We had a mouth-watering afternoon yesterday, deliberating over 2010âs finalists for the Wines of Roussillon Dessert Trophy. The panel of knowledgeable judges included Benoit Blin – chief patissier from Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, Sara Jayne Stanes â chief executive of The Academy of Culinary Arts, Tim Marson MW – buyer at Bibendum Wines and Costanzo Scala â head sommelier at Benares Restaurant.
We poured over the entries and, salivating over the gorgeous descriptions of desserts and wine pairings, attempted to place them in order of merit.  Entries came from pairs of pastry chefs and sommeliers from some of the UK’s best restaurants so we weren’t short on quality,
The competition requires entrants to put together a pairing of a Roussillon Vin Doux Naturel with a dessert creation and this year a culinary theme of citrus fruit added an additional layer of challenge to the process. No wonder the paper round, without the desserts to taste or the wines to sample, requires such skill to judge! Luckily, with the panel’s expertise, we finally managed to come up with this year’s short list:
1 Lombard Street for their Citrus Lombardo paired with Maury Blanc from Domaine les Terres de Fagayra
Galvin La Chapelle for their lemon bavarois with citrus fruit salad paired with 2008 Muscat de Rivesaltes, Domaine PouderouxÂ
Greens Restaurant and Oyster Bar for their white grapefruit mousse with an Amedi dark chocolate and chilli spring roll, grapefruit and orange juice caviar paired with Rivesaltes Ambre 1998 Domaine Fontanel, Vin Doux Naturel
Summer Lodge Hotel for their Orange and Mandarin Crepe Soufflé âSuzetteâ paired with Muscat de Rivesaltes, Chateau de Jau, 2007
The final will take place at LâAtelier des Chefs on Monday 25 October where the four finalists will come up against the panel once more in what can only be described as the ultimate cook-off.
Good luck to all!
