This great little wine shop is located in Maida Vale/Warwick Avenue but they do deliver all over the UK. A specialist store, it’s the kind of place where you ask for recommendations or, like we did this evening, join one of their tastings. This evening it was all German, and it was delicious! The below wines are, with the exception of the last one, all dry. They are food-friendly (think seafood, fish, salads), fruity and seriously elegant!
Wiltingen Kupp Riesling 2003, von Othegraven (Saar)
A brilliant riesling showing some petrolly notes on the nose indicating a bit of age. Delicate, elegant and well worth its £17.99 price tag.
Gäns Riesling trocken 2005 Lubentiushof (Mosel)
This Riesling boasts quite a bit of body and has ripe fruit notes and a big yummy palate! £16.99
Ockfen Bockstein 2005, von Othegraven (Saar)
Delicate, juicy and very aromatic – the nose on this one is really seductive! £19.99
Spätburgunder “Classic” 2005, Nelles (Ahr)
A very enticing nose precedes an extremely delicate palate with juicy fruit notes and some earthiness in this red wine made from Pinot Noir. £15.50
Kanzem Altenberg Riesling Spätlese 2005, von Othegraven (Saar)
A super palate with lovely sweetness and a clean and refreshing finish, making you yearn for the next sip – this one will have a very special place in my wine rack (although given how much Mathias liked it I doubt it will stay there for long…) £17.99
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Château Maris Vieilles Vignes 2005 Minervois Cru La Livinière, South of France
Not surprisingly, I have a new favorite red… This time it’s an absolutely gorgeous southern French red. To quote my own tasting note, ‘beautifully dark and seductive, great palate – yum, refreshing, peppery, superb’. I've enjoyed it with steak and it would probably be a good match with most barbecued meats and veggies. £8.99, Waitrose
Sunday’s wine
A quick note to let Anna and Julia know that the wine we had on Sunday was the d'Arenberg The Galvo Garage – check out the tasting note in February’s section under Aussie round up and thanks again for a fabulous dinner!
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Cork & Bottle Wine Bar
Slowly falling in love with this wine bar – it’s unpretentious, has a really good wine list and serves a variety of decent priced, well-tasting food. It’s not really what you expect from a wine bar located in one of London’s most notorious tourist places. I don’t know if it’s because you have to order everything in the bar or the fact that it’s located right next to a sex shop in a basement, but somehow you can get a table at this place on a Saturday evening without too much hassle.
The wine is good and they have a good selection on glass that actually changes fairly often (don't ask how I happen to know this...). Further, the staff is knowledgeable and they will let you taste before deciding on what to drink (only the wines on glass though). So many, many Linda points for the Cork & Bottle at Leicester Square!
Cork & Bottle Wine Bar
44-46 Cranbourn Street
Leicester Square
London, WC2H 7AN
Telephone: 0871 3328201
The wine is good and they have a good selection on glass that actually changes fairly often (don't ask how I happen to know this...). Further, the staff is knowledgeable and they will let you taste before deciding on what to drink (only the wines on glass though). So many, many Linda points for the Cork & Bottle at Leicester Square!
Cork & Bottle Wine Bar
44-46 Cranbourn Street
Leicester Square
London, WC2H 7AN
Telephone: 0871 3328201
Monday, April 23, 2007
Pink pleasures
I am a big believer in enjoying whatever wine you like whenever you like so when people argue that pinks are to be enjoyed only in summer, I don’t really agree. However, I must confess that I had my first glass of rosé (in 2007 that is) this past week and it was really good!
There are many different styles of rosé wines made from a wide variety of grapes varieties. I like bone dry and very delicate rosé wines and the one below was just gorgeous!
Les Champs Clos 2005 Sancerre rosé, Loire, France
A pale pink coloured wine showing fragrant red berry aromas. Bone dry on the palate with delicate strawberry notes and a soft finish. We enjoyed it with freshly cooked crab and it worked really well.
This wine is made in the village of Sancerre in the Loire Valley. Sancerre is mostly famous for their whites made from sauvignon blanc, however there is a small production of rosé and red wines here and they are always made from pinot noir – hence the price. (wines carrying the name Sancerre on the label have to be made from either sauvignon blanc or pinot noir grapes – it’s the law!) This wine is available from Nicholas (plenty of locations in London), £11.99
There are many different styles of rosé wines made from a wide variety of grapes varieties. I like bone dry and very delicate rosé wines and the one below was just gorgeous!
Les Champs Clos 2005 Sancerre rosé, Loire, France
A pale pink coloured wine showing fragrant red berry aromas. Bone dry on the palate with delicate strawberry notes and a soft finish. We enjoyed it with freshly cooked crab and it worked really well.
This wine is made in the village of Sancerre in the Loire Valley. Sancerre is mostly famous for their whites made from sauvignon blanc, however there is a small production of rosé and red wines here and they are always made from pinot noir – hence the price. (wines carrying the name Sancerre on the label have to be made from either sauvignon blanc or pinot noir grapes – it’s the law!) This wine is available from Nicholas (plenty of locations in London), £11.99
Austria tasting
Just a quick update to give all of you who came to Anna’s birthday party and the tasting of Austrian wines the names and prices of the wines we tried. They appear below in the order we tasted them. It was great to get so much feedback on the wines and hear everyone’s opinions about them! For those of you who liked Austrian wines, I’ll be tasting a lot more from this country and will keep you updated on fun and yummy wines! As always keep me updated on what you are drinking and any questions about wine or wine and food matching just post a comment or email me!
Felsner Grüner Veltliner Moosburgerin 2005 Kremstal, Austria (about £8 at Waitrose)
Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner Berg-Vogelsang 2005, Kamptal, Austria (about £12.50 at Waitrose)
Feiler-Artinger Umriss Blaufränkisch Rust, Burgenland 2003/04 (about £14 at Handford wines – see link to their website, they have two shops in central London and are well worth a visit!)
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Chateau Musar 1999 Bekaa Valley, Lebanon
This beauty was my ‘Friday night’ tipple and I must admit it’s an interesting wine. I was about to go for my normal ‘claret with steak’ choice but then spotted this Lebanese treasure. It’s a cabernet sauvignon blend with the fruit grown in a baking hot climate and this really comes through on the palate – baked fruit that with bottle age have started to develop secondary, dried fruit characteristics.
It has some pretty chewy tannins so the first sip or two we had while preparing the food were quite rough. Then the amazing thing happened – which is why food and wine matching is so much fun – the wine when taken with the food (steak, roast potatoes, a green salad) became soft and smooth. The baked fruit flavours and slightly rustic palate worked in great harmony with the not too heavily seasoned food. I really recommend giving this red a try but do remember that it is currently about eight years old and definitely needs decanting before serving as there is a quite heavy sediment in the bottle. Stockist: Waitrose, Majestic, Systembolaget £14
It has some pretty chewy tannins so the first sip or two we had while preparing the food were quite rough. Then the amazing thing happened – which is why food and wine matching is so much fun – the wine when taken with the food (steak, roast potatoes, a green salad) became soft and smooth. The baked fruit flavours and slightly rustic palate worked in great harmony with the not too heavily seasoned food. I really recommend giving this red a try but do remember that it is currently about eight years old and definitely needs decanting before serving as there is a quite heavy sediment in the bottle. Stockist: Waitrose, Majestic, Systembolaget £14
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