Le Monde Wine Tasting Dinner in Cumbria

Le Monde Wine Tasting Dinner in Cumbria

At a recently held Le Monde wine-tasting dinner in Cumbria, we imagined ourselves in Italy, specifically the area of Friuli known as Friuli Grave. This territory is sandwiched between the Alps to the north, with Venice and the Adriatic coast to the south. It’s an enormous flat plain created over millennia by alluvial deposition from many southern-flowing alpine rivers. Indeed, the gravel deposited by these rivers gives this place its name.

Friuli Grave

Viticulture dates back to the Romans, while subsequent rulers (including Byzantines, Venetians and Hapsburgs) all left their cultural marks.  This area has a benign climate ideal for grapes. Though the mercury hits 35℃ in summer, the heat is freshened by alpine and sea breezes. Meanwhile, sands and clays overlay gravel, so soils provide excellent drainage and warmth. They also contain a high limestone content, which vines love. Perhaps curiously, many vineyards are bordered by hedgerows, probably the only similarity it shares with cold, wet Cumbria!

Here, the overall wine production is vast at some 350,000 hectolitres annually¹ and accounts for about half of Friuli-Venezia Giulia’s entire production. There’s not only a large Friuli Grave DOC. Since 2016, there’s also been a giant Friuli DOC, and the area is also part of Prosecco DOC. Then there are also IGPs. This means winegrowers have considerable freedom regarding their wine production choices and methods.

Grape varieties

Production-wise, Pinot Grigio and Glera (for Prosecco) rule here, generating enormous commercial success. We in the UK know this well, as they dominate their respective categories. However, Friuli Grave is an area that offers so much more. Many other grape varieties, whether white or red, thrive here in native and international forms. Varietal wines also dominate, rather than blends.

While it’s perhaps easy to get lost in this sea of wine, which varies in quality from everyday to exceptional, there are shining winery beacons to light the way. One of these is the Le Monde winery, situated in the far west of Friuli Grave, close to the border with Veneto.

Le Monde

Vigneti Le Monde (pronounced Le Mon-day) is one of the leading lights in Friuli Grave and is situated southwest of Pordenone, halfway between the mountains and the sea. It was founded in 1970, based around an eighteenth-century Venetian Villa. Then, it had 45 hectares, making 70,000 bottles each year.

In 2008, the estate was bought by Alex Maccan and his wife Marta Paladin, who have transformed it. Now, the estate is 160 hectares, with 100 hectares of vineyards. Le Monde now makes some 700,000 bottles annually in a modern winery, with plans for more.  Le Monde is SQNPI-certified as sustainable and offers a two-tier range of high-quality yet high-value wines aimed primarily at international markets, which take 70% of their production.

Wine Range

The Le Monde range spans twenty varietal wines, with nine whites, six reds and five sparkling wines. Four of those comprise their top Icon Collection, the winery flagships². Yet even this wide range only encompasses some grape varieties grown in these parts. Nevertheless, twenty wines are far too many for one dinner!

Consequently, four wines were chosen to illustrate Le Monde’s capabilities. Furthermore, and perhaps unusually, all are international varieties, though that definition is imprecise as they have been cultivated in this land at least since phylloxera. Consequently,  this dinner featured Pinot Nero, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco, and Cabernet Franc. They may be international and perhaps more familiar, but each is distinctive and has an essential Italian twist.

Dinner is Served

Dinner was served to six wine-loving guests at home in Cumbria, matching a course with each wine. Moreover, the food was based on using fresh local Cumbrian produce.

Time to take a seat.

 

Pinot Nero, Rosé Spumante Brut, 2023.  11.5%

Technical

Le Monde’s Pinot Nero is grown only for their Rosé sparkling wines. The harvest was in late August to retain essential acidity. This Spumante is made by the Charmat Lungo process in 5,000-litre autoclaves, featuring an extended 60 days on the lees. 6g/litre of residual sugar puts it firmly in the Brut category, with a clear bottle, quality cork, and closure.

Note that the label does not state a vintage date (it’s 2023), perhaps because it doesn’t carry any designation either. However, showing a vintage year would help because this is a wine to drink now to ensure optimal freshness and fruit flavour.

Tasting

This pretty light pink wine has a hint of onion skin and a moderate bubble stream. There are attractive aromas of red berry fruits and roses. The palate has a creamy mousse and offers delicate strawberry fruit with a hint of lemon before a soft but refreshing fruit finish. Excellent value.

Dinner Course – Morecambe Bay potted shrimps

Let’s start with a Cumbrian (and Lancastrian) classic – Morecambe Bay potted shrimps. Brown shrimp are boiled in clarified butter, seasoned with mace, nutmeg and white pepper and then allowed to cool. They even have PDO status. They were eaten cold, on warm sourdough toast. Alternatives? Serve alone as an apéritif, or try salads. Pairing this wine with fresh fruit desserts would also work well.

UK Price/Stockist³ Iconic Wines,£14.00

 

Pinot Grigio, Friuli DOC, 2023, 13%

Technical

Harvested in early September, cold maceration for 1-2 days, soft pressing. Fermentation and maturation in stainless steel. Maturation on the lees for six months. DIAM 5 cork.

Tasting

The maceration on the grape skins means this wine has an attractive amber-copper hue instead of the water-white norm. The aromas are of white blossom and green apples. The palate is dry with a slightly creamy mouthfeel. There’s pear and quince fruit bound with lemony acidity, then a long finish. It will keep for four or five years but is at its peak now. A world away from the overcropped norm too frequently encountered.

