Noma, the Copenhagen restaurant that has been voted “The Best Restaurant in the World” (LINK) over and over, was the site of a recent visit by Dorianne, two friends, and me recently. Here are the links to the first two installments of the series: (LINK TO PART 1)  (LINK TO PART 2).

This post covers the second half of our 18 (actually 20) course meal and wine pairing.

Course #10:

Our wine for this and the next course is a 2012 Coufe Chien, Domaine du Perron, Bugey – Savoie, Chardonnay (LINK to the 2011) from the Rhone Valley. Young and high in acid with an aromatic nose and hints of citrus, it was a perfect accompaniment to the Mahogany Clam.

The single clam was mounted on a bowl of wet stones (which we were advised not to eat). The uncooked clam meat was sitting in a marinade with a dusting of samfire (LINK) around the top of the shell. The dish was to eaten with a wooden fork. It was delicious – I could have eaten the rest of the dozen, but alas, it was not to be.

Next:

This course, Monkfish liver, cooked then chilled and served very cold on toast, sitting atop a folded napkin. This was a particularly succulent dish, with a great texture and flavor. The Coufe Chien was a beautiful match for this dish. Eaten with fingers.

Next:

Our next wine, a 2014 Cuvée Alexandria, Domaine Matassa, Calce – Cote Catalan (LINK – click on Cuvée Alexandria), is described as a “raw wine,” made from a grape called Muscat d’Alexandria. You won’t find much about this wine, from the Catalan hills in extreme southwest France, online, and I doubt that you will be finding this wine in your local wine shop. The wine is unfiltered, very young and is very raw. I would describe it as bitter and a bit sour. Not for sipping. It reminded me of the must right after fermentation, while the wine is still in the fermentation vessel.

It was served with only one dish, a white asparagus, goosefoot (LINK), and barley plate, this one eaten with utensils. The asparagus was amazing – tender and delicious, the goosefoot and barley added notes of green sour and some texture. And, I was surprised to see that there was some justification for the wine pairing. The Cuvée Alexandria was a decent match, adding to the sour notes of the dish (you would have to like sour), and extending the flavors through a long finish. Intriguing.

For the next course, a new wine:

The new wine, a 2013 “Aragonite” Julien Guillot, Cruzille – Macon (LINK), a Burgundian Chardonnay, was a return to wine-normalcy for me. Fragrant, well-structured, and clean, the wine drank very well.

The first of two pairings with this wine was called vegetable flower. As you can see, it was nasturtium flowers in a vegetable broth. Delicious and delicate, the wine did not overpower this dish.

Then:

Lobster and nasturtium was next. A North Sea lobster tail served with nasturtium leaves attached. Paired with the Julien Guillot Chardonnay, it was one of the highlights of the meal.

Now, we enter into a bit more unusual territory:

The next wine, a 2013 Chinuri, Iago’s Wine, Chardakhi – Georgia (LINK), was most unusual. Unfiltered, young, sour. Even more so than the Cuvée Alexandria mentioned earlier. This wine was almost unpleasant – there was wine in the mix somewhere, it was just hard to find.

The first pairing was a dried fruit “leather” shaped into a leaf with a number of other items on it, including some garlic and grasshopper flour. It had the consistency but not the flavor of licorice and was very good.

Next:

Then, a dish not on our printed menu – beef bone marrow with a “soup” of flowers, and nasturtium leaves. This dish was the only one served that might have called for a red wine, but the Chardonnay did it’s job of pairing pretty well.

At this point, we were visited by the Sommelier, Yukiyasu Kaneko of Japan.

He answered our questions (I had a longer chat with him later) and explained his theory of using younger wines to compliment Noma’s unique cuisine.

Next:

The next wine, a 2014 Grains de Folie, Bruno Rochard, Coteaux du Layon – Loire Valley, Chenin Blanc (LINK – Related) comes from a region known for sweet wines. This wine, was a bit on the sweet side of dry. It was light, refreshing, and a nice pairing for the cheese course (also not on the written menu). The pairing worked well. The cheese was light and creamy, in a vegetable broth. Very good.

Now, on to Desserts:

Desserts were a flurry of items, pickled and sweet, with egg liqueur and espresso. The berries and greens soaked in vinegar for one year were very good – each retained much of its original flavor, but the textures were very unusual. The forest greens dipped in chocolate were a combination of tart, sour and sweet – the creme dipping sauce could tip it to the sweet side if you preferred, plus there were some more conventional chocolates on the plate. The egg liqueur was very smooth, much thinner than eggnog, and refreshing.

I should point out that Dorianne has allergies to beef and cow dairy, and the Noma staff made every effort to accommodate her in this regard, substituting ingredients, etc. You let them know 30 days in advance of your reservation about any allergies.

Wow. What a meal! The 18 courses turned out to be 20. We were well-fed, entertained, amazed, and, actually, ready for more. In the next and final installment of this series, I will let you know about the tour that you are offered of the Noma Complex and what you learn about the unique Noma Culture.

Photos and text, Copyright 2015 by Jim Lockard