Surprise wine fair in Portugal

"Go to Portugal for some early summer sun" we thought, as we ate our NYE dinner round at my flat.
Oh how wrong we were!!! It bucketed down on and off all week in May in the Algarve and rarely got above 18 degrees. Not what we were expecting at all.

It did however give me chance to try Portugese wines - something I had never really done before.

We drove to a couple of vineyards on a Sunday, including Cliff Richard's place, but alas neither of them were open.

Cliff's wine was at the Festival

We were very lucky to have stumbled across a wine festival in the nearby town of Albufeira. For a mere 3 euros we got a commemorative wine glass and free tastes from around 50 different wineries across Portugal. Result!

There were some Sexy wines...

and some consumer based wines (with a bit of swearing!)

We spent a couple of hours trying a number of different wines across all price points. Generally the wines from the Douro were the best, and my new fave grape is Touriga Nacional. Used in Port, it produces full bodied, inky, black fruit wines full of flavour and high tannins. I loved them!!!

We got to try some of Cliff's wine, which was fine, but overpriced I thought, and there was much better stuff available. We picked up plenty of bottles between 3-10 Euros to take back to the villa to enjoy in the rain...

I was one happy bunny...

some of the wineries exhibiting at the event

Somm: Into the Bottle

So following on from the successful 'Somm' (a great documentary following 4 young men revising for their Master Sommelier exams), director Jason Wise has bought out a new documentary, delving further into the industry and about how wine is made.

I thought Somm: Into the Bottle was enjoyable enough, but didn't have the likeability factor of the first film. I wonder if it would have been better as a mini series - maybe over 6 episodes? I just felt it tried to cram too much into too short a space of time, and didn't have the focus or clarity of the first film.

Somm focused on 4 people with interviews with many others interspersed throughout. Whereas Into the Bottle, didn't really have that central narrative, and was more just a collection of interviews (although they were themed).

Still - it's worth a look and free on Netflix at the moment, so get watching...

Another Davy's wine tasting at Vintners' Hall

I took my dad off to Vintners' Hall in the City of London a couple of months ago, to try some spring wines from Davy's. www.vintnershall.co.uk

Dad loved the building as I thought he would, but he enjoyed the wine even more. It's always a treat drinking wine at such a beautiful venue and Davy's offer some really good wine to taste on their tasting evenings.

We were sad when our glasses ran dry...

We tried some interesting wines from all around the world, many from France and Italy. But there were some stand out every day drinking wines from Chile from Zapallar. All of their bottles were under £10, and they were genuinely good.

With an extra 10% off everything on the night, I got a couple of cases delivered to me within a couple of weeks. I donated 8 bottles to my dad, thinking he has supplied me with a fair amount of wine over the years!

It's been too long!!!

So it's been ages since my last blog post. "What have you been up to since you last blogged?" I hear you say...

Well I have been buying wine (obviously) from Davy's and Majestic mainly and have tagged a number of my more expensive bottles with the price and when I bought them and am currently deciding whether to purchase a small wine fridge...

In a change from wine, I went on a beer and cheese tasting session as part of a conference session (very civilised!) at The Grove in Watford. The session was put on by Hampton Wine and Cheese: http://hamptoncheeseandwinecompany.co.uk/
and as it was St Patrick's Day we tried 6 different Irish beers with 6 different Irish cheeses. I am not a massive lover of beer, but these were really enjoyable and quite unusual! The cheeses were also superb. An oak smoked cheese was my fave. The guy running the session was very knowledgeable and I will be sure to drop in to the shop the next time I am in that part of town.

I have started my WSET Level 3 (which has been taking up my blogging time as I have been reading the mammoth text book instead of being on here) and am on week 6 of the course. It quite a step up from Level 2 and far more learning than I anticipated. I am enjoying it, but it is a lot more detailed particularly about the viticulture and managing the vines...Not sure how much of that I will be doing from a 2nd floor flat in East London.

My knowledge has already been put to good use. I went for a meal at The Gilbert Scott at St Pancras Station after a lovely day at Newmarket Racing and was perusing the wine list, when the Sommelier came up to us and let us know about a Beaujolais that wasn't on the menu but was sold by the glass.

My immediate response was: "Ah no thank you, he (my dining companion) likes a full bodied red..." To which I got the response that this was a full bodied wine! Well that is the first time I have ever heard a Beaujolais described as full bodied. I politely disagreed with him, (much to the embarrassment of my dining companion) and ordered a Malbec instead. Just to double check, I spoke to my tutor at my next WSET session and he agreed that I was right.

Me - 1, Sommelier - 0.

