Wines to go with a meal fit for a Queen

Across the world this week community groups gathered to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday, although of course we shall all have the opportunity to join in the festivities again on the 10th June, the date when her ‘official’ birthday is celebrated.

Rather late in the day I recalled that in 1980 I helped to feed the queen on her visit to Geevor mine in Cornwall. As the young wife of a naval officer at the time my sole task was to peel thousands of grapes for the fruit salad that formed part of the meal that the Queen enjoyed with Prince Philip and Prince Andrew at the Count House, Botallack, one of the country’s top restaurants at the time. I also acted as wine steward for the lunch.

Having fed several members of the royal family during my years as a professional chef, and as a staunch royalist, I am always interested to know about the food and wine side of things, so as the Queen gathered with her family and friends for a private birthday dinner, I was keen to discover what they ate.

According to the published menu they dined on poached fillet of salmon trout, followed by beef in port wine sauce, and then a passion fruit and mango gateau for dessert, which I plan to replicate, along with these wines.

Before sitting down to dine however, one would of course fully expect to partake of pre-prandial cocktail or two. The Queen’s favourite is a Dubonnet cocktail, the recipe for which follows:-

2 parts Dubonnet Rouge
1 part Gin
1 slice Lemon
Ice

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, add the other ingredients, stir and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with lemon wedge and two ice cubes.

The Queen is known for her lack of extravagance so when it comes to the meal itself, rather than go for wines at the top end of the scale I have selected modest bottles, within the price range of us all. 

Although there is no detail as to how the fish was served, I would fully expect her majesty to show a bit of patriotism, so to go with the first course my choice would be Denbies Pinot Gris, Dorking, Surrey, 2014, £16.95, 12.5%.

Despite the prominent beeswax, melon and honeysuckle characters on the nose, this well balanced wine is dry on the palate, full-bodied and rich with ripe stone fruits, key lime and honey, and has a long finish. Made from hand-picked grapes, this wine is made only in the best of seasons and varies in its varietal make up depending on vintage. This splendid vineyard also has accommodation at reasonable prices, so is well worth a visit.

For the beef, I am assuming that only the best, leanest cut of meat would be served, and I feel that a wine with a regal name would be just the ticket. So, rather than plumping for a heavy red that might overwhelm the royal palate after such a long and tiring day I have gone for the newest of the Beaujolias Crus, Regnié, granted its status in 1988.

There is far more to beaujolais than ‘nouveau’ and this Domaine Julien Sunier, Beaujolais, Burgundy, France, 2014, 12%, £18.95, made from the Gamay grape (as is all Beaujolais) is full of bright red fruit, vivacious and fresh.

To my mind no celebratory meal is complete without bubbly, so when it comes to the chosen pud, passion fruit and mango gateau, I can think of no better match than Pol Roger Rich Demi Sec, Epernay, France, £36.30, 12%. This medium dry Champagne, with its fruity notes of apricots and acacia honey and smooth finish is an ideal match for a rich creamy gateau, if for no other reason than that Pol Roger was the favoured Champagne house of the Queen’s first Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.