Recent Posts
The world of sparkling wine is many and varied and although I have largely confined myself to the pleasures of champagne, sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone. So I was game to visit the cava producer Vilarnau whilst I am spending time here in Barcelona. Cava has recently overtaken both champagne and prosecco in the...
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Last night I was invited to try out the new cocktail menu at Gaucho in Piccadilly. The Gaucho group has launched a new Autumn/Winter cocktail menu along with a ‘Beef in the Bar’ canape plate. I caught up with Ian O’Reilly, Head of Bar and Beverages at Gaucho, over a couple of cocktails to find out a bit more about...
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Last week I made it back to London in time to attend the launch of the Piper-Heidsieck Rare Experience in the VIP room of the Mayfair nightclub, Whisky Mist. The champagne houses have started to concentrate their efforts on nightclubs but Piper-Heidsieck has to be one of the first to have a dedicated VIP room in a Central London...
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One of the stops we made while on my trip to St. Chinian was to the small village of Assignan. Like many provincial villages in France, Assignan had become almost a ghost town with just a few villagers left to keep the village going. That is, until Flemish couple Marc and Tine Verstraete stepped in and literally bought the village...
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I was recently invited to St. Chinian by their growers association to not only learn a bit more about the wines but also to discover the wine tourism that they have going on there. If you thought it was all vineyards and wine tastings only, there’s a lot more to explore.Saint Chinian is in the Languedoc region of southern...
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I’m currently hanging out in Barcelona and getting to know the city. It’s not only a cheap holiday destination but a gorgeous city to wander around. As a wine blogger, I’m always interested in finding good wine shops. Barcelona has some really great wine bars and shops to explore. Of course, Barcelona has also...
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The Almeida in Islington has recently been renovated and refreshed. I was invited down for a look-see and to sample the new menu created by head chef, Tommy Boland. Tommy has previously worked under Michelin star chef Eric Chavot so I had a feeling that I was going to be in for a delicious meal. I hadn’t been to the Almeida...
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I recently visited the Vinho Verde region of northern Portugal and got to know the wines and some of the producers of the region. One of the most interesting quintas (or estates) we visited was Quinta de Curvos. This quinta is located in Minho which is not far from Barcelos, one of the main cities on the pilgrimage to Campostelo de...
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Marcelo Papa, chief winemaker for Chilean brand, Concha y Toro, is a man on a mission to take Chilean wine back to it’s origins. Last night over a wine tasting and dinner, Marcelo told me, and a select group of wine writers, where he thinks the direction that Chilean wine should take into the future. What he told us was both...
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Last weekend I was invited to a London in the Sky pop-up dining event at Canary Wharf. The event is part of the global Dinner in the Sky series with events in 43 countries. The event in London took place over 10 days and featured 5 Michelin starred chefs cooking for guests high up in the sky. I was wondering how they were going to...
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