Gaucho Grill is an Argentinean group with three restaurants across London. They do a fairly wide menu of course but what they really do is steaks – great big ones, full on meat and no prisoners. The cut is brought raw to your table for inspection before going off to the grill. If you ever get the chance to take Morrissey out for dinner, you’d best not bring him here.
What do you drink with steak? Red wine of course and this is where the Gaucho really gets interesting. They have the most comprehensive Argentinean wine list this side of the Falklands, all chosen by the Head Sommelier Phil Crozier who has made Argentinean wine his speciality and who goes over regularly to meet the principal wine producers and find exciting new ones.
So far, so what? Well Phil wants the world to know about Argentinean wines
and he is keen that the waiting staff know all about it too, that way they
can sell to diners with knowledge and authority. To that end, every new group
of waiting staff are given a three to four day wine tasting course led by Phil
himself. For
the Gaucho this must be an expensive thing to do – not only
are the staff not ‘working’ for three days, there are also a lot
of bottles opened – but as Phil explained to me, it pays off. He can’t
be at every table every night and so he relies on the waiting staff enhancing
diners’ Gaucho experience by expertly recommending and discussing wine.
Plus, as he points out later, better service means better tips so it is in their
interest
to learn all they can.
I went along for one of Phil’s courses which are, incidentally open to anyone and at no charge, and joined a group of Gaucho trainees in an underground conference room beneath the City branch. They were a mixed bunch of nationalities, but all were genuinely keen to learn and did not see the course as anything other than important. For me the room was a horrible reminder of my less than wonderful red brick University, but we never had bottles of wine on the table. Wine, back then, was Don Cortez or nothing.
Phil himself bears a resemblance to Robin Asquith from the ‘Confessions
of… ‘days but is clearly very, very informed not only about the
process of wine making but Argentinean wine in particular. Last week he had
taken his students through white wines, today it was red which makes up 85%
of Argentina’s output. The reason is the reliability of sunshine to thicken
the grape’s skin and deepen the colour and the cooler conditions which
can be found by moving to higher altitudes.
As Phil explained, twenty years ago Argentinean wine was made for the domestic
market. Most of it wasn’t all that good. But in the past twenty years
the country has woken up to the advantages it has– consistent
climate and quality that can be exported. It's still in its infancy, :Argentina’s
neighbour Chile exports 82% of its wine, Argentina just 10% but as we were
about to
find out,
this
10% is great stuff.
From an informatative one hour overview of the steps in wine production,
which taught me a lot about stuff I had previously only managed to bluff
semi-knowledgeably
about we moved on to the bottles ranged tantalisingly close. ‘You’re
going to need to drink plenty of water today,’ advised Phil. ‘Even
spitting, you absorb a lot of alcohol.’
We tasted a variety of Argentinean reds, all chosen by Phil for the restaurants
and each demonstrating the wonderful range of complexities available from
the country. Argentinean wine is pretty much organic, not so much because
the producers
make a special effort, but because the natural climate, air and altitude
make pesticides unnecessary. The high levels of sunlight means thick skins
on the
grapes too which adds to the colour while resisting attack.
It was remarkable how well the students did, far better than me, accurately summarising the notes they detected by sniffing the wine and then equally effectively deconstructing the tastes. The Suzana Balbo Crios, for example, really encouraged the adjectives and adverbs – lychee, grapefruit, papaya and apple. Absolutely delicious and one I deeply regretted spitting out. Mind you, there wasn’t one wine I tried that I didn’t like.
Phil told me later that the Gaucho group sell millions of pounds worth of Argentinian wines each year and all are chosen by him from personal tastings at the vineyards. What is particularly charming is the lack of big producer feel to many of the wines. The labels for example aren’t always straight. ‘Well that’s right, ‘Phil smiles, ‘ they’re all stuck on by hand so there’s bound to be variation.’ He tells me of wine producers who hang onto their unique methods and aren’t interested in changing. One man does all his harvesting and bottling according to phases of the moon. ‘I don’t know if it’s science or tradition or superstition, ‘ Phil shrugs, ‘but the wine is fantastic so I’m certainly not going to suggest he changes his ways, far from it.’
I couldn’t stay for the afternoon session when there would be more wines to try and then a blind tasting, but I would have dearly liked to. Phil’s enthusiasm for Argentinian wines is infectious and his teaching style laid back yet expert and informative. I can’t think of any other restaurant that lays on this sort of education for waiters so readily and it really is to Gaucho’s and Phil’s credit.
To be able to ask a waiter to advise on wine and to get a properly informed answer is increasingly rare these days and Gaucho’s staff are clearly helping to fill the restaurants’ tables, which on this Monday lunchtime were heaving with jolly diners. And for Phil and Gaucho to invite anyone interested in Argentinian wine to sit in on these courses for free is remarkable. If you haven’t tried the Gaucho, its steaks and its wines then get round as soon as you can. Argentina is on its way up.
Phil’s Argentinean wine courses take place on the first three Mondays of each month from 11-4 at the City branch of Gaucho. Phil will also give free guided tastings to any table of eight or more diners in the evenings. To find out more call Phil at Gaucho on 07957 345707
