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Exploring La Celia: A Premier Uco Valley...

Exploring La Celia: A Premier Uco Valley Winery Posted by on Feb 24, 2025

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Launch of the Piper Heidsieck Essentiel ...

Launch of the Piper Heidsieck Essentiel Cuvée Reservée Posted by on Jul 5, 2017

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Dinner with Santa Maria’s new Lati...

Dinner with Santa Maria’s new Latin American Kitchen range Posted by on Jun 14, 2017

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Discover Soil Therapy: Leading a New Wav...

Discover Soil Therapy: Leading a New Wave in Alsatian Wines Posted by on Feb 10, 2025

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Temptation at The Savoy Hotel, London

Temptation at The Savoy Hotel, London Posted by on Mar 2, 2016

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Castello di Radda, premium Chianti Class...

Castello di Radda, premium Chianti Classico Posted by on Jun 20, 2017

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Dining with the wines of NZ winery Jacks...

Dining with the wines of NZ winery Jackson Estate Posted by on Oct 20, 2013

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Brasserie Joel celebrates Eurostar’...

Brasserie Joel celebrates Eurostar’s 20th anniv. this May Posted by on May 6, 2014

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Saturday Snapshot – The Widow Hen ...

Saturday Snapshot – The Widow Hen from Wirra Wirra Posted by on May 25, 2013

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Saturday Snapshot -Kleine Zalze Shiraz M...

Saturday Snapshot -Kleine Zalze Shiraz Mourvedre Viognier 2011 Posted by on Feb 2, 2013

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Basque Cider, Fred Flintstone steaks and...

Basque Cider, Fred Flintstone steaks and catching a drink Posted by on Dec 15, 2016

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A visit to English Vineyard, Albourne Es...

A visit to English Vineyard, Albourne Estate Posted by on Jun 5, 2017

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Stina winery; visiting a Croatian island...

Stina winery; visiting a Croatian island vineyard Posted by on Oct 6, 2020

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Video – How to Read a Wine Label, ...

Video – How to Read a Wine Label, the Douro Valley and Bourgogne Posted by on Sep 19, 2013
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Recent Posts

Dom Perignon 2002 rose – Intensely sublime

Jan 30, 13 Dom Perignon 2002 rose – Intensely sublime

Posted by in Champagne

Looking forward to trying the latest release of Dom Perignon rosé, the 2002? Well, too late. It was released yesterday in the UK and the entire allocation is gone!  That was fast but after being one of the lucky ones to be invited to the launch yesterday at Leighton House Museum, I can see why it flew off the shelves. When the...

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Aveqia – Swedish cooking classes

Jan 28, 13 Aveqia – Swedish cooking classes

Posted by in Food and Wine

I seem to be going to cooking classes a lot lately. I don’t know if that’s because I need lessons or not but they are a lot of fun. Swedish cooking seems to be on a lot of radars these days and having recently visited Malmo, Sweden myself recently, I was very much looking forward to cooking at Aveqia. They call...

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Four Seasons Koh Samui, a luxury tropical hideaway

What better time to talk about beach vacations then now,when we’re battling the snow and ice of a January in London. Last month I went off to Thailand to escape the snow but looks like I came back a bit too early. I do, however, have some great memories from my trip, one of the highlights being a stay at The Four Seasons Koh...

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Wine cruising with Vinopolis and Celebrity Cruises

Jan 22, 13 Wine cruising with Vinopolis and Celebrity Cruises

Posted by in France, Portugal, Spain, Travel

Last Autumn, I was invited by Celebrity Cruises and Vinopolis to join their Immersive Wine Cruise. The cruise featured Oz Clarke and, from Vinopolis, their head educator, Tom Forrest.  They were on hand to not only lead masterclasses on board but also joined guests every evening for wine chats and led the vineyard tours which were...

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“The Rest is Noise” Strauss at the Southbank Centre

Jan 20, 13 “The Rest is Noise” Strauss at the Southbank Centre

Posted by in Lifestyle, New Zealand wine

I was invited to a performance by the London Philharmonic Orchestra last night to hear a performance of Strauss which was a part of “The Rest is Noise” year long music festival. There are great views of the London Eye and Big Ben from the top of the Centre which is where the Beecham Bar, the members bar of the Southbank...

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Krug’s Institute of Happiness

Jan 17, 13 Krug’s Institute of Happiness

Posted by in Champagne

Anything with Krug makes me happy so imagine my delight when I was invited to the Krug Institute of Happiness early last December. Arriving at the (literally) glass house where we were to dine, I was ushered past the front door and upstairs to the open plan kitchen where Chef Nuno Mendes and his chefs were preparing our appetizers....

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Google Hangout with Nikki Lohitnavy, head winemaker at Granmonte Vineyard

Jan 02, 13 Google Hangout with Nikki Lohitnavy, head winemaker at Granmonte Vineyard

Posted by in Travel, Videos

I’m in Thailand at the moment, mostly on holiday but before I hit the islands, I stopped in northeastern Thailand to visit the vineyards of Gran Monte. Many of you may be scratching your heads – wine? made from grapes? in Thailand? Well, yes, and what Nikki Lohitnavy and her father, Visooth Lohitnavy have achieved in...

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Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve for New Year’s (or anytime, really)

Dec 28, 12 Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve for New Year’s (or anytime, really)

Posted by in Champagne

Going on three weeks now here in Thailand with no champagne, not sure if I’m going to be able to hold out until New Year’s Eve for a glass  of bubbly.  That is something that no New Year’s Eve celebration would complete without at the very least  something sparkly to toast in the coming year. One of the champagnes...

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Christmas dinner SOS, affordable wines for about a tenner – video

I know I’m not really known for my budget friendly wines, what with all that Krug I’ve been guzzling lately, but I do keep up with what’s going on in the supermarkets and when vouchercodes.co.uk asked me to do a video with my recommendations for value for money wines this holiday season, it wasn’t too...

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A few suggestions for champers next week

Dec 21, 12 A few suggestions for champers next week

Posted by in Champagne

I ran away to Thailand for the holidays this season and not missing the cold, wet, soggy weather at all but one thing I am missing is champagne! Sadly, champagne is prohibitively expensive in Thailand due to taxes so I’m missing my favourite drink. Before I left, though, I managed to get in a few drinks. Perrier Jouet sent me...

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