Berserkers,
Spring is upon us and summer will be here soon, it must be time for the Toronto Wine Elitist Cabal ™ to hit the road and visit beautiful Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada for exquisite cuisine and wine from our cellars and their wine list.
This evening we all opted to do the tasting menu you see above with some modifications for those at the table who couldn’t eat seafood or fish. The kitchen opted to surprise those in the group who had this restriction with some surprise dishes which we’ll get to below. But of course, we must start with wine.
COLLARD-PICARD NV BRUT ROSE CHAMPAGNE – I chose the aperitif from the Langdon Hall wine list. I knew I definitely wanted a Rosé champagne so I chose this one off of the list for a very simple reason – I’d never heard of this producer before. Per their website, they were founded in 1996 via the marriage of Olivier Collard and Caroline Picard to start their family owned grower’s Champagne house. Mike Grammer immediately notes a Maraschino note which I agree with. I notice cranberry fruit, brioche toast and a bit of a phenolic bitterness but that gives way to the sensation of sweetness as it warms up in the glass. That maraschino note is quite pronounced, and the dark red color has me convinced that this must have been done in the Saigneé style. However, I cannot find notes to confirm this, even from their own website. I wonder if this is produced exclusively for export. It’s nice, affordable and easy drinking.
Food service began with Langdon Hall’s own in-house baked Sourdough Bread and Focaccia with Roasted Garlic and Onion.
The Amuse Bouche came in a stunning presentation, baskets decorated with flowers from Langdon Hall’s own gardens. What a beautiful presentation.
In the middle of the basket lay a Miso Torchon topped with fresh cheese and a compress watermelon slice topped with a sumac gel. Good contrast between the rich creamy umami of the torchon and the refreshing watemelon. You’d think that a foie gras torchon flavored with both miso and fresh cheese would be too much, but it was actually quite balanced and the foie gras flavor was well complemented.
OLIVIER LEFLAIVE 2015 PULIGNY-MONTRACHET – TWEC ™ and board member Mike Grammer and his father personally know Olivier Leflaive so it makes this pick off the list by TWEC ™ member Michael Wright extra special. This was an incredibly smooth wine, and that’s not a descriptor I’d usually ascribe to a white Burgundy, and I mean silky smooth in this case. The nose is a creamy flint, the body is clean and delicate and light, and this has delectable green apple flavors and a bright straw gold body that belies some maderized notes that give this a slightly sherried taste. This was just great. A generous contribution from Michael.
The tasting menu kicked into first gear with the Poached Lobster. Fresh lobster is deshelled and poached in a broth with the shells. This is then dressed with buttermilk and fresh herbs from the garden, caviar and a gel made from the poached lobster broth.
Those that couldn’t have shellfish instead enjoyed the Vegetable Tartare, a clever vegetarian take on a classic tartare dish using fresh vegetables from the garden and dressed with leek pesto, egg yolk jam and sourdough crisps.
Our next dish was the Foie Gras Parfait. Perfectly done fois gras pate made with brandy and cream was topped with strawberry, rhubarb and icewine gels and served with toasted brioche. The bread service was also refreshed for us at this time.
Those that couldn’t have the foie gras due to vegetarian preferences instead received the Risotto Verdi. Risotto made with green veggies and herbs from their garden. This was topped with edible flowers from the garden.
ROBERT GROFFIER PERE ET FILS 2020 GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN LES SEUVREES – This was an incredibly powerful red Burgundy, with a s trong nose, high acidity, and an explosion of red berry fruits on the palate. This is a super fruit bomb compared to other more delicate Burgundies and even had a surprisingly high heat on the finish. I noted for the table what this reminded me of: California red wine I’ve had at our annual Le Select Bistro brunches that are pre-Robert Parker. Powerful on the palate but still delicate in body. Quite striking and a very generous bring from Michael.
Our next dish was the Juniper Smoked Trout. Trout is gently smoked over juniper berries and served in a balsam fir beurre blanc sauce with red fish roe.
The alternative dish for those who didn’t eat fish was the Truffled Ricotta Gnudi. Handmade ricotta gnudi is served with glazed Paris mushrooms, a Champagne bubble sauce, and topped with fresh shaved truffle. This dish gave me serious FOMO. I had a taste and it was absolutely delicious.
After these umami bomb dishes, we cleans our palates with the eponymous Taste the Langdon Hall Garden salad. Daily foraged edible greens, herbs and flowers from the garden and the property at large are put together in a salad with soft cheese and a vegetable juice vinaigrette foam.
PAOLO SCAVINO 2005 BAROLO BRIC DEL FIASC – Brad Kent bought this, the very first high end Barolo he ever bought when he first started getting into wine. This is very smooth, full of stewed red fruit compote flavor, lots of umami and saline notes. Tannins are still present but integrated well. Michael Wright notes that this brings you to another continent.
This was time to go with our next dish which was the main course, the 24 hour Marinated Beef Tenderloin. It’s marinated in molasses garlic wet rub before being pristinely cooked to a medium rare doneness. This was served au jus with a truffle butter potato gratin, hen of the woods mushroom, and aspargus.
Those that couldn’t have the beef instead received the Wild Caught Halibut served with eggplant done three different ways, marjoram, confit garlic, and fish bone velouté.
Our last courses were the dessert courses. First was the Elderflower Cremeux with Honey, a cremeux (whipped custard thickened with chocolate and stabilized with gelatin) is flavored with elderflower and served with honeycomb ice cream and honey brittle. The honey used is honey from Langdon Hall’s own beehives and aged for a year.
Our second dessert was the Berry Pavlova. A baked meringue is filled with a lemon verbena berry salad and topped with white chocolate Chantilly cream and served with raspberry sorbet on the side.
ZIND-HUMBRECHT 2008 CLOS JEBSAL SELECTION DE GRAINS NOBLES TRIE SPECIALE PINOT GRIS – Another incredible contribution from Michael Grammer, this incredible nectar has a rich maderized nose that sent a tingle down my spine. A syrupy texture carries sweet dried stone fruit spiced by a distinct coffee note and incredibly high mouth puckering acidity. There’s also a maple note on the finish.
Michael was sure this was 49 g/L of RS and I told him that he was crazy, it had to be at least 149 g/L of RS along the lines of a Sauternes or a Tokaji 5 Puttonyos. Good God, were we both way off, as the Zind Humbrecht website reveals that it in fact has an astounding 359 g/L of RS as well as just 4.5% ABV and an astonishingly high given what it is 6.0 g/L of acidity which explains the mouth puckering. I told the table that this is the Alsacian equivalent of a Tokaji Essencia. Incredible stuff. Thanks, Mike.
This was an incredible evening. We’d like to thank the kitchen, staff and sommeliers at Langdon Hall for their incredible service and food. We very much look forward to returning.
Great pics and storyboarding, Tran.