Champagne Tasting - Vinoteca@Bacco

Last night my fiance and myself went to a champagne tasting dinner at a local Italian eatery named Bacco. Every month they do a wine tasting paired with a four course meal. This was actually the second time that I'd come to this event and both times were excellent. The previous event was a Tuscan wine tasting and there were around 30 people enjoying the evening. Last night though was all Champagne with the exception of a Muscat to accompany dessert. 

Now you may wonder how can you have Champagne paired with every course. Sure as a aperitivo or paired with the traditional caviar or oysters but for the 1st, 2nd, and main course. Well they did it and it worked very well. Every wine tasting menu is created especially for that evening by their head Chef, Stephano. So it's not just a rearrangement of current menu items to fit the meal like you may find at other places. All the dishes were on the lighter side to complement their accompanying bubbly. Seafood was the highlight of the first two courses and the main was centered around quail. My favorite course was the first, which consisted of a Monkfish carpaccio with toasted sesame seeds and some shaved fennel. Touched with some rich olive oil and it was a real winner. Next was Seabass stuffed ravioli (all of their pasta is handmade every day) with a crayfish sauce. This was very tasty and my fiances favorite of the night. Our main course was roasted Quail over a champagne risotto with Porcini mushrooms and a creamy leek/saffron sauce. Last was a chilled dessert of passion fruit mousse with a pear and champagne jelly. Very refreshing and a great match with the Muscat.

             

All of the pairings last evening were superb and we even ended up purchasing a bottle of the Rose, which was served with the Quail, and the Muscat. That's the other great thing about this restaurant, you can purchase any of the wines/champagnes that you taste at the retail price. This evening didn't see as many people as the last, but it was a Monday evening and Half-term for schools was this week (that would be similar to Midterm in the States). The nice thing was that the owner (his name is Stephano too) and his wife were able to join everyone at the table for the meal. They are a extremely friendly and gracious couple who really make sure that you feel at home. Stefano's wife actually remembered me from the last tasting along with the fact that my fiance was out of town on business. All the staff are very personable too. This restaurant is worth a visit as everyone at the tastings will attest. Most of the people had been to at least several other wine tastings at Bacco before and were on a first name basis with the owners and many of the other customers. If you live around London this restaurant is worth the trek out to Richmond and if you are visiting for the first time put it on your 'to-do' list! If you can only make it once, I recommend finding out when the next tasting is and book it into your plans.

      

Full Menu with Champagne Pairings to follow

      

Bacco Website- www.bacco-restaurant.co.uk/