Love: Borsao Barrica 2009

All I can say is WOW.

Ok so I ordered this case of wine from Gauthier Wines recently. It was their Christmas Edition which included 12 bottles (2 x 6 bottles) plus lunch for 2 at their Soho restaurant – Brilliant deal and an exciting selection of wines. Unfortunately, after a week of delays with delivery, I had to get it delivered to my office…Now as I live in London, there is really no way to get it home beyond bringing it back bottle by bottle to my flat. I brought two bottles home yesterday and opened the Borsao Barrica and let me tell you, I was so excited. It was absolutely amazing…rich, spicy and authentically Spanish. Add a bit of cheese & some spicy prawns and you are in business. Plus – I did a quick search to see how much it would set me back to acquire a bit more of this gorgeous tipple and found it here for under £8! I think I’m in love…

Borsao Barrica, 2009, Campo de Borja – BUY IT (IN BULK)

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Lovenotes: Tasting Wines for the Holidays!

I hosted my second wine tasting at my flat yesterday and welcomed an intimate group of lovely new friends into my home. We tried wines from around the world – with personal stories from the group to match! I have posted pictures of the wines below as well as some notes on our reviews. Please excuse the quality of the pictures – my lovely photographer friend, Jackee, is on holiday so I took them myself (yikes!).

What we covered: 
Introduction to tasting & discussion of glassware
Food & wine pairing – don’t overcomplicate it
New world & Old world wines and what some of the differences are
3 basic steps to tasting a wine
Party tricks for tasting and talking about wine (i.e. impress your friends…or just weird them out with your slurping technique!)

Wines we tried: 
Glass of Prosecco DOC, Corte Alta with Elderflower port (from Yorkshire) to start
Giesen Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2011
Gran Vendama Rioja Crianza 2009 **CROWD FAVOURITE
Giesen Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2010
Barista Pinotage, South Africa, 2011 **CROWD FAVOURITE
Taylors Late Bottled Harvest Port, 2006
Finished off with french press coffee w/ Baileys to prep my guests for the cold

Everyone left slightly merry with a lot of laughter which is exactly how I like it.

A few suggestions were made for future tastings which I will be taking on board:
Around the world with one grape – find the same grape from different regions around the world and try them all together.
Sherry is not just your Grandma’s drink – this one I will find more challenging as Sherry is not my favourite but alas, when the crowd wants it the show must go on.

If you want to join in on the fun, sign up for a future tasting or drop me a note.

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Reminder: Upcoming wine events!

If you’ve been hoping to increase your knowledge and awareness of amazing wines this holiday season, make sure to sign up for some upcoming tastings. Spots are still available and cost is either by donation or £10 (until 11th Nov). Its a great way to get a handle of what types of wine will impress your friends and family as well as yourself this holiday season.

For the Nov 17th tasting, so far we have a yummy Port, some gorgeous Bordeaux, a few South African stunners and maybe even a cheeky Bierzo. Sign up today!

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Taste your way through the season

What better time to get up to speed on what wines you like, love and covet than when you are preparing for upcoming festivities with family and friends? There are a million ways to start brushing up on your skills: Head to your local supermarket/wine shop and ask lots of questions (many times they will have tastings available while you browse – just ask), Attend a tasting (lots of places offer tastings – speciality shops, wine shops, liquor stores, etc. Keep your eyes peeled), Talk to your friends (many people have a favorite bottle of wine that they use as their ‘go to’ tipple for any celebration. Ask people you know for suggestions and you may just discover a new gem!).
For my part, I will be hosting, attending and conversing about all things wine in the next two months (have a look at what I’m up to here and sign up if you’re interested). As always, if you want to swap ideas – pull up a chair and let’s chat.

Essentials for any successful holiday: 
Brandy – my favourite is Hennessy VSOP. Top it with a bit of ginger ale for a spritzy buzz or some spicy eggnog for a classic holiday treat
Sparkling wine – the holiday favourite in my household is Prosecco because of its light body, balanced flavour and general yummy-ness (plus it can be enjoyed at any time of day…)
Good, full bodied red wine – this is the absolute must have. I love picking a few favourites each year to share with my family. I am still in the discovery phase for this year’s celebrations and will be using my upcoming tastings to explore a few pre-selected Malbecs, Petit Syrahs, Bordeauxs and Tannats. Stay tuned…

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Burgundy is for lovers

My two lovely friends got married last Monday in London with 20 of their closest friends from around the world looking on. Our troupe was then shuttled into cabs, whisked away to the Champagne bar at St Pancras station and herded into Coach 15 on the Eurostar bound for Paris. After a quick transfer to the regional station in Paris, we were on our way to Dijon. Hop, skip and a 40 minute drive from Dijon, we entered our home for the next week: Chateau du Tailly, a gorgeous 18th century block of three buildings (all of which could have been individual houses)…

So many stories, such a wonderful week. Ultimately, it was about two people: Joel and Marc whose love brought all of us together for this incredible experience. We wined and dined our way through an awe-inspiring week throughout Puligny, Chassagne, Beaune, Mersault and many more. More updates to follow but will leave you with this for now.

