Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate presents Ron Laughton and Michel Chapoutier--two avant-garde winemakers, charismatic individuals and innovative leaders in organic and biodynamic philosophy. Ron and Michel will host two very special Matter of Taste wine pairing events:

Matter of Taste Winemaker Dinner at The Crypt, Friday 27th February - £190 Per Person

Matter of Taste Winemaker Long Lunch at St. John Bread and Wine, Sunday 1st March - £170 Per Person

Booking at https://a-matter-of-taste.com/Ticket/Dinners/3

This incredible wine and food event will embody Ron and Michel’s journey, telling their own fascinating stories and the synergies that led to their dynamic partnership that began with Michel's insatiable sense of adventure that led him to Australia in the mid-nineties following the irresistible notion of the 500 million-year-old Cambrian soils of Jasper Hill in Heathcote. That journey forged the beginning of a great relationship and the two men’s first mutual vine plantings in 1998--a mix of Australian Shiraz clones selected by Ron and Syrah cuttings off vines 80-100 years old from Michel taken from the hillside of Tain l’Hermitage in the Northern Rhone. They named this cuvée La Pleiade after the star cluster visible from Australia and France to celebrate their global friendship in wine.

The adventure did not stop there. Michel was attracted to stony-terraced soils of the Côtes du Roussillon and subsequently located his Domain de BILA-HAUT at Latour de France, in the The Agly Valley, Roussillon. Spotting an old, rough plot of land on a hillside suited for wine he connected his Australian “brother” Ron with the project to plant Grenache and Shiraz on this plot and combined it with their purchase of another vineyard they suspected was fabulous terroir, planted in 1902 with 101 year old Carignan bush vines. In 2004 the first Agly Brothers cuvée was released, sealing the links between the two wine families and the two hemispheres.

Whilst the lunch and dinner wines express the same theme each offers you two distinct environments, cuisines and mood. The dinner set in the Medieval Crypt in Ely Place will feature a menu designed by executive chef Julian Marshall (ex Mossiman) while a slightly more relaxed 'long' lunch at St. John Bread and Wine will offer the wonderfully wholesome food of Fergus Henderson.

For more information about these wineries please visit Jasper Hill http://jasperhill.com.au & Michel Chapoutier http://www.chapoutier.com or contact their UK agents, Yapp Brothers - Jasper Hill and Mentzendorff - M. Chapoutier who are supporting us with these very special events.

Booking at https://a-matter-of-taste.com/Ticket/Dinners/3