Absinthe. Isn’t that the stuff that caused Van Gogh to cut off his ear? Poor absinthe is actually the victim of a smear campaign begun by temperance advocates in the 1880’s and it has never fully recovered. Absinthe doesn’t cause hallucinations as the popular misconception goes, rather, it is thought that the...
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Champagne and cheese might not be your first choice when it comes to wine and food matching. How about VINTAGE champagne and cheese? Does that sound any more enticing? It did to me. Hell, just mention vintage champagne and I’m there holding out my glass to be filled. I love vintage champagne, what can I say? The complex...
read more“I want you to be as critical as possible about this wine.” That’s not usually a directive one gets at a wine tasting at a friends house but this was no ordinary wine and it was The Wine Rambler‘s house. We had in front of us, a German red wine. Pale ruby and almost translucent in colour, we were drinking it...
read more“Punctuality is the virtue of the bored.” Evelyn Waugh I can’t say that the Winesleuth is ever bored and so I was running to meet the Lebanese winemaker, Habib Karam at a winetasting in West London, late as always. I don’t know how it happens, time just seems to creep up on me and before I know it, I’m...
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Lately, The Winesleuth has been getting around the London restaurant scene. Last week I could be found in the bar of Texture, a recent winner of a Michelin star (Jan 2010), Texture was founded by Xavier Rousset and Agnar Sverrisson. Xavier was awarded UK Sommelier of the Year at the tender age of 22 and met Agnar while they were...
read more“Denise, there has been a slight change in our lunch plans today. Could you please call us? ” That was the first voice mail that greeted me on a recent Monday morning. I knew it was all that damn Icelandic volcano’s fault even before I returned the call. I was supposed to be attending a tasting and lunching with a...
read moreA few weekends ago I went on a trip to the West of England and Someset. It was more of a foodie trip then a wine focused trip but food and wine go together and both concern taking something from the ground and making it into something good. We visited Riverford Organic Farm and were given an extensive tour of the fields as well as...
read moreEnglish mature cheddar cheese. Until I came to England, I had no idea what mature cheddar cheese was. Sure I’d had SHARP cheddar cheese (and didn’t really care for it, too sharp!). I have to admit, my favourite cheese used to be Monterey Jack – no snickering, please. In my defense, our tastebuds do advance with us...
read moreI once had to spend 2 weeks in the (then) charming sleepy little beachside town of Georgetown in the Penang Peninsula of Malaysia waiting for my Thai visa. I had inadvertently flown into Thailand without a visa and they would only let me stay a few days without one so off I trekked with my traveling companion to the nearest Thai...
read moreIt’s a little known fact (to the English) but the proper name of crisps is chips! Yes, that’s right, you read correctly. Potato crisps originally came from America where we called them crispy chips. When they arrived on the shores of Ol’Blighty, you already had chips (as in fish and chips) so to avoid confusion,...
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