EVENT: Waitrose Drinks Festival WHEN: 18th/19th November 2017 WHERE: County Hall, London (down by the London Eye) We all love winning free stuff, right? And when it’s free entry to a food and drink festival it’s even sweeter for us wine-o’s and food geeks…
Was really lucky to sneak in a quick chat with Matt Stafford when he was over in London recently. Between trips round all the top wine sellers in the UK he managed to spare 5 minutes for me to take about what it’s like to be a winemaker at the brilliant Craggy Range vineyard in …
I’m not normally one for these “grape days”. Every other bloody day it’s something like Barbera Day or Pinot Gris Week or something daft like that. And you only ever hear about it the day it’s happening anyway. What use is that? Well not this week boys and girls!!
Every wine-o out there will no doubt heard of Yealands before. They are a big family wine estate with vineyards stretching all over the famous Marlborough district in New Zealand. I’ve been sent 5 bottles of their different Sauvignon Blancs and been asked to come up with something “arty” to promote them on International Sauvignon …
When I got involved in the idea of doing this tweet up session I was a bit wary about selling out a bit too much. I’ve never really been involved in tastings for what I think to be brands. What kind of company are Villa Maria? Sure I’d tried their wines, and liked them and …
When I left uni over ten years ago there didn’t feel much of a choice. You were pre-programmed to go for a graduate job and go work for a big company somewhere. You were going to work your arse off but they were going to pay you pretty well. The risk/reward for going out on …
I’ve probably said this before but I’m going to say it again anyway. I didn’t get in to wine off the back of trying one glass of wine and having some “eureka” moment. My path to not just seeing wine as a means to get strawpedo-style drunk was spending time with some winemakers up in …
Next Thursday night I’ll be taking part in a big tweet up wine tasting session for Villa Maria, the New Zealand wine company. They’re launching the new vintages of their upmarket Cellar Selection range, a classic kiwi Sauvignon Blanc, and the other classic kiwi Pinot Noir. Kiwi Pinot Noir is a particular favourite of mine, …
I’ve got a wine tasting session coming up next Thursday night for Villa Maria wines. I’m doing it alongside the amazing Mel who runs NZ Wine Cellar in POP Brixton, one of the coolest places for a foodie to hang out in the whole of London. Our job yesterday was to wander round the different …
This week I headed down to Thames for a wine dinner that UK wine agents, Hatch Mansfield, were putting on. Gordon Russell was over from the Esk Valley vineyards in Hawkes Bay in New Zealand. I don’t get lucky enough to drink much wine from there that often, so it was a real treat for …
A nice twist on how to blend a wine from a Kiwi legend Read More »
