Hotel du Vin Newcastle – Wine Dinner

March 3, 2014 by Rachel Kershaw in Eating Out 0

Usually when I’m handed a wine list in a restaurant I immediately pass it to my boyfriend and give him the liberty of making a selection as frankly my knowledge of pairing wine with food doesn’t really go beyond white with fish and red with beef!

However, if there was ever a place where I’d hope to get a bit of advice when choosing my tipple it would be at Hôtel du Vin, after all, the name of this prestigious venue suggests the staff know or thing or two doesn’t it? So when I was invited to join the general manager, Rob Tait, for an evening of fine food and perfectly matched wines, well, how could I resist?

Rob Tait on the cover of this month’s North East Times

It was an opportunity to sample the forthcoming ‘wine dinner’ events that Hotel du Vin has lined up this year and as well as being spoilt with a delicious five course meal I was also introduced to a different glass of wine with each dish. The hotel’s sommelier explained each one with passion and seemed to really care about it’s production too, it was exactly the kind of sophisticated experience I had hoped for. Here are a few of my foodie photos from the evening… each mouthful was even more delicious than it looks thanks to the skills of talented head chef, Stuart Donaldson.

And those were just for starters! Thankfully I arrived hungry and made sure I had enough room for the stars of the gastronomical feast, the mouthwatering main course of ‘spiced venison loin, artichoke puree, black pudding and raspberry jus’ and gorgeous dessert of ‘honey mousse, burnt orange marmalade, honeycomb and chocolate’. Blimey, I’m getting hungry again now just reminiscing about it!

If you’d like to sample a locally sourced, carefully prepared menu, matched perfectly with the finest wines then make sure you book early for one (or more!) of these forthcoming wine dinners at Hotel du Vin Newcastle, each event is £69 per person:

March 6th – Lallier Champagne

April 3rd – Burgundy

May 1st – South Africa

June 5th – Rhone valley

September 4th- Australia

October 2nd – New Spain

November 6th – New Zealand

For more information or to book please call the hotel directly, go on, you know you want to …. 0191 2292200

By Rachel Kershaw