Awaiting the Tasting

“Now this Volnay would go perfectly with salmon!” says Becky Wasserman, the vibrant American-born French wine importer and head of Becky Wasserman Selections who is giving a presentation to the eager young staff at London Lennie’s, a famous, casual, yet upscale high quality seafood restaurant in Queens that is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year.

Though it is three o’clock on a rainy Monday afternoon, the dining room is packed with a mixture of families, friends, and local business people who look delighted to be there. The fresh whole fish, attractively displayed on a bed of ice, look remarkably less so.

Few restaurants – especially in this economic climate – can afford to have three dozen or so employees participate in a mandatory lesson on wines of the world and how to pair them, let alone engage one of the most famous negociants to give the presentation. Yet successful wine and food pairing is important to Leslie Barnes, who manages the restaurant built by his parents Leonard “Lennie” Barnes and his wife Joan Barnes after they relocated to Queens, NY from London, England. And it’s especially important to keep the staff wine savvy, now that they were honored with the 2007 & 2008 Wine Enthusiast Award of Distinction and 2008 & 2009 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence.

Wine Director Brad Haskel

Joining Becky in the presentation is her son and colleague, Peter Wasserman, Becky’s husband Russell Hone, and Michael Feuerstein of Pas Mal wines, whose wine we will be tasting and learning about today.

The servers, mostly attractive young women, look barely old enough to drink yet they listen with attention as Becky first explains the style of the wine, the region it is from, and then help the servers identify flavors and aromas in the wines.

First among them is a grower’s champagne, Champagne Jose Dhondt Blancs de Blanc NV, which is crisp, with a flavor of golden apples and the tiny bubbles that are a hallmark of good French champagne. We learn about the soil (Peter effectively gestures how deep the vines drill down through the limestone) and how it is made before tasting.
 

Muscadet is a wine few Americans know about, yet it pairs so well with fish with its aroma of fresh ocean spray and its racy high acidity. This one is Domaine Guindon 2007 and would be a great match for London Lennie’s seafood

Peter Wasserman

Next is the Fougeray De Beauclair 2007 Bourgogne Blanc – a wine that will pair very well with most of the white fish London Lennie serves. We learn a bit about the producer, his style, and his judicious use of oak (old barrels so you can taste the wine, not just oak).

Few Americans have tried a white wine from the Cotes du Rhone, but this Villages Blanc Saladin “Per EL” (named for the producer’s wife) 2007 is right on. The majority of the grape is Grenache blanc. For this discussion, Michael Feuerstein of Pas Mal wines jumps up and tells the assembled audience that the producer handed the winery to his two daughters, an unusual practice for many French producers, and shares many colorful anecdotes about their down-to-earth, feisty personalities.

Mrs. Barnes

Finally, we taste the only red – Volnay 2006 by Jean Yves Devevey. It is delicate and delicious, filled with light, sweet floral aromas that will enhance rather than overwhelm London Lennie’s deliciate fish dishes. I can see this pair well with a salmon served rare.

At the end of the tasting, both owner Leslie Barnes and wine director Brad Haskel thanked the speakers for their insight, and also for talking about wine in a way the young servers can understand. And the servers also thanked Becky and the others for helping them better serve the customers by tasting some of the more popular wines on the menu and being able to describe them accurately.

London Lennie’s
63-88 Woodhaven Blvd.
Rego Park, NY 11374
Tel : (718) 894-8084
Fax: (718) 894-5258
Hours
Mon-Fri 11:45 AM - 10:00 PM
Sat 4:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Sun 2:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Becky Wasserman Selections

Pas Mal
Michael Feuerstein