“I’ve seen it all, from Blue Nun to now.” So said my charming host, Gerrard McCann, GM of the Mint Leaf Lounge, situated smack in the heart of the City, referring to the changing wine tastes of British consumers. Gerrard had invited me to check out Mint Leaf’s wine list and do a bit of food and wine...
read moreI neglected ‘Sleuth a bit during the month of July because I was so busy working summer festivals. Despite the fact that I’ve lived in this country for 4 years, I’d never been to a proper British music festival. I still haven’t been to a proper British music festival but I worked/attended Art in Oxford and the Port Eliot Festival...
read moreSometimes style does count over substance. I went to a new supper club not long ago and while the food was serviceable, it was really the setting and atmosphere that bowled me over. It was the Old Hat Supper Club, a new one recently set up in Islington and I was there as a guest of Riccardo prosecco. Riccardo had invited me and a...
read moreI love kitsch. I should have been a teenager in the 1950’s, although then it would have been high culture. I would have been an avid reader of anything pulp fiction. “Spicy Adventure Stories”, “Unwilling Sinner”, “Sin on Wheels”, I would have collected them all! So when I spotted Passion...
read moreThe most laid back winemaker I’ve met so far has to be Australian Peter Gago, Chief Winemaker of Penfolds Wines. I was at the launch of Penfold’s Luxury Icon wines recently and sat down with Peter for a brief chat about his Kalimna 1998 Shiraz Bin 28 and what he thought were it’s finest qualities. We tasted...
read moreWhen I was at the 2010 London International Wine Fair, I came across DrinkPrice. Actually, they came across me as they were roaming the Excel Centre looking to interview wine people and what we thought were some of our interesting finds. I had come across some great Italian wines and did a brief tasting note with DrinkPrice...
read more“Sheeeeerrrrrrrryyyyyyy,baby. Sherry baby, Sherrrrry, can you come out tonite….” That old song by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons always pops into my head whenever I hear the word sherry. Most people unfortunately, usually associate sherry with grandmothers, rocking away the afternoon with a knit shawl on their...
read moreSome time ago I went along to Chapter One in the wilds of Kent to have a Nyetimber paired dinner. That went down so well that when Chapters of Blackheath contacted me to try out their josper grilled steaks, how could I resist. Chapters is one of only 9 restaurants in the capital to use the famed Josper grill, a combination of grill...
read moreChablis. The word just rolls off the tongue. Chablis/Rhymes with glee/makes me hap-py… Ok, so maybe I’m being a bit silly as I write this (and yes, I am sober although a bit hopped up on my third cup of coffee this morning) but I do honestly enjoy a good Chablis. I’ve written about Chablis before, how people are...
read moreI do enjoy those more obscure Italian varietals. Italy has something like over a thousand native grape varieties and over a million vineyards under cultivation! Which means you are spoilt for choice. No need to stick to the usual suspects such as pinot grigio and sangiovese (Chianti). Falanghina might be more or less an unknown...
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