Not so well preserved

Sorting through my cupboards recently, I came across this sorry sight. It's spiced apple chutney from a couple of years ago which we're still enjoying, although after two years I'm keen to use it up. Two jars were stacked together and, trying to remove the uppermost jar, I found it was stuck to the lower one. Chutney had oozed through the lid because the vinegar had corroded the metal. Yikes! Next time, I'll be using waxed paper disks before securing the lids (and probably won't keep it for as long). Lesson learned.

Pousse d'Or Caillerets Clos des 60 Ouvrées 1996 and mallard

Now, this wasn't any old duck and burgundy combination as you might have guessed from the heading, this was complex, gamey mallard and a rather cherished mature Volnay. For a number of years I've been the proud owner of a bottle of Domaine de la Pousse d'Or Caillerets Clos des 60 Ouvrées 1996. We've recently moved house, so this autumn seemed a good time to open it to toast our new home. We had an old friend of mine from the wine trade round for supper, so the timing and company seemed ideal.

I've had several red burgundies from this tight, briskly acidic vintage and some of them (especially village wines) are reaching the end of their lives. However, I expected this wine from such a notable site and skilled winemaker to still be very much on song. To my relief (it always feels like Russian Roulette with mature wines), it was in full voice.

There is something quite moving about this wine. It was made by Gérard Potel, one of Burgundy's greatest recent figures, who ran the domaine until his premature death in 1997. You can read more about Domaine de la Pousse d'Or and Gérard Potel here on Clive Coates's website. It reveals that critical changes were taking place at the domaine and how stress may have contributed to Potel's early demise. So, the bottle of Volnay that had lurked in my cellar for so many years has particular poignance as it was from Potel's final vintage.

Amazingly, after 17 years, the wine was full of vigour, with a rounded silky texture, creamy and fleshy – not what I expected from this angular (even gaunt) vintage. Aromatically there was a lot going on – violets,  morello cherries, plums, exotic spice, even savoury soy notes, all supported by a refreshing chalky mineral backbone. Expressive, pure, defined and entirely harmonious. Ravishingly beautiful.

Allowing the wine to fully articulate itself, the mallard worked brilliantly. The gamey meat was complex enough in its own right, simply served with potatoes roasted in duck fat and one of my favourite vegetables for fine reds, red cabbage. An autumn treat we won't be forgetting in a hurry.

A new home and a taste of the good life

It's been a busy few months. We've bitten the bullet and in early August moved further out of town from Tufnell Park to High (AKA Chipping) Barnet on the outskirts of London. The lure of a bigger garden and spacious green surroundings proved too much, yet we're just as close to the tube and a busy high street.

Almost as soon as we arrived some friendly neighbours from across the road came to introduce themselves bearing produce from their allotment. The first meal I cooked in our new home featured locally grown courgettes. After a three week holiday in France (more of which to come) we returned to our own fruitful harvest – blackberries, followed by apples and more recently grapes. What's more, our next-door neighbours have hens, so we've had eggs in exchange for home-made marmalade. Result!

So, I've had a busy few weeks preserving, juicing and freezing – my Bramley lemon curd is a particular hit and the bramble jelly as good as ever. So far so Good Life...

(Not a common sight in Tufnell Park!)

Rioja and game at The Gun

Winter's on its way, so an invitation to a dinner featuring Rioja and game was hard to resist. Warming, mellow Rioja seems like an obvious partner to game, beautifully demonstrated by this event at The Gun on the Thames in London's Docklands. Our party was in an elegant private room with a spectacular view across to The Dome.

We started with the only white of the evening, Vinas de Gain Blanco 2008 from Bodegas Artadi with roe deer carpaccio, foie gras, pickled carrot, glazed walnuts and truffle. With its fragrant vanilla aromas and fresh structure, the wine coped well with this deeply flavoured, complex dish which included a contrasting range of flavours and textures.

Next was the vibrantly fruity Graciano 2008 from Bodegas Tobia with Yorkshire hen pheasant, sweetbread and spinach vol au vent, morel cream sauce. The wine was fresh, lively and supple alongside this rich dish, but we found the Blanco worked well, too, with its creamy texture.

