Last week I was touring the vineyards of Burgenland in Austria as part of the EWBC and at one point we were tasting the wines of Eisenburg, eastern Austria. One of the producers described his wine as having boysenberry fruit characteristics. At which point, one of the fellows in my group wondered aloud, “What does a boysenberry...
read moreRain in the summer in London is a real pain because even if it looks cold outside, it’s really not. Rather, it’s muggy and humid and when I get to wherever I’m going, I’m all hot and sweaty because I overdressed. Such was the case as I arrived at Galvin’s Bistrot De Luxe for a pre-birthday dinner a few...
read moreIt is now midnight as I write this and I am still full. There used to be this commercial that ran on American TV for Alka-Seltzer, the tagline was, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing”. Despite the fact we didn’t “eat the whole thing” as a matter of fact, we both took doggy bags home, we did...
read moreWine on tap. Can I have one of those for my flat, please? While it might be unreasonable to have a 10 litre keg of wine in my flat, it’s a very good idea for restaurant house wines. Think of it, minimal wastage, stays fresh for at least a week and is very economical as the wine comes in a wine cask that can be easily and...
read moreDuring the recent World Cup fervor I attended a good old-fashioned South African braai sponsored by the Wines of South Africa at the Orangery in Kew Gardens. I’ve recently become a bit of a convert to South African wines and will even drink, *gasp* pinotage. However, it can’t be any pinotage, I do have my standards you...
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