Seafood and top Champagne at Catch, Kyiv
Catch has a deserved reputation as being one of Ukraine’s top restaurants. It’s also one of its most expensive. It’s a striking place, beautifully designed, and has the vibe of a buzzy night club. But it remains tasteful.
This is the pinnacle of the Famiglia restaurant empire of Mikhail Beylin, and we dined with him on our first night in Kyiv. It’s really impressive, and sticking with the Champagne emphasis this place has (the wine list has 400 different examples) we stuck to bubbles with our dinner. Mikhail loves Champagne, but his first love is Burgundy, and the Burgundy list here is also rather good.
Food? Seafood is the theme, which is indicated in the name. We began with langoustine sashimi, with some fish roe on top. It was a really beautifully executed dish.
Then we had sensational truffled scallop sashimi.
Then king crab phalanges grilled with parmesan
This was the stunning tiramisu
If you want king crab, then you can actually trace your crab using a QR code
The wines were spectacular.
Champagne Ulysse Collin Les Maillons Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut 2016 France
Olivier Collin owns 2.5 hectares in this 6 hectare lieu dit, which is located in the Coteaux du Sezannais. 100% Pinot Noir planted in clay soils over soft chalk. Long base wine ageing of 12 months in barrel. This is dense with some structure, and lovely cherry and pear fruit, as well as dense citrus characters. This has real depth of fruit with some notes of nuts, honey and spice. Very fine. 96/100
Champagne Cedric Bouchard Roses de Jeanne La Bolorée 2016 France
From the Aube, this cuvée comes from a small parcel of Pinot Blanc planted in 1960 on a south-facing hillside. Soils are 50 cm of sand/clay over chalk. Disgorged April 2020 with no dosage. Fine and intense with a lovely acid line. Lemony and tart with real precision, showing some crystalline character. Very fine and linear. 95/100
Champagne Olivier Horiot Sève Rosé de Saignée ‘En Barmont’ 2012 France
Lively citrus drive here, and notes of orange peel and sour cherry, showing brisk acidity. Lovely intensity to this wine with good balance between the sweet and savoury notes. Has real presence. 92/100
Champagne R Pouillon Les Blanchiens Brut Nature 2013 France
Les Blanchiens is a climat in Mareuil, in the Vallée de la Marne, and this is a blend of equal parts Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, fermented separately in used barriques, and disgorged with no dosage. This is precise and linear with lively citrus notes and a crystalline quality. Very lemony and linear, this is complex and intense with an expanding finish. 94/100
Champagne Dom Perignon 2008 France
I was so impressed by this: one of the very best DPs. Intense and lively with real finesse. Fresh toasty notes and crisp lemon combine into a crystalline array of flavour. Pure and focused with freshness and a lovely mineral/matchstick edge. Pristine and pure. 96/100
Champagne Krug NV France
This is edition 167, based on the 2011 vintage with 42% reserve wines. Taut, complex and lemony with fine toasty notes and a nice acid line. It’s really linear and pure with nice spicy, toasty complexity and fine notes of oyster shell, spice and hazelnut. Tapering lemony finish. Very Krug, and very good. 95/100
