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Unfiltered: Donald Edwards

Initially studying Computing Science before switching to viticulture and oenology, Edwards worked at Ashdown Park Hotel, East Grinstead before moving to the newly opened Le Bouchon Breton, Spitalfields, later curating lists for Peckham Bazaar, Temper and St Leonards.

What is your birth vintage, and what is drinking well from that year? 

I’m 1981 so a pretty terrible year all-round for wine. The one region that really performed in ‘81 was Rioja: I recently had the pleasure of finishing a bottle of Lopez de Heredia Tondonia which was coincidentally the wine María José López de Heredia served me when I visited a while back. My white whale wine however is Pewsey Vale Riesling ‘81. A good year in South Australia – and the Yalumba family were still bottling Pewsey Vale under screwcap (they returned to cork in ’83). It still haunts my thoughts: a riot of burnt toast, marmalade and intriguing floral perfume.

What is the story behind the restaurant’s name? 

The restaurant is named for the wonderful trompette de la mort mushrooms.  

What keeps you at the restaurant? 

I think La Trompette is one of a very small group of restaurants that has allowed itself to focus truly on wine. We are constantly hosting wine dinners, often with bespoke menus. This means there’s always something interesting or challenging to occupy myself with. Plus I get to carry on making an already great cellar better (and more my own).

What was the first wine to move you?  

The first wines I remember being a bit obsessed by came from Sauternes. My parents would open special bottles at dinner, usually going half with some foie gras to start and then finishing the bottle with dessert. The first bottle I actively remember being very excited to open was an ‘88 Doisy Daëne.

Describe your drinks list at La Trompette?

Broad but mostly classic. We’ve always been known for the wine list so people expect to find things that they don’t know. That said, I try to keep my purchasing a bit sensible when it comes to the more natural end of the world of wine – apart from my growing obsession with minimal intervention white Burgundy… 

What collections or flights are you most proud of?

I love that we have a deep cellar of maturing red Burgundy and Piedmont. This means that I can pull bins of things like Denis Berthaut Fixin 1ere Cru Les Arvelets ‘14 and list it at a price that makes good Burgundy actually accessible (£105).

Is it your ambition for La Trompette to have the most depthful, considered English wine list in the world?

I think English wine is in a uniquely interesting space at the moment. There’s a fascinating bifurcation of narratives and directions that I very much doubt we’ll see again. I want to be able to show both the wonderful diversity of our traditional method sparkling wines and the – already nudging at world-class – still Chardonnays and Pinots. While also giving list space to the parallel story being the older Germanic varietals, the first generation hobby growers and the smaller less well funded but no less interesting plantings.  

What is it like to work with head chef, Rob Weston?

Rob is unique amongst chefs whom I’ve worked with, in that he brings both an incredible wealth of experience, starting out with Marco, then being the no.2 at the Square for many years, while also having the humility to let wines take centre stage with pairings. We spend a lot of time discussing the weighting of dishes, whether saucing out to be cream-based or stock-based, discussing what sort of acidity levels the dishes should have, whether pickled elements are appropriate etc. In terms of pairings, we started a Tuscan menu with sea bass crudo, clementines, heatless ‘habanada’ chillies and the just landed new season olive oil which was glorious with Bolgheri Vermentino. However, I’m holding out for the fun we’re going to have doing an Haut-Brion dinner just as the new season morels start to arrive (a dinner that we’ve delayed specially so the mushrooms will be around).

What grape, region or style do you find it hard to get along with? 

For a long time I didn’t really understand Sangiovese, then I suddenly realised I kept finding myself thinking about it to serve with pretty much everything I was working on. More generally I don’t engage enough with lower acid white varieties, the Marsanne/Roussanes of the world and Alsatian Pinot Gris.

What have the critics said of La Trompette?

We’ve rather been ignored by critics in recent years. I believe Fay Maschler wasn’t particularly nice at one point – but that was a long time ago.

What is your go-to guilty pleasure drink?

A Black Velvet.

What spirits are you excited by?

I love how the gin category has carried on refining itself. Frankly, the quality of martini I can serve is probably as good as it has ever been.  

Milk stout or IPA?

IPA, though much less since I had to start taking anti-gout medication!

Woman’s Hour or Gardener’s Question Time?

‘In Our Time.’  

Tea or Coffee?

Tea while at home, coffee while at work.

What did you learn at Leighton Park school?

An appreciation for the Quakers and more generally the radical liberal religious groups that came out of Protestantism and what they contributed to what we think of as the Western liberal tradition.

What is Pony Club and your connection to it?

The Pony Club is basically an organisation to teach kids about horse riding, it has badges and competitions and summer camps etc. I was an active member of the Woodland branch of the Pony Club (based in South Oxfordshire), and I very much enjoyed summer camps which were amusingly held very close to where one finds Hundred Hills.

Tell us something surprising about yourself?

I once scored against the Welsh Lacrosse team, which I think means I have an international sporting goal to my name.

Will you write more Radical Wine Pairing (https://www.donalde.me/) posts?

I’m actually working on a few at the moment, sadly they were a bit hard to keep up when the restaurant reopened and was crazy busy straight out the gate.

La Trompette – 3-7 Devonshire Road, London, W4 2EU; 020 8747 1836; info@latrompette.co.uk; latrompette.co.uk

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