Clos de Jeanne, Genillé – excellent annual Les HP lunch

Night time view of the Clos de Jeanne, Genillé

Today we held the annual lunch of Les Huîtres Pétillantes, the company we formed in order to buy the house in Epeigné-les-Bois back in 1987. This year we chose Le Clos de Jeanne in Genillé. We had an execllent meal and were very well looked after by Bernadette Auroy – the owner along with her husband Alain, who is the chef.   

 

For our apéro we chose the 2015 Noble Joué from Rémi Cosson. Made from three Pinots – Gris, Meunier and Noir – this delicately coloured rosé has attractive red fruits along with good, crisp acidity.   

Because we were a group of eight we understandably had a restricted choice of dishes, particularly as today was the Fête des Mers so the restaurant was busy. For our entrées we had a choice of asperges gratinés au parmesan et jambon cru italien or dariole de crabe, tomates-cerise, mesclun et crème ciboulette. Unfortunately I was hungry and forgot to take photos of these but my asparagus was very good. 

With this course we enjoyed the 2014 Les Choisilles, Montlouis Sec from François Chidaine. Beautifully balanced with rich complex fruit from this very good vintage – underlining the quality of Chidaine's wines.

Main course choices: Pièce de boeuf 'Angus', beurre au piment d'Espelette, mousseline de pommes de terre au paprika (above) or marmite de la mer à la sauce safranée, brunoise de légumes de saison. The marmite had salmon, cod and julienne. Both dishes were excellent. 

Our red option was the delicious 2014 Saumur-Champigny from Antoine Sanzay. Antoine has made several lovely cuvées in 2014 and this one is particularly impressive for being Antoine's straight domaine wine.   

We had the full choice of desserts:

Tarte aux pommes flambées au calvados 

Gâteau au chocolat, sauce au chocolat et 

glace chocolat noir suisse 'Frey'

Sablé breton aux fraises de saison et 

mascarpone sorbet fraise 'sengana' 

Nos profieteroles sauce au chocolat

Not much left of the profiteroles .....

Two fine meals in 24 hours – Le Clos de Jeanne (Genillé) - Part 1

We used to be great fans of the Agnès Sorel in Genillé but sadly this restaurant in the village centre has been closed for at least a year now. It stands sadly vacant and forlorn opposite the village church.

Passing through Genillé on one of my bike rides a couple of weeks I stopped to have a look at the menu of Le Clos de Jeanne (28, Bis rue Jeanne d'Arc). At one point there had been a Salon de Thé here and, I think, a crèperie. However, Le Clos de Jeanne, run by Alain et de Bernadette Auroy, has been a restaurant for for some years now. Looking at the menu I had to wonder why we hadn't tried Le Clos de Jeanne before. It was largely because we were so impressed by the Agnès Sorel that we didn't look elsewhere. 

We made up for that last night and had a very enjoyable meal. The service by Bernadette was excellent from her friendly and welcoming manner when I phoned up to reserve and this continued right through the meal last night. She was friendly and efficient with a fine sense of humour. 

While Bernadette looks after the salon, her husband, Bernard rattles the pots and pans to good effect and without assistance. See photos of dishes below.  

The short wine list includes a number of interesting bottles both from the Loire and elsewhere in France. We chose the 2011 Romo, AC Cour-Cheverny from Domaine des Huards. This is still quite lemony but is now developing some complexity. Romorantin, rather like Hunter Valley Semillon, needs time to develop.  

Two courses for 24€ – three course for 29€. Definitely recommended.  

2011 Romo, Cour-Cheverny, Domaine des Huards, 

Michel Gendrier 

The excellent bread is baked by a friend 

Tatin de magret de canard fumé aux pommes et foie gras

Saumon fumé sur lit de lentilles, oeuf poché et sauce gribiche

Flanc au crabe, tomates-cerise, mesclun et crème ciboulette

2014 Les Rouillères, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, Frédéric Mabileau

Having dispatched the Romo we opted for the delicious 2014 Les Rouillères from Frédéric Mabileau. Lovely sweet fruit with enough acidity in the finish to stop this from being cloying. Although still very young so many 2014 Cabernet reds are drinking wonderfully well at the moment. They should also have the potential to age well but they are current so good that many bottles may well not survive for long!    

Rognon de veau émincé à la crème de moutarde

Rumsteak with butter flavoured with piment d'Espelette

Nos profiteroles sauce au chocolat 

Part 2: Le Pot de Lapin, Saumur (separate post to come)