesting as it can be made in various styles, from light and fresh to powerful and hedonistic.”
After relocating to the UK, Ben worked as a sommelier at Michelin-starred restaurant Hakkasan in Mayfair.
“My time working the floor at Hakkasan gave me a crash course in the world of fine wine. I quickly learnt that while I knew how to make wine, there were so many global producers that I needed to know. I was lucky to be able to taste many of the classics.”
Ben then moved into wine education as a leader examiner at the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET). He is also a wine judge at the Decanter World Wine Awards and the International Wine Challenge. If that weren’t quite enough, he is currently working on his research paper for the final stage of the Master of Wine (MW) qualification. But education doesn’t stop in the classroom or the exam hall: Ben fondly recalls visiting some of the world’s great winemakers.
“Promontory in the Napa Valley was one winery visit that has left a lasting impression on me. The vineyard is high up in a secluded forest, and the cellar could be considered a work of art. The Harlan family’s dedication and precision were clear to see – and showed in the wines. It is truly a special place.
“Then there’s Gaja in Piedmont. I visited in spring and the vineyard was full of life. It was great to see them using cover crops and beneficial insects and birds instead of chemicals. This is better for both the vineyard workers and the planet. And their Barbaresco is sensational.
“And I won’t forget Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos in the Douro Valley. After a long day of visits and MW-student masterclasses, it doesn’t get much better than sipping on white Port and tonic at sunset.”
Ben and the rest of our team draw upon their knowledge and experience to assist our customers with managing their cellars and BBX listings. If you have any questions or would like a valuation of your cellar, please don’t hesitate to email us at bbx@bbr.com.
Berry Bros. & Rudd has hosted guests at No.3 St James’s Street for centuries. With a sample of menus from the 1930s, here we examine the food and the wines in our menus through time.
If you have ever visited the guest lavatories at No.3 St James’s Street, you might have spotted the unique wallpaper. Printed with some of our menus from the 1930s, it’s a wonderful read. With examples from our archives in Basingstoke, I compared these old menus with today’s offerings. What changes have we seen in the food and drink we serve? What can we learn from how we used to do things? And what, if anything, does this tell us about the time now immortalised on those walls?
Apéritif
We start, as any fine dining event should, with the apéritif. Derived from the Latin “aperire” (to open), the apéritif stimulates your appetite without dulling your palate. In the modern era, it also slows proceedings, removing the urgency to eat – a by-product of our instant and on-demand society.
Our 1930s menus offer Amontillado Sherry, Calmet Blanc (presumably referencing Domaine Calmet in Gaillac, South-West France) and still, as opposed to sparkling, white Champagne. Sparkling Champagne does make an appearance – its acidity and bubbles awaken the palate and olfactory system. It is still a regular on our dining menus but often gives way to English sparkling wine. It is the revitalising acidity and citrus notes of English sparkling wine which make it an equally popular, pre-prandial snifter.
Starter
Offered from the 1930s are such delights as boiled turbot, fried sole and pâté. Not much here looks unusual. Then comes the turtle soup – just what it says on the tin and, apparently, available in tinned form. This thick soup was made with turtle meat and is still a delicacy in some cultures. Here in the UK, its popularity peaked in the mid-1700s after being introduced by British sailors returning from the Caribbean. The chelonian hordes were kept alive on board and eaten as an alternative to fish. Any which made it back to Britain were in supremely low numbers so naturally, their popularity (and price) increased.
As the soup trade almost hunted turtles to extinction, “mock turtle” soup then became very popular in the Victorian period. The turtle was replaced with other gelatinous meats such as calf’s head and feet. In the spirit of sustainability and using the whole animal, perhaps the mock incarnation of this soup could make a comeback to the dining tables of No.3.
Today, our starters cover all tastes and desires – from warming, comfort-food classics like crunchy mac and cheese with porcini cream, to more complex offerings like seared pavé of brill with Devon crab tortellini. One thing our dishes have in common today is they are seasonal. Working with ingredients produced close to home reduces food miles and, in turn, offers a more authentic dining experience. I can’t remember there being a major turtle population in the Thames so to paraphrase Basil Fawlty, “Turtle’s off”.
The wallpaper of old menus at No.3 St James’s Street.
Main course
Delving into our main dishes of the past offers an array of meats from closer to our London home than turtle. Sirloin of beef with French beans and potatoes, for one. With lightly marbled, succulent flesh, sirloin is a traditional Sunday roast cut and delightfully rich in flavour. Our chef in the 1930s knew the sirloin was the star here, choosing to pair it with delicious but simple vegetables.
Our variety of side dishes today is much more complex. Gone are simple presentations of Brussels sprouts and boiled potatoes. In come Rossini potatoes and chervil root. The saddle of lamb with peas and new potatoes in the early 20th century becomes a roast saddle and osso buco of lamb with ewes’ curd, greens and radish in a menu from 2021.