The following wine was the more traditional Tempranillo-based Bodegas Ondarre Reserva 2005 with roast breast of red grouse, confit leg and chestnut 'Wellington', bread sauce, game chips, braised red cabbage and game jus. This was a wonderfully wintery combination. The mellowing, slightly farmyardy, yet still ripely fruity wine really complimented the flavours of the dish (especially the mid-season grouse and red cabbage). The silky tannins and fresh acidity provided just the right refreshing structure.

Bodegas Lan Reserva 2007 came next with the cheese course, Lancashire Black Bomb, raisin toast and truffled honey. The wine was fresh and firm with the creamy cheese, although the truffled honey was too overwhelming.

As this was a purely Rioja themed meal and the region does not, as yet, produce any sweet wines, dessert was a bit of a challenge. A complex, mellow Gran Reserva – Bodegas Urbina 1994 – was served with dark and milk chocolate terrine with orange and praline cream. Separately they were good, but I felt that something much simpler and less sweet, such as pear poached in red wine and spices would have been a more appropriate choice for a dry red. Otherwise, it was an impressive menu and Luis Silva, from The Gun's parent group ETM, was a charming and informative host.

For details of other upcoming events at The Gun, please consult their website.

We attended as guests of The Gun/ETM Group and Wines of Rioja.

Fruit wine and friends

Until recently I had very little experience of home-made wine or wine made from fruits other than grapes. That is until a local mum friend approached me about tasting a selection of fruit wine made by her late mother. The idea was to serve this wine in a fundraising event for our children's school – if I deemed it palatable – along with a selection of equally homely food.

To be honest, I really didn't know what to expect. I have dim memories of sipping some of my grandmother's home-made tea wine which was like a light sweetish sherry – and in a perfectly good way. A nice little late afternoon tipple. However, tasting through Leonie's mother's wines was quite a revelation, particularly as they were made several years ago. It must be said that the contents of a few demi-johns ended up down the drain, but others were unexpectedly good. Here are some notes used to describe the wines at the event and, as expected, the raspberry and redcurrant was fabulous with gooey, chocolate brownies.

Hawthorn blossom
Sweet fragrant fruit and refreshingly balanced used here as a base for a summery punch mixed with soda water, citrus fruit and mint.

Elderflower
This is lovely – lots of perfumed Muscat-like fruit. It’s a really charming example of a home-made wine and surprisingly fresh and fragrant after more than five years. It’s not dissimilar to a southern French vin doux naturel such as Rivesaltes or Beaumes de Venise.

Nettle
This is light, gently fruity, medium-sweet and quite summery. It reminded me of Liebfraumilch or Hock, so quite retro and easy-drinking.

Elderberry 
This reminded me of a light ruby port – pale red in colour with slightly jammy berry fruit. There is some alcoholic warmth, but not the firey kick you’d find in port. One batch was fresher and fruitier, the other more evolved and sherried (so more like tawny port).

Gooseberry
This is tasting quite mature and sherried (oxidised), but has an interesting medium-sweet nutty fruity character like white port (which is deliciously appetising served chilled as an aperitif).

Elderberry (dry)
This is quite a muscular dry red. Rustic, hearty and a contrast to the other wines which are more sweetly fruity. It should be interesting to serve with charcuterie and farmhouse cheeses as, unlike the other wines, it tastes properly suited to food.

Raspberry & redcurrant
Great stuff – lush ripe red berry fruit, smooth and sweet and, to my mind, begging for chocolate. Like the elderflower wine, it demonstrates what successful results you can have with home-made wines.

There were also some unidentified wines served for fun which included plum (I think that's what it was) which turned out to be gorgeous – lush and sweet.

If you fancy having a go at making them yourself, Susy Atkins' book, How To Make Your Own Drinks includes some delicious recipes and useful practical advice. Following the event I am now in possession of a few demi-johns and I'll certainly be using them...

