My love of wine knows no bounds however my love of spirits is restricted to a pre-wine gin, the occasional rum when I happen to be in the Caribbean, the odd vodka coke here and there and a few whiskies at Christmas. I have tried the odd tequila, sambuca and pastis over the years but […]
On a blazing hot day in June, myself and some friends headed to White Castle Vineyard in Abergavenny, Wales and, to our surprise, not only found some glorious sunshine but some incredibly wonderful wines! If you have any preconceptions about Welsh wine, please put them to one side and read on….. I had been at the WineGB event in […]
Now the sun is finally here, thoughts tend to turn to garden parties, BBQs and weddings. There is also a small matter of a Royal Wedding coming up this weekend!Planning your wine can feel really daunting but it shouldn’t be tough – it should be one of the fun bits! When I was running a […]
Ah Hambledon. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” Never have Shakespeare’s words been more true! Hambledon is my favourite English Sparkling wine – I have shown a Hambledon at many a wine tasting, I served it at Christmas, I take it to parties and, hopefully, if […]
Have you ever been in the British Airways First Class lounge? Have you ever wondered what’s available in there? Well, loads of food options, free wifi, comfy seats and places to work with great big windows which look out over the runway. And lots of free wine. I’ve been lucky enough to travel in Business Class […]
In the UK, we consume around 1.6 billion bottles of wine per year. One point six billion! That’s one hell of a lot of grapes. Many are collected using a grape harvesting machine but this isn’t possible in small production vineyards and in those vineyards which are high up or on steep slopes – in […]
I recently went to Crete on a trip with the wine-drinking bestie. After visiting the island once in my pre-university days (circa 1998), I knew this visit would probably be a little different to the late night booze-fest of my late teenage years.I’ve come a long way since those days and, it would appear, so […]
Hattingley Valley is in a quite ‘out-of-the-way’ spot in deepest, darkest Hampshire. Near to Alresford, the vineyard is accessible only by car and through some beautiful winding country roads. Quintessentially English, it’s only a few miles from Jane Austen’s house and one could, very easily, picture the Bennett girls having a wander across the landscape. […]
There are just so many places to go and drink wine in London. There’s always a new bar or the new latest restaurant. But what if you just want a reasonably priced drink, decent wine and people that know what they’re talking about? Where do you go then? London Wine Week A few weeks ago, […]
I recently visited Céret in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. You can see my blog here. Whilst famous for Collioure and Banyuls wine, it is also a large cork producing area. Cork is harvested exclusively from the Cork Oak, Quercus Suber, found predominantly in the Mediterranean region. Though the tree can flourish in many climates, the […]