Whether you believe in the science (or art) of food and wine pairing or not, it is something we’ve always paid attention to. Our historic menus are replete with incredible-sounding vintages from between the wars, now most likely considered special for their rarity rather than actual quality. A 1934 Pouilly-sur-Loire must have made a marvellous companion to a boiled fillet of sole with mushroom sauce. The 1917 “Château Brown Cantenac” [Château Cantenac Brown], a light and elegant Bordeaux red was, I’m sure, perfectly suited to the lighter game meat of roast partridge with peas and roast potatoes.
Cheese and pudding
Like the Champagne apéritif, the cheese and sweet courses have also stood the test of time. Our historic menus list cheeseboards served with pâté de foie-gras and, rather interestingly, Stilton cheese alone. This seemed very popular and suggests French cheeses were not yet so “en vogue”.
Blue cheeses are a particular delight when enjoyed with Cognac or sweet wine, both appearing on these old menus. Historical diners at No.3 would have been treated to such special bottlings as 1848 Grande Champagne des Héritiers. This Cognac’s layered complexity and sugared-nut notes would have been heavenly with the flavours and texture of a stout, savoury Stilton. Or, enjoyed as a digestif (from the Latin “digerere” meaning “to separate”) once dining had concluded.
A note here on matching Cognacs with cheese. The light, fruity and slightly floral notes of a young Cognac will pair with a fresh, creamy and slightly fruity cheese. Meanwhile the deeper, rancio flavours of an aged Cognac are best suited with the sweeter, nutty and savoury notes of an aged Gouda or slightly smoky Lincolnshire Poacher.
Muscat Précieux appeared as a regular partner to these later courses. “Précieux” is, presumably, a reference to the great sweet Muscats of southern France, though we can’t find reference to this term elsewhere. The sweet, floral, grapey notes of Muscat have made it a popular pudding wine, particularly those from the Australian town of Rutherglen in Victoria.
Those of us with a sweet tooth may be saddened to discover that our 1930s menus only refer to the sweet course as “Dessert”. No details are given as to flavour, format or filling. Our selection of puddings today covers simple classics like blackberry and apple crumble with cinnamon custard to more adventurous fare like raspberry and white chocolate delice with peaches and Melba sauce – named for Dame Nellie Melba, herself a regular visitor to No.3.
Coffee and…
As dinner guests begin to tire and digestive lethargy kicks in, coffee is served. Our patrons from days gone by wouldn’t look askance at this but we might be surprised to see cigars concluding the dining and cigarettes concluding the wine list. Today, we prefer our coffee with chocolates. We also offer tea.
While coffee with a cigarette and turtle soup have fallen from favour, not much has drastically changed in the dining spaces of Berry Bros. & Rudd. Bordeaux and Burgundy still grace our wine lists but now they jostle for position with Californian Pinot Noirs and Alsatian Rieslings. Which wines and food the next century will bring to the menus of our event spaces, I can’t say but I know it will be delightful and they will be eminently well-matched.
To find out more about our range of events, including lunches and dinners, at Berry Bros. & Rudd, click here.
This spring, we’re turning the spotlight onto a handful of our Own Selection bottles that are perfect for seasonal sipping. In this short audio clip, George Turner – Manager of our Spirits Shop – tells us more about one of his favourite spirits: the 2009 Guyana Rum.
“I’ve always had a fondness for rum, ever since I was young and my grandfather used to whip up wild tales of pirates – often centred around a bottle of rum. So this was nostalgia in a glass, with lashings of sweet sticky banana, chocolate-covered dates, dark honeyed sugar, orange peel and candied ginger. An exquisite rum.”
Rory Eaton is the Wine and Beverage Director at Ynyshir, a celebrated destination restaurant with two Michelin stars, perched on the Welsh coast near Snowdonia. Sake has long been one of his favourite drinks, pairing exquisitely with a range of fine dishes. Here, he tells us why he loves sake and shares some recommendations on how to enjoy it.
I first tried sake while working on a tiki bar in the cocktail scene. It wasn’t on my radar at the time, but sake’s star was already rising in the beverage world. It was served in (what I thought was) an odd wooden box – which is, in fact, the traditional masu cup.Rather inelegantly, I attempted to drink it from the side, and it ended up down my shirt. Drinking etiquette notwithstanding, I was intrigued. Those savoury notes of umami, delicate but generous; that clean mouthfeel, with a body akin to wine. I can’t say I loved the profile initially (like many first-time sake drinkers), but I was excited at the prospect of utilising these unique flavours.