Couple of trips to The Sampler - South Kensington

I happened to be in South Kensington twice last weekend so thought I would pop into The Sampler - once was before a trip to the V and A, but the second time was definitely planned (as I was going with my wine loving dad).

Friday evening is a rather busy affair in the shop, and as I only had 40 mins before the exhibition I thought I would stick to the whites.

First up was Domaine Maurice Schoech (2014). This was a Pinot Blanc from Alsace. I hadn't had a Pinot Blanc before and previous experience from Alsace had only been quite floral Riesling, so this was a lovely surprise. Very citrussy, but full bodied and apparently used to be confused as Chardonnay in the past. RRP £11.90.

Second was the Unico Cocciciola (2013) from Italy. The grape is more usually used as a blend in Trebbiano D'Abruzzo. I am not always a fan of Italian whites (or reds for that matter) but this was lovely. Apples, peaches and grass with a touch of floral tones to it. The tasting notes said it was like Sauvignon Blanc and they weren't wrong. RRP £13.

Mad Szent Tamas Nyulaszo (2012) was from Hungary, and really the region is called Mad! This was really interesting wine. Tangerine and lemon peel with some honey, medium bodied and crisp with good length. RRP £24.50.

A fab Chardonnay from Napa was next - Hoopla (2013). An unoaked Chardonnay with plenty of citrus and green fruits (particularly pear for me) with some tropical flavours and with a little vanilla (which I guess must come from the 10% barrel fermentation) but very crisp. RRP £16.

They were probably the most interesting of the whites for me, although I did of course have a couple of rather expensive white French wines as well...

The next visit with my dad was on a Monday lunchtime, which was a much quieter affair. We obviously started on the whites before quickly moving onto some reds.

The weather this time of year means that I often enjoy a red wine more than a white or a rose. It feels more cosy somehow.

We found a lovely Pinot Noir from California. Not quite as lovely as the one I had over Christmas but pretty good nonetheless. I am loving that I am enjoying Pinot Noir more these days (albeit only a few!) This was Poe from the Manchester Ridge Vinyard,  Anderson Valley RRP £40. On the nose and palette I got blackcurrants and some spice. Less earthy than other PNs I have tried and the tasting notes said potpourri...Not one I have thought of before. It was smooth and silky and went down a treat.

A Garnacha from Australia. That was a first for me. Made in the Spanish style, this grenache from Barossa  'The Matador' 2013 was a lovely blend of spices with red fruits particularly strawberries. RRP £16.50.

Emiliana Coyam 2012 had more grapes in it than I have had in one glass of wine before! From Chile, this had 7 different grapes in it. I was drawn to it because the first grape labelled was Syrah. Lots of lovely flavours in here but they worked together beautifully rather than fighting against each other. Chocolate, spice and hints of oak...Delish! RRP £19.50.

Mother's Ruin from McClaren Vale in Oz was a rich Cab Sav. Tastes of blackcurrant, cassis and a hint of mint. Great label too... RRP £17.50

Probably the nicest drop of the day for me was the 2009 Château Cissac, a red Bordeaux blend from Haut Medoc. We tried it in store, but then dad treated us to a bottle to take home. Woop Woop! Dark black fruits with hints of tobacco and some toast. Probably could do with laying for another year or two, but still a smooth silky drop. Very satisfying!

WSET App

Bored of Solitaire/Candy Crush/Angry Birds when travelling on the tube?

I have been playing the WSET wine app to try and keep me focused on which wines come from which regions. It's a really useful way to keep on top of the various regions (although I am only at level 3 at the moment).

It's a bit clunky in terms of navigating round the world (which is a pain when it's against the clock!) and uses a 'previous map' button rather than using the usual expand and decrease movement you use to zoom in on the iphone,

But hey it's free, so give it a go!
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/wset-wine-game/id524998189?mt=8

New year - new places to visit for wine...

I have been a bit quiet on the wine front the first week of January - understandable given the excesses of December.

I have however been planning a few wine things for the year:

• Wine and cheese tour when I go to NY
• Visiting a winery when I go to Portugal (and across the border to a few sherry bodegas!)
• Planning on when I am going to do my WSET Level 3, which I think will be April
• Booking a Davy's Wine Tasting in March at Vitner's Hall in the City of London.

A friend is also renting out a fabulous house in Bordeaux, which I think I may well look at hiring next year for my birthday, but would also like a sneaky long weekend this year (If I have enough leave left after all my other trips!) It is available for anyone to rent and looks absolutely marvellous. 

Have a look here: https://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/accommodation/p1991013