Chisou x Nyetimber Tasting Event.

When an email landed in my inbox inviting me to a tasting event with Nyetimber at Chisou, I immediately responded with a big fat yes. Nyetimber are probably the most famous producers of British Sparkling Wine, while Chisou are a fantastic little Japanese restaurant in Knightsbridge, and as a lover of all things British and Japanese, I quite literally sprinted from the office to the event on Monday.
 
Henry met me there, and we sat down to four empty glasses in front of us and a menu with the pairings. We started with the 2009 Nyetimber Rose, paired with a Spinach salad. Nyetimber’s vineyards were the first to be devoted exclusively to the holy trinity of Champagne grapes: chardonnay, pinot meunier and pinot noir. All of the grapes are produced on the Nyetimber estate, whereas many wine producers use grapes from different estates to make their wines.
Nyetimber and Chisou tasting event
Now when this arrived Henry and I looked at each other and just went ‘we’re being given a plate of leaves…’ but oh my goodness, I have never had a plate of leaves so good. It doesn’t look impressive, but the taste was just sensational, I never ever thought I’d be praising a plate of spinach, but the yuzu and soy dressing just made it incredible! The Rose was also delicious, probably one of the best Rose’s I’ve ever had.
Spinach salad with Yuzu and Soy dressing

 

Nyetimber Rose 2009
Next up was Pacific amaebi head crispies with matchajio (green tea rock salt). I wasn’t so keen on these, they were very salty and it creeped me out eating the eyes and head…so I only ate half the body and left the head and eyes. The eyes were just so beady and I felt like they were watching me and crying out ‘Nooooo! Don’t eat me!”. So Henry finished them all off while I sulked at him being so cruel.
Pacific amaebi head crispies with matchajio
Pacific amaebi head crispies with matchajio

 

Chisou Knightsbridge
Next on our list was my favourite dish of the night; Wild Alaskan dive caught scallop carpaccio, dressed with yuzukosho and ponzo sauce. Aka, scallops. They were the most delicious scallops I’ve ever had, they just melted in your mouth! With this we had the Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs 2007, which I wasn’t very keen on, so once again, Henry finished it off (as you can probably tell by now, he’s a greedy bugger).
Nyetimber Sparkling Wines

 

Chisou and Nyetimber tasting event

 

Chisou Alaskan dive caught scallop carpaccio, dressed with yuzukosho and ponzo sauce
Chisou Knightsbridge London

Now the next sparkling wine was my favourite, it tasted like a sweet dessert wine, it really was something special. I wasn’t so keen however, on the sea eel, aka, unagi (think Ross in Friends). I’ve had conga eel before which was very bony, so I was worried this would be too, when in fact it was the opposite…slimy.

Nyetimber and Chisou tasting event

 

Nyetimber Demi-sec NV

 

Chisou sea eel

 

Chisou Japanese restaurant sea eel
The best thing about tasting events is you get to taste foods and wines you wouldn’t usually try, I found two wines that I really love (the Rose, and the Demi-sec), and I really really loved the scallops and spinach salad. It was a lovely evening with other bloggers and our friends, and it was fantastic to find out more about Nyetimber and the way they produce their sparkling wines. Did you know that the seam of soil they grow their grapes in is the exact same seam of soil that the growers in Champagne grow their grapes in!? It’s chalky soil and runs right under the English Channel and through Kent and East Sussex – who knew!
* This was a blogger event and was therefore complimentary.
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Catherine Lux
Catherine Lux

Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of SEO at Havas Media Group by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.

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3 Comments

  1. Angie SilverSpoon
    April 20, 2014 / 9:24 am

    Ahh…I was invited to this and couldn't go 🙁 gutted as I love champagne and sushi and it look amazing!
    Lots of love,
    Angie
    SilverSpoon London

  2. Anonymous
    April 24, 2014 / 3:08 pm

    Oo the scallop carpaccio sounds amazing. Lovely post. Sounds like a great night.

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