Saturday 14 July 2012

Sauvignon Blanc

This weekend, our good friends from Hong Kong came back to the UK for a short stay.
They arrived in the playground at the end of school on Friday and changed the mood for the better.
We miss them throughout the year and it is always great to see them.

They planned to see us for lunch on Saturday and ended up staying for dinner.
In preparation for them coming, I paid a visit to Majestic Wines to stock up on some wine and beer.


The Giesen is a Sauvignon Blanc, from Marlborough in New Zealand. The other comes from Chile and is made by Luis Felipe Edwards, again a Sauvignon Blanc. Our guests also brought along two Sauvignon Blancs, this time from the Co-op.


The Zondernaam comes from South Africa and the Oyster Bay is another wine from New Zealand.
The Sauvignon Blanc tour around the new world, started with the Zondernaam.
The wine's aroma was full of limes and tinned peaches in syrup, the colour was very pale green.
The taste is one of freshly squeezed lime, the obligatory cut grass, apricots, sour mangoes and hints of young pineapple.

Next to be open was the Giesen from Marlborough in New Zealand.It has a very pale green golden tinge. The aroma is very sugary lime, cut grass and tropical fruit. The taste is full on tangy lime melded with Kiwi.

The Luis Felipe Edwards was next against the wall and comes from the middle of Chile.
The aroma is lemon and lime blended together, the is a huge trodden nettle leaf feel too.
It is almost clear, with just a hint of a hint of green. The taste is fruity lime with little of that citrus edge. There is also tropical fruit, mangoes and kiwis coming through.

The Oyster bay will have to keep for another day, our  taste buds were done with dry wine by this point and our friends had to leave.

Sunday 1 July 2012

Church to Churchill



Congrats to my cousin, who joined the ranks of the hen pecked, this weekend? It was nice to see that Phil and Nessa didn't stop smiling for the whole day. The sun shone and the Cava flowed at Dean's Place, just outside Alfriston, East Sussex. The reception was held in an enclosed garden, with panoramic views of the South Downs. The Wedding Breakfast was delicious, with the speeches being some of the best I have heard, so heart felt! I hope they had a great day.

When rooms were being turned around and photos of the family were being taken, we slipped away with four exhausted children to see some good friends in Westerham.
After the children had been put to bed and the dogs tired out, we were treated to a great meal.The wine noticeably slipped up a gear or two from lunch; starting with the bloodiest Bloody Mary I've had in a while! We had Rose champagne  with nibbles and a couple of bottles of the lovely Chateaux Tracy with the main, the whole thing was very relaxing and enjoyable.


In the morning, our hosts Dan and Robs, invited us to their market stall in Westerham, for breakfast. The stall is run for Charity and provides sustenance for stall holder and shopper alike. We took our bacon butties around the market, ostentatiously making yummy noises and flattering comments.
No trip to Westerham would be complete without a mention of the great man himself. Besides his dabblings into car insurance, he remains the greatest Statesman ever to have lived. I think we will end it there.














Cheeky Alsace Wines

For nearly a decade, I have thought that Charles Schleret was one of the finest wine producers in Alsace. His range of white wines are gentle and crafted. In the days when I bought lots of wine, I bought cases of these wines from Yapp Brothers. There were times that I felt bad rejecting every other wine on their vast list and ignoring the Reps. sales pitches. After a few years, we settled down into an understanding and they waited for my call but otherwise left me alone.
This wine is made from the Sylvaner grape which originated in Austria. The grape was grown widly in Germany and Alsace, before falling out of favour and being replaced with more aromatic grapes.

Charles Schleret still keeps it alive with this fine example. The grape gets bad press for not being exciting enough, true, it has very subtle honey flavours and little aroma. Surely this is an endearing quality, when other wines try so hard to satisfy our taste buds.

If nothing else, keep a look out for Mr Schleret, who will be sure to wow.