Nine years later, how things have changed – in large part, thanks to my tenure at Ynyshir restaurant on the Welsh coast. Access to increased quality shows sake in a whole new light. It is one of my most revered beverages, especially for food pairings that can’t be matched with wine.
On a recent trip to Japan, I visited the atmospheric NinjaBar, located in an underground Tokyo crevice. It soon became impossible to see through all the empty cups that lined the table. At the other end of the spectrum entirely, we later visited the beautiful Mumyo restaurant in Nagano Prefecture. We drank locally from a phenomenal brewery named Masumi, whose sakes were elegantly served in handblown Kimura glassware. I could have sworn I was in heaven.
What’s in a name?
Before we delve any deeper, I think it’s important to state that sake has been adopted in the West as the name for rice wine. However, in Japan, the word “sake” relates to any alcoholic beverage. Its real name is “nihonshu”.
The two main categories – Junmai and non-Junmai – both fall under the higher classification of “premium sake”. Premium sake accounts for only a quarter of all sake produced in Japan. The remaining 75% is known as Futsushu – considered the more “everyday” drinking stuff. It gets a bad rap in the West, often overshadowed by its premium counterpart. Nevertheless, back to the good stuff.
Junmai literally translates to “pure rice”, brewed using only rice, water, yeast and koji. Comparatively, non-Junmai will contain a small amount of distilled alcohol. I must stress that a non-Junmai sake is in no way inferior to a Junmai; each bears its own specific characteristics. A skilled brewer will add brewer’s alcohol (known as jozo) to enhance unique textures, aromas and flavour profiles.
The second most important classification is the polishing ratio. Sake undergoes a process in which the exterior of the rice grain is “milled” to attain the purer, starch-rich centre. The extent to which the grain is milled results in three main types: Daiginjo (50%), Ginjo (60%) and Honjozo (70%) – with the percentage indicating the amount of grain remaining after milling. Like most classifications, the former is merely the first step in the door and opens more intricacies as one delves further.
One of the more common misconceptions is interpreting these percentages as the ABV, when in fact, it relates to the polishing ratios – merely indicating the remaining weight of the original rice grain used (for example, a Honjozo is made using 70% of the original rice grain). I find that many drinkers who are new to sake often mistake it for a spirit. It is far closer to a beer, and it’s never distilled.
Enjoying sake
Personally, I tend to lean towards Junmai sakes – especially Junmai Daiginjo. I find Junmai sakes to have a richer, fuller body (a preference that extends to my interest in white wines and Champagnes alike). Daiginjo sake is the pinnacle of elegance and purity, made from the most finely milled rice grains. The flavours are more easily defined and lend themselves perfectly to chilling. Expect detectable fruits, blossoms, aromatics, and precise umami. Ginjo sake, though refined, never reach the heights of Daiginjo, and are subsequently enjoyed for different reasons. They still lend themselves to chilling, though the flavour profiles become less defined. Junmai and Honjozo emphasise the flavours of the rice, more than any discernible fruits, and can be enjoyed at varying temperatures. But each category has its place, and none should be thought of as second-rate. Much like drinking a highly tannic wine without food may seem out of place, a Honjozo with blue-fin tuna is perhaps not the best match.
Serving temperatures are always interesting. A Honjozo can often be enjoyed warm – which increases the perception of body and umami – though I must admit I rarely stray from chilled. Personally, I deal with sake and food pairings, rather than “everyday” drinking. Pairing sake offers many interesting flavour opportunities. I am privileged at Ynyshir to work with some of the finest global produce. We use a substantial amount of top-end Japanese produce: sustainably farmed blue-fin tuna, hamachi fish, and A5 wagyu beef (A5 denoting the highest grade available). Generally, I tend to pair sake with dishes based on their sauces, seasoning, sweetness or acidity. However, a simple dish of the finest sashimi, for example, cries out for a highly polished, elegant sake.
My choice pairing is a chilled Junmai Daiginjo from Fukuoka, with hamachi sashimi. The sake boasts an elegant minerality, with notes of pure red fruit and steamed rice. A daiginjo allows you to easily distinguish the variety of flavours, and the cool temperature brings freshness, with a palate-cleansing property – perfect for fish with high fat content. Another favourite is chicken yakitori, for which we must look towards a ginjo sake. The more robust body, with less nuance of flavour, is a perfect match for smoky, fat-induced dishes, often seasoned with tare soy sauce.
I urge everyone to try sake at least once. Restaurants and bars can be a great place to ask for help and recommendations. I’m noticing more sommeliers using sake in beverage pairings, seeing them featured on extensive restaurant lists, with now even sake specific bars and shops popping up. It’s clear to see there’s an increasing appetite for sake. As we become an ever more global society, this enticing category should become a firm favourite for many drinkers.
If you’re new to sake, our Discovery Case offers the perfect introduction, featuring three delicious expressions from top producers
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