Lunch, The Priory

The next Wessex Branch event is being arranged by Adrian and promises to be a first-class lunch at a very popular venue - The Priory at Wareham. We haven’t been there for three years and there have been some changes with a new glassed-in restaurant, which unfortunately has not been offered to us. Better though, we hope to have our welcoming drinks and the meal on the Terrace overlooking the Frome and pray for the fine weather that has blessed our most recent visits.

The chef since 2006 is Stephen Guinebault, and he still specialises in dishes from the Loire, influenced by his grandemaman. He has proposed an interesting menu, and Adrian has chosen some very fine wines to suit. We start with a blanc-de-blanc apéritif from the English Oak Vineyard, which we visited in June 2015. This sparkling wine won a Silver Medal in the Decanter 2016 World Wine Awards. Our main white wine is a splendid Pouilly-Fume and the red is a highly respected Croze-Hermitage.