Lunches
From a speedy spot of learning and a buffet to six courses of total indulgence, our lunches offer a great chance to improve your wine knowledge. Dip into our Pickering Cellar for a Lunch & Learn session to find out more about a specific wine region or style, or relax over a more leisurely affair in our Napoleon or Sussex Cellar, absorbing the knowledge of your expert host over several courses of the finest food and wine.
Food will be prepared in-house by our fantastic team, with Head Chef Stewart Turner at the helm; while our range of wine specialists will guide you through the glass in your hand.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
Book
Description
Join us in our historic Townhouse for an afternoon exploring the incredible diversity of the Chardonnay grape. Often considered the ultimate canvas for winemakers, Chardonnay can express even the most delicate nuances in terroir and lends itself well to a number of winemaking techniques. Throughout the afternoon we will compare Chardonnay from the most prized Grand Cru parcels in Burgundy to wines we consider of equal stature from the United States, the Antipodes and beyond.
For the occasion, our Executive Chef, Stewart Turner, will craft a four-course meal specifically designed to harmonize with these exceptional wines.
Wines to be tasted:
Apéritif: 2014 Champagne Larmandier-Bernier, Les Chemins d'Avize, Blanc de Blancs, Grand Cru, Extra Brut
2022 Chablis, Vaudésir, Grand Cru, Jean-Paul & Benoît Droin, Burgundy
2020 Gusbourne Estate, Guinevere, Barrel Selection, Boot Hill Vineyard, Chardonnay, Kent, England
2020 Restless River, Ava Marie Chardonnay, Hemel en Aarde, South Africa
2019 Leeuwin Estate, Art Series Chardonnay, Margaret River, Australia
2019 Lingua Franca, Sisters Chardonnay, Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA
2015 Ramey, Westside Farms Vineyard Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, California, USA
2007 Chevalier-Montrachet, Les Demoiselles, Grand Cru, Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot, Burgundy
Dress code: smart casual
Event details
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