Spiced apple chutney

You might have a great pile of apples and are wondering what to do with them. Well, you could do a lot worse than stockpile some jars of this delicious spiced chutney. Home-made chutney is a great staple for the larder and is more useful than you might think. This spiced apple chutney goes brilliantly with sharp, mature cheddar and other hard cheeses. It's also a bold accompaniment to coarse, rustic pâté, sausage and mash, hearty pies. Alternatively, try stirring it into casseroles for a bit of extra oomph. This recipe is based on one that appears in Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess.

Spiced apple chutney (this quantity makes about a litre)
500g apples
1 medium onion
2 bird's-eye chillies
250g brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground allspice (or a mixture of nutmeg and cinnamon)
1 teaspoon ground cloves
half a teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 heaped tablespoon chopped or grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric
350ml cider vinegar

Peel and roughly chop the apples – you might need to pick them over first to remove any badly bruised flesh (ours came from my parents' garden in Hertfordshire). Chop the onion. Seed the chillies and chop finely. Put all the ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil.

Cook over a medium heat for 40 minutes or so, until the mixture thickens. Spoon into sterilised jars. Try to wait a few weeks before using as it needs time to mellow, otherwise, it will taste too acidic and vinegary.

Butternut squash risotto with chorizo and sage

Here in London we are currently basking in unseasonably hot weather – just like earlier this year when we were sunbathing and barbecuing over the Easter weekend. It's quite surreal for those of us who love the change of season and autumn produce. However, I'm not complaining. So, if you're not too busy tracking down charcoal or preparing salads, here's an easy autumnal supper.

For two servings, peel, shred or finely chop a half a butternut squash. As uncooked squash is quite hard, this is easiest done in a food processor. Melt some butter in a deep sauté pan and sweat a finely chopped onion for a few minutes until translucent (you only need a small onion). Add the squash, stir around and then add 150g risotto rice (ideally arborio or carnaroli). Turn up the heat and stir well for a couple of minutes before pouring in a generous splash of white wine or vermouth, allowing it to bubble fiercely and reduce. Add about half a litre of vegetable or chicken stock (home-made or from a cube – most recently we used a Maggi vegetable bouillon cube) kept warm in a separate pan. A few strands of saffron are a good addition to this dish and can be sprinkled in at this stage.

I'm afraid I cheat with risottos and start off by adding about half a litre of stock, covering (drowning) the rice, stirring well and only adding more once it has been absorbed. In total I use about a litre or so. I don't use the traditional ladle-by-ladle method. I check the rice intermittently, stirring, adding more stock and letting it cook for longer. If I've run out of stock and the risotto looks a bit dry or if needs more cooking, just add some hot water (or more stock). I do this two or three times during the 20 minutes the risotto takes to cook. Once the rice is sufficiently tender, remove the pan from the heat and allow to rest for a minute before adding cubed butter and, if you like, grated Parmesan (or Grana Padano), season and stir well.

This risotto is particularly good with a few fried slices of chorizo and sage leaves fried in butter. The chorizo bleeds delicious peppery oil into the risotto and all the colours combine beautifully.

A tasty way of using up leftover risotto is to shape them into patties (a bit like arancini, but without the stuffing) and shallow fry until golden and crisp. They make a great lunch with some salad leaves, topped with a fried egg (and a glass of chilled crisp white wine).

Wine
We spent part of our recent summer holiday in France on the Mediterranean, just south of Perpignan. Further down the coast is Collioure which makes some intriguing saline, savoury wines based on Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris, Marsanne, Rousanne and Vermentino, as well as the gutsy reds for which it is better known. Grapes from these old terraced vineyards also go into local port-like Banyuls. Our bottle of Collioure Blanc was unexpectedly good with the risotto – cutting through the richness and complimenting the sweet and spicy flavours. However, any number of Italian whites such as my current favourites Fiano and Falanghina would have refreshing, defined structure and plenty of flavour to partner this dish.

Autumn colour

It's been a glorious autumn here in north London and a couple of weeks ago, after dropping Alice off at school, I couldn't resist taking these pictures. Even with all the cars, the streets looked spectacular in the morning sunshine.