It's no secret that I'm a bit of a grape nut and enjoy exploring and attempting to keep up with the ever changing world of wine. So I liked this paperback/pocket sized reference guide to English and Welsh sparkling wine the minute I saw it. In this day and age of Googling and online reviews it's great to see a book covering one of the wine world's most promising developments in the last few years. The rise of English, terroir driven sparkling wines. Travelling around more than 50 vineyards in England and Wales, author Stewart Wilde celebrates the vineyards that produce the best of English sparkling wine, all using the 'traditonal method' (French 'methode champenoise') and all having won awards at regional or national level. In my opion the three most important elements of wine are land, grapes and weather and in this book you will find details of terroir for each vineyard, the grapes grown, tasting notes and an engaging insight into the winemakers and their craft. And that just leaves the urge to go and try a glass or two of some wonderful English fizz myself.
On Friday last week I so enjoyed the Thos Peatlings Christmas Wine tasting. Over 70 wines to taste, a lighter purse and some cracking wines wending their way to the suffolkfoodie HQ for Christmas.
Two days later I was invited to an informal tasting and dinner at Pea Porridge. Ian Steel from For the Love of Wine ( he was also at Peatlings, hidden in his favourite corner of the cellar) brought a vast selection of Italian wines to taste. Pictured is Rosso Passo 2010, Lenotti, which he also showed at Peatlings. We slurped, tasted and enjoyed a fabulous dinner. Neil Courtier from Grapesense also joined the party. We talked wine and food, ate too much and shared each others knowledge. If you would like to learn more about wine then take a look at Neils website. He has some brilliant courses.
Well this is my latest aperitif discovery, served in a French provincial airport bar (would you ever get this at Stansted...?) and totally delicious, especially if the rosé is cheap and cheerful. Just a splash of grapefruit in the glass turns it into something altogether more ooh la la! If you parlez francais you can see how to do it here in the video but le monsieur uses fresh juice instead of syrup. We thought home made onion rings were the perfect canape for this.
Groupon sent me this offer - a tour of Shawsgate Vineyard near Framlingham for two for £11 including tasting. I would be asking my sister if she wanted to go except I'm packing to go Abroad.
In the New York Times (yes, I'm that kind of girl...) I have just read an article about restaurants listing their wine lists on i pads and increasing sales by vast amounts. This is because people choose on average more expensive wines than they would from a tatty old book, perhaps because they can see much more information about the wine than usual and can cross reference things like the grape or the area. How long before that comes to Suffolk eh?