Dinner Course – Fennel Soup garnished with Buttered Peas and Lemon Pangriatata (fried breadcrumbs).

Pinot Grigio is the (over) familiar best seller in the UK, yet matching it with food is uncommon. However, higher-quality versions like this pair well with more delicate dishes. Hence, it was an accompaniment for a home-grown Fennel soup. This combination of flavours offers a genuine synergy, while the Pangriatata provides a welcome crunch. Other pairing ideas include baked Trout fillet.

UK Price/Stockist Iconic Wines, £15.00

Cabernet Franc, Friuli DOC, 2022. 13%

Technical

From vines aged 10-20 years old. Harvest is in early September at full ripeness. Fermentation is in two-thirds stainless steel and one-third oak casks. The casks mix second and third-fill French oak barriques with large old 3,000-litre casks. DIAM 5 Cork. Gambero Rosso awarded this wine Tre Biccheri.

Tasting

This Friulian Cabernet Franc shows unmistakable varietal character. There’s an intense, youthful ruby-red colour. Then those aromas draw you in, clean black cherry and blueberry fruit, with just a restrained wood note in support before that essential graphite/pencil note comes to the fore.  The palate is relatively light thanks to restrained alcohol, lending vibrancy. Those fruit flavours reprise, backed by a youthful tannic structure that retains some bite. A rush of cleansing acidity gives way to that graphite note on a long finish. This excellent wine exceeds expectations, but only drink it with food! It will mellow over the next five years.

Dinner Course – individual Lakeland Beef Suet Pudding, Horseradish mash, and caramelised onion gravy.

The Beef was regeneratively and organically farmed from the Belted Galloway herd at Askerton Castle. This was perfect with the wine tannins, while the acidity cuts through the suet, leaving the palate refreshed and ready for more. Other food matching ideas include Brasato (with beef or game) or roasted vegetables sprinkled with Parmesan.

UK Price/Stockist Iconic Wines, £13.35

Pinot Bianco, Alma Icone, Friuli DOC, 2020. 13.5%

Technical

Alma is one of the Icone range, a “Cru” wine, after the owners’ names, Al-ex and Ma-rta. Moreover, their Janus-like⁴ profiles are on the label. The manual harvest from a low-yielding 2-ha Pinot Bianco vineyard was in early September, so there are only 3,000 bottles. Harvest was in the early morning, before 36 hours of cold maceration before gentle pressing and fermentation in stainless steel. After one year of maturation on the lees in steel, a further year was in a mix of old and new French oak barriques. After blending and bottling, it ages for another six months in the bottle before release. DIAM 10 Beeswax cork.

Gambero Rosso Tre Biccheri award winner (on ten occasions) and Gambero’s Best Value award. Note that the length of the wine-making means this is from an older vintage than the others.

Tasting

Alma is a subtle and complex wine, yet it also has the power to ensure versatility. A pale yellow, there’s a quiet interplay of aromas. There are herbal and balsamic notes, a little peach, and the merest hint of vanilla. It has a broad, round, creamy texture. Fruit isn’t its forte, but minerality is. Think of a top oak-aged Chablis in style, maybe not as steely, just a little softer. This is an outstanding Pinot Bianco, and it will become more complex over four or five years and remain at its peak for ten.

Dinner Course – Wensleydale-style artisanal cheese selection

It’s perhaps unconventional to serve a white wine after a red, but the aim was to match this wine with three local artisanal unpasteurised cheeses. Furthermore, white wine is a better match than red for younger, creamier cheeses. The first was Fellstone from Whin Yeats Dairy in Lonsdale, Cumbria. North Yorkshire then provided the other two: Yoredale from the Curlew Dairy in Wensleydale and Stonebeck from Stonebeck Dairy in Nidderdale. While all three are in a Wensleydale style, their recipes and locations bring subtle contrasts that the wine enhances.

The wine’s acidity cut through the fat, while the subtle oak treatment accentuated the flavours. While all three were superb, each diner expressed a preference. Mine was for Fellstone, but I admit bias because the dairy is only a mile from home, and you can hardly get more local than that!

Other wine-matching ideas might include roast chicken, lobster thermidor, scallops, or a creamy asparagus risotto – Alma will take robust flavours in its stride.

N/A UK at present, Italy guide price €20.00

And Finally

Le Monde aims to make wines of high quality and high value. That it does so despite it becoming a large winery with ambitions to grow further is no mean feat. Can volume be compatible with quality and sustainability? Le Monde shows that it can be. Consequently, this dinner enabled a delicious connection between Friuli and Cumbria. Who knew?

Location

Vignetti Le Monde
ARCADIA Società Agricola s.r.l.
Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, 2
Loc. Le Monde 33080
Prata di Pordenone (PN)
Friuli – Venezia Giulia
Italy

 

What3words Location

Notes

1. Source: Consorzio Tutela Vini Friuli Grave.
2. Le Monde grape varieties are Glera (for Prosecco), Ribolla Gialla, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco, Friulano, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewürztraminer in white. Reds are Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Nero, Merlot and Refosco.
3. The UK Importer for Le Monde is Ellis of Richmond.
4. Janus is the Roman God of beginnings and endings, past and future, and transitions – a good analogy for the Icone wine project.