Dom Perignon 2003 vintage

A VINTAGE menu option is on offer at Auberge du Lac for diners looking for a Champagne moment.

Brocket, Auberge du Lac

For executive chef Phil Thompson has devised a series of dishes which bring out the complexity of Dom Perignon’s much-vaunted 2003 vintage.

And the Michelin-starred restaurant, in the grounds of Brocket Hall, in Lemsford, is one of just five restaurants nationwide, which has an innovative food-matching concept menu.

The ‘Dark Dinners’ is a stunning gastronomic journey through a spectrum of colours, which each compliment and enhance the different facets of the brilliant bubbly.

The five course feast takes diners on a tour of the vintage’s unique flavours, and is in honour of what has been described as “a stunning wine that defies expectation”.

Course 1

The 2003 vintage came about as a result of an exceptionally cold, dry and harsh winter where the initial warmth of spring proved deceptive and particularly severe frosts destroyed Chardonnay crops.

The biting winter was followed by a pan-European heat wave in the summer resulting in an unusually early harvest.

In a display of prescience and perception, Dom Perignon’s chef de cave, Richard Geoffroy, cut his holiday short and was one of the only winemakers in the Champagne region able to capitalise on the extreme conditions to create the outstanding 2003 vintage.

In describing the wine, Richard talked of its “singularity and persistence: a darkness that is unique to this particular vintage”.

Course 3

To illustrate the analogy, he worked with Dom Perignon chef de cuisine Pascal Tinguad to create a food-pairing theme, and ‘Dark Dinners’ was ultimately a result of that.

* Auberge du Lac at Brocket Hall is delighted to offer Welwyn Hatfield Times readers one complimentary Dom Pérignon Dark Dinners for two.

This must be taken from Tuesday to Thursday before July 31, 2012 and is subject to availability.

The meal includes one bottle of Dom Pérignon 2003 Champagne.

Brocket, Auberge du Lac

All extra drinks / meals etc must be paid for upon departure.

To stand a chance of winning this not-to-be-missed dinner prize, answer correctly the following question:

What brand of Champagne is used in Auberge du Lac’s Dark Dinners menu?

A) Moet

B) Monopole

C) Dom Perignon

To enter, text WHT AUBERGE followed by your answer (A, B or C), name, address and postcode to 80058. For example: WHT AUBERGE A JOHN SMITH 31a Howardsgate, WGC, Herts AL8 6AP.

Texts cost £1 plus your standard network rate.

For bookings and enquiries please contact Auberge du Lac on 01707 368863 or 01707 368888 or visit www.aubergedulac.co.uk

* Terms and conditions: The competition closes at noon on Wednesday, July 4, 2012.

There is one prize of a Dom Perignon Dark Dinners meal for two people. The winner will be the first of the correct entries selected at random after the closing date.

Usual promotion rules apply – visit www.whtimes24.co.uk

Customer services 0207 6335020.