Ok, so this isn’t about beer, but it was a fantastic evening and we’d love to share the results with you. At the beginning of February, in conjunction with Susanna Forbes from Drinkbritain.com, we hosted what we believe to be the first cider vs wine & food matching battle. Diners were treated to a five course meal and enjoyed a wine & a cider with each course. Each match was voted for ‘Ready Steady Cook’ style with different coloured cards.
Cider was represented by Henry Chevallier-Guild, eighth-generation cider producer at Aspall, and Pete Brown Beer Writer of the Year and author of Shakespeare’s Local. In the wine corner, River Café Sommelier and the 2012 Best Sommelier of the Year, Emily O’Hare, teamed up with the Dan Probert, manager of Adnams Cellar & Kitchen store in Holt, Norfolk.
Whilst cider had a 4:1 victory, it was a lot closer than it may seem with one course only having 1 vote in it! Offshoot Films Film Club members Ashley and Dominic produced a short video of the evening which captures the great atmosphere and the results. If you’d like to see the full menu then scroll to the bottom of the page… enjoy.
And a very special thank you goes to Aspall for donating the welcome drink of Cuvée Chevallier and Billecart Salmon Champagne for supplyling their Rosé Champagne free of charge.
See some other accounts of the evenings events:
- A ‘Storify’ of the live tweets from the evening
- Dan Proberts account on Adnams.co.uk
- Susanna Forbes account on Drinkbritain.com
- The East Anglian Daily Times
MENU & SCORES
Brocolli & Parmesan Soup with Homemade Chilli Foccaccia
17 Vallobera Rioja Blanco, Rueda, Spain; £7.99, Adnams
44 El Gaitero, Spain; £1.55 33cl; Slurp.co.uk, Waitrose
Mackerel Fillet with a Fennel, Mint & Parsley Salsa & a Pont Neuf Potato
43 Gougenheim Torrentes 2011, Mendoza, Argentina; £6.99, Adnams
18 Aspall Premier Cru, Suffolk; £2.59/50cl; Aspall, Adnams, Waitrose
Slow Roast Blythburgh Pork Belly with a Homemade Duck, Pork & Sage Sausage & Tomato & Mixed Bean Cassoulet
30 Quinto do Crasto, Crasto Tinto 2010, Douro Valley, Portugal; £9.49; Adnams
31 Henney’s Vintage 2011, Herefordshire; £2.09/50cl; BeersofEurope.co.uk
Eddy’s Sour Cherry Cheesecake
21 Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé NV Champagne, France; £52.99; Berry Bros & Rudd, selected independents
32 Aspall Imperial Cyder, Suffolk; £3.08/50cl; Aspall, BeersofEurope.co.uk
5 Cheesecake; 3 Abstentions
Suffolk Gold & Binham Blue Cheeses with chutney & biscuits
3 Gonzales Byass ‘Vina AB’ Amontillado, Jerez, Spain; £13.59; Adnams
58 Once Upon a Tree Blenheim Superb 2011; Herefordshire; £16/37.5cl; Once Upon a Tree
Bite & Bottle 
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