Have you ever been sitting at dinner, craving a juicy steak, when your partner orders the fish of the day? What wine do you get then?  Do you order wine by the glass accepting the limited choice? Or do you get a bottle knowing that it won’t quite match one of the meals?

Anthony Lloyd from Fallowfields Country House Hotel and Restaurant in Kingston Bagpuize wants to change this.  “I don’t like compromise. I won’t comprise!” Anthony says resolutely.  He has created a way so his customers will not have to settle.  He introduced micro flights to his tasting menu, menu of the day and main dinner menu.

Fine dining restaurants often offer a glasses or a “flight” of wine to match the food on their tasting menu. This way you are not saddled with a bottle that does not go with the starter or dessert. It is a good way to experience a variety of wines, but five full glasses can be a bit much for one person. 

 

That is where micro flights excel. It is a winning solution that lets the entire table experience a variety of wines that match their food with out over indulging. You can order a micro flight for the tasting menu (£14), menu of the day (£9) and even when you order a la carte.

My friend Angela and I wanted a light lunch so we ordered off the main menu. Rachel Weedon, the restaurant manager, chose La Delfino pinot grigio to refresh us before lunch. The 25ml was just enough to wake up our taste buds. It was bright with crisp apple flavours.

 

Anthony Lloyd explained the secret to keeping many bottles open with out losing quality was Le Verre de Vin system. It extracts the oxygen from an open bottle of wine, and puts a layer of inert gas over the wine to preserve it for its next use.

Our second wine was the Laurenz V Friendly Grüner Veltliner 2011. Its tart acidity was a perfect match for the wild garlic veloute, which had intense flavour, yet was lighter than air. My final wine was the Auzells Tomàs Cusiné, while Rachel chose a Huia, Marlborough Gewurztraminer 2010 for Angela. Both were daring choices and ones we would not typically order.

 

Seeing my pleasure Anthony smiled, “This allows customers to have things they wouldn’t normally choose.”