  

The main Chateau and my two lovely friends, Joel and Marc, who hosted us during the week:

My home for the week:

        

The winemaker at Chateau Lahaye allowing me to ‘break through the must’ on their newest harvest.

  

Cheers!

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I want to B-A part of B-A, Buenos Aires, Big Apple

Read this article recently – Creative wine tasting in Buenos Aires? Sounds very enticing….perhaps my next trip will be to Buenos Aires to test out their approach to building a walkable wine route in the city… Because, honestly – the only bad part about visiting most wineries is having to drive in between!

Plus – I have always wanted to go to Argentina’s Big Apple (queue song from Madonna’s movie version of Evita – if anyone except for me and my family has seen it….)! Malbec & Torrontes = super yummy exported Argentinian wines. Can’t imagine the quality you’d get on the ground.

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On the road to Santorini!

Its time for spring holidays! An absolutely wonderful excuse to leave the office and the city for a few days of sun, sand and cocktails. Luckily, my chosen destination of Santorini Greece has it all: Sun (26 – 27 C for the entire time I’ll be there), Sand (yes, though we’ll be on a cliff so potentially I won’t see much of the stuff – that’s OK though as it always gets stuck in the most uncomfortable places), Cocktails (yep! and no, I am no longer 23 but I will likely still be trying out the local Ouzo…) and to top it all off – they have wineries! Read a bit more about Santorini wines here.

If you have suggestions on what to try while I’m there, let me know! Otherwise, hang tight for an update from me when I get back next week. Bring on the sun!

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Here’s one for the broken hearted

For those of you that know me personally, you’ll know that I am going through a time. One of those dramatic-life-altering periods where everything that you believed in, loved and dreamt about falls down around your feet. Don’t worry, I’m not posting on my ‘fun-lovin wine blog’ with all doom and gloom – just keepin’ it real.

One of the major drawbacks? Over the last four months, I have had some of THE WORST wines. The other day I was drinking ‘California White Wine’ at a pub with friends and the wicked hangover that I experienced the following day was proof of my lack of judgement. Is my drop in standards a result of my broken heart? Or is it more down to the fact that I just want to drink, cry and feel sorry for myself?

One thing is for sure, when the bottom drops out of your life, you really start to see yourself. You see everything just a bit more clear. The good, the bad and the ugly – all in hypercolour. London is surprisingly a pretty good city to be in for this type of self reflection. No matter where you are in the city, you are surrounded by a massive amount of people from every walk of life. I’m currently sitting in a cafe drinking a lovely glass of Chablis AC, blogging to you folks and positioned next to two loud boisterous Spainards, two techy Japanese playing on a MAC and an American girl out for lunch with her gay best friend. Everyone has their own struggles, insecurities and triumphs. Its comforting, if not just a little therapeutic.

 

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Crazy Cardiff-ian Crab

I had a work event in Cardiff last week. What a great city! The sun was shining, atmosphere buzzing and the cab drivers were giving impromptu tours of the landmarks. Our event was at the Coal Exchange near the water. Lots of pretty old style buildings and plenty of happy, welcoming people. After the event was concluded we went to a great little restaurant with our team and the event staff called The Potted Pig. Their speciality? Yep, potted pig. And its ridiculously good.

I however decided to be the true American and ordered brown crab for my meal…

Paired with a gorgeous Petit Chablis, it was an absolutely stunning meal. I did however manage to spray lemon juice, fling crab meat and shells across the table and into my unsuspecting colleagues faces, plates. etc. After a while they just stopped to watch me battle with the big guy. I became extremely focused and somewhat skillful at finding and extracting the crab meat. In the end I only managed the claws and a few of the legs. I have to say however that is was a great way to not overeat. My major drawback? They didn’t supply any bibs!!

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Vina Alarde Rioja Reserva 2006

I’ll admit it – I tried this wine a few months ago and thus don’t remember exactly why I liked it. But I obviously enjoyed it enough to take a picture of it. So here you are – a really nice Rioja for you to try. In my opinion, good Rioja can be hard to find (there is a LOT of it in the UK to meet the demand of the supermarket consumer – i.e. around £6 per bottle. I remember this being around £30 in a restaurant so would guess you could find it for £10 – £15 in the shops (Majestic as usual would be my first checking point). I would recommend buying a few bottles – a) to get the likely discount of 10 – 15% off and b) so you can try it on a few different occasions.

Rioja is a wonderful wine for parties as it is likely to please most people. For this gem, make sure you share it with only your best friends or at least people who care enough to recognise its amazing-ness. Enjoy!!

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